Researchers have found that youths react in a variety of ways when faced with a bullying incident in their schools (Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2004). Despite being aware of the negative consequences of being victimized and holding generally negative attitudes towards bullying, youths tend to show reluctance to seek help from an adult or to intervene in defense of their victimized peer (Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001; Newman, Murray, & Lussier, 2001). Given the importance of the aforementioned behaviours in reducing bullying in schools, two studies were designed to examine the determinants of victim help seeking and bystander intervening behaviours in young people using Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB: Ajzen, 1991). In Study 1, I examined the full TPB model using short-term longitudinal data collected from a sample of 609 secondary school students. To further examine the utility of the TPB model and to determine the impact of school climate on the model, in Study 2 I examined cross-sectional data collected from 113 middle school students. In Study 1, multiple regression analyses and path analyses indicated that the TPB model significantly predicted student’s intentions to intervene on behalf a bullied peer and their actual self-reported intervention behaviour. The results for help seeking intentions and behaviours were mixed, with the TPB variables significantly predicting victim help seeking intentions but not self-reported behaviour. In Study 2, the TPB model significantly predicted both help seeking and intervention intentions. Additionally, the TPB variables of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control significantly mediated the relationship between school climate and victim help seeking and bystander intervention intentions. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for methodology, theory, and policy.

Thesis (M.S. in molecular biosciences)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 9, 2010). "School of Molecular Biosciences." Includes bibliographical references.

Researchers have found that youths react in a variety of ways when faced with a bullying incident in their schools (Kochenderfer-Ladd, 2004). Despite being aware of the negative consequences of being victimized and holding generally negative attitudes towards bullying, youths tend to show reluctance to seek help from an adult or to intervene in defense of their victimized peer (Hawkins, Pepler, & Craig, 2001; Newman, Murray, & Lussier, 2001). Given the importance of the aforementioned behaviours in reducing bullying in schools, two studies were designed to examine the determinants of victim help seeking and bystander intervening behaviours in young people using Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB: Ajzen, 1991). In Study 1, I examined the full TPB model using short-term longitudinal data collected from a sample of 609 secondary school students. To further examine the utility of the TPB model and to determine the impact of school climate on the model, in Study 2 I examined cross-sectional data collected from 113 middle school students. In Study 1, multiple regression analyses and path analyses indicated that the TPB model significantly predicted student’s intentions to intervene on behalf a bullied peer and their actual self-reported intervention behaviour. The results for help seeking intentions and behaviours were mixed, with the TPB variables significantly predicting victim help seeking intentions but not self-reported behaviour. In Study 2, the TPB model significantly predicted both help seeking and intervention intentions. Additionally, the TPB variables of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control significantly mediated the relationship between school climate and victim help seeking and bystander intervention intentions. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for methodology, theory, and policy.

Lors d’une radiothérapie conventionnelle (Rayons X) ou non-conventionnelle (Hadronthérapie), l’impact des irradiations sur les tissus sains pose des questions essentielles de radiobiologie, ces tissus sains se trouvant sur le trajet du faisceau lors du traitement d’une tumeur. Parmi ces questions, quel est l’impact de l’effet Bystander radio-induit ? Ce mécanisme fait intervenir des signaux de stress encore mal identifiés, émis par une ou plusieurs cellules irradiées vers les cellules non irradiées adjacentes ou très proches, pouvant produire des effets biologiques proches de ceux obtenus dans la zone irradiée.Afin d’étudier ce phénomène, nous avons utilisé différentes techniques de biologie moléculaire dont : des tests de clonogénicité permettant d’étudier la survie des cellules après un traitement, des électrophorèses bidimensionnelles permettant l’analyse du protéome cellulaire, des analyses de milieux conditionnés permettant d’identifier les signaux Bystander émis par les cellules irradiées et des expériences de protéo-génomique visant à étudier des cellules en mélange. En parallèle de ces techniques d’étude, nous avons développé un modèle de culture de cellules en 3D via l’utilisation de « pellets » (agrégats cellulaires).Nos résultats ont montré une diminution de la survie des cellules bystander après transfert de milieu provenant de cellules irradiées, l'implication potentiel de certaines cytokines dans la signalisation bystander ainsi que plusieurs protéines candidates pouvant expliquer en partie la réponse bystander. / In conventional radiotherapy (X-ray) or unconventional radiotherapy (Hadrontherapy), the impact of irradiation on healthy tissue raises essential questions of radiobiology, these healthy tissues being in the path of the beam during the treatment of a patient. tumor. Among these questions, what is the impact of the radio-induced Bystander effect? This mechanism involves stress signals still poorly identified, emitted by one or more irradiated cells to adjacent or very close non-irradiated cells, which can produce biological effects close to those obtained in the irradiated zone.To study this phenomenon, we used various molecular biology techniques including: clonogenic assay to study the survival fraction of cells after treatment, two-dimensional electrophoresis allowing the analysis of the cellular proteome, conditioned medium analysis for identify Bystander signals emitted by irradiated cells and proteomembrane experiments aimed at studying cells in a mix. In parallel with these study techniques, we have developed a 3D cell culture model via the use of "pellets" (cell aggregates).Our results showed a decrease in the survival of bystander cells after transfer of medium from irradiated cells, the potential involvement of some cytokines in bystander signaling as well as several candidate proteins that may partly explain the bystander response.

The aim of the thesis is to determine the influence of bystanders on bullying. To find out what affects their behavior and what we should focus on when upbringing the children could reduce the rise of bullying and maybe it could even stop its beginning. The theoretical approach of the thesis is general problem of bullying and the reasons for the behavior of its participants. I will describe social roles in bullying, types of bullying and the undeniable importance of the role of bystanders. The practical part describes research in primary schools where the children evaluated an anonymous questionnaire about bullying. According to their responses about the statements in the questionnaire we can determine which of the social roles each children holds and we can learn more about their moral values. For a better, I also separated responses of the boys from the girls and I evaluated them separately.

No description available.

David Cash was a college student who found himself in the women's restroom of the Primadonna in Nevada. He witnessed his friend, Jeremy Strohmeyer raping and killing a 7-year-old girl. Cash did not take any action in trying to prevent this heinous crime. There are many elements to consider when bystanders neglect to take action. Research examining bystander apathy in critical situations is lacking, yet the number of violent crimes witnessed by others where intervention is not offered continues to escalate. Bullying often occurs in the presence of others. Bystander apathy is believed to play a passive role in most cases of bullying. This study investigated the psychological symptom patterns of intervening and non-intervening bystanders in bullying events. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in the SLC-90-R profiles between intervening and non-intervening bystanders. It was further hypothesized that gender would significantly interact with the bystander response to witnessing bullying. Data were collected from undergraduate participants at the University of Central Florida through The Psychology Department's Psychological Research Participant System (aka, SONA). Psychological Symptoms were evaluated using the Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Data was obtained from 135 undergraduate participants. The sample consisted of 42 males and 93 females between 18 to 58 years of age. The participants were categorized by intervening and non-intervening bystanders. A two-way between subjects MANOVA was used to assess the influence of gender and intervening and non-intervening bystanders on the nine SLC-90-R symptom domains. No significant main effects or interaction was observed. However, a review of the univariate analyses revealed a significant gender x intervening interaction on the paranoid ideation subscale, F(1, 131) = 4.823, p = .03. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Hundreds of research articles have been published about variables related to bystander helping behavior. Although significant gender differences have been found in bystander intervention research, the results have been incongruent with little explanation about the relationship between gender and bystander interventions. This study assessed the relationship between conformity to masculine role norms and bystander intervention behavior. In this study, 200 college students completed the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46 (CMNI-46) to determine the relationship between conformity to masculine norms and the level of bystander intervention selected on the Bystander Intervention Measure (BIM). It was hypothesized that a significant main effect would exist between conformity to masculine norms and the types of bystander interventions selected. Participants also completed surveys on bystander self-efficacy, bystander intervention decision making, and prosocial tendencies (Prosocial Tendencies Measure). Four hypotheses were developed for this study. It was hypothesized that there would be a statistically significant difference in scores on the five CMNI-46 subscales of winning, emotional control, risk-taking, violence, and self-reliance and the degree of involvement and immediacy of bystander interventions the four subscales of the Bystander Intervention Measure (BIM); that the five CMNI-46 subscales will still account for more variance regarding the degree of involvement and immediacy of bystander interventions even after controlling for prosocial tendencies from the PTM subscales; that there would be a statistically significant difference in scores on the five CMNI-46 subscales and the six PTM subscales, and that the five CMNI-46 subscales would predict bystander self-efficacy and decision making scores.

We have used a non-replicating recombinant adenovirus, AdCA17𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘡, which expresses the β-galactosidase (β-gal) reporter gene under the control of the human cytomegalovirus immediate early (HCMV-IE) promoter, to examine host cell reactivation (HCR) of a UVC-damaged reporter gene in human fibroblasts. Since β-gal expression in mammalian cells is expected to occur following transcription of a lesion-free 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘡 reporter gene, the removal of UV-induced DNA lesions and subsequent β-gal expression is a measure of the DNA repair capacity of the infected cell. In the present work, we have examined HCR and UV-enhanced HCR of the UV-damaged reporter construct, AdCA17𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘡, in normal and nucleotide excision repair (NER) deficient fibroblasts. Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) group C and E fibroblasts are deficient in the global genome pathway (GGR) of NER, while Cockayne syndrome (CS) fibroblasts are deficient in the transcription-coupled repair pathway (TCR) of NER and XP group A fibroblasts are deficient in both TCR and GGR. HCR of the UV-damaged reporter gene activity was significantly reduced in XP-A, XP-C, XP-E and CS-B cell strains relative to that in normal human fibroblasts, indicating that both TCR and GGR contribute to expression of the UV-damaged reporter gene in human cells. Pre-treatment of human fibroblasts with UVC (12 J/m²) immediately prior to infection results in enhanced HCR of the UV-damaged reporter gene. UV-enhanced HCR of the UV-damaged reporter gene was detected in normal fibroblasts at 12 hr post-infection and in CS-B, XP-C and XP-E fibroblasts, but not XP-A fibroblasts at 24 and 40 hr post-infection. These results indicate that both TCR and GGR are UV-inducible in human cells. We have examined the colony survival of various human cells following exposure to UVC and UVA radiation. HaCAT, an immortalized human keratinocyte cell line, demonstrated increased resistance to UVC exposme compared to glioma (U373, T98G) and colon carcinoma (HT29) cell lines, while exhibiting increased sensitivity to UVA radiation and H₂O₂ treatment. This increased sensitivity towards both UVA and H₂O₂ treatment suggests that HaCAT cells have a reduced capacity to repair oxidative DNA damage. In addition, we show that p53-null keratinocytes (HPV-G) have reduced clonogenic survival compared to p53-mutant keratinocytes (HaCAT) following H₂O₂ treatment, consistent with an involvement of p53 in the survival of keratinocytes following H₂O₂ treatment. We also examined whether the interaction of H₂O₂ with growth media resulted in chemical by-products that were toxic to cells. Even though the H₂O₂ levels in the media were reduced following 24 hr incubation, similar clonogenic survival curves of HaCAT cells were observed following treatment of cells with immediately-prepared or 24hr-incubated H₂O₂-containing media solutions. Thus, extended incubation (24 hr) of H₂O₂ with media did not alter its cytotoxicity towards HaCAT cells, indicating that no detectable levels of toxic chemical by-products were produced. Ultraviolet irradiation of cells can have both cytotoxic and/or mutagenic consequences, resulting in increased levels of cell death or the induction of a state of genomic instability that persists for several cell generations after irradiation. However, the extent of the effects induced in non-irradiated cells by UV -irradiated cells has not been fully investigated. Using the medium transfer technique, we have tried to address whether UV irradiation of cells can induce biological effects in non-irradiated cells. Medium obtained from UVA, but not UVC, irradiation of various human cell lines in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution was capable of reducing the relative clonogenic survival and colony size of non-irradiated HaCAT cells. In the absence of cells, UVA-irradiation of PBS reduced the clonogenic survival, but not the colony size, of various non-irradiated human cells. These results indicate a cytotoxicity of UVA-irradiated PBS towards non-irradiated cells. Hydrogen peroxide, a reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated following UV A irradiation, was measured following UV A treatment (or mock-treatment) of PBS (in the presence or absence of cells) either immediately or 24 hr post-irradiation. Hydrogen peroxide levels increased immediately following UV A irradiation, suggesting that it may contribute to the reduced survival of non-irradiated human cells. However, human glioma T98G and U373 cells produced elevated H₂O₂ levels in mock-irradiated conditions at 24 hr post-incubation, while demonstrating different sensitivities towards treatment with medium containing UVA-irradiated PBS. These results suggest that UVA-induced H₂O₂ is not responsible for the reduction in clonogenic survival of non-irradiated human cells. We also examined colony number and size at different times following the addition of media containing UVA-irradiated PBS and media from UVA-irradiated cell cultures. Increasing the time before scoring for colonies resulted in an increased clonogenic survival and a decrease in relative colony size for HaCAT cells. These preliminary results suggest that the relative survival and relative colony size of non-irradiated cells are inter-related, and indicate that treating non-irradiated HaCAT cells with medium from UVA-irradiated cells or medium containing UVA-irradiated PBS reduced the growth rate of HaCAT colonies. Therefore, in order to properly evaluate clonogenic survival, a time-dependent examination of relative survival and relative colony size should be conducted in order to address whether the treatment results in an inhibition of cell growth and/or true cell killing. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Bullying is a persistent and common problem in schools nationwide. The experience of bullying can affect the social, psychological, academic, and emotional development of children. Youth can be involved in bullying in various ways, including as a victim, perpetrator, witness, or bystander. Upstanders play a significant role in the prevention of bullying, and the presence of upstanders in the student body is related to positive school climate. Minimal research on upstander behavior currently exists in the literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate specific predictors of witness roles utilizing demographic and other variables. The data from 3438 student surveys analyzed in the present study were collected from a prior study on school climate across 35 schools in Southern Illinois. Results indicated that gender, grade, and minority status were predictors of upstander behavior. However, no demographic variables predicted either bystander or reinforcer behaviors As expected, indirect upstander behaviors occurring after an incident were reported less frequently than behaviors occurring directly with the victim, or in the moment. Upstander behaviors occurring in the moment were significantly and positively correlated with other upstander behaviors, and negatively correlated with perpetrator behaviors, whereas reinforcer behaviors were significantly and positively correlated. The results of this study and implications for future interventions are discussed.