The effect of parental and peer attachment on late adolescents\u27 attitudes toward cheating

A total of 283 multi-ethnic college students participated in a study investigating (a) the extent to which late adolescents perceived themselves to be attached to parents and peers and (b) the effects of low, medium and high perceived parent and peer attachment on the students\u27 attitudes toward academic dishonesty. Self-report measurements were used in assessing perceived parent and peer attachment levels and the students\u27 tolerance or condemnation toward cheating. The majority of students reported equivalent attachment levels for parents and peers. Contrary to the hypothesis, students reporting low parent attachment and high peer attachment were the least tolerant to cheating. These findings suggest that for late adolescents, low parental attachment without compensatory peer attachment may be a contributing factor in the development ofa tolerant attitude toward academic dishonest

Metaphoric coherence: Distinguishing verbal metaphor from `anomaly\u27

Theories and computational models of metaphor comprehension generally circumvent the question of metaphor versus “anomaly” in favor of a treatment of metaphor versus literal language. Making the distinction between metaphoric and “anomalous” expressions is subject to wide variation in judgment, yet humans agree that some potentially metaphoric expressions are much more comprehensible than others. In the context of a program which interprets simple isolated sentences that are potential instances of cross‐modal and other verbal metaphor, I consider some possible coherence criteria which must be satisfied for an expression to be “conceivable” metaphorically. Metaphoric constraints on object nominals are represented as abstracted or extended along with the invariant structural components of the verb meaning in a metaphor. This approach distinguishes what is preserved in metaphoric extension from that which is “violated”, thus referring to both “similarity” and “dissimilarity” views of metaphor. The role and potential limits of represented abstracted properties and constraints is discussed as they relate to the recognition of incoherent semantic combinations and the rejection or adjustment of metaphoric interpretations

An Analysis of the Holdings of W.H. Auden Monographs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Rare Book Collection

This paper is an analysis of the monographic works by noted twentieth-century poet W.H. Auden held by the Rare Book Collection (RBC) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It includes a biographical sketch as well as information about a substantial gift of Auden materials made to the RBC by Robert P. Rushmore in 1998. The bulk of the paper is a bibliographical list that has been annotated with in-depth condition reports for all Auden monographs held by the RBC. The paper concludes with a detailed desiderata list and recommendations for the future development of the RBC's Auden collection

Do Nondomestic Undergraduates Choose a Major Field In Order to Maximize Grade Point Averages?

The authors investigated whether undergraduates attending an American West Coast public university who were not U.S. citizens (nondomestic) maximized their grade point averages (GPA) through their choice of major field. Multiple regression hierarchical linear modeling analyses showed that major field’s effect size was small for these undergraduates’ academic marks in mandatory English writing classes and their term GPAs in the five most recent academic years. Engineering and economics, but not science, were significant predictors of writing marks. Economics, but not engineering or science, was a significant predictor of GPAs

Cnih3 deletion dysregulates dorsal hippocampal transcription across the estrous cycle

In females, the hippocampus, a critical brain region for coordination of learning, memory, and behavior, displays altered physiology and behavioral output across the estrous or menstrual cycle. However, the molecular effectors and cell types underlying these observed cyclic changes have only been partially characterized to date. Recently, profiling of mice null for the AMPA receptor trafficking gen

Activity-dependent translation dynamically alters the proteome of the perisynaptic astrocyte process

Within eukaryotic cells, translation is regulated independent of transcription, enabling nuanced, localized, and rapid responses to stimuli. Neurons respond transcriptionally and translationally to synaptic activity. Although transcriptional responses are documented in astrocytes, here we test whether astrocytes have programmed translational responses. We show that seizure activity rapidly changes the transcripts on astrocyte ribosomes, some predicted to be downstream of BDNF signaling. In acute slices, we quantify the extent to which cues of neuronal activity activate translation in astrocytes and show that this translational response requires the presence of neurons, indicating that the response is non-cell autonomous. We also show that this induction of new translation extends into the periphery of astrocytes. Finally, synaptic proteomics show that new translation is required for changes that occur in perisynaptic astrocyte protein composition after fear conditioning. Regulation of translation in astrocytes by neuronal activity suggests an additional mechanism by which astrocytes may dynamically modulate nervous system functioning

Evaluation of Petrifilm™ Select E. coli Count Plate medium to discriminate antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Screening and enumeration of antimicrobial resistant <it>Escherichia coli </it>directly from samples is needed to identify emerging resistant clones and obtain quantitative data for risk assessment. Aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of 3M™ Petrifilm™ Select <it>E. coli </it>Count Plate (SEC plate) supplemented with antimicrobials to discriminate antimicrobial-resistant and non-resistant <it>E. coli</it>.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>A range of <it>E. coli </it>isolates were tested by agar dilution method comparing the Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for eight antimicrobials obtained by Mueller-Hinton II agar, MacConkey agar and SEC plates. Kappa statistics was used to assess the levels of agreement when classifying strains as resistant, intermediate or susceptible.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SEC plate showed that 74% of all strains agreed within ± 1 log₂dilution when comparing MICs with Mueller-Hinton II media. High agreement levels were found for gentamicin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol and cefotaxime, resulting in a kappa value of 0.9 and 100% agreement within ± 1 log₂dilution. Significant variances were observed for oxytetracycline and sulphamethoxazole. Further tests showed that the observed discrepancy in classification of susceptibility to oxytetracycline by the two media could be overcome when a plate-dependent breakpoint of 64 mg/L was used for SEC plates. For sulphamethoxazole, SEC plates provided unacceptably high MICs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SEC plates showed good agreement with Mueller-Hinton II agar in MIC studies and can be used to screen and discriminate resistant <it>E. coli </it>for ampicillin, cephalothin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, cefotaxime and gentamicin using CLSI standardized breakpoints, but not for sulphamethoxazole. SEC plates can also be used to discriminate oxytetracycline-resistant <it>E. coli </it>if a plate-dependent breakpoint value of 64 mg/L is used.</p

Crebinostat: A novel cognitive enhancer that inhibits histone deacetylase activity and modulates chromatin-mediated neuroplasticity

Long-term memory formation is known to be critically dependent upon de novo gene expression in the brain. As a consequence, pharmacological enhancement of the transcriptional processes mediating long-term memory formation provides a potential therapeutic strategy for cognitive disorders involving aberrant neuroplasticity. Here we focus on the identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs) as enhancers of CREB (cAMP response element-binding protein)-regulated transcription and modulators of chromatin-mediated neuroplasticity. Using a CREB reporter gene cell line, we screened a library of small molecules structurally related to known HDAC inhibitors leading to the identification of a probe we termed crebinostat that produced robust activation of CREB-mediated transcription. Further characterization of crebinostat revealed its potent inhibition of the deacetylase activity of recombinant class I HDACs 1, 2, 3, and class IIb HDAC6, with weaker inhibition of the class I HDAC8 and no significant inhibition of the class IIa HDACs 4, 5, 7, and 9. In cultured mouse primary neurons, crebinostat potently induced acetylation of both histone H3 and histone H4 as well as enhanced the expression of the CREB target gene Egr1 (early growth response 1). Using a hippocampus-dependent, contextual fear conditioning paradigm, mice systemically administered crebinostat for a ten day time period exhibited enhanced memory. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms of memory enhancement by HDAC inhibitors, whole genome transcriptome profiling of cultured mouse primary neurons treated with crebinostat, combined with bioinformatic analyses of CREB-target genes, was performed revealing a highly connected protein–protein interaction network reflecting modules of genes important to synaptic structure and plasticity. Consistent with these findings, crebinostat treatment increased the density of synapsin-1 punctae along dendrites in cultured neurons. Finally, crebinostat treatment of cultured mouse primary neurons was found to upregulate Bdnf (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and Grn (granulin) and downregulate Mapt (tau) gene expression—genes implicated in aging-related cognitive decline and cognitive disorders. Taken together, these results demonstrate that crebinostat provides a novel probe to modulate chromatin-mediated neuroplasticity and further suggests that pharmacological optimization of selective of HDAC inhibitors may provide an effective therapeutic approach for human cognitive disorders.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01DA028301)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01NS051874)Stanley Medical Research InstituteHoward Hughes Medical Institut