Germanna Community College

The impact of the diagnosis of cancer and its treatments on the body image of young adults (18-29 years) diagnosed with cancer is relatively unknown. This descriptive comparative study examined body image scores of young adults diagnosed with cancer and young adults without cancer. The conceptual framework for this study was taken from body image and developmental theory. Secord and Jourard's body cathexis/self-cathexis scales and a demographic sheet were mailed to 162 young adults diagnosed with cancer and to 150 young adults without cancer. A t test was used to compare the mean scores between the two groups. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean scores reported by the young adults diagnosed with cancer for the body cathexis and self-cathexis scales. The self-cathexis and body cathexis scores indicated that the young adults diagnosed with cancer had a more positive body image than the young adults without cancer. The mean scores were also compared in relation to the demographic data collected using t tests and analysis of variance. Within the group diagnosed with cancer, male subjects demonstrated a more secure body-cathexis (p value of 0.012) and married subjects demonstrated a more secure self-cathexis than the single subjects did (p value of 0.04). No statistically significant difference was found within the group without cancer related to demographic variables. Implications for the oncology clinical nurse specialist are explored.

Two groups of 60 students each were selected from introductory college psychology classes. One consisted of high academic achievers, the other of average achievers. They were given the McCutcheon Test of Misconceptions, a 65-item, multiple-choice test designed to measure common misconceptions about psychology. Subsequently, they were also given the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. Both groups made many errors on the McCutcheon test, but high academic achievers made significantly fewer errors on both the McCutcheon test and the Watson-Glaser than average achievers. A stepwise multiple regression consisting of Watson-Glaser subscales 1 (the ability to draw valid inferences) and 4 (ability to weigh and interpret evidence) and GPA successfully predicted McCutcheon test scores ( R = .43). This suggests that even beginning students with high grades and good critical thinking skills are likely to harbor many misconceptions about psychology.

Hydrophobins are small, surface-active protein biosurfactants secreted by filamentous fungi with potential applications in industries such as pharmaceuticals, sanitation, and biomaterials. Additionally, hydrophobins are known to stabilize enzymatic processing of biomass for improved catalytic efficiency. In this study, Pichia pastoris was used to recombinantly express hydrophobin HFBI from Trichoderma reesei, a well-characterized fungal system used industrially for bioethanol production. Iterative optimization was performed on both the induction and purification of HFBI, ultimately producing yields of 86.6 mg/L HFBI and elution concentrations of 48 μM HFBI determined pure by SDS-PAGE, over a five-day methanol-fed batch shake flask induction regiment followed by a single unit operation multimodal cation exchange purification. This final purified material represents an improvement over prior approaches to enable a wider range of potential applications for biosurfactants.