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In an effort to increase multicultural competence, professional counselors in the United States analyzed archival data from high school students from Seoul, South Korea. A sample of all female (N = 577) high school students responded to survey questions related to stress and coping. Results demonstrated statistical significance in levels of stress between grade levels, and the relationship between stress and coping. Results suggest the need for continued development of professional school counseling programs in South Korea high schools for student wellness.

Human capacity for entraining movement to external rhythms-i.e., beat keeping-is ubiquitous, but its evolutionary history and neural underpinnings remain a mystery. Recent findings of entrainment to simple and complex rhythms in non-human animals pave the way for a novel comparative approach to assess the origins and mechanisms of rhythmic behavior. The most reliable non-human beat keeper to date is a California sea lion, Ronan, who was trained to match head movements to isochronous repeating stimuli and showed spontaneous generalization of this ability to novel tempos and to the complex rhythms of music. Does Ronan's performance rely on the same neural mechanisms as human rhythmic behavior? In the current study, we presented Ronan with simple rhythmic stimuli at novel tempos. On some trials, we introduced "perturbations," altering either tempo or phase in the middle of a presentation. Ronan quickly adjusted her behavior following all perturbations, recovering her consistent phase and tempo relationships to the stimulus within a few beats. Ronan's performance was consistent with predictions of mathematical models describing coupled oscillation: a model relying solely on phase coupling strongly matched her behavior, and the model was further improved with the addition of period coupling. These findings are the clearest evidence yet for parity in human and non-human beat keeping and support the view that the human ability to perceive and move in time to rhythm may be rooted in broadly conserved neural mechanisms.

There are a significant number of songs with a 'broken motif ', that they are seen as their own category or type of song. But to what extent is the idea of two young people splitting an object and keeping half each, seen as declaration of their undying love? And to what extent are the practical means of recognition after a period of separation, in a world preceding the camera and lacking (for most) even a portrait of one's nearest and dearest? Since the advent of advanced software coupled with heightened security at airports and the use of CCTV in crime work, much research has been done and continues to be done on facial (and body) recognition by machines. Comparatively little has been done on the ability, or lack, of humans to recognise even those who were previously close to them after the passing of medium to long periods of time. The present study was ignited by an event in my own family within the current millennium, where upon arrival at their doorstep a son was not recognised by his parents after a space of around 10 years (in the former's middle age). To what extent is this extreme? Is it possible that the relatively large number of 'broken token' folksongs suggests evidence that loss/lack of recognition of others once romantically closely engaged with was a 'common' or 'usual' phenomenon, or is it maybe just a great theme for a story? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescence confocal microendoscope provides high-resolution, in vivo imaging of cellular pathology during optical biopsy. The confocal microendoscope employs a flexible fiber-optic catheter coupled to a custom-built slit-scan confocal microscope. The catheter consists of a fiber-optic imaging bundle linked to a miniature objective and focus assembly. The 3-mm-diameter catheter may be used on its own or routed though the instrument channel of a commercial endoscope, adding microscopic imaging capability to conventional endoscopy. The design and performance of the miniature objective and focus assembly are discussed. Primary applications of the system include diagnosis of disease in the gastrointestinal tract and female reproductive system. OCIS codes: 170.1790, 170.2150, 170.2520, 170.3880, 170.6900.