Plasma BDNF is reduced among middle-aged and elderly women with impaired insulin function: Evidence of a compensatory mechanism

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a regulatory role in neuronal differentiation and synaptic plasticity and has been linked to glucose regulation and cognition. Associations among plasma BDNF, cognition, and insulin function were explored. Forty-one participants with impaired insulin function (IIF), ranging from insulin resistance to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), were matched with 41 healthy controls on gender, age, education, and IQ. Participants received complete medical, neurological, psychiatric, and neuropsychological evaluations. IIF individuals had significantly lower plasma BDNF levels than controls, particularly females, and higher BDNF levels were associated with poorer explicit memory in IIF females, suggesting that higher levels within this group may reflect the body’s efforts to respond to damage. After accounting for age, education, and HbA1c, BDNF significantly predicted 13.1–23.5% of the variance in explicit memory in IIF women. These findings suggest that BDNF elevations within diseased groups may not always be a marker of health.     

Perceived Parental Hostility and Aggression,and Children’s Psychological Maladjustment,and Negative Personality Dispositions: A Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to explore relations between children’s perceptions of parental hostility/aggression, and their psychological maladjustment, and negative personality dispositions as postulated in interpersonal acceptance and rejection theory. The meta-analysis was based on 35 studies from 16 countries in four continents involving 13,406 children (52% boys and 48% girls). All studies included in the meta-analysis, used child versions of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for Mothers and for Fathers (Child PARQ: Mothers and Fathers), as well as the child version of the Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Child PAQ). Results showed that both maternal and paternal hostility/aggression correlated significantly with the psychological maladjustment and with all seven negative personality dispositions, including (1) hostility/aggression, (2) dependence or defensive independence, (3) negative self-esteem, (4) negative self-adequacy, (5) emotional instability, (6) emotional unresponsiveness, and (7) negative worldview of children across ethnicities, cultures, and geographical boundaries. Results further revealed that perceived maternal than paternal hostility/aggression has significantly stronger relations with children’s psychological maladjustment globally.     

Family interactions and the course of schizophrenia in African American and White patients

Relatives' critical and intrusive behavior with patients, patients' odd or unusual thinking with relatives, and the course of schizophrenia were examined. Seventy-one African American and White patients (each with 1 relative) completed 2 problem-solving discussions. Relatives' critical and intrusive behavior with patients and patients' odd or unusual thinking with relatives were assessed, and patients were followed for 2 years. For African American patients, high levels of relatives' critical and intrusive behavior were associated with better outcome. For White patients, low levels of both relatives' critical and intrusive behavior and patients' odd or unusual thinking with relatives were associated with better outcome. The results suggest that during family interactions, seemingly negative behaviors may be perceived as a sign of caring and concern by African Americans. For Whites, the combination of patients' odd or unusual thinking with relatives and relatives' critical and intrusive behavior toward patients may be especially predictive of an adverse course.     

Relationship between Machiavellianism scores and performance of real estate salespersons

Data from two samples (ns=37 and 35) of real estate agents showed a significant positive correlation of .37 between Machiavellianism (Mach-B scores) and self-reported sales volume. Present findings support earlier results from samples of stockbrokers and automobile salespersons showing Mach-B scores to be positively related to sales performance.     

Development and validation of a multicultural counseling competency scale for Malaysian professional counselors

This study describes the development and validation of a 32-item instrument to assess the multicultural counseling competencies of 508 Malaysian professional counselors. Exploratory factor analysis identified five underlying factors of multicultural counseling competency (MCC), and this five-factor model of MCC, confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis, has more than the three dimensions proposed in the literature. These findings provide strong evidence for construct validity and encourage the use of this instrument among counselors.     

Monarchism,national identity and social representations of history in Indonesia: Intersections of the local and national in the sultanates of Yogyakarta and Surakarta

In the young state of Indonesia, old local authorities like sultanates have reasserted themselves. This reemergence of localized authority does not necessarily conflict with nation building. Survey research among adult samples (N = 399) in the neighbouring sultanates of Yogyakarta and Surakarta found that social representations of history were implicated in the relationship between monarchism and national identity. In Yogyakarta (but not Surakarta), a positive intersection between local and national representations of history was found: events and people associated with the sultanate were also regarded as instrumental to the birth of the nation. In Yogyakarta, support for the sultanate was higher than in Surakarta: respondents argued that Yogyakarta had the culture and history required to justify status as a special autonomous region. In Yogyakarta but not Surakarta, monarchism was positively related to national identity and trust in national democratic political institutions. The intersection between local and national representations of history, especially concerning the instrumentality of the local monarchy in giving birth to the nation in Yogyakarta, created historical continuity/positive intersectionality where the superordinate nation and the local monarchy are networked in a system of power and meaning that lends trust in democratic institutions from monarchism, and strengthens national identity.     

Maqasid al-Shariah as a Complementary Framework to Conventional Bioethics

With the rapid advancements made in biotechnology, bioethical discourse has become increasingly important. Bioethics is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field that goes beyond the realm of natural sciences, and has involved fields in the domain of the social sciences. One of the important areas in bioethical discourse is religion. In a country like Malaysia, where Muslims make up the majority of the population, Islam plays a crucial role in providing the essential guidelines on the permissibility and acceptability of biotechnological applications in various fields such as medicine, agriculture, and food processing. This article looks at the framework of a complementary model of bioethics derived from the perspective of Islam. The framework is based on ‘maqasid al-shariah’ (purposes or objectives of Islamic law) which aims to protect and preserve mankind’s faith, life, intellect, progeny, and property. It is proposed that ‘maqasid al-shariah’ be used as a pragmatic checklist that can be utilized in tackling bioethical issues and dilemmas.     

Islamist Conservatism and the Demise of Islam Hadhari in Malaysia

This article argues that Islam Hadhari, as a model for development officially inaugurated during the administration of Malaysia's fifth Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003–9), encountered failure. Its lack of success was significantly due to the rise of Islamist conservatives, who deliberately interpreted Islam Hadhari as a political instrument to impose Islamization from above in a manner not conducive to living in a spirit of peaceful coexistence in a multi-ethnic society. While on the one hand it promoted an Islam that cherishes the values of inclusivity, moderation and inter-religious tolerance, on the other hand Islam Hadhari unfortunately triggered defensive responses from Islamist conservatives. This ad hoc conservative alliance comprised religious leaders associated with the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), state religious functionaries, scholars affiliated to the opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS: Parti Islam SeMalaysia) and Islamist non-governmental organizations. The rise of this Islamist conservatism aggravated ethno-religious relations during Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's premiership, leading to the setbacks experienced by his government in the general elections of 2008. By then, the death knell had been sounded for Islam Hadhari. It was steadily consigned to the graveyard of history by the administration of Najib Razak, who took over from Abdullah in April 2009.     

Supervisory Abuse of High Performers: A Social Comparison Perspective

Prior research linking employee performance to abusive supervision suggests that supervisors have instrumental and non-instrumental reasons for engaging in abuse while dealing with low performers in the workplace. Drawing on social comparison theory, we argue that high-performing subordinates can make supervisors envious, which in turn leads to abusive supervisory behavior. Furthermore, we hypothesize supervisor social comparison orientation as a key boundary condition for the indirect positive effect of subordinate performance on abusive supervision through supervisor envy; that is, supervisors are more likely to abuse high performers when the supervisors’ social comparison orientation is high. A multi-source, multi-wave field study was conducted with data collected from supervisor-subordinate dyads (N = 95 supervisors and 385 subordinates). The data supported a positive indirect effect of employee performance on abusive supervision through supervisor envy. Moreover, the indirect effect was statistically significant for supervisors with high social comparison orientation but it was not significant for supervisors with low social comparison orientation. Implications of these findings for reducing abusive supervision are discussed.