Factors, correlates, and problem areas affecting career decision making of a cross-sectional sample of students.

Examined the self-reported impact of 6 general factors affecting career decision making and specifically tested the validity of the Career Factor Checklist (CFC) developed from a model of the lst author et al (1978). 1,436 high school, undergraduate, and graduate students completed the CFC and reported the degree to which 6 general factors and 22 subfactors affected their career decision making. Results show that the CFC measured the 6 general career factors identified by the model. A significant grade main effect and Sex?×?Grade interactions were found for 4 of the 6 factors assessed. Implications are discussed for individual counseling and for preventive programming around the correlates in career decision making. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cardiac Disease Alters Myocardial Tissue Levels of Epoxyeicosatrienoic Acids and Key Proteins Involved in Their Biosynthesis and Degradation

CYP2J2 is the main epoxygenase in the heart that is responsible for oxidizing arachidonic acid to cis-epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs). Once formed, EETs can then be hydrolyzed by soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH, encoded by EPHX2) or re-esterified back to the membrane. EETs have several cardioprotective properties and higher levels are usually associated with better cardiac outcomes/prognosis. This study investigates how cardiovascular disease (CVD) can influence total EET levels by altering protein expression and activity of enzymes involved in their biosynthesis and degradation. Diseased ventricular cardiac tissues were collected from patients receiving Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) or heart transplants and compared to ventricular tissue from controls free of CVD. EETs, and enzymes involved in EETs biosynthesis and degradation, were measured using mass spectrometric assays. Terfenadine hydroxylation was used to probe CYP2J2 activity. Significantly higher cis- and trans-EET levels were observed in control cardiac tissue (n = 17) relative to diseased tissue (n = 24). Control cardiac tissue had higher CYP2J2 protein levels, which resulted in higher rate of terfenadine hydroxylation, compared to diseased cardiac tissues. In addition, levels of both NADPH-Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) and sEH proteins were significantly higher in control versus diseased cardiac tissue. Overall, alterations in protein and activity of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and degradation of EETs provide a mechanistic understanding for decreased EET levels in diseased tissues.     

Variables that distinguish elementary teachers who participate in school-based consultation from those who do not.

Examined variables that distinguished elementary teachers who participated in consultation from those who did not. 352 female elementary teachers completed questionnaires: 186 of the Ss reported they had participated in consultation with a school psychologist, and 166 reported that they had not. A stepwise discriminant function analysis using 8 teacher response variables found 5 variables that significantly distinguished the 2 groups: school psychologist offering help, teachers' scores on the Problem Solving Inventory, perceptions of psychologist training in problem solving, years of teaching experience, and perceptions that a school psychologist's training is different from that of a teacher's. Suggestions are offered to school psychologists for increasing teacher requests for consultation services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extraordinary LED installations: events for user–innovation interaction

Recent innovation research describes events as mechanism for innovation diffusion but does not explore their socio-material dimension. This study compares and conceptualises event settings that allow professional technology users to engage with an innovation before they adopt it. The focus is on temporary installations of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in lighting trade fairs and light festivals. LEDs are currently transforming the lighting field. This study focuses on the time when LED products were already on the market but demand was still low. Based on ethnographic research, it shows that in this critical situation, events offered professional users formats for trying and evaluating LED technology in event-specific ways. While trade fair displays promoted the adoption of LED products, festival projects allowed professional LED users to creatively adapt and shape the new technology. Theoretically, this study combines social-scientific innovation research on events with social-constructivist studies on user–innovation interaction in a multi-level conceptual framework.     

Relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings.

Course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings were collected from 1,088 college students using as pretest the Affective Entry Questionnaire and as posttest the Course Evaluation Form. Two groups of Ss were studied: those reporting precourse attitudes toward the course but not the instructor, and those reporting precourse attitudes toward both the course and the instructor. Multiple regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between course entry attitudes and end-of-course ratings for Ss reporting precourse expectations prior to entry into the course. Different sets of items from the Course Entry Scale were found to predict end-of-course ratings for the different groups of Ss studied. Course entry bias is a relatively rare occurrence, but when it exists, it exerts a predictable influence on the evaluation of instructor performance. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human Brain Models of Intellectual Disability: Experimental Advances and Novelties

Intellectual disability (ID) is characterized by deficits in conceptual, social and practical domains. ID can be caused by both genetic defects and environmental factors and is extremely heterogeneous, which complicates the diagnosis as well as the deciphering of the underlying pathways. Multiple scientific breakthroughs during the past decades have enabled the development of novel ID models. The advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) enables the study of patient-derived human neurons in 2D or in 3D organoids during development. Gene-editing tools, such as CRISPR/Cas9, provide isogenic controls and opportunities to design personalized gene therapies. In practice this has contributed significantly to the understanding of ID and opened doors to identify novel therapeutic targets. Despite these advances, a number of areas of improvement remain for which novel technologies might entail a solution in the near future. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the existing literature on scientific breakthroughs that have been advancing the way ID can be studied in the human brain. The here described human brain models for ID have the potential to accelerate the identification of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms and the development of therapies.