Effects Of Disorganization Research Articles

Effects of disorganization on choice reaction time and visual orientation in untreated schizophrenics

Several preattentive mechanisms have proved to be sensitive markers of clinical change in schizophrenia. Two related studies of visuospatial orientation used cued target detection combined with choice reaction time, short/long preparation, with or without a signal/target interval ("gap"/ "no-gap," to detect attentional disengagement difficulty in schizophrenia). End points were reaction times, alertness scores, attentional cost/benefit, and validity scores. Study 1, in 13 schizophrenics receiving second-generation antipsychotics and 13 controls, found the same impairment of disengagement as with neuroleptics, but intact reaction times and processing speed, with no hemispheric asymmetry. Study 2, in 12 untreated acute schizophrenics and 12 controls, showed slower reaction times, near-zero alertness in the fixation release condition, and impaired valid/invalid discrimination versus Syndrome Scale disorganization subscore (r = -0.81; P < 0.01). Early deficits in the preattentive orientation and visual. Early deficits in the preattentive orientation and visual detection phases are useful for assessing response to psychotropic treatment and establishing clinical correlates in acute schizophrenia.

INTEGRATING RACE, PLACE AND MOTIVE IN SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION THEORY: LESSONS FROM A COMPARISON OF BLACK AND LATINO HOMICIDE TYPES IN TWO IMMIGRANT DESTINATION CITIES*

In this paper, we examine and compare the impact of social disorganization, including recent immigration, and other predictors on community counts of black and Latino motive-specific homicides in Miami and San Diego. Homicides for 1985 to 1995 are disaggregated into escalation, intimate, robbery and drug-related motives. Negative binomial regression models with corrections for spatial autocorrelation demonstrate that there are similarities and differences in effects of social disorganization and other predictors by motive-specific outcomes, as well as for outcomes across ethnic groups within cities and within ethnic groups across cities. Recent immigration is negatively or not associated with most outcomes. Overall, the study shows the importance of disaggregating homicide data by race/ethnicity and motive and demonstrates that predictions based on existing theories are qualified on local conditions.

A reassessment of state‐level covariates of militia groups

This study investigated state-level variation in the number of right-wing militia groups. We built on prior quantitative examinations by more carefully operationalizing theoretical concepts and testing alternative hypotheses offered to account for the etiology of social movements generally and of militias specifically. Using negative binomial regression, we found that, consistent with previous research, states with higher levels of farm job loss had more militia groups. However, in contrast to prior studies, we did not find gun culture, hospitable political climate, female empowerment, or general economic deprivation to be associated with the number of militia groups. We also found no relationship between the number of militia groups and levels of fundamentalist religious culture and minority empowerment. Our study was the first to test the effects of social disorganization on the number of militias in a state, and we found the two to be positively and significantly associated. We situate our results in the theoretical and empirical literature and outline two challenges for future research. First, scholars must operationalize variables carefully since different measures of the same theoretical concept may result in diverging conclusions. Second, since one major factor (i.e., social disorganization) found in this study to be associated with the number of militia groups in a state was examined here for the first time, it is important for researchers to continue to investigate new hypotheses.

Breaking from orthodoxy: The effects of social disorganization on perceived burglary in nonmetropolitan communities

The present research breaks from the urban orthodoxy and tests two ecological propositions in less densely populated, nonmetropolitan communities. The analysis file features 1,125 citizens nested in 31 residential units located in Michigan. Hierarchical logistic modeling is used to examine the effects of structural antecedents and social mechanisms, net of citizen-level correlates, on perceived burglary. Three findings emerge: 1) respondents living in residential units with higher levels of economic disadvantage report that burglary is significantly more problematic in their community; 2) social cohesion is inversely associated with perceived crime; and 3) social cohesion partially mediates the effect of economic disadvantage.

Disorganization in the process of transition

Most post‐communist economies are characterized by an initial collapse in aggregate output. Blanchard and Kremer (1997) and Roland and Verdier (1997) have recently modelled supply‐side distortions – disorganization in the links of production – that can lead to a short‐term output contraction after market liberalization and a recovery thereafter. This paper is the first to illustrate and test the effects of disorganization in the transition process by using a unique dataset of 300 Ukrainian firms. Our results show that for firms that existed under central planning, disorganization constrains employment and productivity growth during the transition process to a market economy. We also show that the effects of disorganization are greater the more out‐dated the capital stock inheritance from the planning system. In contrast, disorganization plays no role in the determination of employment and productivity growth in newly established private firms.JEL classification: P0, O0, D0.

The Social Ecology of Drug Use: A Factor Analysis of an Urban Environment

Drug use is related to the environment in which drug users live. Using 32 economic, housing, crime, and health variables for 1990 census tracts in Houston, Texas, this study found four identifiable factors: social disorganization, economic success, threat of violence, and chronic disease. Narcotic offenses loaded strongly on one and weakly on two of the factors; this variable did not load on the economic success factor. These results suggest that a textured look at drug use environments finds them to be multidimensional. Urban dwellers must deal with the independent effects of social disorganization, economic conditions, chronic disease, and violence.

Burglary Victimization, Perceptions of Crime Risk, and Routine Activities: A Multilevel Analysis Across Seattle Neighborhoods and Census Tracts

This study extends previous research on the effects of victimization in terms of fear of crime and constrained behavior by examining both micro- and macrolevel factors. In particular, we address the way in which contextual indicators of ambient risk can affect individuals' perceived risk and lifestyles through both main effects and moderating effects—where the latter cause the effects of individual-level factors on risk perception and routine activities to vary across residential communities. Results presented here suggest that increased levels of crime (as indicated by tract-level burglary rates) and disorganization (as indicated by high levels of neighborhood incivilities, for instance) have important direct positive effects on perceived crime risk, whereas neighborhood social integration decreases perceived risk. Further, tract-level crime rates have direct positive effects on protective behaviors, but community disorder, for the most part, does not lead to an increase in precautionary measures. Important moderating effects of crime and disorganization are also found. For instance, the tendency for non-Whites to perceive lower crime risk (or to feel less unsafe) than Whites is intensified in disorderly areas.

Modulation of hydroxylase and lyase activities of bovine cytochrome P-450(17) alpha in adrenal and testicular microsomes by a tissue-specific local membrane environment.

In steroidogenic tissues, cytochrome P-450(17) alpha catalyzes both steroid 17 alpha-hydroxylation and 17,20-lyase reactions. The ratio of the two activities, hydroxylase over lyase (H/L) depends upon the tissue of origin; this ratio is low in the testis whereas it is high in the adrenal cortex. To examine the factors responsible for this specific regulation, two approaches were followed: (i) the purified enzyme was incorporated into liposomes made of microsomal lipids of testis or adrenal cortex; and (ii) the effects of disorganization of the microsomal membrane on the activities were observed. The results show that the cytochrome 17,20-lyase activity is stimulated by the presence of lipids from testicular origin. In the adrenal microsomes, this activity appears to be dependent upon the local membrane organization. Specific component(s) associated with the neutral fraction of the microsome lipid extract may be responsible for the repression of lyase activity in the adrenal.

Reversible disassembly of an intestinal epithelial monolayer by prolonged exposure to phorbol ester

This article describes a model of reversible disassembly of a cultured human intestinal epithelial monolayer by prolonged exposure to the phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA). Prolonged phorbol ester exposure reduces protein kinase C (PKC) levels in numerous cell types including T84, as shown here. Under PKC-downregulated conditions, T84 monolayers, which simulate the highly organized structure of native intestinal crypt cells, become disassembled into 2 or 3 layers of rounded cells. Proliferation does not account for these morphological changes as assessed by thymidine incorporation studies. The effects of structural disorganization on epithelial barrier function was also examined. The permeability of disassembled monolayers was significantly greater than that of controls. Flux studies localized the permeability defect to the tight junction. PKC-associated alterations in the perijunctional ring of actin and myosin, one of the putative regulators of flow across the tight junction, were found to correlate with the observed functional changes. Most interesting was the fact that monolayer reassembly to the original columnar epithelial phenotype and reestablishment of barrier function occurred upon normalization of PKC levels. This model of reversible monolayer disassembly will allow investigation into the relationship between epithelial structure and function and examination of factors that govern monolayer formation.

Governance Structure, Resource Allocation, and Equity Policy

Educational inequality remains a major challenge to policymakers as our nation prepares to enter the 21st century. As social institutions, public schools are shaped by the deleterious effects of poverty, family disorganization, and racial and cultural isolation. Inequality in the life chances of children growing up in different socioeconomic environments is clearly evident in the schools they attend (Educational Testing Service, 1991; Kozol, 1991; Orfield & Reardon, 1992). Children from middle-class families are likely to attend suburban schools with an advanced curriculum supported by a stable tax base. In the inner city, minority children who come from low-income backgrounds are likely to concentrate in schools that lack basic supplies because of insufficient funds. Physical facilities are noticeably inferior in inner-city schools. Consequently, significant inequity exists in student access to knowledge and to instruction (Darling-Hammond, in press). Many minority youths are assigned to general education tracks with low academic expectations, whereas students from middle-class families are enrolled in collegepreparatory programs (Oakes, 1992). Too often, educational opportunities are socially structured.

The effects of maternal epidural anesthesia on neonatal behavior during the first month.

The effects of maternal epidural anesthesia with bupivacaine on the infant's performance on the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) over the first month of life were examined. 20 non-medicated infants were matched for biomedical and demographic variables with 20 infants delivered with bupivacaine epidural anesthesia. The NBAS was administered on days 1, 3, 7 and 28. The epidural group showed poorer performance on the orientation and motor clusters during the first month of life. Epidural mothers reported spending less time with their infants while in the hospital; post hoc analyses showed that they had longer labor, more forceps deliveries and a greater amount of oxytocin. Controlling for the effects of these medical variables, a dose effect was found for the mean orientation and motor cluster scores. The results are discussed in terms of possible effects of the infant's early disorganization on the mother-infant interaction.

Dezorganizacja społeczna a przestępczość

The notion of disorganization, rather seldom used in sociology today, used to have a broad application in the American sociology of the 1920-1940s, in particular in the analysis of effects of such processes as mass migrations, urbanization and industralization. The term of disorganization was given to the negative effects of changes related to these processes. Presently, this term is sometimes used in the analysis of the contemporary highly developed societes when discussing the stability of their cultural systems and the functioning of their basic institutions. There are also in sociology many definitions of disorganization; generally, it may be defined as the state of a disturbed balance resulting from a change first and foremost. What is the value of this term for a criminologist? Irrespective of the type of definition of disorganization applied, one of its basic determinants is considered to be crime both as a mass phenomenon and as an individual act. Therefore this term is used in sociology since a long time to designate phenomena that are rather varied for that matter. Traditionally, the term social disorganization’’ meant in criminology situation f und in the so-called delinquency areas which emerged in the period of vehement development of American cities as a result of mass migrations in search of livelihood. In traditional handbooks of criminology, a generalization of experimental findings concerning the processes that take place in delinquency areas is usually called the theory of disorganization. Not long ago, a work by R. Kornhauser was published which is an attempt at a new approach to the development of the sociological theory of crime. In the work, two basic analytic models of investigation of crime conditions are distinguished. One of them is the model of disorganization interpreted as a relative lack of a formulated system of values in a given culture and as a disturbed relationship between culture and the structure. Two theoretical approaches can be distinguished here which are derived from the notion of disorganization. They are: the model of control and the model of strain. According to the first of them, disorganization results in the weakening of control which manifests itself in disturbances either of the process of socialization or of the functioning of the basic institutions, being thus conductive to the emergence of a delinquent or otherwise deviant behaviour. Acording to the second of the above-mantioned approaches, disorganization brings about the rise of pressure towards delinquent behaviour, the strain resulting from the divergence between the socially formed aspirations and the expectations as to their realization. According to the authors of this classification, the main representatives of the control trend are Thrasher as well as Shaw and McKay, and of the strain one-Merton, Cohen who derived his theoretical discussion from Merton's conception of anomy, and Cloward and Ohlin. The notion of disorganization is also referred to in works of other theoreticians of criminology, such as for instance Sutherland and Sellin. They both refer to the results of the societies's cultural differentiation, that of the structure of norms in particular. Cultural diffrentiation, which is one of the effects of disorganization, may sometimes - in extreme cases – assume the form of a conflict of cultures, i.e. of a state of fundamental conflict between the systems of norms and values of the separate groups. Social disorganization cannot be treated as an explicitly defined and measurable phenomenon. Instead, we can measure some situational determinants of disorganization which can be applied in studies of such processes as migrations, vehement urbanization, rapid industrial development of regions with no industrial traditions, socio-economic crises, etc., on the one hand, and in studies of a disturbed functioning of institutions that are particularly important for the society (the family in particular) on the other hand. In Poland, there is quite a rich tradition of investigating some aspects of disorganization, as for instance studies of the effect urbanization and industrialization have on crime, of the symptoms of disorganization in urban environment, and above all of various aspects of family disorganization and their connection with delinquency. The notion of disorganization, though susceptible of various interpretations, nevertheless seems useful in criminology as it makes it possible to combine into a syndrome the various traits of certain situations that are conductive to delinquent behaviour.

Effects of tissue disorganization on proteoglycan synthesis by articular chondrocytes in vitro.

In response to degenerative changes (tissue disorganization) in articular cartilage, chondrocytes synthesize proteoglycans which differ in several aspects from those found in healthy cartilage [1]. The main object of this study was to investigate the effects of the severity of tissue disorganization on the nature of the newly synthezised proteoglycans. The proteoglycans synthesized by chondrocytes in explant cultures, high density (pellet) and monolayer cultures are compared. The study is focussed on the degree of sulphation and the position of sulphate in chondroitin sulphate chains ofproteoglycans synthesized in vitro.

Vinblastine-induced autophagocytosis: The effect of disorganization of microfilaments by cytochalasin B

The effects of disorganization of cellular microfilaments by cytochalasin B on vinblastine-induced autophagocytosis was studied in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in vitro. Incubation with vinblastine induced a formation of autophagic vacuoles in the cytoplasm. The disorganization of microfilaments by cytochalasin B failed to inhibit vinblastine-induced autophagocytosis. Incubation with cytochalasin B alone induced a rapid formation of blebs on the cell surface. These contained cytoplasmic organelles and were connected by a narrow shaft to the main part of the cell. Thin subcortical microfilaments seen in the control cell cytoplasm were apparently relocated after cytochalasin B treatment and formed amorphous masses deeper in the cytoplasm. Vinblastine did not affect the formation of blebs after cytochalasin B treatment.

The effects of disorganization and nonfluency on attitude change and source credibility

(1969). The effects of disorganization and nonfluency on attitude change and source credibility. Speech Monographs: Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 13-21.

INDUCED CHANGES IN THE CELLS OF THE OVOTESTIS OF THE SLUG, DEROCERAS RETICULATUM (MÜLLER), WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE NUCLEOLUS

The germinal epithelium lining the ovotestis of the slug, Deroceras reticulatum, gives rise to spermatozoa, eggs, and nurse cells. The behavior of the nucleolus has been followed in these cells, particularly in the development of the oocytes. Changes in size, number, and staining reactions of the nucleolar components occur during the rapid growth of the egg. Exposure of animals to low temperature (0 °C.) causes two changes in the germinal epithelial cells. The normal flattened cells with elliptical nuclei now become greatly elongated towards the lumen of the gonad and their nuclei become rounded and conspicuous. The ovotestis shows other changes as a result of exposure to cold, such as loss of organization and, in extreme cases, complete disappearance of the cytoplasm of the eggs, leaving only the nuclei. These changes are accompanied by changes in the behavior of the nucleolus. Similar effects of disorganization and loss of cytoplasm follow the injection of an anterior pituitary hormone "Synapoidin") into slugs, but there was no effect on the germinal epithelium. The number of eggs per follicle increased with the number of injections of the hormone. The general effects of these two agents resemble an induced premature maturation followed by senescence. It is suggested that this may be due to interference with the enzyme or hormonal systems of the normal cells.

Mental Symptoms, Precursors of an Attack of Apoplexy

Mental Symptoms, Precursors of an Attack of Apoplexy