Showing papers by "University of Massachusetts Boston published in 1995"

A Dialogue: Culture, Language, and Race.

Abstract: The following is part of an ongoing dialogue that Donaldo Macedo and Paulo Freire have been having since 1983. As it attempts to address the current criticisms of Freire's work along the lines of gender and race, this dialogue not only challenges the frequent misinterpretations of his leading philosophical ideas by conservative and some liberal educators, but will also embrace contemporary educational issues and discuss what it means to educate for critical citizenry in the ever-increasing multiracial and multicultural world of the twenty-first century.

A reconsideration of parental and peer influences on adolescent deviance.

Abstract: The role of peers in fostering deviant behavior in adolescence is well-documented in the sociological literature, while support for parental influence or "control" theories of deviance is more equivocal. This paper examines the relative influences of parents and peers on adolescent delinquency and marijuana use, using data from a three-wave panel study of youths who were paired with a best friend (N = 435). Covariance structure models based upon polychoric correlations among study variables reveal that friends are indeed the primary source of influence on youths' behavior, but that estimates of influence are grossly overstated in analyses relying upon respondents' perceptions of their friends' behavior. Parental supervision and attachment are weakly related to subsequent delinquency and marijuana use, lending little support to control theories of deviance. Findings reveal that different processes account for the similarities among members of delinquent and drug-using peer groups. Although youths are socialized into delinquent behavior by peers, both selection and socialization influences play important roles in the formation of drug-using peer groups.

Lytic infection of Escherichia coli biofilms by bacteriophage T4

Abstract: Escherichia coli 3000 XIII formed biofilms on the surface of polyvinylchloride coupons in a modified Robbins device. Bacteriophage T4D+ infected cells in the biofilm and replicated. It is commonly held that bacteriophage cannot infect surface-attached bacteria (biofilms) because such bacteria are protected by an exopolymeric matrix that binds macromolecules and prevents their diffusion into the biofilm. To our knowledge this is the first observation that a bacteriophage can infect and multiply within cells growing as a biofilm.

Gender Relations in Addiction and Recovery

Abstract: This article adds to the growing but still limited literature on the role of gender relations in women's addiction and recovery. In-depth interviews were conducted with 35 women randomly drawn from a large study of drug-abusing pregnant women who were recruited into an HIV/AIDS prevention program. These interviews explored conditions surrounding initiation and continuation of drug use. past and current sexual/love relationships, and experiences in the HIV/AIDS prevention program. Throughout the interviews, the women participants consistently voiced feelings stressing the importance of relationships in their lives. At the same time, they expressed a sense of disconnection and deprivation in those relationships. Four areas in which relationships with male partners ran counter to women's needs for connection are discussed in this article: initiation into drug use and supply of drugs, disappointment in men for failure to be providers, experience of violence, and opposition to treatment. The implicati...

Protective processes in adolescence: Matching stressors with social resources

Abstract: Working within the “matching theory” of social supports, this research focuses on depressed mood and examines how resilience to stress during adolescence is shaped by developmental constraints on the use of support for coping with problems in the family, peer, and personal arenas. The sample is 1,036 adolescents systematically drawn from 3 community high schools in the Boston area. Predictions center on the efficacy of peer and family supports, and two intraindividual protective factors: sense of mastery and sense of social integration. Findings indicate little evidence of cross-domain stress buffering (where family support buffers the effects of peer stress on mood, and vice versa), suggesting that family and peer domains are more distinct during this stage of development. Protective effects for friendship stresses are evidenced, but boys are more able than girls to marshal their personal and support resources in managing friendship problems. Discussion centers on matching theory and the role of development in shaping coping responses to stress.

Deficits in Intimacy and Empathy in Sexually Aggressive Men

Abstract: One explanation for male sexual aggression implicates certain adverse consequences of male gender socialization. It is argued that “masculinization,” especially in its more extreme forms, leads to hostility toward, and a devaluation of, women, and to a reduction in the capacity for empathy and the need for intimacy with others. Together, these effects are thought to produce a predisposition for sexual aggression against women. The two studies reported here tested the hypothesis that sexually aggressive men would be more gender stereotyped and would manifest lower capacities for empathy and intimacy. Results were mostly supportive of the hypothesis.

Asthma and oxidant stress: nutritional, environmental, and genetic risk factors.

Abstract: A considerable body of evidence suggests that oxidant stress results in inflammation and tissue damage in the respiratory system, and later in immune damage, and that individuals with lowered cellular reducing capacity are at increased risk to develop asthma. Reducing capacity in the erythrocyte is generated through the pentose phosphate pathway and this pathway also generates a major portion of the reducing capacity in all cells of the body. Therefore, dietary, environmental, and genetic factors which diminish cellular reducing capacity will increase tissue vulnerability to oxidant stress and are likely to increase asthma risk. Dietary selenium deficiency lowers red cell glutathione peroxidase activity and is associated with an increased risk for asthma, and low dietary intakes of vitamins C and E also appear to increase asthma risk. High body iron stores increase free radical production and may also elevate asthma risk. Environmental lead exposure depresses the activities of a several enzyme systems that influence cellular reducing capacity (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, NAD synthetase, glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase) and consequently may increase asthma risk. Genetically-determined low activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase lowers cellular reducing capacity and may also heighten asthma risk. Simple dietary and environmental interventions may significantly reduce oxidant stress and prevent or minimize the development of asthmatic symptoms and should prove to be a cost effective approach to asthma management in addition to current pharmacological strategies.

Organ and Cell Allometry in Hawaiian Drosophila: How to Make a Big Fly

Abstract: The importance of body size in predicting many aspects of an animal's biology has become well established in recent years. However, little is known about how body size evolves at the cellular level. Some published data suggest that it is cell number and not cell size that accompanies changes in organ and body size across taxa. We examined organ and cell allometry in the wing, eye and basitarsus of adult Hawaiian Drosophila, ranging in body length from 0.2 mm to 0.8 mm. Linear measurements of all three structures exhibit a positive allometry with body length. Exponents of the allometric equation were 0.96, 0.55 and 1.50 for wing, eye and basitarsus, respectively. Surface markers were used to quantify cell size of each organ. The allometric exponents for cell size as a function of organ size were 0.53, 0.68 and 0.33 for wing, eye and basitarsus, respectively. In contrast to reports in the literature on other systems, our results for Hawaiian Drosophila indicate that cell size may contribute between one third and two thirds to evolutionary changes in organ and body size.

Sources and genetic structure of a cluster of genes for resistance to three pathogens in lettuce.

Abstract: The second largest cluster of resistance genes in lettuce contains at least two downy mildew resistance specificities, Dm5/8 and Dm10, as well as Tu, providing resistance against turnip mosaic virus, and plr, a recessive gene conferring resistance against Plasmopara lactucae-radicis, a root infecting downy mildew. In the present paper four additional genetic markers have been added to this cluster, three RAPD markers and one RFLP marker, CL1795. CL1795 is a member of a multigene family related to triose phosphate isomerase; other members of this family map to the other two major clusters of resistance genes in lettuce. Seven RAPD markers in the region were converted into sequence characterized amplified regions (SCARs) and used in the further analysis of the region and the mapping of Dm10. Three different segregating populations were used to map the four resistance genes relative to molecular markers. There were no significant differences in gene order or rate of recombination between the three crosses. This cluster of resistance genes spans 6.4 cM, with Dm10 1.2 cM from Dm8. Marker analysis of 20 cultivars confirmed multiple origins for Dm5/8 specificity. Two different Lactuca serriola origins for the Du5/8 specificity had previously been described and originally designated as either Dm5 or Dm8. Some ancient cultivars also had the same specificity. Previously, due to lack of recombination in genetic analyses and the same resistance specificities, it was assumed that Dm5 and Dm8 were determined by the same gene. However, molecular marker analysis clearly identified genotypes characteristic of each source. Therefore, Dm5/8 specificity is either ancient and widespread in L. serriola and some L. sativa, or else has arisen on multiple occasions as alleles at the same locus or at linked loci.

Hospital choice models: a review and assessment of their utility for policy impact analysis.

Abstract: The changing competitive hospital environment and recent greater availability of patient origin data have stimulated an increased research interest in factors influencing the reason patients are ad...

Early Adolescent Girls' Understanding of Menstruation

Abstract: Sixth grade girls (N = 224) were queried about their preparation for and expectations about menarche, their parents' roles in preparation, and their understanding of the biological basis of menstruation, characteristics of the menstrual cycle, menstrual hygiene, and menstrual-related physical and psychological changes. Although girls viewed themselves as prepared for menarche, and claimed they had discussed it with their mothers, their explanations of menstruation reflected at best incomplete howledge, and more typically a variety of misconceptions or ignorance. In attempting to explain menstruation, they tended to focus on one particular element of the process (e.g., eggs or blood or the uterus), and were not able to integrate the elements into a comprehensive whole. Girls' howledge of the location and function of reproductive structures was faulty, and most did not understand how they were interrelated. Girls associated a variety of negative physical and psychological changes with menstruation, indicati...

The Role of Reluctance to Give Up life in the Measurement of the Values of Health states

Abstract: Questions that involve willingness to risk or give up life often are used to measure the values of health states. In the Boston Health Study, interviews with 291 patients who had AIDS included ques...

The hidden science of eugenics

Abstract: The early eugenicists were not stupid, but they did not share our social values. The rise and fall of the eugenics movement is a history that modern medical geneticists would do well to heed.

Modeling Team Processes: Issues and a Specific Example

Abstract: This paper develops a perspective to modeling team processes by drawing on concepts from team theory, and the informational processing and organizational paradigms. In such a perspective, humans and their interactions in a team are modeled as objects in a computerized environment. The behavior of the objects are specified in terms of the executable programs. A simulation testbed is described. Various information structures for team decision making in an example financial domain are examined. Questions regarding the relationship between information structure who knows what, when, and how the information is used and team performance are studied for the example. Thus this study can be seen as a step in the translation of behavioral and normative viewpoints of team decision making into a computational framework. The results indicate that there are complex relationships between information structure and team performance. The conventional wisdom relating improved performance to more information is not always true. The experiments demonstrate several situations of team interaction where more information can lead to dysfunctional effects.

Optimal Algorithms and a Remarkably Efficient Heuristic for the Ground-Holding Problem in Air Traffic Control

Abstract: Since it is safer and less expensive to absorb delays on the ground, air traffic control management tries to limit the duration of airborne delays by holding aircraft previous to departure when congestion at the airport of destination is anticipated The problem of assigning appropriate ground-holds to aircraft is known as the ground-holding problem Ground-holding decisions must be implemented in real time and for multiple airports; therefore, the speed of solution for algorithms is critical This paper tests static and dynamic optimal solutions, and a very fast heuristic for the assignment of ground-holds in air traffic control The optimal solutions are based on stochastic linear programming The heurtstic incorporates elements of stochastic modeling by utilizing information conveyed by a probabilistic forecast of airport landing capacity, while taking into consideration the dynamic nature of the problem In extensive computational experiments based on data for Logan airport, the heuristic performed significantly better than the optimal static solution, a deterministic solution, and the passive strategy of no-ground-holds; and within 5% of the optimal dynamic solution at a fraction of the computational time Due to its remarkable efficiency, the stochastic-dynamic heuristic appears to be a promising building block in the development of fast ground-holding algorithms for the complete network of airports

A national minority organ/tissue transplant education program: the first step in the evolution of a national minority strategy and minority transplant equity in the USA.

Abstract: 1. These successful education programs initially aimed at the AA community are being expanded into other minority groups such as Native American (Alaskan and American Indian), Hispanic (Latino), and Asian-Pacific Islander populations; and if the same modus operandus, ie, a minority-targeted message delivered by ethnically and culturally similar and sensitive messengers is used, this will have equal applicability to the majority population. MOTTEP, the first grass roots national transplant education program, while directed first to the minority population, can when presented to the majority population help all groups address the number one problem in transplantation today--the shortage of donors. 2. Active inclusion and involvement of minorities at all levels of problem resolution (resource allocation, research, and education), emphasizing community participation, education, and empowerment are the important next steps to allow for minority transplant equity in America. 3. The emergence of ASMHTP as the responsible brain trust for future minority-related efforts along with MOTTEP, a community based, empowering transplant education program, highlights the importance of a national strategy necessary for the survival of minority communities. This will enhance the interaction between minority transplant health professionals and the minority community and requires minority inclusion at all decision making levels of problem resolution within the transplant community.

Employment supports for people with mental illness.

Abstract: People with psychiatric disabilities often require extensive support to maintain employment. The authors describe five areas that supported employment programs should carefully examine when creating a supportive workplace environment: "natural" co-worker supports, personal network supports, training supports, self-management supports, and organizational supports. The different support needs of persons with developmental disabilities and those with psychiatric disabilities are highlighted, particularly in regard to how social stereotypes of these two groups influence decisions about how to provide support. The authors also discuss strategies that can be used by transitional employment programs for creating more effective supports within the limitations of the transitional setting.

Detection of trinucleotide repeats by in situ hybridization

Abstract: Disclosed is a method of detecting a trinucleotide repeat expansion by in situ hybridization. The disclosed method uses a sample of nucleated cells, a labeled trinucleotide repeat-specific probe and detection of the hybridized probe by a means whose sensitivity distinguishes between the signal from probes hybridized to an expanded repeat and the signal from probes hybridized to a non-expanded repeat.

Organotin compounds and aquatic bacteria: A review

Abstract: Organotins are toxic to microorganisms. Trisubstituted organotins (R3SnX) are considered more toxic than disubstituted (R2SnX2) or monosubstituted (RSnX3) compounds, and tetrasubstituted compounds (R4Sn) are not considered toxic. In the R3Sn series propyl-, butyl-, pentyl-, phenyl- and cyclohexyltins are the most toxic to microorganisms. Toxicity towards aerobes in the R3Sn series is related to total molecular surface area and to the octanol: water partition coefficient,Kow, which is a measure of hydrophobicity. Care must be taken when testing the toxicity of tin compounds in the laboratory, for a number of biological, chemical and physical factors can influence the apparent toxicity. Although TBT is generally the most toxic of the butyltins, there are instances where monobutyltin (MBT) is as toxic, or more toxic, than TBT to microorganisms. Thus, debutylation in the sequence TBT→DBT→MBT→Sn does not detoxity TBT for all microorganisms. Some microorganisms can methylate inorganic or organic tins under aerobic or anaerobic conditions. Methylation can also occur by chemical means and the relative contributions of biotic and abiotic mechanisms are not clear. It is difficult to isolate a pure culture which can methylate tin compounds aerobically, and it is difficult to isolate a pure culture which degrades TBT, suggesting that microbial consortiums may be involved in transformations of organotins in the aquatic environment. Methylation and debutylation alter the adsorbtivity and solubility of tin compounds; thus microorganisms can influence the environmental mobility of tin. TBT-resistant microorganisms can be isolated, and in some of them resistance to TBT can be plasmid-mediated.

Distributed call processing for personal communications services

Abstract: The authors present a control architecture, procedures, and a signaling system to support advanced personal communication services (PCS). They describe the current cellular system architecture, and its algorithms and data management schemes for providing services. They present review how current cellular systems operate with a focus on mobility management and call and connection control. The benefits of this architecture include lower signaling traffic over wireless links, lower network load for signaling traffic, low call/connection delivery times, ubiquitous service offering, and more efficient routing of connections. >

Changing Trends in Healthcare: Implications for Baccalaureate Education, Practice and Employment

Abstract: The authors surveyed 96 hospitals and agencies in Massachusetts to determine: 1) the effect of the changes in health care delivery on RN utilization, particularly baccalaureate nurses, and 2) to identify educational changes necessary to prepare baccalaureate nursing graduates for employment and practice in the future. An analysis of the results of the survey of the 50 nurse executives who responded to the study identifies the projected needs and requirements of the service sector for delivering nursing care, and translates them into suggestions for revisions of the baccalaureate curriculum.

Parent role characteristics: Parent views and their implications for school psychologists.

Abstract: This research examined the parent role as perceived by a large number of parents of school-age children in New Hampshire. The results reveal that these parents readily describe a parent role using the same characteristics that emerge from the research literature. More importantly, the subjects consider each of the six parent role characteristics as differentially important at different stages in children's development. The implications of this research for school psychologists are many, including, for instance, assessment, consultation, and intervention.

HETEROLOGOUS POLYPEPTIDE PRODUCTION IN THE ABSENCE OF NONSENSE-MEDIATED mRNA DECAY FUNCTION

Abstract: The invention relates to the discovery of a gene, NMD2, named after its role in the Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay pathway, and the protein, Nmd2p, encoded by the NMD2 gene. The amino acid sequence of Nmd2p and the nucleotide sequence of the NMD2 gene encoding it are disclosed. Nmd2p is shown herein to bind to another protein in the decay pathway, Upf1p. A C-terminal fragment of the protein is also shown to bind Upf1p and, when overexpressed in the host cell, the fragment inhibits the function of Upf1p, thereby inhibiting the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway. The invention also relates to methods of inhibiting the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway to stabilize mRNA transcripts containing a nonsense codon which normally would cause an increase in the transcript decay rate. Such stabilization of a transcript is useful for the production of a recombinant protein or fragment thereof. The invention also relates to methods of identifying molecules that inhibit the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway, and the use of such molecules for treatment of disorders associated with nonsense mutations.

Models for planning capacity expansion of convenience stores under uncertain demand and the value of information

Abstract: Several stochastic optimization models for planning capacity expansion for convenience store chains (or other similar businesses) are developed that incorporate uncertainty in future demand. All of these models generate schedules for capacity expansion, specifying the size, location, and timing of these expansions in order to maximize the expected profit to the company and to remain within a budget constraint on available resources. The models differ in how uncertainty is incorporated, specifically they differ in the point in the decision-making process that the uncertainty in the demand is resolved. Several measures of the value of information are defined by comparing the results from the different models. Two sample problems are given and their solutions for the various approaches compared.