Responses Of Others Research Articles

Stigma, Abortion, and Disclosure—Findings from a Qualitative Study

This study qualitatively explores perceptions of women who have experienced abortion care. It explores women's journey through abortion from confirmation of pregnancy to post-abortion. The study seeks to understand the implications of these perceptions for policy and practice. A qualitative study involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with 17 women, aged between 22 and 57 years, who had undergone legal induced abortion in the UK when they were 16 years or older. Participants were not recruited under the age of 16 because of the ethical and legal complexities of interviewing minors. Additionally, 16 years was deemed to be the most appropriate age as this is the legal age of consent in the UK. Participants were recruited from 12 community contraception and sexual health clinics in two NHS trusts, one in England and one in Wales. Participant recruitment was set at a minimum of 12 and participants were recruited on a "first come first served basis" (i.e., the first 12 who contacted the researcher). The number of participants was raised to seventeen as this was the number deemed to be the most suitable for data saturation in this particular qualitative research. Women in this study understood abortion as highly taboo and a potentially personally stigmatizing event. These perceptions continued to affect disclosure to others, long after the abortion, and affected women's perceptions of the response of others, including society in general, significant others, and health professionals. Women's experiences of abortion may be influenced by perceived negative social attitudes. Health professionals and abortion service providers might combat the perceived isolation of women undergoing abortion by attending not only to clinical/technical aspects of the procedure but also to women's psychological/emotional sensitivities surrounding the event.

Effect of Polymer Degree of Conversion on Streptococcus mutans Biofilms

Biofilm-material interactions are increasingly recognized as critical to success of some materials/devices and failure of others. We use a model system of dental monomers, salivary pellicles, and oral biofilms to demonstrate for the first time that degree of conversion of cross-linked dimethacrylate polymers alters biofilm metabolic activity. This response is due primarily to leachable release (not surface chemistry) and is complex, with no changes in some biofilm measurements (i.e., biomass), and time- and leachable-dependent responses in others (i.e., metabolic activity). These results highlight the need for considering biofilm-material interactions when designing/evaluating new materials.

Attentional Modulations Related to Spatial Gating but Not to Allocation of Limited Resources in Primate V1

Attention can modulate neural responses in sensory cortical areas and improve behavioral performance in perceptual tasks. However, the nature and purpose of these modulations remain under debate. Here weused voltage-sensitive dye imaging (VSDI) to measure V1 population responses while monkeys performed a difficult detection task under focal or distributed attention. We found that V1 responses at attended locations are significantly elevated relative to actively ignored or irrelevant locations, consistent with the hypothesis that an important goal of attention in V1 is to highlight task-relevant information. Surprisingly, these modulations were indistinguishable under focal and distributed attention, suggesting a minor or no role for attention as a mechanism for allocating limited representational resources in V1. The response elevation at attended locations is additive, is widespread, and starts shortly before stimulus onset. This elevation could contribute to spatial gating by biasing competition in subsequent processing stages in favor of attended stimuli.

Manganese is required for oxidative metabolism in unstressed Bradyrhizobium japonicum cells

Recent studies of Mn(2+) transport mutants indicate that manganese is essential for unstressed growth in some bacterial species, but is required primarily for induced stress responses in others. A Bradyrhizobium japonicum mutant defective in the high-affinity Mn(2+) transporter gene mntH has a severe growth phenotype under manganese limitation, suggesting a requirement for the metal under unstressed growth. Here, we found that activities of superoxide dismutase and the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase were deficient in an mntH strain grown under manganese limitation. We identified pykM as the only pyruvate kinase-encoding gene based on deficiency in activity of a pykM mutant, rescue of the growth phenotype with pyruvate, and pyruvate kinase activity of purified recombinant PykM. PykM is unusual in that it required Mn(2+) rather than Mg(2+) for high activity, and that neither fructose-1,6-bisphosphate nor AMP was a positive allosteric effector. The mntH-dependent superoxide dismutase is encoded by sodM, the only expressed superoxide dismutase-encoding gene under unstressed growth conditions. An mntH mutant grew more slowly on pyruvate under manganese-limited conditions than did a pykM sodM double mutant, implying additional manganese-dependent processes. The findings implicate roles for manganese in key steps in unstressed oxidative metabolism in B. japonicum.

Pheromones: Fish Fear Factor

Fish, like many other animals, panic when another individual is injured. Now, the chemical nature of a substance that mediates this reaction has been uncovered.

Social support and invalidation by others contribute uniquely to the understanding of physical and mental health of patients with rheumatic diseases

This study examined whether social support and invalidation (lack of understanding and discounting by others) are differently associated with physical and mental health. Participants were 1455 patients with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, osteorarthritis, or another rheumatic disease. Participants completed online questionnaires. Social support correlated negatively with discounting responses of others (moderately) and lack of understanding (strongly). Both invalidation and social support were additively associated with patients' mental health, but only discounting was significantly associated with patients' physical health. This suggests that improving health of patients with rheumatic diseases requires the consideration of both social support and invalidation.

Issues experienced by service users with an eating disorder: a qualitative investigation

Aims: This study examined the perceptions of treatment by service users who had been diagnosed with an eating disorder Methods: A qualitative research design using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) was used. A focus group was held where the discussion was guided by a semi-structured interview schedule. Three key domains were identified using the CQR procedure: therapeutic relationship, response of others, and treatment experiences. Conclusions: The pervasive theme that appeared to emerge throughout the session was the lack of understanding by others including family, friends and health professionals.

Why do people lose their friends after a stroke?

It is well-known that people lose friends after a stroke; what is less well understood is why this occurs. This study explored why people lose contact with their friends, and whether there are any protective factors. It also examined how friendship loss and change is perceived by the individual. Participants with a first stroke were recruited from one acute stroke unit in the UK. In-depth qualitative interviews took place between 8 and 15 months post stroke. 29 participants were recruited of whom 10 had aphasia. The main reasons given for losing friends were: loss of shared activities, reduced energy levels, physical disability, aphasia, unhelpful responses of others, environmental barriers, and changing social desires. The subset of participants who experienced the most extensive loss of friends were those who described a sense that they were 'closing in' on themselves leading to a withdrawal from social contact and a new preference for meeting only close friends and family. Those with aphasia experienced the most hurtful negative responses from others and found it more difficult to retain their friends unless they had strong supportive friendship patterns prior to the stroke. The factors which helped to protect friendships included: having a shared history, friends who showed concern, who lived locally, where the friendship was not activity-based, and where the participant had a 'friends-based' social network prior to the stroke. Given the link between depression and loss of friends post stroke, supporting an individual in maintaining a social network is likely to be beneficial. For intervention to be effective, however, it may need to take into account not only the impact of new physical and language disabilities, but also changing social desires.

Self and other: The importance of social interaction and social relationships in shaping the experience of early-stage Alzheimer's disease

Various factors influence how individuals experience illness. Especially important, however, is the reaction of others whose response shapes the meaning of the illness for the person who is ill, and the impact it will have on her or his sense of self. Adopting a symbolic interactionist perspective, and drawing on data obtained from in-depth interviews conducted with nine individuals living with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, this paper examines how others’ reactions to and treatment of persons living with the condition can influence how they experience dementia. The findings reveal that the majority of the participants did not believe others’ treatment of them had substantially changed, nor did most express the level of concern about the possible negative response of others reported in other studies. Within their relationships and social interactions participants received the essential support, cooperation, and encouragement that enabled them to create meaning in life and sustain identity.

Hippolyte'sCoursiers oisifs: Poussin, Racine and Animals Untamed

Abstract In this article, the interaction between animals and humans in two works by Poussin and Racine, Poussin's 'Paysage avec un homme tue par un serpent' (1648) and Racine's Phedre (1677), are considered. The focus of enquiry is firstly on the unsettling effect that untamed animals have on the ordered human world as depicted in the seventeenth century, drawn from anthropologist Tim Ingold's distinction between two kinds of animality (domain and condition). It is secondly upon the way in which both painter and play-wright force us to view such destabilising spectacles through the multi-layered response of others. Included in the analysis are readings of Poussin by various commentators, most prominently T. J. Clark, and an examination of the loss of control of Hippolyte (whose name after all means 'horse liberator/loosener') over his horses. My final argument will hinge on the idea that the perilous interplay between man and beast reveals a world of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Does the Defining Issues Test Measure Ethical Judgment Ability or Political Position?

ABSTRACT This article addresses the construct validity of the Defining Issues Test of ethical judgment (DIT/DIT-2). Alleging a political bias in the test, Emler and colleagues (1983, 1998, 1999, 2007), show that conservatives score higher when asked to fake as liberals, implying that they understand the reasoning associated with “higher” moral development but avoid items they see as liberally biased. DIT proponents challenge the internal validity of faking studies, advocating an explained-variance validation. This study takes a new approach: Adult participants complete the DIT-2, then evaluate the raw responses of others to discern political orientation and ethical development. Results show that individuals scoring higher on the DIT-2 rank others' ethical judgment in a way consistent with DIT-2-based rankings. Accuracy at assessing political orientation, however, is low. Results support the DIT-2's validity as a measure of ethical development, not an expression of political position.

The Angry Face Syndrome

The Angry Face Syndrome

From Dalits to Bene Ephraim

The community of Bene Ephraim was established in the late 1980s in Andhra Pradesh by a group of Christianized Madiga who declared that they belonged to one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. The paper explores the extent to which Bene Ephraim narratives of origin have been and are being shaped by the responses of others on the level of national and international politics. It is demonstrated that while in the beginning the leaders of the community were keen to stress their affinity to the scheduled castes of India and portrayed their social and economic problems in terms of the upper and lower caste dichotomy, later on they modified their story of origin to dissociate the community from the untouchables. Their self-representation as victims of caste domination gave way to expressions of concern about the possibility of becoming victims of anti-Jewish terrorist attacks. The paper argues that this change in the way the Bene Ephraim chose to frame the socio-political problems that the community is facing was linked to their attempts to be recognized as a Jewish group and be accepted in the State of Israel. At the same time, it is also suggested that this tactic provides yet another example of a Dalit group attempting to attract the attention of the international community to their condition of discrimination by reinterpreting their plight in the terms that foreign audiences would be more familiar with and could relate to more easily.

Project-Based Learning: A Critical Pedagogy for the Twenty-First Century

John Dewey's notion of the school as a ‘social laboratory’ influenced educational policy a century ago when the United States underwent a ‘great transformation’ in its educational history toward mass schooling, resulting partly from the ‘high school movement’, where the focus was on ‘schooling for life’. Project-based learning, which builds on Dewey's work on experiential, hands-on, student-directed learning, is ultimately delivered within a student-teacher relationship, and the structure of this relationship and that of the school itself were shaped by an industrial culture that developed during a period of rapid industrialization when the dual revolutions of technology and information processing were transforming the country. During the earlier transition from craft to mass production, schools provided a social context for the task of renegotiating and refraining occupational techniques and world orientations in light of dramatic technological changes. So, too, have the challenges of the current technological revolution shifted the emphasis of education toward students actively using what they know to explore, negotiate, interpret, and create. As a potentially ‘disruptive innovation’ to the traditional schooling model, project-based learning challenges students by acknowledging their roles as participants engaged in producing knowledge. Students also perceive the value of project-based learning, experience this form of learning, and are rewarded through the responses of others to their projects within a community of practice.

Beliefs and preferences in cultural agents and cultural game players

Two laboratory experiments demonstrated that Japanese participants did not conform to the majority unless negative social implications of not conforming were clear. When their behaviour had no implications for others, they rather exhibited preference for uniqueness. Results of Study 2 further demonstrated that participants' conformity to the majority was particularly prevalent among those who were chronically concerned with how other people would perceive them. Participants in these studies were shown to be cultural game players who changed their behaviour in response to anticipated responses of others based on culturally shared beliefs.

The quality of word‐of‐mouth in the online shopping mall

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among the quality of word‐of‐mouth (WOM), online trust, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and online shopping intention in the online shopping mall. This study presented participation and response of others on bulletin boards or product review sections as the factors that affect the quality of WOM through literature review.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical review and an empirical study were conducted and the hypotheses were tested through the empirical analysis.FindingsThe paper finds that participation and response of others on bulletin board or product review section have positive effects on the quality of WOM. It was revealed that the quality of WOM has positive effects on online trust, and online trust has positive effects on perceived usefulness, shopping intension and perceived ease of use. In addition, the results demonstrated that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have positive effects on shopping intention.Originality/valueMany studies on online shopping malls are mostly focused on the effects of following the action by positive or negative WOM. This study examines the factors that determine the quality of online WOM, and it seeks to examine the effects of such WOM on the following actions such as online trust and purchase intention.

Children’s experience of living with a craniofacial condition: Perspectives of children and parents

This is the first study to examine the range of experiences of children living with a wide range of craniofacial anomalies (CFAs), from the perspectives of children and parents. We interviewed 26 young people and 28 parents about both stressors and positive aspects for young people of living with a CFA. Thematic analysis revealed four major stress-related themes (self-acceptance, responses of others, disabilities and impairments, and treatment). Positive themes included personal qualities and support. Psychological theories often applied to those with CFAs relate to attractiveness, stigma and teasing, but the present findings suggest that these are not as useful as the conceptualization of CFAs as chronic conditions which influence adaptive tasks. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Viral Kinetics and Duration of Hepatitis C Therapy

Treatment for hepatitis C is aimed at eliminating the virus and thus preventing the development of cirrhosis. The effectiveness of antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is based upon inhibition of viral replication and successful viral clearance while maintaining minimal toxicity. Therapy as short as 12 to 16 weeks duration may be adequate for those with genotypes 2 or 3, and 24 weeks may be sufficient for those with genotype 1 and low viral load who achieve rapid virologic response. On the other hand, extension of therapy beyond 48 weeks may be necessary for those with genotype 1 and slow response or those with a high pretreatment viral load who do not achieve rapid virologic response. As new viral kinetic data emerge with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, the tailoring of hepatitis C virus treatment will allow shorter durations of therapy for some patients and a greater chance of sustained response in others who are treated for longer durations.

Parental Responses to Pain in High Catastrophizing Children: The Moderating Effect of Child Attachment

Studies in adults have shown that the effects of pain catastrophizing upon others vary from positive to negative responses. There are no studies, however, on the impact of catastrophizing in children upon responses of others. In addition, little is known about why catastrohpizing varies with both positive and negative responses. Attachment may be one important moderator explaining these variable relationships. The present study in 1,332 school children investigated, by means of child-report questionnaires, the relationships between pain catastrophizing and parental responses to pain, and the moderating role of child attachment. Findings indicated that a child's pain catastrophizing had a small but significant positive contribution in explaining child reports of both positive and negative parental responses to pain. However, this relationship was moderated by child attachment; for less securely attached children, higher levels of catastrophizing were associated with more negative parental responses. On the contrary, for more securely attached children, higher levels of catastrophizing were associated with more positive parental responses. The present findings suggest that child attachment may partially explain the variable results regarding the impact of pain catastrophizing upon others' responses. The findings are discussed in terms of the function of pain catastrophizing in interactional processes between parents and children. This study in schoolchildren found preliminary evidence for the moderating impact of child attachment in understanding differential patterns of parental responses related to the child's pain catastrophizing. Further exploration of the mechanisms relating catastrophizing and attachment processes might contribute to a better comprehension of the interpersonal nature of pain catastrophizing.

Adolescents’ and Parents’ Experiences of Managing the Psychosocial Impact of Appearance Change During Cancer Treatment

Using combined qualitative data from multiple case study interviews and an online survey, this study explored the impact of appearance change on 22 adolescents receiving cancer treatment aged 13 to 18 years and six of their parents. Data were analyzed using template analysis. Appearance changes were a major concern. Adolescents typically struggled to adapt to new experiences and concerns related to this highly sensitive issue. Many felt anxious and self-conscious and were reluctant to reveal appearance changes in public. These feelings were compounded by the negative reactions of others (e.g., staring, teasing, and inappropriate questioning), which sometimes lead to avoidance of social activity and threats of noncompliance. Parents of these children felt ill-prepared to manage appearance-related anxieties. Adolescents wanted support to develop the practical and social skills necessary to maintain a "normal" appearance and manage the negative responses of others. However, some adolescents showed resilience and, with support from friends and family, developed strategies to manage their altered appearance and its social consequences. These strategies are explored, which can inform interventions to support adolescents and parents.