The impact of coping resources and strategies upon health: an analysis of age and sex differences

Currently, interest in stress and coping appears to be at an all time high in both popular and scholarly literature. Documentation of negative effects from high levels of stress has been firmly established in a number of scientific fields of inquiry, including medicine, psychology and psychiatry, sociology, and even economic studies of worker productivity. However, the quest for ways to ameliorate debilitating stress effects is outstripping our ability to understand the nature of the coping process. The current study focuses not only on the issue of what social and psychological resources appear to moderate stress effects, but also how those variables may intervene in the coping process through their relationship with the actual strategies used to cope with stress;Cognitive interactionist theorists have developed a model of coping in which social and psychological resources are viewed not only as stress moderators, but as factors which help to determine coping strategies. The emphasis is on how these resources may function to lessen the impact of stressful events by supporting or determining actual coping strategies, not merely on the degree to which their presence or absence may buffer stress. Such a model of coping has been noticeably lacking in prior research;This study addresses the lack of research on how social and psychological characteristics might affect coping strategies which in turn affect physical health. The general objective of the study is to develop a better understanding of the relationships between psychological and social characteristics, coping strategies, and physical health. More specificly the study: (1) investigates the relationship between various coping resources, coping strategies and physical health, (2) examines the relationships between various coping resources and coping strategies, and (3) examines the extent to which all of the above relationships differ by sex and by age

Differences in learning styles and satisfaction between traditional face-to-face and online web-based sport management studies students

Each student has a unique learning style or individual way of perceiving, interacting, and responding to a learning environment. The purpose of this study was to identify and compare the prevalence of learning styles among undergraduate Sport Management Studies (SMS) students at California University of Pennsylvania (Cal U). Learning style prevalence was determined for traditional face-to-face students and online web-based students and differences in learning style prevalence between these two groups were explored. Finally, differences in student satisfaction between program delivery methods were examined by using an online questionnaire designed by the researcher.;The population for this study included 247 Cal U undergraduate SMS students enrolled in the fall 2009 semester. Through an online survey 101 face-to-face students and 146 on-line students were identified into one of four learning style groups (Accommodators, Divergers, Assimilators, and Convergers) utilizing Kolb\u27s Learning Style Inventory 3.1 (2005).;The data from the study were analyzed and yielded a trend toward significance for learning style preference by delivery method. The comparison of the four learning styles for the face-to-face participants indicated a statistically significant difference. The comparison of the four learning styles for the on-line participants indicated a statistically significant difference. The follow-up analysis consisted of comparison of each of the four learning styles separately by delivery method (face-to-face and on-line) yielded no statistical significant difference.;Four satisfaction questions were found to have statistical significance in ratings between face-to-face and on-line students. On-line respondents were significantly more satisfied with the challenge and demand of Sport Management Studies courses, significantly more satisfied with the Sport Management Studies major setting high expectations for student performance, significantly more satisfied with the program finding connections between what students are learning in the classroom, relating it to their past experiences, and applying it to their daily lives, and significantly more satisfied with the quality of their academic experience within the program when compared to the face-to-face respondents.;The results of this study can help educators and academic administrators better understand the needs of their students and better develop or structure teaching methods in both on-campus and web-based instruction. Colleges and universities will need to implement changes to meet the advancement of the technological revolution at hand. As educators (virtual and live) are faced with an increasingly diverse population of learners with a wide range of expectations, there is a need to continually seek to understand what factors constitute excellent delivery to promote effective learning. By recognizing different learning styles, educators may better engage students, work in conjunction with their universities to meet demands of the growing distance education and on-line learning populations, increase levels of student satisfaction, ensure a greater program fit with students, individualize and capitalize learning opportunities in the classroom, and seek to employ different pedagogical approaches to better facilitate learning

Structuring Creativity: Successful Strategies for Using Creative Activities in the Classroom

From the political to the environmental, the 21st century presents a dizzying array of challenges for current and future generations. Society needs people who have the confidence to explore unique ideas and the willingness to take risks in shaping and sharing those ideas. Where will we prepare and encourage people to be creative? Is it in our universities? How can faculty members help our students learn to envision new, unusual and, in fact, creative solutions to ensure a better life for all? The purpose of this chapter is twofold: first, to show how three faculty members from three different disciplines structured their curriculum to foster creative thinking and, then, second, to offer a set of key principles derived from these activities that faculty members can consider when incorporating creative activities into their own classes

The learning disabled student in postsecondary institutions: An overview

Historically, the focus on the learning disabled has been at the elementary and, more recently, the secondary school level. However, since the influx of so many students into postsecondary institutions, the emphasis is changing. Vogel (1982) stated that the number of programs for the learning disabled in higher education has grown significantly during the \u2780s as a response to concerns from learning disabled students, their parents, and professionals, and from the passage of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. However, the number of postsecondary schools offering adequate educational and support programs to learning disabled students is still small

A prospective, population-based study of the role of visual impairment in motor vehicle crashes among older drivers: the SEE study.

PURPOSE: To determine the role of vision and visual attention factors in automobile crash involvement. METHODS: Drivers aged 65 to 84 years were identified during the baseline interview (1993-1995) of the Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) Study. Crash involvement through December 1997 was determined from Maryland State motor vehicle records. Vision tests at baseline included distance acuity at normal and low luminance, contrast sensitivity, glare sensitivity, stereoacuity, and visual fields. Visual attention was evaluated with the Useful Field of View Test (UFOV; Visual Awareness, Chicago, IL). Survival analysis was used to determine the relative risk of a crash as a function of demographic variables, miles driven, vision, and visual attention. RESULTS: One hundred twenty (6.7%) of the 1801 drivers were involved in a crash during the observation interval. Glare sensitivity and binocular field loss were significant predictors of crash involvement (P < 0.05). For those with moderate or better vision (<3 letters for glare sensitivity and <20 points missed for binocular visual fields) increased glare sensitivity or reduced visual fields were, paradoxically, associated with a reduction in crash risk, whereas for those with poorer levels of vision, increased glare sensitivity or reduced visual fields were associated with increased crash risk. Worse UFOV score was associated with increased crash risk. CONCLUSIONS: Glare sensitivity, visual field loss, and UFOV were significant predictors of crash involvement. Acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereoacuity were not associated with crashes. These results suggest that current vision screening for drivers' licensure, based primarily on visual acuity, may miss important aspects of visual impairment

The polyphyly of Plasmodium: Comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of the malaria parasites (Order Haemosporida) reveal widespread taxonomic conflict

© 2018 The Authors. The evolutionary relationships among the apicomplexan blood pathogens known as the malaria parasites (order Haemosporida), some of which infect nearly 200 million humans each year, has remained a vexing phylogenetic problem due to limitations in taxon sampling, character sampling and the extreme nucleotide base composition biases that are characteristic of this clade. Previous phylogenetic work on the malaria parasites has often lacked sufficient representation of the broad taxonomic diversity within the Haemosporida or the multi-locus sequence data needed to resolve deep evolutionary relationships, rendering our understanding of haemosporidian lifehistory evolution and the origin of the human malaria parasites incomplete. Here we present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the malaria parasites conducted to date, using samples from a broad diversity of vertebrate hosts that includes numerous enigmatic and poorly known haemosporidian lineages in addition to genome-wide multi-locus sequence data. We find that if base composition differences were corrected for during phylogenetic analysis, we recovered a well-supported topology indicating that the evolutionary history of the malaria parasites was characterized by a complex series of transitions in life-history strategies and host usage. Notably we find that Plasmodium, the malaria parasite genus that includes the species of human medical concern, is polyphyletic with the life-history traits characteristic of this genus having evolved in a dynamic manner across the phylogeny. We find support for multiple instances of gain and loss of asexual proliferation in host blood cells and production of haemozoin pigment, two traits that have been used for taxonomic classification as well as considered to be important factors for parasite virulence and used as drug targets. Lastly, our analysis illustrates the need for a widespread reassessment of malaria parasite taxonomy

An interdisciplinary mixed-methods approach to developing antimicrobial stewardship interventions:Protocol for the preserving antibiotics through safe stewardship (PASS) research programme [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Behaviour change is key to combating antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) programmes promote and monitor judicious antibiotic use, but there is little consideration of behavioural and social influences when designing interventions. We outline a programme of research which aims to co-design AMS interventions across healthcare settings, by integrating data-science, evidence- synthesis, behavioural-science and user-centred design. The project includes three work-packages (WP): WP1 (Identifying patterns of prescribing): analysis of electronic health-records to identify prescribing patterns in care-homes, primary-care, and secondary-care. An online survey will investigate consulting/antibiotic-seeking behaviours in members of the public. WP2 (Barriers and enablers to prescribing in practice): Semi-structured interviews and observations of practice to identify barriers/enablers to prescribing, influences on antibiotic-seeking behaviour and the social/contextual factors underpinning prescribing. Systematic reviews of AMS interventions to identify the components of existing interventions associated with effectiveness. Design workshops to identify constraints influencing the form of the intervention. Interviews conducted with healthcare-professionals in community pharmacies, care-homes, primary-, and secondary-care and with members of the public. Topic guides and analysis based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. Observations conducted in care-homes, primary and secondary-care with analysis drawing on grounded theory. Systematic reviews of interventions in each setting will be conducted, and interventions described using the Behaviour Change Technique taxonomy v1. Design workshops in care-homes, primary-, and secondary care. WP3 (Co-production of interventions and dissemination). Findings will be integrated to identify opportunities for interventions, and assess whether existing interventions target influences on antibiotic use. Stakeholder panels will be assembled to co-design and refine interventions in each setting, applying the Affordability, Practicability, Effectiveness, Acceptability, Side-effects and Equity (APEASE) criteria to prioritise candidate interventions. Outputs will inform development of new AMS interventions and/or optimisation of existing interventions. We will also develop web-resources for stakeholders providing analyses of antibiotic prescribing patterns, prescribing behaviours, and evidence reviews

Expression quantitative trait loci are highly sensitive to cellular differentiation state

Blood cell development from multipotent hematopoietic stem cells to specialized blood cells is accompanied by drastic changes in gene expression for which the triggers remain mostly unknown. Genetical genomics is an approach linking natural genetic variation to gene expression variation, thereby allowing the identification of genomic loci containing gene expression modulators (eQTLs). In this paper, we used a genetical genomics approach to analyze gene expression across four developmentally close blood cell types collected from a large number of genetically different but related mouse strains. We found that, while a significant number of eQTLs (365) had a consistent “static” regulatory effect on gene expression, an even larger number were found to be very sensitive to cell stage. As many as 1,283 eQTLs exhibited a “dynamic” behavior across cell types. By looking more closely at these dynamic eQTLs, we show that the sensitivity of eQTLs to cell stage is largely associated with gene expression changes in target genes. These results stress the importance of studying gene expression variation in well-defined cell populations. Only such studies will be able to reveal the important differences in gene regulation between different ce

Sheep Updates 2006 - part 3

This session covers six papers from different authors: GRAZING 1. Making better use of clover, Karen Venning and Andrew Thompson, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria 2. Grazing systems demonstration to optimise pasture utilisation and stocking rate, Mike Hyder, Sue-Ellen Shaw, Kelly Hill and Ron McTaggart, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia. 3. Know your audience to increase their rate of practice change - Lifetime Wool as an example, Gus Rose, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, Carolyn Kabore, Kazresearch REPRODUCTION 4. Lifetime Wool - Ewe Management Guidlines, Mandy Curnow, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 5. Achieving the best reproductive performance from your hoggets, Kenyon PR, Morris ST, West DM, Perkins NR, Pinchbeck GL., Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, New Zealand. 6. Lifetime Wool: Twin futures, Dr Ralph Behrendt, Department of Primary Industries, Victori