Communal Growth Research Articles

Personal growth in adults' stories of life transitions.

Abstract This study identified four themes of personal growth (integrative, intrinsic, agentic, and communal) in adults' stories of life transitions in careers and religions. Specific themes were expected to relate differentially to two forms of personality development (social-cognitive maturity and social-emotional well-being) and to transition satisfaction. Integrative themes correlated primarily with social-cognitive maturity (ego development; Loevinger, 1976), whereas intrinsic themes correlated primarily with social-emotional well-being. Agentic-growth themes correlated primarily with transition satisfaction, whereas communal-growth themes correlated primarily with global well-being. Themes of agentic and communal growth also differentiated the two types of transitions studied-changes in careers and changes in religions-in ways that both supported and contradicted traditional notions of those transitions. We discuss these findings in terms of narrative meaning making, the mature and happy person, and intentional self-development via life transitions.

Pregnancy rates after communal growth of preimplantation human embryos in vitro

To evaluate the effect of communal growth of preimplantation human embryos on pregnancy rates in IVF-ET. Prospective randomized study. In Vitro Fertilization Unit, Bikur Cholim Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. Ninety-one women undergoing 91 cycles of IVF-ET. In 42 cycles (control) embryos were grown singly, in 49 cycles (study) embryos were grown in groups until transfer. Proportion of women achieving pregnancy in study and control groups. Communal growth of embryos resulted in significantly improved pregnancy rates. Intrauterine transfer of embryos grown in groups produced 43% pregnancy rates per transfer, whereas, with embryos grown individually, 24% pregnancy rates were obtained (odds ratio = 2.4). Our study suggests that, in IVF, the potential of preimplantation human embryos to produce pregnancy tends to increase when embryos are grown in groups.

Communal growth comparison of 11 strains of mixed sex tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus L.) and two strains of genetically male tilapia (GMT)

Communal growth comparison of 11 strains of mixed sex tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus L.) and two strains of genetically male tilapia (GMT)

The Birth and Growth of "Friends of Women's Studies" at the University of Cincinnati

Every day, from September through May, for the past six years I have greeted my colleagues in the Center for Women's Studies with a question: How many Friends do we have? I wasn't paranoid; I was checking and rechecking and checking once again on the health of a young organization-Friends of Women's Studies. The following essay is an attempt to explain how Friends came about, how it functions, and what it has accomplished. It is meant, in part, as a response to the many women's studies directors who have phoned and written to ask, How can I start a Friends group? It is also meant as a tribute to the wonderful women with whom I have worked who shared my dream and turned it into a reality. I arrived at the University of Cincinnati in July of 1979 to assume the directorship of the Women's Studies Program, which was then five years old. The university's crowded campus had given rise to many programs for its 36,000 students, but many had also languished because of lack of funds and energy. The Center for Women's Studies had achieved a small niche-an office in an outof-the-way building, a part-time assistant, and a secretary. But despite enthusiastic faculty, a potpourri of wonderful programs, and a regular newsletter, the program had little visibility on campus and very little in the larger community. I was determined to bring women's studies to a much larger audience. I believed then, as I still do, that women's studies courses, lectures, symposia, and publications are too good to keep to ourselves. In the spring of 1980, I brought together a handful of faculty and a somewhat larger group of community women to begin an open-ended dialogue on the significance of women's studies on campus and in the community. That dialogue continues and has expanded over the years to include thousands of participants and to address every significant issue facing women today. The immediate outcome of this extended discourse was the creation of Friends of Women's Studies, an organization devoted to supporting the Center. The longer term outcome has been the personal and communal growth of women's studies faculty and Friends. A description and analysis of three recent events will illustrate the current dimensions of this dialogue.

Communal growth response of a heat-injured strain of Escherichia coli.

A phenomenon referred to as communal growth response was observed with heat-injured cells of E. coli strain SA603 plated on selective media for coliforms. Excessively low counts were obtained at dilutions designed to give between 30 and 300 colonies per plate. Sublethal heat treatment of this strain appears to result in two types of injured cells; those able to grow on selective media when present in excess of about 400/Petri dish (15 × 100 mm) and those unable to grow on selective media even when present in concentrations above the threshold level of 400/Petri dish.