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K D Clements

Publications and source records attributed to K D Clements.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Student attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues: analysis of self-talk categories.

The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the utility of using the thought-listing technique to examine participants' attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues and (b) determine the effectiveness of two new training interventions (rational and experiential) that were designed using cognitive-experiential self-theory (Epstein, 1994). Fifty participants were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions (rational training, experiential training, control group). Participants completed a thought-listing technique before and after receiving one of the theoretically based training interventions. Three judges free sorted the 2,481 collected thoughts and identified and defined 25 thought categories. Three trained judges then placed 2,426 (98%) of the thoughts into these categories. Results indicated that different categories of responses (cognitive, affective, behavioral) emerged among the individuals which provided four distinct profiles of how people thought about the topic of homosexuality. Furthermore, chi-square analyses revealed that the experiential group had changes in their thoughts after receiving the workshop. Findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

Adult↗

The largest bacterium.

The large, morphologically peculiar microorganism Epulopiscium fishelsoni inhabits the intestinal tract of Acanthurus nigrofuscus, a brown surgeonfish (family Acanthuridae) from the Red Sea. Similar microorganisms have been found in surgeonfish species from the Great Barrier Reef. As these microorganisms have only been seen in surgeonfish and no free-living forms have been found, they are considered to be specific symbionts of surgeonfish, although the nature of the symbiosis is unclear. Initial reports considered them to be eukaryotic protists, based primarily on their size, with individuals being larger than 600 microns by 80 microns. But their cellular morphology in the electron microscope is more like that of bacterial than eukaryotic cells. To resolve the nature of these symbionts, we have isolated the genes encoding the small subunit ribosomal RNA from two morphotypes and used them in a phylogenetic analysis. In situ hybridization with oligonucleotide probes based on the cloned rRNA sequences confirmed the source of the rRNA genes. Our result identify the symbionts as members of the low-(G+C) Gram-positive group of bacteria. They are therefore the largest bacteria to be described so far.

Animals↗

An unusual symbiont from the gut of surgeonfishes may be the largest known prokaryote.

Symbionts first reported from the gut of a Red Sea surgeonfish, Acanthurus nigrofuscus (family Acanthuridae), were subsequently described as Epulopiscium fishelsoni. The taxonomic position of this very large (up to 576 microns in length) microorganism has previously been designated in the literature as either uncertain or eukaryotic. We suggest that similar symbionts from Great Barrier Reef surgeonfish may be prokaryotes, which together with E. fishelsoni from the Red Sea may represent the largest known forms of this cell type. Features identifying the symbionts as prokaryotes include the presence of bacterial-type flagella and a bacterial nucleoid and the absence of a nucleus or any other membrane-bound organelle.

Animals↗