Disability in a Technology-Driven Workplace

New Internet and Web-based technology applications have meant significant cost and time efficiencies to many American businesses. However, many employers have not yet fully grasped the impact of these new information and communication technologies on applicants and employees with certain disabilities such as vision impairments, hearing problems or limited dexterity. Although not all applicants and employees who have a disability may experience IT-access problems, to select groups it can pose a needless barrier. The increasing dominance of IT in the workplace presents both a challenge and an opportunity for workers with disabilities and their employers. It will be up to HR professionals to ensure that Web-based HR processes and workplace technologies are accessible to their employees with disabilities.

Finding ‘A Heart to Continue:’ A study of constructive-developmental diversity and academic literacy learning experiences in the adult English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) classroom

Developing academic literacy skills is becoming increasingly high-stakes for Adult Basic Education (ABE) English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) learners to accomplish goals like passing the General Education Diploma (GED) test or preparing for post-secondary. ESOL literature suggests that academic literacy development is not only a language issue, but a cognitive and academic phenomenon. Related to an adult learner’s cognitive and academic learning is stage of epistemological complexity. Theories of adult epistemological development, including constructive-developmental theories, are based on empirical research demonstrating that the logics through which adults construct meaning can continue to develop over time following predictable patterns, moving hierarchically toward increasingly complex ways of meaning-making. Constructive-developmental research has shown that development shapes qualitatively distinct ABE/ESOL learning experiences, and native English speaker writing maturity; however, few if any studies have investigated the relationship between development and adult ESOL academic literacy learning. Using Robert Kegan’s Constructive-developmental Theory (CDT), which derives from Western psychology but has been used in previous studies with non-Western and ABE/ESOL populations, this qualitative case study explores the academic literacy learning experiences of nine ABE/ESOL learners in a college and career preparation class. The data include two semi-structured qualitative interviews and class observations. Analysis includes the dual lenses of grounded theory and CDT. Findings suggest that developmental perspectives, ranging from “instrumental” to “socializing” and “transitioning toward self-authoring,” made a qualitative difference in how ABE/ESOL learners experienced and engaged with academic literacy learning. Notably, instrumental learners demonstrated what looks like struggle, but from their developmental perspective represents a logical pathway toward success as they defined it. By contrast, learners transitioning toward self-authoring brought unique learning agendas and capacities for self-monitoring. This study concludes with recommendations for supporting and challenging ABE/ESOL learners who are linguistically, culturally, academically, and less visibly but critically, developmentally diverse

Why Stress Management Strategies Work

Stress is a universally-experienced phenomenon. Although there are myriad causes, the methods of effectively managing the stress are generally the same. Why do these strategies work though? This fact sheet addresses this question, citing what research has found about why these commonly suggested stress management strategies work. They are divided into physical, mental, and social categories of stress relievers

Tips to Strengthen Relationships Today

This fact sheet outlines several tips you can apply today to start developing and strengthening your close romantic and non-romantic relationships

Pros and Cons of Online Dating in Later Life

In later life, as with most things, there are both positives and negatives associated with online dating. It is important to be aware of them in order to make an informed decision of whether to use or not use Internet sites to cultivate new relationships. This fact sheet outlines the pros and cons

Six Approaches to Becoming More Optimistic Today

This fact sheet gives six approaches to increasing optimis

Strategies for Dealing with Life\u27s Difficulties

This fact sheet outlines four healthy, effective approaches to coping with the challenges of life: eliminating overthinking, working from your strengths, taking time for self-care, and finding meaning in your experiences

Supporting Others Coping with Infertility

This fact sheet will help you better understand the experience that infertile couples go through and give you ideas for how to most effectively support them

A practical guide for the study of human and murine sebaceous glands in situ

The skin of most mammals is characterised by the presence of sebaceous glands (SGs), whose predominant constituent cell population is sebocytes, that is, lipid-producing epithelial cells, which develop from the hair follicle. Besides holocrine sebum production (which contributes 90% of skin surface lipids), multiple additional SG functions have emerged. These range from antimicrobial peptide production and immunomodulation, via lipid and hormone synthesis/metabolism, to the provision of an epithelial progenitor cell reservoir. Therefore, in addition to its involvement in common skin diseases (e.g. acne vulgaris), the unfolding diversity of SG functions, both in skin health and disease, has raised interest in this integral component of the pilosebaceous unit. This practical guide provides an introduction to SG biology and to relevant SG histochemical and immunohistochemical techniques, with emphasis placed on in situ evaluation methods that can be easily employed. We propose a range of simple, established markers, which are particularly instructive when addressing specific SG research questions in the two most commonly investigated species in SG research, humans and mice. To facilitate the development of reproducible analysis techniques for the in situ evaluation of SGs, this methods review concludes by suggesting quantitative (immuno-)histomorphometric methods for standardised SG evaluation

Cystic Fibrosis: Channeling the Discovery of CFTR Mutations

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). CFTR is a protein forming chloride channels in the membrane of epithelial cells. It consists of two transmembrane domains (TMD), two nucleotide binding domains (NBD), and an R domain. The channel is first activated by the phosphorylation of its R domain. ATP then binds to CFTR’s NBDs for the channel to conduct Cl- out of the cell. Mutations in CFTR can cause misfolding and prevent adequate transportation of Cl-. The most common cause of the disease is the deletion of phenylalanine 508 of CFTR. When ∆F508 reaches the ER, it is recognized as irreparable and thus targeted for degradation, which causes the symptoms of CF. The third most common mutation, G551D, does not function properly at the membrane. Molecular chaperones such as Hdj-2/Hsc70, Hsp90, and HspBP1 may rescue CFTR misfolding. This has therapeutic value because once ∆F508 is sent to the membrane, it can function normally. There are many treatments for CF, including airway clearing techniques, antibiotics, and lung transplantation. Recent research has suggested that oligonucleotide insertion, curcumin treatment, and digotoxin treatment can reverse the ∆F508 phenotype