The Relationships Among Black Consciousness,Self-Esteem,and Academic Self-Efficacy in African American Men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among Black consciousness, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy in African American men. The participants were 120 African American male college students at a predominantly African American university. The authors administered 3 instruments—the Developmental Inventory of Black Consciousness (DIB-C; J. Milliones, 1980), the M. Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, and R. E. Wood and E. A. Locke's (1987) Academic Self-Efficacy Scale—to test the hypotheses. They used an independent-measures t test and a Pearson r correlation to analyze the data. The results of the study supported the hypotheses under investigation. Significant positive relationships were found between Black consciousness and self-esteem and Black consciousness and academic self-efficacy. The results of the study showed that Black consciousness appears to be an important construct to use in understanding self-esteem and academic self-efficacy in African American men.     

Genetic Information,Non-Discrimination,and Privacy Protections in Genetic Counseling Practice

The passage of the Genetic Information Non Discrimination Act (GINA) was hailed as a pivotal achievement that was expected to calm the fears of both patients and research participants about the potential misuse of genetic information. However, 6 years later, patient and provider awareness of legal protections at both the federal and state level remains discouragingly low, thereby, limiting their potential effectiveness. The increasing demand for genetic testing will expand the number of individuals and families who could benefit from obtaining accurate information about the privacy and anti-discriminatory protections that GINA and other laws extend. In this paper we describe legal protections that are applicable to individuals seeking genetic counseling, review the literature on patient and provider fears of genetic discrimination and examine their awareness and understandings of existing laws, and summarize how genetic counselors currently discuss genetic discrimination. We then present three genetic counseling cases to illustrate issues of genetic discrimination and provide relevant information on applicable legal protections. Genetic counselors have an unprecedented opportunity, as well as the professional responsibility, to disseminate accurate knowledge about existing legal protections to their patients. They can strengthen their effectiveness in this role by achieving a greater knowledge of current protections including being able to identify specific steps that can help protect genetic information.     

Effects of annealing temperature on structural,optical, and electrical properties of antimony-doped tin oxide thin films

Antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) films, approximately 320 nm in thickness, have been prepared by electron beam evaporation onto glass substrates. The films were annealed at temperatures between 400°C and 550°C in air and their structure and surface morphologies were observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) after the different annealing treatments. XRD patterns of the ATO thin films as-deposited and annealed at 400°C showed that they were amorphous, but annealing beyond 400°C caused the films to become polycrystalline with tetragonal structure and orientated in the (1 1 0) direction. The grain size in the annealed films, obtained from the XRD analysis, was in the range 146–256 Å and this increased with the annealing temperature. The dislocation density, cell volume and strain were found to decrease gradually with increasing annealing temperature. Photoluminescence spectra revealed an intensive blue/violet peak at 420 nm, which increased gradually in height with annealing. It is suggested that an increase in the population of Sb⁺⁵ ions might be the reason for the enhancement of the blue/violet emission. The optical properties of the films were also investigated in the UV-visible-NIR region (300–1000 nm). The optical constants, namely the refractive index n and the extinction coefficient k in the visible region were calculated. The optical energy band gap, as determined by the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the photon energy at short wavelengths, was found to increase from 3.59 to 3.76 eV with annealing temperature.     

Assessment of Occupational Burnout in United States Air Force Predator/Reaper “Drone” Operators

This study investigates the self-reported levels of occupational burnout among 1,094 U.S. Air Force drone operators stationed within the borders of the United States who are supporting a wide range of around-the-clock military surveillance and weapons strike missions across the globe. Data were gathered from a Web-based survey of demographic items and the Maslach Burnout Inventory assessing the facets of occupational burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy). The overall survey response rate was 49%. Approximately 20% reported high levels of exhaustion, and 11% reported high levels of cynicism, but only 3% reported low levels of professional efficacy. Predictors of exhaustion, as well as between group differences, were identified along with recommendations for performance improvement and mitigating risks to safety.     

The relationships among Black consciousness,self-esteem,and academic self-efficacy in African American men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among Black consciousness, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy in African American men. The participants were 120 African American male college students at a predominantly African American university. The authors administered 3 instruments--the Developmental Inventory of Black Consciousness (DIB-C; J. Milliones, 1980), the M. Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, and R. E. Wood and E. A. Locke's (1987) Academic Self-Efficacy Scale--to test the hypotheses. They used an independent-measures t test and a Pearson r correlation to analyze the data. The results of the study supported the hypotheses under investigation. Significant positive relationships were found between Black consciousness and self-esteem and Black consciousness and academic self-efficacy. The results of the study showed that Black consciousness appears to be an important construct to use in understanding self-esteem and academic self-efficacy in African American men.     

Effects of orienting tasks on sentence comprehension and cued recall

In three experiments, cued recall of sentences was found to vary with the type of orienting task performed during sentence presentation. Retrieval cues referred to information probably inferred from the sentences. Each of the semantic tasks led to greater recall than did the nonsernantic task; this task effect occurred in a between-subjects design and in a within-subjects design. Furthermore, the use of a task-indicating signal after each sentence, in the within-subjects design, allowed the manipulation of the timing and type of orienting task. The task effect on recall appeared even with a delay of the task-indicating signal and/or the addition of an initial semantic task (performed prior to the indicated task). The findings suggest both a processing explanation and an interruption explanation of task effects.