The unit method of teaching Bible as literature in the secondary school.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

Sensory Processing, Chronic Pain, and Recovery from Substance Use

Background: Those with chronic pain have worse drug and alcohol treatment outcomes and higher rates of relapse compared to those without pain or with reduced pain (Ilgen et al., 2020). Methods: A descriptive study was employed with the aim of determining what are the sensory processing pattens of those with co-morbid chronic pain and in recovery for substance use. All participants completed the Adolescent and Adult Sensory Profile, the Brief Pain Inventory, and the Personal Recovery Outcome Measure (PROM). Results: From the preliminary findings, individuals with co-morbid chronic pain and substance use may have atypical sensory processing in areas of sensation sensitive, sensation avoiding, and low registration, compared to the normative sample. Individuals within this clinical setting in general were not receiving non-pharmacological treatment for their pain. With pain fluctuating between mild (2.2/10) and severe (6.0/10) throughout the day. Results of the PROM were an average of 21/30. Item 21 states “I can manage stress”. From these findings a 5-week sensory based OT Group was implemented at a PHP/IOP treatment center focusing on self-management, health-management, and stress reduction strategies to improve overall occupational performance. Conclusion: Individuals with co-morbid chronic pain and substance use may have sensory processing patterns that are impacting function and recovery. This highlights the potential value of further research and consideration in clinical practice of these unique patterns and how they may be impacting recovery and long-term sobriety.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2021/1004/thumbnail.jp

Glitz, Glamour, and the Farm: Portrayal of Agriculture as the Simple Life

Reality television has taken America by storm with programming ranging from extreme stunts to police adventures to spoofs on segments of society. Agriculture has been a participant in the reality television boom through a series called “The Simple Life” in which two Hollywood debutantes explore the “realities” of farm life in Arkansas. This study examines the impact of this portrayal of agriculture and its effects on viewers’ impressions of the industry. Four focus groups were used to investigate the potential effects of an agriculturally based reality television show on viewers’ attitudes, opinions, and perceptions of agriculture. Results indicated those with agricultural knowledge viewed the portrayal of farm life as inaccurate and disturbing, while those without agricultural literacy found the program entertaining, if not exactly “real.” Those viewers lacking in agricultural literacy realized that the program did not accurately portray real agricultural life, but could not discern where the program failed in its accurate representation. Viewers with agricultural backgrounds found the series did not accurately reflect the amount of labor and intellectual capacity needed to produce food and fiber. The portrayal of agriculture as “hickish” and “backwoodsy” reinforced traditional stereotypes. This study suggests that the agricultural industry may be well served in further exploration of the impact of broadcast entertainment programming on the public’s agricultural literacy

Entertainment and Agriculture: An Examination of the Impact of Entertainment Media on Perceptions of Agriculture

This study was conducted as a follow-up to Ruth, Park, and Lundy\u27s 2005 study, which found that the portrayal of agriculture in reality television programming reinforced traditional stereotypes of agriculture and corresponding schemas. Qualitative focus groups were conducted in July 2005 with undergraduate students at a large southern university. Participants responded to questions about their perceptions of agriculture and then reacted to a short clip from the 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite that featured agriculture. This study substantiated Ruth et al.\u27s findings that entertainment media have potential short -term and long-term effects on individuals\u27 perceptions of agriculture. While portrayals of agriculture in entertainment media may not actually create negative perceptions of agriculture, they may serve as significant reinforcement for existing negative stereotypes and perceptions. Since many young adults hold uninformed stereotypes about agriculture that are reinforced by entertainment media, agricultural communicators are challenged to communicate the significance of agriculture to this audience in a format they perceive as relevant

Use of settlement patterns and geochemical tagging to test population connectivity of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Gancel, H. N., Carmichael, R. H., Du, J., & Park, K. Use of settlement patterns and geochemical tagging to test population connectivity of eastern oysters Crassostrea virginica. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 673, (2021): 85–105, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13796.Freshwater-dominated estuaries experience large fluctuations in their physical and chemical environments which may influence larval dispersal, settlement, and connectivity of populations with pelagic larval stages. We used settlement patterns and natural tagging along with numerical hydrodynamic model results to assess settlement and connectivity among oysters across the freshwater-dominated Mobile Bay-eastern Mississippi Sound (MB-EMS) system. Specifically, we (1) tested how freshwater inputs and associated environmental attributes influenced settlement patterns during high and low discharge conditions in 2014 and 2016, respectively, and (2) analyzed trace element (TE) ratios incorporated into multiple shell types (larval and settled shell of spat and adult shells) to determine if shells collected in situ incorporate temporally stable site-specific signatures. We also assessed if TE ratios compared between adult (TE natal signature proxy) and larval shells could infer connectivity. Larval settlement was 4× higher during low discharge than during high discharge when oyster larvae only settled in higher salinity regions (EMS). Spat and adult shells incorporated site-specific TE ratios that varied from weeks to months. Connectivity results (May-June 2016 only) suggest that EMS is an important larval source to EMS and lower MB. While we were able to infer probable connectivity patterns using adult and larval shells, more study is needed to assess the utility of adult shells as proxies for natal-location TE signatures. Results provide a baseline for measuring future larval connectivity and adult distribution changes in the MB-EMS system. Biological and geochemical data demonstrate the potential to identify environmental attributes that spatiotemporally mediate settlement and connectivity in dynamic systems.This work was funded by the Mississippi−Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (project number #R/ SFA-03) and the Food and Drug Administration and MESC/ Dauphin Island Sea Lab Collaboration (award numbers: 5U19FD005923-04 and 5U19FD004277-04)

Neural correlates of reward-related response tendencies in an equiprobable Go/NoGo task

Previous research has shown that motivational signals bias action over inaction, which may be due to putative inherent valence-action mappings, similar to those observed in the emotional domain. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study we sought to investigate the neural underpinnings of such reward-related response tendencies, and in particular, how valence-action compatibility effects arising from predominant response tendencies are reflected at the neural level, and whether overlapping emotional valence amplifies these effects. To this end, we employed an equiprobable (50:50) Go/NoGo task in which reward (reward/no-reward) and response mode (Go/NoGo) were signaled by orthogonal features of number targets that were overlaid on emotional images (positive, neutral, negative). Reward-related targets led to response facilitation (faster Go responses) and impairment in withholding responses (more NoGo commission errors), consistent with a reward-induced action bias. This pattern was paralleled by modulations in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), with increased activity in no-reward as compared to reward-related Go trials, and the reversed pattern in NoGo trials. Albeit being processed in ventral visual areas, emotional background did not modulate performance in the present task, suggesting that irrelevant emotional information is globally outweighed by reward. In the current paradigm, which neither favors Go responses generally nor allows for differential preparation in Go versus NoGo trials, reward-related targets promote action over inaction. In turn, additional effort is needed to inhibit responses to these targets as well as to initiate responses to (less salient) no-reward targets, which may be considered as a downside of direct stimulus-reward associations

Human 3D cellular model of hypoxic brain injury of prematurity.

Owing to recent medical and technological advances in neonatal care, infants born extremely premature have increased survival rates1,2. After birth, these infants are at high risk of hypoxic episodes because of lung immaturity, hypotension and lack of cerebral-flow regulation, and can develop a severe condition called encephalopathy of prematurity3. Over 80% of infants born before post-conception week 25 have moderate-to-severe long-term neurodevelopmental impairments4. The susceptible cell types in the cerebral cortex and the molecular mechanisms underlying associated gray-matter defects in premature infants remain unknown. Here we used human three-dimensional brain-region-specific organoids to study the effect of oxygen deprivation on corticogenesis. We identified specific defects in intermediate progenitors, a cortical cell type associated with the expansion of the human cerebral cortex, and showed that these are related to the unfolded protein response and changes. Moreover, we verified these findings in human primary cortical tissue and demonstrated that a small-molecule modulator of the unfolded protein response pathway can prevent the reduction in intermediate progenitors following hypoxia. We anticipate that this human cellular platform will be valuable for studying the environmental and genetic factors underlying injury in the developing human brain

LXCXE-independent chromatin remodeling by Rb/E2f mediates neuronal quiescence

Neuronal survival is dependent upon the retinoblastoma family members, Rb1 (Rb) and Rb2 (p130). Rb is thought to regulate gene repression, in part, through direct recruitment of chromatin modifying enzymes to its conserved LXCXE binding domain. We sought to examine the mechanisms that Rb employs to mediate cell cycle gene repression in terminally differentiated cortical neurons. Here, we report that Rb loss converts chromatin at the promoters of E2f-target genes to an activated state. We established a mouse model system in which Rb-LXCXE interactions could be induciblely disabled. Surprisingly, this had no effect on survival or gene silencing in neuronal quiescence. Absence of the Rb LXCXE-binding domain in neurons is compatible with gene repression and long-term survival, unlike Rb deficiency. Finally, we are able to show that chromatin activation following Rb deletion occurs at the level of E2fs. Blocking E2f-mediated transcription downstream of Rb loss is sufficient to maintain chromatin in an inactive state. Taken together our results suggest a model whereby Rb-E2f interactions are sufficient to maintain gene repression irrespective of LXCXE-dependent chromatin remodeling. © 2013 Landes Bioscience