bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changing bodies, changing narratives and the consequences of tellability: a case study of becoming disabled through sport
Authors: Smith Brett , Sparkes Andrew C.
Published: January 2009

This article explores the life story of a young man who experienced a spinal cord injury (SCI) and became disabled though playing the sport of rugby union football. His experiences post SCI illuminate the ways in which movement from one form of embodiment to another connects him to a dominant cultural narrative regarding recovery from SCI that is both tellable and acceptable in terms of plot and structure to those around him. Over time, the obdurate facts of his impaired and disabled body lead him to reject this dominant narrative and move into a story line that is located on Norrick's (2005) upper‐bounding side of tellability. This makes it transgressive, frightening, difficult to hear, and invokes the twin processes of deprivation of opportunity and infiltrated consciousness as described by Nelson (2001). These, and the effects of impairment, are seen to have direct consequences for the tellability of embodied experiences along with identity construction and narrative repair over time. Finally, some reflections are offered on how the conditions that negate the telling of his story might be challenged.
Tales of biographical disintegration: how parents make sense of their sons’ suicides
Authors: Owens Christabel , Lambert Helen , Lloyd Keith , Donovan Jenny
Published: January 2009

Suicide research relies heavily on accounts provided by bereaved relatives, using a method known as the psychological autopsy. Psychological autopsy studies are invariably quantitative in design and their findings reinforce the medical model of suicide, emphasising the role of mental illness. They largely ignore the meanings that narrators attach to events, the nature of the sense‐making task and the influences bearing upon it. This study drew on psychological autopsy data but used qualitative analytic methods. Fourteen semi‐structured interviews with the parents of young men aged 18–30 who had taken their own lives form the basis for this paper. Some parents represent their sons as victims who were cruelly destroyed by external forces, while others portray them as agents of their own destruction. Either way, their narratives are dominated by moral rather than medical categories and by questions of personal accountability. We show how the parents use the interview to perform a complex reconstructive task, striving to piece together both their son's and their own shattered biographies and repair damage to their moral identities. We argue that their stories represent survival tools, enabling them not only to make sense of the past but also to face their own future.
Sociology, systems and (patient) safety: knowledge translations in healthcare policy
Authors: Jensen Casper Bruun
Published: January 2009

In 2000 the American Institute of Medicine, adviser to the federal government on policy matters relating to the health of the public, published the report To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which was to become a call to arms for improving patient safety across the Western world. By re‐conceiving healthcare as a system, it was argued that it was possible to transform the current culture of blame, which made individuals take defensive precautions against being assigned responsibility for error – notably by not reporting adverse events, into a culture of safety. The IOM report draws on several prominent social scientists in accomplishing this re‐conceptualisation. But the analyses of these authors are not immediately relevant for health policy. It requires knowledge translation to make them so. This paper analyses the process of translation. The discussion is especially pertinent due to a certain looping effect between social science research and policy concerns. The case here presented is thus doubly illustrative: exemplifying first how social science is translated into health policy and secondly how the transformation required for this to function is taken as an analytical improvement that can in turn be redeployed in social research.
Contextualising accounts of illness: notions of responsibility and blame in white and South Asian respondents’ accounts of diabetes causation
Authors: Lawton Julia , Ahmad Naureen , Peel Elizabeth , Hallowell Nina
Published: January 2009

We undertook a secondary analysis of in‐depth interviews with white (n = 32) and Pakistani and Indian (n = 32) respondents who had type 2 diabetes, which explored their perceptions and understandings of disease causation. We observed subtle, but important, differences in the ways in which these respondent groups attributed responsibility and blame for developing the disease. Whereas Pakistani and Indian respondents tended to externalise responsibility, highlighting their life circumstances in general and/or their experiences of migrating to Britain in accounting for their diabetes (or the behaviours they saw as giving rise to it), white respondents, by contrast, tended to emphasise the role of their own lifestyle ‘choices’ and ‘personal failings’. In seeking to understand these differences, we argue for a conceptual and analytical approach which embraces both micro‐ (i.e. everyday) and macro‐ (i.e. cultural) contextual factors and experiences. In so doing, we provide a critique of social scientific studies of lay accounts/understandings of health and illness. We suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to the research encounter (that is, to who is looking at whom and in what circumstances) to understand the different kinds of contexts researchers have highlighted in presenting and interpreting their data.
Responsibility and risk: accounts of reasons for seeking an HIV test
Authors: Lee Seung‐Hee , Sheon Nicolas
Published: January 2009

Using data from recordings of HIV test counselling sessions in publicly funded sites in Northern California, US, this paper examines the discussion of clients’ reasons for testing as a site for self‐presentation. While counsellors attempt to use the reason for testing discussion as a lead‐in to a discussion of risk behaviour, clients often describe their testing as part of a routine, not in response to a specific risk. Clients use three practices to present themselves as reasonable and responsible people who are in control of their HIV status. First, clients present the normal and routine nature of testing, thereby portraying their reasonableness in seeking an HIV test. Secondly, clients deny or downgrade their risk when counsellors seek to identify a specific risk. Thirdly, when introducing a particular risk, clients package it within mitigating contexts that emphasise their knowledge about and control over the risk. These practices can make it difficult for counsellors to focus the counselling session on a specific risk incident. One of the counsellors in our dataset provides an alternative approach that manages to elicit risk and legitimates routine testing as a reason for testing.
Interpreted consultations as ‘business as usual’? An analysis of organisational routines in general practices
Authors: Greenhalgh Trisha , Voisey Christopher , Robb Nadia
Published: January 2009

UK general practices operate in an environment of high linguistic diversity, because of recent large‐scale immigration and of the NHS's commitment to provide a professional interpreter to any patient if needed. Much activity in general practice is co‐ordinated and patterned into organisational routines (defined as repeated patterns of interdependent actions, involving multiple actors, bound by rules and customs) that tend to be stable and to persist. If we want to understand how general practices are responding to pressures to develop new routines, such as interpreted consultations, we need to understand how existing organisational routines change. This will then help us to address a second question, which is how the interpreted consultation itself is being enacted and changing as it becomes routinised (or not) in everyday general practice. In seeking answers to these two questions, we undertook a qualitative study of narratives of interpreted primary care consultations in three London boroughs with large minority ethnic populations. In 69 individual interviews and two focus groups, we sought accounts of interpreted consultations from service users, professional interpreters, family member interpreters, general practitioners, practice nurses, receptionists, and practice managers. We asked participants to tell us both positive and negative stories of their experiences. We analysed these data by searching for instances of concepts relating to the organisational routine, the meaning of the interpreted consultation to the practice, and the sociology of medical work. Our findings identified a number of general properties of the interpreted consultation as an organisational routine, including the wide variation in the form of adoption, the stability of the routine, the adaptability of the routine, and the strength of the routine. Our second key finding was that this variation could be partly explained by characteristics of the practice as an organisation, especially whether it was traditional (small, family‐run, ‘personal’ identity, typically multilingual, loose division of labour, relatively insular) or contemporary (large, bureaucratic, ‘efficient’ identity, typically monolingual, clear division of labour, richly networked). We conclude that there is a fruitful research agenda to be explored that links the organisational dimension of interpreting services with studies of clinical care and outcomes.
Race and nutrition: an investigation of Black‐White differences in health‐related nutritional behaviours
Authors: Bahr Peter Riley
Published: January 2009

Black‐White disparities in the incidence and prevalence of chronic disease and premature morbidity are persistent and well documented in the United States. Prevailing explanations for these disparities have focused upon socioeconomic inequality and related mechanisms as the causal factors. Yet, despite the explanatory power of socioeconomic status in models of health outcomes, an unexplained racial gap in health persists. This research contributes to the study of the Black‐White health divergence by exploring a mechanism with the prospect of explaining a portion of the racial gap in health remaining after adjustment for socioeconomic status. Specifically, using random coefficient regression to analyse pooled data from the 1993–1999 California Dietary Practices Survey, I identify significant differences between Blacks and Whites, after adjustment for socioeconomic status and other controls, both in global nutritional healthfulness and across a range of nutritional behaviours with established links to the development of chronic disease. Given the compelling body of literature linking nutritional behaviour to health outcomes, these differences between Blacks and Whites constitute evidence for the potential explanatory value of nutrition in future studies seeking to explain the residual racial gap in health remaining after adjustment for socioeconomic status and correlates of socioeconomic status.
Locating ethnicity and health: exploring concepts and contexts
Authors: Ahmad Waqar I. U. , Bradby Hannah
Published: January 2009

With the rapid development of ethnicity and health as a field of sociological research, this paper seeks to re‐evaluate the development of ideas around ethnicity, ‘race’ and culture and consider how they have been applied to the question of health. Ethnicity as a social characteristic is contingent on the situation in which it is manifest. The process of marking ‘other’ ethnic groups includes stereotyping and racialisation, a process through which ‘racial’ or ethnic differences predominate to the exclusion of a consideration of social, economic and power relations. In the British context, the history of empire and medicine's justification of racist treatment of enslaved and colonised people, is relevant to understanding how ethnic and cultural differences have come to be essentialised and pathologised. Immigration to Britain only became a mass phenomenon after World War II, with settlement patterns following employment opportunities and kinship alliances. The state has a longstanding history of ‘managing’ diversity, sometimes essentialising differences between groups, at other times tackling disadvantage and discrimination experiences through policy action. Sociologists of health were slow to study ethnicity, with initial research coming from tropical disease specialists. The tendency of medicine to pathologise minority cultures is explored through case studies of the approach to rickets and the assessment of health risks associated with consanguineous marriage. Anti‐racist approaches have encouraged the consideration of discrimination against and socioeconomic position of minorities. The field has developed with work on nomenclature and the operationalisation of ethnic identity, necessary to study health inequalities between ethnic groups and paying due heed to the contribution of socioeconomic position and racism to group experiences. Research into chronic conditions with complex analysis of a number of distinct contributory variables has been published of late. However, the excessive focus on South Asians and the record of measuring, analysing, but not necessarily tackling health disadvantage, are problems that remain to be addressed.
Asymmetrical lateral ventricular enlargement in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Lewis M. M. , Smith A. B. , Styner M. , Gu H. , Poole R. , Zhu H. , Li Y. , Barbero X. , Gouttard S. , McKeown M. J. , Mailman R. B. , Huang X.
Published: January 2009

Background:  A recent case report suggested the presence of asymmetrical lateral ventricular enlargement associated with motor asymmetry in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The current study explored these associations further.

Methods:  Magnetic resonance imaging (3T) scans were obtained on 17 PD and 15 healthy control subjects at baseline and 12–43 months later. Baseline and longitudinal lateral ventricular volumetric changes were compared between contralateral and ipsilateral ventricles in PD subjects relative to symptom onset side and in controls relative to their dominant hand. Correlations between changes in ventricular volume and United Parkinson’s disease rating scale motor scores (UPDRS‐III) whilst on medication were determined.

Results:  The lateral ventricle contralateral to symptom onset side displayed a faster rate of enlargement compared to the ipsilateral (P = 0.004) in PD subjects, with no such asymmetry detected (P = 0.312) in controls. There was a positive correlation between ventricular enlargement and worsening motor function assessed by UPDRS‐III scores (r = 0.96, P < 0.001).

Discussion:  There is asymmetrical lateral ventricular enlargement that is associated with PD motor asymmetry and progression. Further studies are warranted to investigate the underlying mechanism(s), as well as the potential of using volumetric measurements as a marker for PD progression.
The effect of onset age on the clinical features of Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Wickremaratchi M. M. , Ben‐Shlomo Y. , Morris H. R.
Published: January 2009

Many clinicians view age at onset as an important determinant of clinical phenotype in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and this has been reinforced by the identification of Mendelian genes that account for some cases of younger onset PD. A systematic review of OVID Medline for articles relevant to the relationship between clinical features and age at onset in PD published in English between 1950–2007 was performed. There are very few prospective community based studies which focus on the relationship between age at onset and the features of PD and a variety of case definitions are used in the literature. Most studies of young onset PD are based on specialist clinic referral series. The available evidence suggests that PD patients with a younger age at onset have: (i) a slower disease progression, (ii) an increased rate of dystonia at onset and during treatment, (iii) a lower rate of dementia and (iv) an increased rate of dyskinesias in response to l‐DOPA treatment. The majority of the available studies do not report patient genotype data, but it is probably that the clinical heterogeneity of PD will be further refined with detailed clinico‐genetic studies.
Natalizumab is effective as second line therapy in the treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis
Authors: Putzki N. , Kollia K. , Woods S. , Igwe E. , Diener H. C. , Limmroth V.
Published: January 2009

Background:  Natalizumab has been recommended for the treatment of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis with insufficient response to interferon‐beta (IFN‐beta) or glatiramer acetate (GA).

Method:  Prospective, observational study.

Results:  We found a reduction of the annualized relapse rate from 2.1 under IFN‐beta or GA to 0.2 one year after switching to natalizumab. There were 94% fewer gadolinium enhancing lesions with natalizumab.

Conclusion:  Natalizumab reduced short term clinical and MRI activity in second line therapy and efficacy is comparable to first line therapy as demonstrated in the pivotal trials.
The ‘hot cross bun’ sign in the patients with spinocerebellar ataxia
Authors: Lee Y.‐C. , Liu C.‐S. , Wu H.‐M. , Wang P.‐S. , Chang M.‐H. , Soong B.‐W.
Published: January 2009

Background and purpose:  The ‘hot cross bun’ sign (HCBS), typically seen in the patients with multiple system atrophy, refers to a cruciform hyperintensity in the pons on T2‐weighted MRI. Little is known about its pathological basis and prevalence in other degenerative cerebellar diseases and healthy population. We investigate the frequency of HCBS in the patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) and healthy controls.

Methods:  The presence of HCBS on T2‐weighted axial MRIs from 138 SCA patients (three SCA1, 35 SCA2, 76 SCA3, 18 SCA6, one SCA7, three SCA8, and two SCA17) and 102 healthy controls was evaluated retrospectively.

Results:  The overall prevalence of HCBS in the SCA patients is 8.7%, but the frequency varies in different subtypes: 25.7% in SCA2, 1.3% in SCA3, and none in SCA6 or healthy controls. Notably, one patient with SCA7 and one with SCA8 were also found to have HCBS.

Conclusions:  The differential list of HCBS should be expanded to include SCA7 and SCA8. The elucidation of frequency of HCBS in various SCA subtypes may help prioritize the genetic testing in late‐onset dominant ataxia.
Influence of climatic factors in the incidence of multiple sclerosis relapses in a Portuguese population
Authors: Fonseca A. C. , Costa J. , Cordeiro C. , Geraldes R. , De Sá J.
Published: January 2009

Background and purpose:  Environmental factors are thought to be important in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathophysiology. We aimed to evaluate if there was an association between MS relapses and some climatic factors in a Portuguese population.

Methods:  Four year retrospective study analyzing 414 MS relapses in 249 consecutive relapsing–remitting patients. Non‐parametric statistics were used to compare the distribution of relapses across months and seasons. Spearman’s coefficient was determined to evaluate the correlation between relapses frequency and maximum and minimum atmospheric temperatures, humidity and atmospheric pressure.

Results:  The mean number of relapses was not significantly different between months or seasons. No correlation was found between relapse frequency and any climatic factor.

Conclusion:  Our series is one of the largest addressing the influence of specific climatic factors on MS relapses. The number of clinical MS relapses seems to be unrelated to climatic factors.
Platinum Group Metal Flows of Europe, Part II
Authors: Saurat Mathieu , Bringezu Stefan
Published: January 2009

A model of the use of the platinum group metals (PGMs) platinum, palladium, and rhodium in Europe has been developed and combined with a model of the environmental pressures related to PGM production. Compared to the base case presented in Part I of this pair of articles, potential changes in PGM production and use are quantified with regard to cumulative and yearly environmental impacts and PGM resource use, for the period 2005–2020. Reducing sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions of PGM producer Norilsk Nickel could cut the cumulative SO2 emissions associated with the use of PGMs in Europe by 35%. Cleaner electricity generation in South Africa could reduce cumulative SO2 emissions by another 9%. Increasing the recycling rate of end‐of‐life catalytic converters to 70% in 2020 could save 15% of the cumulative primary PGM input into car catalysts and 10% of the SO2 emissions associated with PGM production. In 2020, PGM requirements and SO2 emissions would be, respectively, 40% and 22% lower than the base case.

Substituting palladium for part of the platinum in diesel catalysts, coupled with a probable palladium price increase, could imply 15% more cumulative SO2 emissions if recycling rates do not increase.

A future large‐scale introduction of fuel cell vehicles would require technological improvements to significantly reduce the PGM content of the fuel cell stack. The basic design of such vehicles greatly influences the vehicle power, a key parameter in determining the total PGM requirement.
Process‐Controlled Plasma‐Sprayed Yttria‐Stabilized Zirconia Coatings: New Insights from Ultrasmall‐Angle X‐ray Scattering
Authors: Li Yaping , Chi Weiguang , Sampath Sanjay , Goland Allen , Herman Herbert , Allen Andrew J. , Ilavsky Jan
Published: January 2009

A multicomponent microstructure model is applied in ultrasmall‐angle X‐ray scattering studies of two groups of plasma‐sprayed yttria‐stabilized zirconia thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). One group was sprayed from a single powder feedstock using controlled processing conditions. The other group included three different feedstock morphologies (obtained from different manufacturing methods), each with a similar particle size distribution and sprayed under the same average controlled processing conditions. The microstructure is quantitatively related to the feedstock morphology and processing conditions. Relationships are explored among these microstructures and the coating properties (e.g., thermal conductivity, elastic modulus). The degree of microstructural anisotropy is demonstrated to be pore‐size dependent, being more pronounced for larger pores, and more sensitive to feedstock morphology (powder processing) than to spray processing. The microstructure analysis indicates two broad distributions of interlamellar pores, which combined, account for 70%–80% of the pore volume. The total porosity is found to increase with decreasing particle temperature or velocity. For all coatings, a negative linear relationship exists between thermal conductivity and total porosity. Comparison of the new analysis is made with earlier small‐angle neutron scattering results, and implications are considered for a more general application of this metrology in TBC microstructure design.
Involvement of Amphetamines in Sudden and Unexpected Death
Authors: Pilgrim Jennifer L. , Gerostamoulos Dimitri , Drummer Olaf H. , Bollmann Marc
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  In the present study, the effects of amphetamine‐class drugs were examined in cases reported to the Victorian coroner from 2001 to 2005 to determine if death can occur from the use of amphetamine‐class drugs alone. A total of 169 cases were reviewed where a forensic autopsy detected amphetamine(s) in the blood. Pathology, toxicology, and police reports were analyzed in all cases to ascertain the involvement of amphetamine‐class drugs in these deaths. In Victoria, methamphetamine (MA) is the principal abused amphetamine‐class followed by methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). There were six cases in which a cerebral hemorrhage caused death and three cases in which serotonin syndrome was established as being caused by the interaction of MDMA and moclobemide. There were 19 cases in which long‐term use of amphetamines was associated with heart disease. There were three cases where amphetamine‐class drugs alone were regarded as the cause of death, of which two cases exhibited high levels of MDMA and lesser amounts of MA and/or amphetamine. There were no cases in which significant natural disease was absent and death was regarded as caused by the use of MA. There was no correlation between blood concentration of drug and outcome.
Evaluation of Internal Standards for the Analysis of Ignitable Liquids in Fire Debris
Authors: Locke Amanda K. , Basara Gene J. , Sandercock P. Mark L.
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  An evaluation of eight compounds for use as an internal standard in fire debris analysis was conducted. Tests were conducted on tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, n‐octylbenzene, 3‐phenyltolune, and deuterated compounds toluene‐d8, styrene‐d8, naphthalene‐d8, and diphenyl‐d10 to measure the extraction efficiency of each compound in the presence of an interfering volatile compound (carbon disulfide). Other tests were conducted to evaluate whether or not the presence of an ignitable liquid or pyrolysis/combustion products from fire debris would interfere with the identification of these compounds when used as an internal standard. The results showed that while any of the eight compounds could be used as an internal standard in fire debris analysis, the more volatile compounds (toluene‐d8, tetrachloroethylene, chlorobenzene, and styrene‐d8) showed better extraction efficiencies at room temperature than when heated to 60°C. Each of the less volatile compounds (naphthalene‐d8, diphenyl‐d10, n‐octylbenzene, and 3‐phenyltolune) performed well during extraction at 60°C, while naphthalene‐d8 showed better extraction efficiency in the presence of competing volatiles when extracted at room temperature.
Detection of Gamma‐Hydroxybutyric Acid in Various Drink Matrices via AccuTOF‐DART*
Authors: Bennett Mark J. , Steiner Robert R.
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  A new screening method for detecting gamma‐hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in drink matrices, using the IonSense, Inc. (Saugus, MA) direct analysis in real time (DART) ion source coupled to a JEOL exact mass time‐of‐flight mass spectrometer (AccuTOF), was validated and compared with the current screening methodology. The DART ion source allows for analysis of samples under ambient conditions with little to no sample preparation. Fifty drink specimens were spiked at levels of 1, 2, 3, and 4 mg/mL GHB, and analyzed on the AccuTOF‐DART. Positive detection of GHB occurred for each of the samples at each concentration level, giving 100% accuracy for the samples tested. Twenty‐five of the 50 drink specimens were spiked at 1 mg/mL GHB and tested using a color test known as the GHB Color Test #3. Only two of these 25 specimens tested positive for the presence of GHB, giving only 8% accuracy. Implementation of this new methodology as a screening tool for GHB analysis will quickly eliminate negative specimens allowing the examiner to focus analysis time on those that screened positive.
A distinct type of cell in myocardium: interstitial Cajal‐like cells (ICLCs)
Authors: Kostin S. , Popescu L. M.
Published: January 2009

The existence of a novel type of interstitial cells in the heart, interstitial Cajal‐like cells (ICLCs), had been described for the first time in 2005. Their identification was mainly based on ultrastructural criteria: very long (tens up to hundreds of micrometres) and moniliform prolongations, which are extremely thin (less than 0.2 μm), below the resolving power of light microscopy. Myocardial ICLCs were also identified by methylene‐blue vital staining, silver impregnation, and immunoreactivity for CD 34, vimentin, CD117/c‐kit, etc. Although a series of studies provided evidence for the existence of ICLCs in human atria and rat ventricles, further investigations in other laboratories, using additional techniques, are required to substantiate the consistency of these findings. Here we provide further evidence for the existence of ICLCs in human and mammalian hearts (by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, as well as confocal laser scanning microscopy). Noteworthy, we confirm that ICLCs communicate with neighbouring cells via shedding (micro)vesicles. Although these so‐called ICLCs represent a distinct type of cells, different from classical interstitial cells of Cajal, or fibroblasts, their role(s) in myocardium remain(s) to be established. Several hypotheses are proposed: (i) adult stromal (mesenchymal) stem cells, which might participate in cardiac repair/remodelling; (ii) intercellular signalling (e.g. via shedding microvesicles); (iii) chemo‐mechanical transducers and (iv) players in pacemaking and/or arrhytmogenesis, and so on.
Violence among schizophrenia out‐patients compliant with medication: prevalence and associated factors
Authors: Bobes J. , Fillat O. , Arango C.
Published: January 2009

Objective:  Aggressive behaviour has been related to schizophrenia both in in‐patient and out‐patient samples. In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with aggressive behaviour in out‐patient compliant with their prescribed medication.

Method:  Eight hundred and ninety‐five patients were interviewed at Community‐Based Mental Health Services about aggressive–violent behaviour within the week prior to the study visit. Adult patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and receiving stable pharmacological treatment were enrolled. Presence of aggressive episodes, including type of aggression, severity and frequency, was assessed with the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS). Violence was defined as a score of 3 or more in any of the MOAS subscores.

Results:  Prevalence of recent aggressive behaviour was 5.07%, (95% CI 5.04–5.10), where 47% (43 behaviours 91) reached the violent threshold. Among the 91 violent episodes rated, most episodes were verbal (44%), followed by physical violence towards objects (29%), violence towards others (19%) and self‐directed violence (8%). Recent episodes of any severity were more likely among patients with a history of violence and also with relapses within the previous year and with low treatment satisfaction.

Conclusion:  Five per cent of the studied cases showed aggressive behaviour in the week prior to assessment, despite having been compliant with their medication. Most aggressive behaviour was verbal rather than physical.
Autism spectrum disorder in children with and without epilepsy: impact on social functioning and communication
Authors: Turk Jeremy , Bax Martin , Williams Clare , Amin Pooja , Eriksson Mats , Gillberg Christopher
Published: January 2009

Aim: To compare developmental and psychological functioning in two groups of children with autism spectrum disorder (asd), one with epilepsy and one without.

Methods: Sixty 7–17‐year‐old children in each group were recruited through a range of services in order to screen as representative a sample as possible. Parents were interviewed using the diagnostic interview for social and communication disorders (DISCO‐11), and children were clinically examined and their medical histories assessed.

Results: The asd and epilepsy (asd+e) group demonstrated a substantially more even gender ratio, with a greater proportion of girls. They were more likely to have received later asd diagnoses and additional medical diagnoses. They also showed more motor difficulties, developmental delays and challenging behaviours, but were no more likely to be aloof and passive. The asd‐only group experienced more abnormal fascinations with objects and used brief glances as a means of eye contact more than the asd+e group.

Conclusion: Results support important between‐group differences with diagnostic and therapeutic implications. asds often present atypically in children with seizures. However, both groups showed widely varying social and linguistic presentations.
Faecal short chain fatty acid pattern and allergy in early childhood
Authors: Sandin Anna , Bråbäck Lennart , Norin Elisabeth , Björkstén Bengt
Published: January 2009

Aim: To investigate whether functional changes of the gut flora over time were related to sensitization and allergic symptoms at four years of age.

Methods: The levels of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in faecal samples at one (n = 139) and four (n = 53) years of age were related to the development of positive skin prick tests (SPT) and allergic symptoms during the first four years of life.

Results: Faecal acetic (p < 0.01) and propionic (p < 0.01) acids decreased from one to four years of age, while valeric acid (p < 0.001) increased. Low levels of i‐butyric (p = 0.01), i‐valeric (p = 0.03) and valeric acids (p = 0.02) at one year were associated with questionnaire‐reported symptoms of food allergy at four years. Positive SPTs and allergic symptoms at four years were associated with low faecal levels of i‐butyric, i‐valeric and valeric acids. At one year of age, infants with, as compared to without older siblings had higher median levels of valeric acid.

Conclusion: A slow functional maturation of the gut microflora, as measured by faecal levels of SCFAs is associated with allergy both at one and four years. The findings lend further support to an association between allergy and the development of microbial diversity.
Evidence‐Informed Program Improvement: Using Principles of Effectiveness to Enhance the Quality and Impact of Family‐Based Prevention Programs
Authors: Small Stephen A. , Cooney Siobhan M. , O’Connor Cailin
Published: January 2009

In recent years, federal, state, and local governments and other funding organizations have increased pressure for greater effectiveness and accountability of prevention programs, including those oriented toward families. This rising demand for program accountability has fueled a growing interest in evidence‐based programs. Drawing on what is known about evidence‐based prevention programs, we discuss some common principles of effective programs and present a process for how practitioners can use these principles to improve the quality and impact of existing family programs. We term this approach evidence‐informed program improvement.
Defining Factors of Successful University‐Community Collaborations: An Exploration of One Healthy Marriage Project
Authors: Carlton Erik L. , Whiting Jason B. , Bradford Kay , Dyk Patricia Hyjer , Vail Ann
Published: January 2009

This study explored university‐community collaborations by examining the workings of 1 healthy marriage initiative. An ethnographic case study research strategy was used to study the process of this initiative, specifically looking at how participants worked through and overcame traditional university‐community collaboration challenges. Data consist of qualitative interviews with key initiative collaborators. Findings are organized into a model that offers a new way of looking at university‐community collaborations in light of challenge points to be addressed and either resolved or unresolved. The model provides implications for other collaborative efforts and outreach scholarship.
Changes in Nonresident Father‐Child Contact From 1976 to 2002
Authors: Amato Paul R. , Meyers Catherine E. , Emery Robert E.
Published: January 2009

To study changes in nonresident father contact since the 1970s, we pooled data from 4 national surveys: the National Survey of Children (1976), the National Survey of Families and Households (1987 – 1988), the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1996), and the National Survey of America’s Families (2002). On the basis of mothers’ reports, levels of contact rose significantly across surveys. Paying child support and having a nonmarital birth were strongly related to contact frequency. The increase in contact may be beneficial in general but problematic if it occurs within the context of hostile interparental relationships. Because nonresident fathers are having more contact with their children now than in the past, an increasing need exists for practitioners to help parents find ways to separate their former romantic roles from their ongoing parental roles and to develop at least minimally cooperative coparental relationships.
Mothers’ Reports of Nonresident Fathers’ Involvement With Their Children: Revisiting the Relationship Between Child Support Payment and Visitation
Authors: Huang Chien‐Chung
Published: January 2009

Nonresident fathers’ financial support and time are both important to children’s well‐being, although the association between these two types of involvement is mixed in the literature. Using the 1994 – 2004 waves of the Current Population Survey‐Child Support Supplement, this article examined the associations between mothers’ reports of child support payments and visitation. The results indicated that about 36% of nonresident fathers did not visit their children at all, and the distribution of visitation was highly skewed. Therefore, zero‐inflated Poisson regression was used, and the results indicated that the amount of child support payments was positively associated with the onset but not the frequency of visitation. Policy and research implications are discussed.
Beliefs About Child Support Modification Following Remarriage and Subsequent Childbirth
Authors: Hans Jason D.
Published: January 2009

Framed by equity theory, fairness beliefs regarding child support modification to account for the financial impact of remarriage and subsequent childbirth were assessed. Based on a random sample of 407 Kentucky residents using a multiple segment factorial vignette approach, modification was supported by 57% of respondents following remarriage, but only 12% believed that child support should be modified following childbirth. Support for modification was greater when the impetus was a change in the marital or parental status of the child support obligor than the recipient. Downward modification when the obligor’s financial situation worsened was favored more than upward modification when the obligor’s financial situation improved. Overall, response patterns showed little support for applying existing child support models to modification decisions.
For Richer, for Poorer: Money as a Topic of Marital Conflict in the Home
Authors: Papp Lauren M. , Cummings E. Mark , Goeke‐Morey Marcie C.
Published: January 2009

Guided by a family stress perspective, we examined the hypothesis that discussing money would be associated with the handling of marital conflict in the home. Analyses were based on dyadic hierarchical linear modeling of 100 husbands’ and 100 wives’ diary reports of 748 conflict instances. Contrary to findings from previous laboratory‐based surveys, spouses did not rate money as the most frequent source of marital conflict in the home. However, compared to nonmoney issues, marital conflicts about money were more pervasive, problematic, and recurrent, and remained unresolved, despite including more attempts at problem solving. Implications for professionals who assist couples in managing their relationships and family finances are discussed.
Family Capital: How First‐Generation Higher Education Students Break the Intergenerational Cycle
Authors: Gofen Anat
Published: January 2009

Individuals who attain a higher education, whereas both their parents did not, embody the realization of social mobility. They are referred to as first‐generation higher education students. Previous analyses had often portrayed them as succeeding despite their family background. This research suggests that although they face many challenges, their families are often facilitators of their success. In‐depth, semistructured interviews were used to collect data from Israeli first‐generation students (N= 50). We employed a grounded theory approach, and our analysis reveals that breaking the intergenerational cycle of educational level inheritance involves day‐to‐day family life that prioritizes education through nonmaterial resources. We conceptualized this investment of nonmaterial resources as family capital. A better understanding of this role is valuable for designing efficient policy.
The Central Role of Familial Ethnic Socialization in Latino Adolescents’ Cultural Orientation
Authors: Umaña‐Taylor Adriana J. , Alfaro Edna C. , Bámaca Mayra Y. , Guimond Amy B.
Published: January 2009

The current study utilized an ecological framework to examine the longitudinal interrelations among Latino adolescents’ (N = 323) cultural orientation (i.e., ethnic identity and enculturation), familial ethnic socialization experiences, and generational status. Findings indicated that ethnic identity and enculturation were both predicted by adolescents’ generational status, although some of these relations were indirect via the relation between generational status and familial ethnic socialization. Findings underscore the importance of examining the dimensions of cultural orientation independent of one another and considering the central role of familial socialization practices in these processes. Moreover, the current work provides direction for further theoretical work to advance our understanding of the unique aspects of cultural orientation.
“Being Raised by White People”: Navigating Racial Difference Among Adopted Multiracial Adults
Authors: Samuels Gina Miranda
Published: January 2009

There are increasing numbers of multiracial families created through marriage, adoption, birth, and a growing population of multiracial persons. Multiracials are a hidden but dominant group of transracially adopted children in both the United Kingdom and the United States. This paper introduces findings from an interpretive study of 25 transracially adopted multiracials regarding a set of experiences participants called “being raised by White people.” Three aspects of this experience are explored: (1) the centrality yet absence of racial resemblance, (2) navigating discordant parent‐child racial experiences, and (3) managing societal perceptions of transracial adoption. Whereas research suggests some parents believe race is less salient for multiracial children than for Black children, this study finds participants experienced highly racialized worlds into adulthood.
Norms About Nonmarital Pregnancy and Willingness to Provide Resources to Unwed Parents
Authors: Mollborn Stefanie
Published: January 2009

Contested social norms underlie public concern about adults’ and teenagers’ nonmarital pregnancy. The original, vignette‐based National Pregnancy Norms Survey (N = 812) measures these norms and related sanctions. Descriptive analyses report embarrassment at the prospect of a nonmarital pregnancy by age and gender of hypothetical prospective parents and age, race or ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of respondents. Multivariate analyses show that embarrassment about nonmarital pregnancy is frequently weak but much stronger when prospective parents are teenagers. Embarrassment predicts respondents’ hypothetical sanctions of a new parent in their family by withholding several types of needed material resources. Because research has shown that such resources affect education and income, this study helps explain how violating norms might lead to negative outcomes among unmarried parents.
The Family Ties of Unmarried Cohabiting and Married Persons in the Netherlands
Authors: Hogerbrugge Martijn J. A. , Dykstra Pearl A.
Published: January 2009

Using a nationally representative survey (N = 4,612), we analyze whether there is a difference in the Netherlands between cohabiting and married persons with regard to the frequency of contact with one’s own family as well as the parents of the partner. Clustered regression analyses show that, as expected, cohabiting persons have less contact with family members. Results are consistent with the selection perspective, which attributes the lower levels of contact to background characteristics, influencing the orientation of the cohabiting toward family. The uncertainty perspective, which attributes the lower levels of contact with the parents of the partner to the greater uncertainty regarding the stability of cohabiting relationships, is partially supported.
Money, Marriage, and Children: Testing the Financial Expectations and Family Formation Theory
Authors: Gibson‐Davis Christina M.
Published: January 2009

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Survey (N = 2,954), a birth cohort study, this work examines how gains in earnings and income are associated with marriage and subsequent childbearing for low‐income couples. Using change models, results indicate that positive changes in earnings, controlling for baseline levels of earnings, were associated with greater odds of marriage. Cohabiting couples who became poor were associated with a 37% decrease in marriage likelihood. Neither earnings nor income was affiliated with additional fertility. Results are consistent with the Financial Expectations and Family Formation theory, which posits that positive economic circumstances are necessary for marriage, but are not associated with subsequent childbearing.
The More the Merrier? Multiple Parent‐Adult Child Relations
Authors: Ward Russell A. , Spitze Glenna , Deane Glenn
Published: January 2009

Although parent‐adult child ties are generally positive, most parents have multiple children whose relations may yield collective ambivalence combining higher and lower quality. Little research has investigated these multiple relations. NSFH respondents aged 50+ with adult children (N = 2,270) are used to assess patterns of quality and contact across multiple children in the same family. This illuminates mixed experiences, especially for lowest quality and contact across children, contributing to collective ambivalence in parent‐adult child relations within families. Having more children increases prevalence of both positive and negative relations. Stepchildren exhibit more negative relations than nonstepchildren, even in the same family. Mothers have more positive but not more negative relations than fathers, but mothers have more negative relations with stepchildren.
How Are Parental Psychological Control and Autonomy‐Support Related? A Cluster‐Analytic Approach
Authors: Soenens Bart , Vansteenkiste Maarten , Sierens Eline
Published: January 2009

This study addresses the hypothesis that the relationship between parental psychological control and autonomy‐support depends on how autonomy‐support is conceptualized, that is, in terms of promotion of independence or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning. Questionnaires tapping into psychological control and these two types of autonomy‐support were administered to a sample of 495 emerging adults. Cluster analysis revealed that, whereas parental promotion of independence may or may not co‐occur with psychological control, high parental promotion of volitional functioning systematically goes together with low psychological control and vice versa. Differences between clusters in terms of adjustment were mainly driven by differences in psychological control and promotion of volitional functioning and to a lesser extent by differences in promotion of independence.
‘Big frog, small frog’– maintaining proportions in embryonic development
Authors: Barkai Naama , Ben‐Zvi Danny
Published: January 2009

We discuss mechanisms that enable the scaling of pattern with size during the development of multicellular organisms. Recently, we analyzed scaling in the context of the early Xenopus embryo, focusing on the determination of the dorsal–ventral axis by a gradient of BMP activation. The ability of this system to withstand extreme perturbation was exemplified in classical experiments performed by Hans Spemann in the early 20th century. Quantitative analysis revealed that patterning is governed by a noncanonical ‘shuttling‐based’ mechanism, and defined the feedback enabling the scaling of pattern with size. Robust scaling is due to molecular implementation of an integral‐feedback controller, which adjusts the width of the BMP morphogen gradient with the size of the system. We present an ‘expansion–repression’ feedback topology which generalizes this concept for a wider range of patterning systems, providing a general, and potentially widely applicable model for the robust scaling of morphogen gradients with size.