bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Review of Alcoholics Anonymous/ Narcotics Anonymous Programs for Teens
Authors: Sussman Steve
Published: February 2010

The investigation of the applicability of Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous (AA/NA) for teens has only been a subject of empirical research investigation since the early 1990s. In the present review, the author describes teen involvement in AA/NA programming, provides an exhaustive review of the outcomes of 19 studies that used an AA/NA model as part of their formal teen substance abuse treatment programs, and provides data on the effects of AA/NA attendance on abstinence at follow-up, on which youth tend to become involved in AA/NA, and on mediation of the benefits of AA/NA participation. In addition, the author suggests the reasons for somewhat limited participation by teens in more informal, community-based 12-step meetings, and makes suggestions for maximizing participation at meetings in the community. The author concludes that AA/ NA participation is a valuable modality of substance abuse treatment for teens and that much can be done to increase teen participation, though more research is needed.
Estimating Risk
Authors: Quillian Lincoln , Pager Devah
Published: February 2010

This paper considers the process by which individuals estimate the risk of adverse events, with particular attention to the social context in which risk estimates are formed. We compare subjective probability estimates of crime victimization to actual victimization experiences among respondents from the 1994 to 2002 waves of the Survey of Economic Expectations ( Dominitz and Manski 2002 ). Using zip code identifiers, we then match these survey data to local area characteristics from the census. The results show that: (1) the risk of criminal victimization is significantly overestimated relative to actual rates of victimization or other negative events; (2) neighborhood racial composition is strongly associated with perceived risk of victimization, whereas actual victimization risk is driven by nonracial neighborhood characteristics; and (3) white respondents appear more strongly affected by racial composition than nonwhites in forming their estimates of risk. We argue these results support a model of stereotype amplification in the formation of risk estimates. Implications for persistent racial inequality are considered.
Moral education in China’s music education: Development and challenges
Authors: Ho Wai-Chung
Published: February 2010

This article considers the conjunction of moral education and music education in order to understand the ways in which music is a sociocultural product with political and moral meanings and implications. Moral teaching through music education, from Imperial to modern China, has aimed to reproduce a coherent political ideology with which to bind together obedient and self-disciplined citizens. This article therefore focuses on music education for the sake of ethical and nationalist moral education. Role models are of importance for the development of moral education through music teaching. Recent music education in China has been asked to redefine moral education in terms of a new and complex blend of nationalism, tradition, cultural diversity and social harmony, and to incorporate diverse cultures, including popular culture, as a means towards positive social change in response to the evolving society. In conclusion, the article considers ongoing and new challenges for teachers in school music education as they face calls for moral education in recent demands for the reform of Chinese education.
Classroom observation ability among pre-service music educators in Greece
Authors: Androutsos Polyvios , Humphreys Jere T.
Published: February 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the classroom observation ability of pre-service music teachers in Greece ( N = 62). Two groups of undergraduates, one near the beginning and one near the end of a two-year course sequence in teaching methods that included in-class and in-school training in observation (‘juniors’ and ‘seniors’, respectively), observed videotapes of one elementary (4th grade) and one secondary (8th grade) general music class, each being taught by its own expert music teacher. Subjects wrote comments that judges classified into subcategories within overall categories of lesson, teacher, and students. Results largely confirmed those of previous research from the USA, with the more experienced subjects making significantly more comments and both groups focusing more on teachers than on lessons or students. There were also differences between subcategories and significant interactions involving experience level and sex of the subjects.
Stories of Human Autonomy, Law, and Technology
Authors: Tranter Kieran
Published: February 2010

Considering the relationship between human autonomy, law and technology has deep origins. Both technology studies and legal theory tell origin stories about human autonomy as the prize from either a foundational technological or jurisprudential event. In these narratives either law is considered a second order consequence of technology or technology is revealed as a second order consequence of law. In the alternative what is suggested is a foundation story drawing upon human autonomy as human responsibility for law and technology and for the stories told about them.
Individual Autonomy, Law, and Technology: Should Soft Determinism Guide Legal Analysis?
Authors: Cockfield Arthur J.
Published: February 2010

How one thinks about the relationship between individual autonomy (sometimes referred to as individual willpower or human agency) and technology can influence the way legal thinkers develop policy at the intersection of law and technology. Perspectives that fall toward the `machines control us' end of the spectrum may support more interventionist legal policies while those who identify more closely with the `we are in charge of machines' position may refuse to interfere with technological developments. The concept of soft determinism charts a middle-ground between these two positions and could assist in the formulation of a general theory of the relationship between law and technology. Soft determinism maintains that technological developments are embedded in social, political, economic and other processes, and serve to guide and, potentially, configure future actions and relationships with these technologies, their users, and their subjects: while past technology develops shape the present, individuals and groups can still exert control over these technological developments.
Law and Technology Theory: Bringing in Some Economic Analysis
Authors: Trosow Samuel
Published: February 2010

The author argues economic analysis needs to be explicitly included in an overall theory of law and technology. Differing approaches to the economics of information are considered, and the copyright policy environment of the 1990s is taken as an example of how the lack of substantive economic analysis resulted in poor policy-making.
Partnership Patterns: Addressing Emotional Needs in Early Intervention
Authors: Brotherson Mary Jane , Summers Jean Ann , Naig Lisa A. , Kyzar Kathleen , Friend Anna , Epley Pamela , Gotto George S. , Turnbull Ann P.
Published: February 2010

Home visiting in early intervention is the primary model for delivering services and building partnerships with children and families. Using interviews with early interventionists and family members, this study investigated the extent to which families’ and professionals’ emotional needs were met during home visits and what factors contributed to or interfered with the formation of an emotionally supportive partnership. The findings were that the types of emotional needs experienced to one degree or another by both families and professionals included a need to have hope for the child, a sense of urgency to provide interventions, a feeling of being challenged by multiple issues, and a sense of overload. Second, the authors found that the quality of the partnership was dependent on the degree to which there was a match or mismatch in emotional needs between the family and the professional. The data highlight the need to address the emotional needs of both families and early interventionists to build a supportive family-centered partnership. Discussion focuses on the practice and research issues of these findings.
Quality of Life and Related Factors in the Older Rural and Urban Chinese Populations in Zhejiang Province
Authors: Zhou Biao , Chen Kun , Wang Junfang , Wang Hui , Zhang Shuangshuang , Zheng Weijun
Published: February 2010

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (QoL) in the older rural and urban Chinese populations in Zhejiang province. An analysis of the association between potential factors and QoL for these two groups was conducted. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2007. The total sample consisted of 2,441 rural and 2,554 urban participants. A Chinese version of the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used to quantify the QoL of participants. A comparison between the QoL of rural and urban participants was made. The association between potential factors and QoL was performed using a multiple linear regression model. The study revealed all scale scores of SF-36 in the rural population were significantly lower than those in the urban population except general health (GH; p < .001). The common factors associated with high QoL in both older rural and urban populations were gender (male), tea consumption, income, and consumption of alcohol. Age and the number of chronic diseases an individual suffered from were negatively associated with QoL. In addition, the study revealed the perception that giving up smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol were negatively associated with QoL for participants living in rural areas, whereas educational level and regular exercise were positively associated with QoL for participants living in urban areas. Intervention programs for decreasing chronic diseases, establishing security mechanisms of the pension, and spreading the knowledge of healthy lifestyles may improve QoL for the older populations in Zhejiang province, especially in rural areas.
The Relationship Between Mentally Unhealthy Days and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults Over Time
Authors: Skarupski Kimberly A. , Zack Matthew M. , Bienias Julia L. , Scherr Paul A. , Evans Denis A.
Published: February 2010

This article sought to determine the extent to which the number of self-reported mentally unhealthy days (MUDs) in the past 30 days estimates depressive symptoms in older adults. The sample of 4,321 community-dwelling residents aged 65 and above originated from an ongoing population-based study of older Blacks and Whites. Participants’ data from 1993 through 2005 included the single MUD question and questions from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D). Fourteen percent of participants had four or more depressive symptoms at baseline; of these, only 52% reported one or more MUD. Thirty-eight percent of those with one or more MUDs had four or more depressive symptoms. The results illustrate an interesting association regarding the measurements of two distinct, but related, mental health constructs. Although the number of MUDs was associated with having more depressive symptoms over time, the single-question MUD measure does not fully capture depressive symptomatology.
Motor System Activation Reveals Infants’ On-Line Prediction of Others’ Goals
Authors: Southgate Victoria , Johnson Mark H. , Karoui Imen El , Csibra Gergely
Published: February 2010

Despite much research demonstrating infants’ abilities to attribute goals to others’ actions, it is unclear whether infants can generate on-line predictions about action outcomes, an ability crucial for the human propensity to cooperate and collaborate with others. This lack of evidence is mainly due to methodological limitations restricting the interpretation of behavioral data. Here, we exploited the fact that observers’ motor systems are recruited during the observation of goal-directed actions. We presented 9-month-old infants with part of an action. For this action to be interpreted as goal directed, the infants would need to predict an outcome for the action. Measuring the attenuation of the sensorimotor alpha signal during observation of action, we found that infants exhibited evidence of motor activation only if the observed action permitted them to infer a likely outcome. This result provides evidence for on-line goal prediction in infancy, and our method offers a new way to explore infants’ cognitive abilities.
Women in the Media and their Work Environment
Authors: Murthy D.V.R. , Anita G.
Published: February 2010

With the proliferation of mass communication in the country, the employment of women in the media has increased. Studies hitherto have focused on women in the print media. This study relates to the working conditions of women employed in newspapers, TV channels and radio stations in Andhra Pradesh. Although there is no major gender bias in this sector, job insecurity and non-implementation of specific provisions for women and of wage board rules are issues that need attention.
Women and the Internet
Authors: Johnson Vinitha
Published: February 2010

Women do not access and use the Internet to the extent or in ways that men do. In this small survey in South India, this generalisation was reinforced. Women are marginalised by their own anxieties, roles and beliefs rooted in traditional norms as well as by illiteracy and economic circumstances. The media too are responsible for skewing women’s self-perceptions which hinder their use of the Internet.
Relationship Banking and the Credit Market in India
Authors: Nachane Dilip M. , Ranade Prasad P.
Published: February 2010

Relationship banking based on Okun’s ‘customer credit markets’ has important implications for monetary policy via the credit transmission channel. Studies of less-developed country (LDC) credit markets from this point of view seem to be scanty and this article attempts to address this lacuna. Relationship banking implies short-term dis-equilibrium in credit markets, suggesting the vector error-correction model (VECM) as an appropriate framework for analysis. We develop VECM models in the Indian context (for the period April 1992–December 2008 using monthly data) to analyse salient features of the credit market. An analysis of the error-correction mechanisms (ECMs ) reveals that disequilibrium in the Indian credit market is adjusted via demand responses rather than supply responses, which are in accordance with the customer view of credit markets. Further light on the working of the model is obtained through ‘generalised’ impulse responses and ‘generalised’ error decompositions (both of which are independent of the variable ordering). Our conclusions point towards firms using short-term credit as a liquidity buffer. This fact, together with the gradual adjustment exhibited by the ‘persistence profiles’ provides substantive evidence in favour of ‘customer credit markets’.
Policy Reforms and Stability of the Money Demand Function in India
Authors: B. Muralikrishna Bharadwaj , Pandit Vishwanath
Published: February 2010

The traditional policy regimes need to be re-examined in the wake of the fast-emerging globalised world economy. This is particularly true in the case of developing economies and more so when it comes to monetary policy. This is because of the growing link between domestic money and financial markets on the one hand and the foreign exchange market on the other. A central building block in this context is the money demand function which must be stable and able to provide adequate linkages for policy formulation. This is the focus of this exercise as it attempts to relate the demand for real stock of money to the exchange rate, and to other familiar variables like rate of inflation, interest rate and the level of economic activity. The results are significant from the policy point of view under the new economic policy regime.
The Determinants of Demand for Life Insurance in an Emerging Economy—India
Authors: Kakar Preeti , Shukla Rajesh
Published: February 2010

Social security is virtually non-existent in India. While governments play a role providing some security to poor households (through the public distribution system targeted at households below the poverty line), in general financial security remains the responsibility of individuals. Life insurance is one of the most important social security measures undertaken in the country. Based on primary data generated through the National Council of Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER) National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (NSHIE), this article attempts to identify determinants of life insurance ownership in the country. An analysis using logistic regression has corroborated that insured households tend to be more prosperous, more educated and more optimistic about future security than non-insured households. Both the level of education and occupation of the chief earner of a household are major determinants of life insurance participation, apart from asset-ownership. Further, households that are more optimistic about the adequacy of future income and savings show higher levels of participation. No rural–urban divide has been noticed with respect to these influencing factors.
Predicting Abolition: A Cross-National Survival Analysis of the Social and Political Determinants of Death Penalty Statutes
Authors: Kent Stephanie L.
Published: February 2010

Cross-national research on the determinants of criminal penalties has generally recognized that the amount of crime is an insufficient explanation for the use of punishment. Some research supports conflict explanations, reporting that economic inequality and the presence of ethnic minorities threatens elites who respond by advocating increased punishments largely aimed at minority groups. Other research reports that democratized nations in which citizens enjoy many civil liberties have lower levels of punishment. This study uses event history and logistic analyses to identify the social and political factors that shape the existence of the death penalty in 92 nations over a 23-year period. The results largely support conflict explanations for the existence of this punishment by finding that nations with high-income inequality and large ethnic minority populations have the lowest likelihood of abolition.
The Utility of Country Structure: A Cross-National Multilevel Analysis of Property and Violent Victimization
Authors: Stein Rachel E.
Published: February 2010

Routine activities and lifestyle theories focus on the opportunities that lead to victimization experience. Routine activities theory considers a micro- and macro-level approach to understanding victimization, which suggests the utility of this theory in cross-national research. However, few cross-national studies applying a routine activities framework address both the individual and structural levels of analysis. Additionally, much research adhering to this theoretical perspective does not distinguish between instrumental and expressive crimes. Because of these limitations, the full explanatory value of the theory has not been adequately explored. In this study, the author focuses on a cross-national multilevel analysis of violent and property victimization across 47 developed and developing nations. The author uses the International Crime Victimization Survey (ICVS) and the European Survey on Crime and Safety (EU ICS) for individual-level measures and incorporates information on country structure from sources including the United Nations, World Bank, and the International Labor Organization. The results indicate individual-level measures of routines and lifestyles are differentially related to expressive and instrumental victimization, and these relationships maintain significance when structural opportunity measures are considered. Moreover, the measures of structural opportunity as captured by the level of development, sex ratio, and female employment are differentially associated with violent and property victimization.
Restoring Justice (Ubuntu): An African Perspective
Authors: Oko Elechi O. , Morris Sherill V. C. , Schauer Edward J.
Published: February 2010

The goal of justice-making in Africa is the restoration of victims and the reintegration of the offender back into the community. The restoration of relationships and social harmony undermined by the conflict is also an important goal of African justice. The effectiveness of African justice system derives from the fact that all stakeholders have equal access and participation in the conflict resolution process. All voices are recognized and respected in the process and decisions are reached through a consensus. Justice-making further creates an opportunity for the learning and the reexamination of important values and the socio-economic conditions of the community. Important African communitarian principles of caring for one another and the spirit of mutual support are fostered in the process of justice-making. It is also appreciated that the survival of the community depends on the well-being of the individual. An African word, Ubuntu better captures the underlying African world-view that expresses Africa’s egalitarian, humanistic, interconnectedness, communitarian and participatory democratic values. This study examines the principles and practices of African indigenous justice system in contemporary times and makes a case that these justice principles can be applied to justice making in the United States and other places.
Stability of Behavioral and Emotional Problems Over 6 Years in Children Ages 4 to 5 or 6 to 7 at Time 1
Authors: Bilancia Sarah D. , Rescorla Leslie
Published: February 2010

This study tests the hypothesis that 6-year longitudinal stability of behavioral and emotional problems would be greater for children ages 6 to 7 than for those ages 4 to 5 at Time 1. Six-year outcome data for a nationally representative sample of 4- to 7-year-olds ( N = 733) were used to examine longitudinal stability of internalizing, externalizing, social, and attention problems. Six-year correlations were high for both age groups, with only 1 of 12 comparisons showing a significant age difference. About 80% of the children maintained their status as deviant versus nondeviant from Time 1 to Time 3 for all problems assessed. The best predictors of Time 3 problem scores were Time 1 and Time 2 scores on the same scale, and age group had no significant effect on regression results. These data suggest that longitudinal stability of behavioral and emotional problems is as strong for children ages 4 to 5 as for children ages 6 to 7 at Time 1.
Negotiated pleasures in health-seeking lifestyles of participants of a health promoting intervention
Authors: Jallinoja Piia , Pajari Pia , Absetz Pilvikki
Published: February 2010

Using focus group discussion data the present article examines argumentation around pleasure from food and physical activity among participants of a health promoting intervention. The article analyses the conflicts produced by pleasure-seeking and health enhancement, and the pursuits to solve these conflicts. Due to the discrepancy between the pleasure-seeking and health enhancement, pleasure was constructed not simply as a spontaneous experience but often as a planned and disciplined event. In respect of food, it was considered as appropriate to negotiate with different sources of pleasure and discipline one’s inclination to simply follow one’s taste. However, the tastiness of food was seen to have a value of its own and the need for pleasurable tastes was often experienced as beyond the individual’s control. We term food related pleasures ‘negotiated pleasures’ stressing the diverse strategies used by individuals while negotiating between food related pleasures and their overall health-seeking lifestyle. In respect of physical activity, life resembled more a mosaic where passivity was occasionally interrupted with disciplined physical activity that seldom produced pleasure. The scarcity of pleasures from physical activity as well as from healthy foods is a challenge for health promoters. Instead of building more self-controlling and self-denying individuals, it could be fruitful to focus health promoters’ attention to the enhancement of the experiences of pleasure. No matter how self-disciplined individuals are, if the dilemma of pleasure and health is not disentangled, lifestyle change will not last long.
‘Let me tell you about myself ’: A method for suppressing subject talk in a ‘soft accusation’ interrogation
Authors: Kidwell Mardi , González Martínez Esther
Published: February 2010

This article describes interactional features of an interrogation method that is used by law enforcement and private security companies in the US known as the ‘soft accusation’ method. We demonstrate how the method, in contrast to the more common ‘story solicitation’ method, makes use of a ‘telling about oneself ’ activity to actually suppress a subject’s talk by setting up and maintaining an exceptionally long turn by the interrogator. This turn not only constrains subjects’ speaking contributions to the issuing of continuers and acknowledgments, and, as such, their opportunities to challenge or resist, but, based as it is on ‘telling about oneself ’, re-organizes the knowledge differential to one in which it is the interrogator rather than the subject who has primary epistemic rights of disclosure. We provide an overview of interactional problems associated with the story solicitation method and then consider how the soft accusation method is designed to counter them, particularly via practices of informing and describing that are associated with the activity of ‘telling about oneself ’. As we show, these practices make use of techniques of elaboration that provide a resource for turn expansion, as well as for seamless topical movement that works to positively align the subject to the interrogator’s talk and, thus, to smooth the interactional pathway to the subject’s admission of guilt.
Attitude and subjectivity in Italian and British hard-news reporting: The construction of a culture-specific ‘reporter’ voice
Authors: Pounds Gabrina
Published: February 2010

The critical linguistic analysis of authorial stance in English news reporting has long been concerned with uncovering the ideological bias embedded in the seemingly objective and neutral representation of people and events. Interest has recently shifted towards the nature of the authorial voice itself and the extent to which this semblance of objectivity is also typical in non-English reporting (e.g. Thomson et al., 2008). This article explores to what extent the most impersonal ‘reporter voice’, as identified by Martin and White (2005) in English hard-news reported in the press, is present in Italian reporting. The ‘appraisal’ categories developed by Martin and White are used, discussed and adapted for this purpose. Attention is thereby also given to significant expressive resources that may not be retrievable from English material alone. Similarities and differences in reporting styles are discussed and reference is made to the social and cultural variables that may underlie them.
Conversational actions and category relations: An analysis of a children’s argument
Authors: Hester Sally , Hester Stephen
Published: February 2010

This paper presents an analysis of conversational actions and category relations exhibited in an episode of argument between a brother and sister during a family meal. The paper is based on two sets of auspices: on a conversation analytic concern with the interconnection between the sequential and categorical ‘layers’ of organization to which parties to talk-in-interaction are demonstrably oriented, and on ‘Sacks’ Conjecture’ regarding children’s culture and adult—child ‘culture contact’. In terms of these auspices, the analysis shows that the children use both sequential and categorical cultural resources to produce their argument. To adapt a concept of Garfinkel’s (1967) — the documentary method of interpretation — the category relationship between the children is the underlying matter that the sequential particulars are used to reflexively document and constitute. Specifically, through the sequentially organized particulars of degradation and resistance the children recognizably and reflexively constitute their category relationship.
Insulin-treated diabetes and driving: what is the patient’s knowledge of current regulations?
Authors: Jackson-Koku Gordon , Morrison Gillian , Morrison Clive L , Weston Philip J
Published: February 2010

Our survey aimed to determine whether educational deficits exist regarding patients’ knowledge of current driving regulations. We surveyed 100 insulin-treated diabetes patients using questionnaires in October 2008. Fifty-eight were male and 42 female. Mean age was 52.9 years, mean duration of diabetes 15.1 years and mean glycated haemoglobin A1C 7.5%. Eighty-nine patients (89%) had notified the UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and 79 (79%) their insurance company of insulin treatment. Sixty-five patients (65%) said they would consider checking their capillary blood glucose levels before each driving episode. The mean length of time patients said they would consider rechecking their capillary blood glucose levels during long journeys was 2.8 hours and the median time they will consider waiting before resuming driving after a hypoglycaemic episode was 45 minutes. The mean capillary blood glucose level that patients said they would consider safe to drive with was 4.8 mmol/L. Thirty-five patients (35%) said they were unaware that driving was not permitted for at least 45 minutes after hypoglycaemia had resolved. We concluded that there were deficits in aspects of patients’ knowledge of current driving regulations.
Hypoglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes: minimising the risk
Authors: Fisher Miles
Published: February 2010

Achieving optimal glycaemic control is a priority for the management of diabetes and among patients with type 2 diabetes, it is increasingly becoming apparent that hypoglycaemia is a barrier to this. Hypoglycaemia can be associated with acute and long-term morbidity and is potentially fatal. Strategies to minimise the risk of hypoglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes are outlined here, including the need for patient education and optimisation of current treatments.
Current developments in the treatment of diabetes: the incretin therapies
Authors: Russell-Jones David
Published: February 2010

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the UK has increased enormously over recent years and is closely associated with obesity and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The incretin system, which contributes significantly to the insulin response in healthy individuals, but is impaired in individuals with diabetes, offers a target for the development of agents that address many aspects of diabetes. These agents are broadly split into two categories — the glucagon-like polypeptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and the dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors. The DPP-4 inhibitors sitagliptin and vildagliptin, along with the GLP-1 receptor agonists exenatide and liraglutide are currently approved for use and offer effective glycaemic control with a low risk of hypoglycaemia. GLP-1 receptor agonists may offer further benefits over both DPP-4 inhibitors and conventional therapies, such as reductions in body weight and blood pressure. Here we review the incretin system (with particular reference to GLP-1) and consider the development of these two classes of antidiabetic therapy, discussing the safety and efficacy of some of the latest available GLP-1 receptor agonists and DPP-4 inhibitors.
Determining the risk of hypoglycaemia in people with type 2 diabetes: an approach for clinical practice
Authors: Cradock Sue , Frier Brian M
Published: February 2010

Hypoglycaemia and its consequences are a significant risk for many people who have type 2 diabetes, yet it is often under-recognised, and may be avoidable. Severe hypoglycaemic events have an impact on mortality, morbidity and quality of life of many people with type 2 diabetes. With current clinical guidelines recommending strict glycaemic control, it is likely that the clinical risk of hypoglycaemia will increase, such that better recognition of the symptoms of hypoglycaemia is increasingly important in order to reduce the risk of progression to more severe episodes. This article outlines a series of structured questions which may be useful in eliciting an accurate account of the frequency and severity of hypoglycaemic events.
Reaching and Retaining High-Risk HIV/AIDS Clients Through the Internet
Authors: Feldacker Caryl , Torrone Elizabeth , Triplette Matthew , Smith Justin C. , Leone Peter A.
Published: February 2010

The Internet is a popular way for people to meet casual sex partners. However, online outreach remains largely unexplored to promote voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. The Student Health Action Coalition’s HIV testing program (SHAC-HIV) targets high-risk clients through tailored Internet outreach via chat rooms, social networking sites, and online forums. The SHAC-HIV model also demonstrates that nontraditional testing sites can provide low-cost, client-centered, high-quality services to support increased demand for HIV-testing services. Within the clinic, SHAC-HIV’s testing model includes four major components: (a) reliance on a team of well-trained health sciences student volunteers; (b) rapid oral-fluid HIV tests; (c) universal, consent-based testing with client-centered health education and counseling; and (d) coordinated referrals for follow-up testing, treatment, and care. This approach reaches high-risk clients as well as undiagnosed infections. In 2007, there were nine confirmed positive results out of 389 tests, yielding a 2.3% positivity rate. This positivity percentage is higher than any other nontraditional testing site in North Carolina. This article describes the SHAC-HIV outreach and vo-luntary counseling and testing program with the aim of encouraging adoption of the model by other nontraditional testing sites.
The E2D2 Model
Authors: Petermann Lisa , Petz Graham
Published: February 2010

The E2D2 model is a systematic, evidence-informed approach to designing comprehensive and strategic interventions focused on cancer prevention, with potential applications to the broader chronic disease community. The model was developed using an omnibus approach to account for multilevel influences and determinants of individual and population health, quality of life, and cancer risk. It is focused on the four pillars of health promotion and intervention practice (evidence, evaluation, development, and delivery) and moves through three fundamental phases: identification of risk factors and sensitizing concepts; mediating mechanisms and modifiable contexts; and program development, delivery, and evaluation. Distinguished from other models in the health promotion field, the E2D2 model is designed to be both sequential and feedback oriented, which allows for the emergence of new evidence, procedural revisions, and knowledge exchange to occur during any of its phases.
Fair Nursing Care When Resources Are Limited: The Role of Patients and Family Members in Norwegian Home-Based Services
Authors: Tønnessen Siri , Førde Reidun , Nortvedt Per
Published: February 2010

The purpose of the study was to investigate nurses’ priority decisions and the provision of home-based nursing care services. Interviews were conducted with 17 nurses in various positions in this service. The data were interpreted and analyzed according to interpretive hermeneutic methodology. The authors particularly address the nurses’ descriptions of the role of the patient and his or her family members for the provision of home-based care. Cooperative patients and family members represent an important resource for care and can make it possible for nurses to provide services for all the patients on an egalitarian basis and to prioritize those who live alone. However, demanding and resourceful patients and family members may “rule” the service at the expense of other patients who also have legitimate care needs—a practice that the nurses describe as unfair. In this article, the authors discuss how a fair and impartial distribution of common benefits can be achieved without some parties being unjustly treated.
Winners and Losers: Organizational Impacts of a Nurses Pay Agreement
Authors: North Nicola , Buchan James
Published: February 2010

This article considers the impacts on organizations of a new national employment agreement for nurses in New Zealand. In the 1980s, local employer bargaining replaced national awards. As nurses’ employment conditions deteriorated, in 2004 that trend was reversed with a new national agreement between the nurses’ union and the public sector health boards. Qualitative information was collected and analyzed from two employers covered by the agreement and from five nongovernment organizations not party to the agreement. In the organizations studied, there was evidence of winners and losers within and between organizations, flow-on effects on other groups of nurses not represented by the union and on other employee groups. Although impacts on public sector nursing workforces were generally positive, some imbalances and unintended consequences arose from the agreement. Differing experiences and perspectives of a national pay agreement largely reflected local nurse market conditions.
Evaluation of Paradoxical TB-Associated IRIS With the Use of Standardized Case Definitions For Resource-Limited Settings
Authors: Eshun-Wilson Ingrid , Havers Fiona , Nachega Jean B. , Prozesky Hans W. , Taljaard Jantjie J. , Zeier Michele D. , Cotton Mark , Simon Gary , Soentjens Patrick
Published: February 2010

Objective: Standardized case definitions have recently been proposed by the International Network for the Study of HIV-associated immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (INSHI; [IRIS]) for use in resource-limited settings. We evaluated paradoxical tuberculosis (TB)-associated IRIS in a large cohort from a TB endemic setting with the use of these case definitions. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Method: We reviewed records from 1250 South African patients who initiated antiretroviral therapy (ART) over a 5-year period. Results: A total of 333 (27%) of the patients in the cohort had prevalent TB at the initiation of ART. Of 54 possible paradoxical TB-associated IRIS cases, 35 fulfilled the INSHI case definitions (11% of TB cases). Conclusions: INSHI-standardized case definitions were used successfully in identifying paradoxical TB-associated IRIS in this cohort and resulted in a similar proportion of TB IRIS cases (11%) as that reported in previous studies from resource-limited settings (8%-13%). This case definition should be evaluated prospectively.
Recommendations for Clinical Assessment, Sports Participation, and Management in Hypertensive Athletes
Authors: Fitzgibbon Laura K. , Alpert Bruce S.
Published: February 2010

Athleticism is often associated with optimal health; however, some athletes have high blood pressure (BP) despite being physically active. Using proper guidelines to determine a BP diagnosis is essential when working with both children and adults who are physically active because basal BP levels rise during physical activity. Once a physician has determined an athlete is hypertensive, a full clinical assessment may be required to identify possible etiologies for the condition and furthermore to establish appropriate BP management. Special recommendations for sport participation can follow. Sport participation is dependent on, but is not limited to, coexisting cardiovascular risk factors and associated clinical conditions, BP condition, and evidence of end-organ damage. This article reviews the available research literature on the diagnosis of hypertension, recommendations for clinical assessments, and special considerations of BP management and sport participation to ensure the safety of hypertensive patients/athletes.
Wide diversity of PAX5 alterations in B-ALL: a Groupe Francophone de Cytogénétique Hématologique study
Authors: Coyaud Etienne , Struski Stephanie , Prade Nais , Familiades Julien , Eichner Ruth , Quelen Cathy , Bousquet Marina , Mugneret Francine , Talmant Pascaline , Pages Marie-Pierre , Lefebvre Christine , Penther Dominique , Lippert Eric , Nadal Nathalie , Taviaux Sylvie , Poppe Bruce , Luquet Isabelle , Baranger Laurence , Eclache Virginie , Radford Isabelle , Barin Carole , Mozziconacci Marie-Joëlle , Lafage-Pochitaloff Marina , Antoine-Poirel Hélène , Charrin Christiane , Perot Christine , Terre Christine , Brousset Pierre , Dastugue Nicole , Broccardo Cyril
Published: February 2010

PAX5 is the main target of somatic mutations in acute B lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). We analyzed 153 adult and child B-ALL harboring karyotypic abnormalities at chromosome 9p, to determine the frequency and the nature of PAX5 alterations. We found PAX5 internal rearrangements in 21% of the cases. To isolate fusion partners, we used classic and innovative techniques (rolling circle amplification-rapid amplification of cDNA ends) and single nucleotide polymorphism-comparative genomic hybridization arrays. Recurrent and novel fusion partners were identified, including NCoR1, DACH2, GOLGA6, and TAOK1 genes showing the high variability of the partners. We noted that half the fusion genes can give rise to truncated PAX5 proteins. Furthermore, malignant cells carrying PAX5 fusion genes displayed a simple karyotype. These data strongly suggest that PAX5 fusion genes are early players in leukemogenesis. In addition, PAX5 deletion was observed in 60% of B-ALL with 9p alterations. Contrary to cases with PAX5 fusions, deletions were associated with complex karyotypes and common recurrent translocations. This supports the hypothesis of the secondary nature of the deletion. Our data shed more light on the high variability of PAX5 alterations in B-ALL. Therefore, it is probable that gene fusions occur early, whereas deletions should be regarded as a late/secondary event.
BisoGenet: a new tool for gene network building, visualization and analysis
Authors: Martin Alexander , Ochagavia Maria E , Rabasa Laya C , Miranda Jamilet , Fernandez-de-Cossio Jorge , Bringas Ricardo
Published: February 2010

Background

The increasing availability and diversity of omics data in the post-genomic era offers new perspectives in most areas of biomedical research. Graph-based biological networks models capture the topology of the functional relationships between molecular entities such as gene, protein and small compounds and provide a suitable framework for integrating and analyzing omics-data. The development of software tools capable of integrating data from different sources and to provide flexible methods to reconstruct, represent and analyze topological networks is an active field of research in bioinformatics.

Results

BisoGenet is a multi-tier application for visualization and analysis of biomolecular relationships. The system consists of three tiers. In the data tier, an in-house database stores genomics information, protein-protein interactions, protein-DNA interactions, gene ontology and metabolic pathways. In the middle tier, a global network is created at server startup, representing the whole data on bioentities and their relationships retrieved from the database. The client tier is a Cytoscape plugin, which manages user input, communication with the Web Service, visualization and analysis of the resulting network.

Conclusion

BisoGenet is able to build and visualize biological networks in a fast and user-friendly manner. A feature of Bisogenet is the possibility to include coding relations to distinguish between genes and their products. This feature could be instrumental to achieve a finer grain representation of the bioentities and their relationships. The client application includes network analysis tools and interactive network expansion capabilities. In addition, an option is provided to allow other networks to be converted to BisoGenet. This feature facilitates the integration of our software with other tools available in the Cytoscape platform. BisoGenet is available at http://bio.cigb.edu.cu/bisogenet-cytoscape/.
Generation and characterization of a Tet-On (rtTA-M2) transgenic rat
Authors: Sheng Yi , Lin Chih-Cheng , Yue Junming , Sukhwani Meena , Shuttleworth Jennifer J , Chu Tianjiao , Orwig Kyle E
Published: February 2010

Background

The tetracycline-inducible gene regulation system is a powerful tool that allows temporal and dose-dependent regulation of target transgene expression in vitro and in vivo. Several tetracycline-inducible transgenic mouse models have been described with ubiquitous or tissue-specific expression of tetracycline-transactivator (tTA), reverse tetracycline-transactivator (rtTA) or Tet repressor (TetR). Here we describe a Tet-On transgenic rat that ubiquitously expresses rtTA-M2 driven by the murine ROSA 26 promoter.

Results

The homozygous rat line (ROSA-rtTA-M2) generated by lentiviral vector injection, has a single integration site and was derived from the offspring of a genetic mosaic founder with multiple transgene integrations. The rtTA-M2 transgene integrated into an intron of a putative gene on chromosome 2 and does not appear to affect the tissue-specificity or expression of that gene. Fibroblasts from the ROSA-rtTA-M2 rats were transduced with a TetO7/CMV-EGFP lentivirus and exhibited doxycycline dose-dependent expression of the EGFP reporter transgene, in vitro. In addition, doxycycline-inducible EGFP expression was observed, in vivo, when the TetO7/CMV-EGFP lentivirus was injected into testis, kidney and muscle tissues of ROSA-rtTA-M2 rats.

Conclusions

This conditional expression rat model may have application for transgenic overexpression or knockdown studies of gene function in development, disease and gene therapy.