Duquesne University

About: Duquesne University is a education organization based out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 3615 authors who have published 7169 publications receiving 180066 citations. The organization is also known as: Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit.

Understanding Middle Students' Beliefs About Knowledge and Learning Using a Multidimensional Paradigm

Abstract: Recent theory (Schommer, 1990) suggests that personal epistemology is multidimensional The multidimensional epistemology structure with middle school students was tested in this study Over 1,200 students in Grades 7 and 8 completed an epistemological belief questionnaire Prior theory, developed with college students, suggested 4 epistemological belief factors: Ability to Learn, Structure of Knowledge, Speed of Learning, and Stability of Knowledge Confirmatory factor analysis applied to a random half of the sample indicated that a 3-factor model was a good fit to the data That model was replicated with the second half of the data Follow-up regression analyses indicated that the more students believed in gradual learning and incremental ability to learn, the higher GPA they earned

Influences Upon Organizational Ethical Subclimates: A Multi-Departmental Analysis of a Single Firm

Abstract: Organizational values and beliefs significantly influence employee decision making and behavior and manifest themselves as multiple climates existing within a single organization. A subset of organizational climate is an ethical climate, embodying normative values and beliefs involving moral issues shared by the employees of the organization. Researchers have found multiple ethical climates present in an organization. This research explores a plausible explanation for the discovery of multiple ethical climates, or subclimates, within an organization. Specifically, the research tests the assumptions that the departmental task and stakeholder relationships influence and differentiate the ethical decision-making framework used by employees and the resulting ethical subclimate. Categories developed by Thompson Thompson, J. D. 1967. Organizations in Action. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. are extended to identify distinct departmental tasks and stakeholder relationships in order to assess their influence upon the employees' ethical decision-making process and departmental ethical subclimate. In order to uncover the various ethical subclimates within each workgroup, the Ethical Climate Questionnaire, developed by Victor and Cullen Victor, B., J. B. Cullen. 1987. A theory and measure of ethical climate in organizations. W. C. Frederick, ed. Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy: Empirical Studies of Business Ethics and Values, Vol. 9. JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, 51--71; Victor, B., J. B. Cullen. 1988. The organizational basis of ethical work climates. Admin. Sci. Quart.331 101--125., was used in a modified form. The original instrument required the subjects to rate, on a Likert scale, the relevance of each ethical climate statement. In this project, a ranking of the statements was performed by the subjects, which minimizes the social desirability bias in the subjects' responses. This research found that the departmental task and stakeholder relationships so strongly influence employee decision making in all three department types that the ethical subclimate was also affected. Employees in a technical core department tend to use an individual locus of analysis and an egoistic criterion for decisions, emphasizing an instrumental ethical climate type. Buffer department employees exhibit a mix of ethical decision characteristics, but clearly manifest a caring ethical climate type. Employees in boundary spanning departments show a preference toward a cosmopolitan perspective and principle ethical reasoning, as well as a law and code ethical climate type.

Arsenic in the Evolution of Earth and Extraterrestrial Ecosystems

Abstract: If you were asked to speculate about the form extra-terrestrial life on Mars might take, which geomicrobial phenomenon might you select as a model system, assuming that life on Mars would be ‘primitive’? Give your reasons. At the end of my senior year at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1968, I took Professor Ehrlich's final for his Geomicrobiology course. The above question beckoned to me like the Sirens to Odysseus, for if I answered, it would take so much time and thought that I would never get around to the exam's other essay questions and consequently, would be “shipwrecked” by flunking the course. So, I passed it up. With this 41-year perspective in mind, this manuscript is now submitted to Professor Ehrlich for (belated) “extra-credit.” R.S. Oremland

Macrophage targeted theranostics as personalized nanomedicine strategies for inflammatory diseases.

Abstract: Inflammatory disease management poses challenges due to the complexity of inflammation and inherent patient variability, thereby necessitating patient-specific therapeutic interventions. Theranostics, which integrate therapeutic and imaging functionalities, can be used for simultaneous imaging and treatment of inflammatory diseases. Theranostics could facilitate assessment of safety, toxicity and real-time therapeutic efficacy leading to personalized treatment strategies. Macrophages are an important cellular component of inflammatory diseases, participating in varied roles of disease exacerbation and resolution. The inherent phagocytic nature, abundance and disease homing properties of macrophages can be targeted for imaging and therapeutic purposes. This review discusses the utility of theranostics in macrophage ablation, phenotype modulation and inhibition of their inflammatory activity leading to resolution of inflammation in several diseases.