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Biomedical subjects

T J Ferguson

Publications and source records attributed to T J Ferguson.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Context effects and the (mal)adaptive nature of guilt and shame in children.

Symptoms of internalization were examined in relation to children's self-reports of three emotions in situations that were either ambiguous or unambiguous as to the child's responsibility for various standard violations. Children ranging in age from 6 to 13 years were drawn from elementary schools (61 boys, 79 girls, mean age = 8.7) and from a community mental health center (23 boys, 18 girls, mean age = 8.5) to which they had been referred for problems related to internalization or externalization. Shame proneness was consistently linked to internalizing symptoms across contexts. Guilt proneness, in response to ambiguous scenarios, was also associated with internalization, whereas pride responses were unrelated to symptoms. Few age- or gender-related differences were found. The results cast doubt on notions that self-conscious emotions, such as guilt, are necessarily adaptive or maladaptive. Systematic research is needed to understand which features of any emotion contribute to children's psychological adjustment.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Guilt, shame, and symptoms in children.

The authors asked whether evidence could be found for adaptive or maladaptive aspects of guilt and shame in 5-12-year-old children (44 boys, 42 girls). Children completed semiprojective and scenario-based measures thought to assess shame, guilt, or both. Their parents (N = 83) completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess child symptoms. Shame and projective guilt were related to symptoms; they also were associated with self-blame and attempts to minimize painful feelings. Scenario-based guilt was related to fewer symptoms in boys but to greater symptoms in girls. This measure of guilt reflected concerns with adhering to standards, expressing empathy, and taking appropriate responsibility. Discussion focuses on possible origins of differential symptom-emotion links in boys and girls as well as measurement implications.

Affect↗
PubMed1996

Respiratory health of California rice farmers.

Rice farmers are occupationally exposed to agents that may affect respiratory health, including inorganic dusts and smoke from burning of agricultural waste. To assess respiratory health of this occupational group, we conducted a cross-sectional study, including a self-administered health and work questionnaire, spirometry, and chest radiography among 464 male California rice farmers. Mean age +/- SD was 48.3 +/- 15.2 yr; mean duration of rice farming was 25.7 +/- 14.3 yr. Prevalences for respiratory symptoms were: chronic bronchitis (6.3%), physician-diagnosed asthma (7.1%), and persistent wheeze (8.8%). Chronic cough was reported by 7.1% of respondents and was associated with reported hours per year burning rice stubble. Mean FEV1 and FVC were at expected values. FEV1 was inversely associated with years working in rice storage and use of heated rice dryers. Mean FEF25-75 was 93% of expected and was inversely associated with rice storage activities involving unheated rice driers. ILO profusion scores > or = 1/0 for small irregular opacities were seen in 18 (10.1%) of 178 chest radiographs. Study findings suggest increased asthma prevalence among California rice farmers. Radiologic findings consistent with dust or fiber exposure were increased compared with those of the general population, although no associations with specific farming activities were identified.

Agriculture↗
PubMed1989

Personal responsibility antecedents of anger and blame reactions in children.

The potential cognitive basis for anger in children was investigated by having 5-, 6-, 9-, 11-, and 15-year-old children offer moral evaluations and anger judgments about 8 incidents of property damage that differed in terms of the perpetrator's personal responsibility. Personal responsibility was manipulated by varying the events in terms of 3 dimensions: avoidability, intentionality, and motive acceptability. Results showed that these dimensions similarly affected children's moral- and anger-related judgments. Children's use of the personal responsibility dimensions was also associated with giving lower anger judgments, which suggests that anger instigation to property damage is moderated by the ability to take a normative perspective on transgressions.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

Children's evaluations of retaliatory aggression.

The present study examined how 5-10-year-old children's judgments of retaliation were affected by its severity relative to the initial provocation and by the causal nature of the initial provocation. 72 boys and girls first received information about property-damaging provocations that were portrayed as accidental, foreseeable, justifiably intended, or unjustifiably intended in nature. They were subsequently informed that the victim responded with interpersonal aggression or with a verbal reprimand. Children's perceptions of the causal nature of the provocation and their naughtiness and punishment judgments of the retaliator were assessed. 2 major findings were obtained, both of which were unrelated to age. First, children's perceptions of the initial provocation were more differentiated than has been reported in the past, but these perceptions did not correspond uniformly to the manipulations of causality. Second, although children's evaluations of the retaliator were not an inverse function of their own perceptions of the initial provocation, they did vary systematically according to these perceptions and the extremity of the retaliator's response.

Aggression↗
PubMed1983

Isolation and characterization of an h(2)-oxidizing thermophilic methanogen.

A thermophilic methanogen was isolated from enrichment cultures originally inoculated with sludge from an anaerobic kelp digester (55 degrees C). This isolate exhibited a temperature optimum of 55 to 60 degrees C and a maximum near 70 degrees C. Growth occurred throughout the pH range of 5.5 to 9.0, with optimal growth near pH 7.2. Although 4% salt was present in the isolation medium, salt was not required for optimal growth. The thermophile utilized formate or H(2)-CO(2) but not acetate, methanol, or methylamines for growth and methanogenesis. Growth in complex medium was very rapid, and a minimum doubling time of 1.8 h was recorded in media supplemented with rumen fluid. Growth in defined media required the addition of acetate and an unknown factor(s) from digester supernatant, rumen fluid, or Trypticase. Cells in liquid culture were oval to coccoid, 0.7 to 1.8 mum in diameter, often occurring in pairs. The cells were easily lysed upon exposure to oxygen or 0.08 mg of sodium dodecyl sulfate per ml. The isolate was sensitive to tetracycline and chloramphenicol but not penicillin G or cycloserine. The DNA base composition was 59.69 mol% guanine plus cytosine.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1983

Effect of H(2)-CO(2) on Methanogenesis from Acetate or Methanol in Methanosarcina spp.

Growth of Methanosarcina sp. strain 227 and Methanosarcina mazei on H(2)-CO(2) and mixtures of H(2)-CO(2) and acetate or methanol was examined. The growth yield of strain 227 on H(2)-CO(2) in complex medium was 8.4 mg/mmol of methane produced. Growth in defined medium was characteristically slower, and cell yields were proportionately lower. Labeling studies confirmed that CO(2) was rapidly reduced to CH(4) in the presence of H(2), and little acetate was used for methanogenesis until H(2) was exhausted. This resulted in a biphasic pattern of growth similar to that reported for strain 227 grown on methanol-acetate mixtures. Biphasic growth was not observed in cultures on mixtures of H(2)-CO(2) and methanol, and less methanol oxidation occurred in the presence of H(2). In M. mazei the aceticlastic reaction was also inhibited by the added H(2), but since the cultures did not immediately metabolize H(2), the duration of the inhibition was much longer.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Protein kinase activation and protein phosphorylation in Naegleria fowleri amebae in response to normal human serum.

Activation of signal transduction pathways in response to serum complement in Naegleria fowleri amebae was investigated. We examined the activation of protein kinases and changes in the phosphorylation state of proteins in N. fowleri stimulated by normal human serum (NHS). To determine differences in phosphorylation of proteins when amebae were exposed to NHS or heat inactivated serum (HIS) lacking complement, amebae were labeled with [32P] orthophosphate. An increase in phosphorylation of relatively low molecular weight proteins was noted in N. fowleri incubated in NHS with a concomitant decrease in phosphorylation of high molecular mass polypeptides. To investigate whether serine/threonine or tyrosine kinases were stimulated by NHS, amebae were treated with protein kinase inhibitors H7, staurosporine or genistein, prior to serum exposure and examined for susceptibility to complement. Treatment with each of these inhibitors resulted in increased complement lysis. Incubation of N. fowleri with genistein specifically inhibited tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins stimulated by NHS. A tyrosine kinase activity assay using exogenous polyGlu-Tyr substrate demonstrated differential activation of tyrosine kinases in amebae treated with NHS when compared to treatment with HIS. The results suggest that activation of protein kinases and subsequent protein phosphorylation are important in mediating complement resistance in N. fowleri.

Amebiasis↗