University of North Carolina at Wilmington

About: University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a education organization based out in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3329 authors who have published 6797 publications receiving 186308 citations.

Cutting the Grass: A Reexamination of the Link between Marital Attachment, Delinquent Peers and Desistance from Marijuana Use

Abstract: Recent work indicates that marriage contributes to desistance from crime. However, two prominent interpretations of this relationship have been offered. The first, rooted in informal control theory, suggests that the “marriage effect” is a direct result of social bonds that tend to accompany matrimony. The second contends that the effect is indirect and due to the impact of marriage on patterns of delinquent peer association. Using data from waves 5 and 6 of the National Youth Survey, this study re-analyzes these interpretations by examining the relationship between marital attachment, delinquent peer association and desistance from marijuana use. Although change in delinquent peer association is a powerful predictor of marijuana desistance, findings are also consistent with the control theory interpretation of the marriage effect. Implications and limitations of the current study are noted.

Background Television in the Homes of US Children

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: US parents were surveyed to determine the amount of background television that their children are exposed to as well as to isolate demographic factors associated with increased exposure to background television. After this, we ask how certain home media practices are linked to children’s background television exposure. METHODS: US parents/caregivers ( N = 1454) with 1 child between the ages of 8 months and 8 years participated in this study. A nationally representative telephone survey was conducted. Parents were asked to report on their child’s exposure to background television via a 24-hour time diary. Parents were also asked to report relevant home media behaviors related to their child: bedroom television ownership, number of televisions in the home, and how often a television was on in the home. RESULTS: The average US child was exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television on a typical day. With the use of multiple regression analysis, we found that younger children and African American children were exposed to more background television. Leaving the television on while no one is viewing and children’s bedroom television ownership were associated with increased background television exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Although recent research has shown the negative consequences associated with background television, this study provides the first nationally representative estimates of that exposure. The amount of exposure for the average child is startling. This study offers practitioners potential pathways to reduce exposure. * Abbreviations: TV — : television US — : United States

Brevenal is a natural inhibitor of brevetoxin action in sodium channel receptor binding assays.

Abstract: 1. Florida red tides produce profound neurotoxicity that is evidenced by massive fish kills, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, and respiratory distress. Red tides vary in potency, potency that is not totally governed by toxin concentration. The purpose of the study was to understand the variable potency of red tides by evaluating the potential for other natural pharmacological agents which could modulate or otherwise reduce the potency of these lethal environmental events. 2. A synaptosome binding preparation with 3-fold higher specific brevetoxin binding was developed to detect small changes in toxin binding in the presence of potential antagonists. Rodent brain labeled in vitro with tritiated brevetoxin shows high specific binding in the cerebellum as evidenced by autoradiography. Synaptosome binding assays employing cerebellum-derived synaptosomes illustrate 3-fold increased specific binding. 3. A new polyether natural product from Florida's red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, has been isolated and characterized. Brevenal, as the nontoxic natural product is known, competes with tritiated brevetoxin for site 5 associated with the voltage-sensitive sodium channel (VSSC). Brevenal displacement of specific brevetoxin binding is purely competitive in nature. 4. Brevenal, obtained from either laboratory cultures or field collections during a red tide, protects fish from the neurotoxic effects of brevetoxin exposure. 5. Brevenal may serve as a model compound for the development of therapeutics to prevent or reverse intoxication in red tide exposures.

From Interdisciplinary to Transdisciplinary: An Arts-Integrated Approach to STEAM Education

Abstract: What should science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education look like? In the context of educational policy, the STEAM conversation has intensified and spread across the United St...