Implicit theories of opportunity: When opportunity fails to knock, keep waiting, or start cultivating?

We live in a time of disappearing professions, pandemic-related upheaval, and growing social inequality. While recognizing that good opportunities are unequally distributed in society (an injustice that requires rectification), can beliefs about the nature and workings of opportunities help people see the door to their goals as more open than closed, and can these beliefs influence the likelihood of goal attainment? Seven studies (N = 1,031) examined people's beliefs about whether or not opportunities can be changed (growth vs. fixed theory of opportunity). In Studies 1a-4, participants responded to scenarios about competent people (or themselves) with challenging, long-term aspirations. When opportunities were available, both theories predicted high expectations for success and a preference for active strategies to pursue the goal, like being persistent. By contrast, when opportunities seemed unavailable, a stronger fixed theory predicted lower expectations for success and a preference for passive strategies, like simply waiting. We also established the implicit theories' causal role and demonstrated processes explaining how a growth theory leads to higher anticipated success. The final two studies examined unemployed people. In Study 5, those with a stronger growth theory chose to engage more in a task about cultivating new opportunities for employment. Study 6 showed that those with a stronger growth theory were more likely to report securing employment 5 months later, even when controlling for motivation-relevant variables, education, and socioeconomic status. They also engaged in more active job-search strategies. These studies offer a novel perspective on when, how, and why people initiate and maintain goal pursuit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Fanning the Flames of Passion: A Develop Mindset Predicts Strategy-Use Intentions to Cultivate Passion.

College students are encouraged to major in subjects they are passionate about but less often advised about what to do when passion is low. What self-regulatory strategies do students use to up-regulate their passion toward their subjects, and how might they be oriented toward using such effective strategies? Three studies examined how the belief that passion is developed - a "develop" mindset - relates to students' intentions to use strategies to actively grow their passion. The more strongly students endorsed a develop mindset, the more of these "cultivation strategies" they reported using, and in turn, the larger their increase in reported passion toward their subject majors (Study 1). Instilling a develop mindset causally increased students' intentions to use more cultivation strategies (Study 2) - with some effects lasting up to a year (Study 3). Instilling a develop mindset can potentially help students to ignite their passion when its flame burns low.

Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are preformed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications. Five studies examined implicit theories of interest-the idea that personal interests are relatively fixed (fixed theory) or developed (growth theory). Whether assessed or experimentally induced, a fixed theory was more likely to dampen interest in areas outside people's existing interests (Studies 1-3). Individuals endorsing a fixed theory were also more likely to anticipate boundless motivation when passions were found, not anticipating possible difficulties (Study 4). Moreover, when it became difficult to engage in a new interest, interest flagged significantly more for people induced to hold a fixed rather than a growth theory of interest (Study 5). Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.

Team Approach: Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcer.

At any point in time, 3% to 4% of the 29.1 million diabetic patients in the United States (9.3% of the population) will have a foot ulcer. Diabetes-associated foot ulcers and infection lead to >70,000 lower-extremity amputations yearly in the United States. Between one-third and one-half of diabetic patients undergoing a major lower-extremity amputation will die within 2 years after the amputation. Multidisciplinary population health-management strategies have been developed to decrease the rate and magnitude of this important comorbidity in the diabetic population. The goal of the present review is to provide the reader with a framework for the development of a health-care-system strategy for addressing this complex patient population.

Opportunistic Neurologic Infections in Patients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Infections of the central nervous system (CNS) in individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remain a substantial cause of morbidity and mortality despite the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) especially in the resource-limited regions of the world. Diagnosis of these infections may be challenging because findings on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis and brain imaging are nonspecific. While brain biopsy provides a definitive diagnosis, it is an invasive procedure associated with a relatively low mortality rate, thus less invasive modalities have been studied in recent years. Diagnosis, therefore, can be established based on a combination of a compatible clinical syndrome, radiologic and CSF findings, and understanding of the role of HIV in these infections. The most common CNS opportunistic infections are AIDS-defining conditions; thus, treatment of these infections in combination with HAART has greatly improved survival.

Blastomycosis and Pregnancy: An Unusual Postpartum Disease Course.

Blastomyces dermatitidis is responsible for systemic mycoses. It is predominantly caused by inhalation of spores and often manifests as pneumonia, which can potentially disseminate; however, direct cutaneous inoculation may also occur. Blastomycosis in the perigravid period is exceedingly rare. The partial immunosuppressive state induced by pregnancy can engender more severe infections and is associated with a risk of vertical transmission. Published cases describe postpartum symptomatic improvement accompanying immune reconstitution, even in the absence of treatment. We present a 31-year-old gravid female with multifocal cutaneous blastomycosis. After delivering a healthy full-term infant with no evidence of congenital infection, the patient's cutaneous lesions continued to worsen. At 6 weeks postpartum she was treated with oral itraconazole and demonstrated clinical improvement after 5 months of therapy. This case highlights the importance of prompt disease recognition, understanding of risk factors and initiation of appropriate antifungal therapy of blastomycotic infection occurring in the unique setting of pregnancy.

Neurologic diseases in HIV-infected patients.

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy there has been an improvement in the quality of life for people with HIV infection. Despite the progress made, about 70% of HIV patients develop neurologic complications. These originate either in the central or the peripheral nervous system (Sacktor, 2002). These neurologic disorders are divided into primary and secondary disorders. The primary disorders result from the direct effects of the virus and include HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), HIV-associated vacuolar myelopathy (VM), and distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSP). Secondary disorders result from marked immunosuppression and include opportunistic infections and primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL). A differential diagnosis which can be accomplished by detailed history, neurologic examination, and by having a good understanding of the role of HIV in various neurologic disorders will help physicians in approaching these problems. The focus of this chapter is to discuss neuropathogenesis of HIV, the various opportunistic infections, primary CNS lymphoma, neurosyphilis, CNS tuberculosis, HIV-associated peripheral neuropathies, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), and vacuolar myelopathy (VM). It also relies on the treatment recommendations and guidelines for the above mentioned neurologic disorders proposed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Epidemiological determinants in outbreaks of bitter crab disease (Hematodinium sp.) in snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio from Conception Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.

Bitter crab disease (BCD) is caused by Hematodinium sp., an endoparasitic dinoflagellate. It lives within the hemocoeloms of snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio and Tanner crabs C. bairdi, making them unmarketable due to their bitter flavor. Two recent outbreaks of BCD have occurred in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, one from 1999 to 2000 and another from 2003 to 2005. In the earlier outbreak, prevalence was highest in juvenile and primiparous females and juvenile males. It was thought to be highest in these hosts because they molt more frequently than larger males and the disease is transmitted to newly molted crabs. In the 2003 to 2005 outbreak, the prevalence of BCD changed and was at its highest, 24% in trapped males and 13.5% in trawled males. This apparent shift in the dynamics of the infection between the earlier 1999 to 2000 and later 2003 to 2005 outbreaks was highly correlated with 2 factors: an increase in bottom temperatures, associated with the recent climatic warming trend in the Northwest Atlantic, and an increase in molting activity of the snow crabs due presumably to the temperature increase within Conception Bay. That is, rising temperatures occurring from 2003 to 2005 likely stimulated molting activity in snow crabs, which led to an increase in susceptible hosts in the population. Given the positive correlation between increased bottom temperature, increased molting activity, and the latest outbreak of BCD, we predict that further trends in climatic warming will enhance transmission, spreading the parasite into additional fishing areas.

Epidemiology of bitter crab disease (Hematodinium sp.) in snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio from Newfoundland, Canada.

The parasitic dinoflagellate Hematodinium sp. causes a condition known as bitter crab disease (BCD) in snow crabs Chionoecetes opilio and Tanner crabs C. bairdi. As the name of the condition implies, crabs infected with BCD are unmarketable due to their bitter flavor. We surveyed the distribution of BCD in 3 regions within the snow crab fishery of Newfoundland from 1997 to 2003. Over time, the disease has become firmly established in Conception and Bonavista Bays and persists at low levels on the Avalon fishing grounds. An epizootic occurred within Bonavista and Conception Bays in 1999 and persisted in Conception Bay in 2000, reaching prevalences of over 2% to 9% in trapped and trawled male crabs and from 19 to 26% in trawled and trapped female crabs, respectively. Infections were highest in females and small males, i.e. the unfished and pre-recruit portions of the fishery. In a mortality study, all of the naturally infected crabs died and 50% of the experimentally inoculated crabs died. Patterns in the molting cycle and prevalence of infection indicate that transmission occurs during the post-molt condition, and that overt infections probably develop 2 to 4 mo later with mortalities occurring at least 3 to 4 mo thereafter. The hydrography of this bay may have contributed to the epizootic as infections were centered within the deeper confines of the bay. Analysis of various abiotic factors uncovered a significant positive association between prevalence, depth and mud/sand substrates; the nature of this relationship was not apparent but may be related to diet or alternate hosts. Lastly, given the increase in BCD in snow crabs in Newfoundland, we recommend that fishery management programs for Chionoecetes fisheries employ non-selective gear to monitor for Hematodinium infections in female and juvenile crabs because these under-sampled members of the population may forewarn of impending recruitment declines that might otherwise remain unexplained.