bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hope, self‐efficacy, spiritual well‐being and job satisfaction
Authors: Duggleby Wendy , Cooper Dan , Penz Kelly 
Published: September 2009

AbstractTitle.  Hope, self‐efficacy, spiritual well‐being and job satisfaction. Aim.  This paper is a report of a study of the relations of spiritual well‐being, global job satisfaction, and general self‐efficacy to hope in Continuing Care Assistants.Background.  Healthcare providers have described their hope as an important part of their work and a form of work motivation. Hope may be an important factor in preventing burnout and improving job satisfaction.Methods.  A concurrent triangulation mixed method design was used. Sixty‐four Continuing Care Assistants (personal care aides) who registered for a ‘Living with Hope’ Conference completed a demographic form, Herth Hope Index, Global Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, Spiritual Well‐Being Scale, General Self‐Efficacy Scale, and a hope questionnaire. Data were collected in 2007. The response rate was 58%.Results.  Using linear regression, 29·9% of the variance in Herth Hope Index score was accounted for by scores from the General Self‐Efficacy Scale and Spiritual Well‐Being Scale. General Self‐efficacy scores (positive relationship) and Spiritual Well‐Being scores (negative relationship) accounted for a significant part of the variance. Qualitative data supported all findings, with the exception of the negative relationship between hope and spiritual well‐being; participants wrote that faith, relationships, helping others and positive thinking helped them to have hope. They also wrote that hope had a positive influence on their job satisfaction and performance.Conclusion.  Hope is an important concept in the work life of Continuing Care Assistants. Supportive relationships, adequate resources, encouragement by others, and improving perceptions of self‐efficacy (ability to achieve goals in their workplace) may foster their hope.
Surgical facial cancer treatment: the silencing of disfigurement in nurse–patient interactions
Authors: Konradsen Hanne , Kirkevold Marit , Zoffmann Vibeke 
Published: September 2009

AbstractTitle.  Surgical facial cancer treatment: the silencing of disfigurement in nurse–patient interactions. Aim.  The aim of this study was to explore and explain how disfigurement is addressed in interactions between patient and nurse during the period in hospital immediately after undergoing disfiguring facial surgery.Background.  Facial disfigurement as a result of head and neck or eye cancer surgery is associated with psychosocial problems; however no successful intervention program has been developed. Empirically derived knowledge about what goes on in the patient–nurse interaction is missing.Method.  A grounded theory design was used, with data derived from audio‐recorded conversations between and individual interviews with 14 patients and their connected nurses, from three participating university hospitals. Data were collected in 2007.Findings.  A substantive model with silencing disfigurement as a core category was developed. The model included three categories; minimizing disfigurement, disfigurement is a luxurious problem and another time, another place. A condition of implicit and unverified professional assumptions about addressing the issue of disfigurement became an underlying character. Without this the core category could not exist.Conclusion.  The model elucidates a silencing process maintained by preconceived assumptions which need to be challenged to help patients adjust to their changed appearance after facial cancer treatment.
Tales of resistance and other emancipatory functions of storytelling
Authors: Grassley Jane S. , Nelms Tommie P. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractTitle.  Tales of resistance and other emancipatory functions of storytelling. Aim.  This paper is the report of a study to explore how the process of storytelling might facilitate women’s emancipatory knowing, using examples from women’s breastfeeding stories.Background.  Storytelling, as an interactive process, can give women a way to explain pivotal life events, justify choices, examine reality and find meaning in experiences. Emancipatory functions of storytelling have been identified as contextual grounding, bonding with others, validating and affirming experiences, venting and catharsis, resisting oppression and educating others.Method.  Secondary data analysis was conducted in 2008 on breastfeeding stories originally gathered from 13 women from 2002 to 2004 for a feminist hermeneutic study of maternal breastfeeding confidence. The stories were re‐examined through the lens of the emancipatory functions of storytelling. Illustrations of contextual grounding, validating and affirming experiences, venting and catharsis and acts of resistance were found in the breastfeeding stories and presented as exemplars of emancipatory knowing.Findings.  Women revealed the difficulties they encountered breastfeeding, transforming these experiences as they discovered their meaning. They described collisions that occurred when personal, familial, healthcare professionals’ or cultural expectations differed from their experience. The stories suggested possible liberation from old ideologies about breastfeeding as women redefined the difficulties they encountered.Conclusion.  Storytelling has potential as a simple, yet profound, and powerful emancipatory intervention which nurses can use to help women in their care make sense of and transform experiences of health and illness. Storytelling may have global implications for nursing practice and research.
Parenting stress in mothers of adults with an intellectual disability: parental cognitions in relation to child characteristics and family support
Authors: Hill C. , Rose J. 
Published: September 2009

AbstractBackground  There is a body of evidence that indicates that the cognitions of parents of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) play an important role in influencing parental stress. However, there is a paucity of evidence about the experience of parents of adult children with ID. This study sought to apply a model of parenting stress to mothers of adults with ID. Of particular interest were the parental cognitions of parenting self‐esteem and parental locus of control.Method  Face‐to face interviews were administered with 44 mothers of adults with ID. They completed the Vineland Adaptive and Maladaptive Behaviour Scale, the Family Support Scale, the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale, a shortened version of the Parental Locus of Control Scale and the Parenting Stress Index.Results  Correlations were observed between parenting stress and the other study variables. Regression analysis revealed that parental cognitive variables predicted 61% of the variance in parenting stress. Parenting satisfaction, a subscale of the measure of parenting sense of competence, mediated the relationships between adaptive behaviour and parenting stress and between family support and parenting stress.Conclusions  These results indicate the importance of cognitive variables in the stress of mothers of adults with ID. Potential avenues of future research might focus on the experience of fathers and the impact of positive perceptions as a cognitive factor.
An efflux transporter PbrA and a phosphatase PbrB cooperate in a lead‐resistance mechanism in bacteria
Authors: Hynninen Anu , Touzé Thierry , Pitkänen Leena , Mengin‐Lecreulx Dominique , Virta Marko 
Published: September 2009

SummaryThe gene cluster pbrTRABCD from Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 is thought to encode a unique, specific resistance mechanism for lead. However, the exact functions of these genes are unknown. In this study we examine the metal specificity and functions of pbrABCD by expressing these genes in different combinations and comparing their ability to restore Pb2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+ resistance in a metal‐sensitive C. metallidurans strain DN440. We show that lead resistance in C. metallidurans is achieved through the cooperation of the Zn/Cd/Pb‐translocating ATPase PbrA and the undecaprenyl pyrophosphate phosphatase PbrB. While PbrA non‐specifically exported Pb2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+, a specific increase in lead resistance was observed when PbrA and PbrB were coexpressed. As a model of action for PbrA and PbrB we propose a mechanism where Pb2+ is exported from the cytoplasm by PbrA and then sequestered as a phosphate salt with the inorganic phosphate produced by PbrB. Similar operons containing genes for heavy metal translocating ATPases and phosphatases were found in several different bacterial species, suggesting that lead detoxification through active efflux and sequestration is a common lead‐resistance mechanism.
Cellular localization of choline‐utilization proteins in Streptococcus pneumoniae using novel fluorescent reporter systems
Authors: Eberhardt Alice , Wu Ling J. , Errington Jeff , Vollmer Waldemar , Veening Jan‐Willem 
Published: September 2009

SummaryThe molecular mechanisms underlying cell growth, cell division and pathogenesis in Streptococcus pneumoniae are still not fully understood. Single‐cell methodologies are potentially of great value to investigate S. pneumoniae cell biology. Here, we report the construction of novel plasmids for single and double cross‐over integration of functional fusions to the gene encoding a fast folding variant of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) into the S. pneumoniae chromosome. We have also established a zinc‐inducible system for the fine control of gfp‐fusion gene expression and for protein depletion experiments in S. pneumoniae. Using this novel single cell toolkit, we have examined the cellular localization of the proteins involved in the essential process of choline decoration of S. pneumoniae teichoic acid. GFP fusions to LicA and LicC, enzymes involved in the activation of choline, showed a cytoplasmic distribution, as predicted from their primary sequences. A GFP fusion to the choline importer protein LicB showed clear membrane localization. GFP fusions to LicD1 and LicD2, enzymes responsible for loading of teichoic acid subunits with choline, are also membrane‐associated, even though both proteins lack any obvious membrane spanning domain. These results indicate that the decoration of teichoic acid by the LicD enzymes is a membrane‐associated process presumably occurring at lipid‐linked teichoic acid precursors.
ZipN, an FtsA‐like orchestrator of divisome assembly in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803
Authors: Marbouty Martial , Saguez Cyril , Cassier‐Chauvat Corinne , Chauvat Franck 
Published: September 2009

SummaryWe pursued the characterization of the divisome of the spherical‐celled cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803, through deletion, site‐directed mutagenesis, GFP tagging, two‐hybrid and co‐immunoprecipitation assays. We presently report that the DivIVA‐like protein Cdv3 is essential to both cell growth and division, whereas the AmiC, AmpH, FtsE, FtsN, SpoIID, YlmD, YlmE and YlmG proteins are dispensable. With the exception of the self‐interacting protein YlmD, none of these dispensable factors appeared to interact with ZipN, the crucial cytokinetic factor we previously characterized. By contrast, we found that ZipN interacts with itself and the self‐interacting protein Cdv3, as well as with all other crucial cytokinetic factors we previously characterized, namely: FtsZ, FtsI, FtsQ, SepF and ZipS. We also identified ZipN amino acids selectively involved in ZipN interaction with one of its following partners, Cdv3, FtsQ or SepF. Finally, we found no direct interaction between Cdv3, SepF and ZipS. Collectively, these results indicate that ZipN is a central player of divisome assembly in cyanobacteria, similarly to the FtsA protein of E. coli that is absent in cyanobacteria and chloroplast.
Role of NtrC‐regulated exopolysaccharides in the biofilm formation and pathogenic interaction of Vibrio vulnificus
Authors: Kim Han‐Suk , Park Soon‐Jung , Lee Kyu‐Ho 
Published: September 2009

Summary Vibrio vulnificus has been shown to require a global transcription factor, NtrC for mature biofilm development via controlling the biosyntheses of lipopolysaccharide and exopolysaccharide (EPS). Biofilm formation and EPS production were dramatically increased in a medium including a tricarboxylic acid cycle‐intermediate as a carbon source. These phenotypes required functional NtrC and were abolished by the addition of ammonium chloride. During the initial stage of biofilm formation, both expression of the ntrC gene and the cellular content of NtrC protein increased. Thus, the regulatory roles of NtrC in EPS biosynthesis were studied with three gene clusters for EPS biosyntheses. Transcriptions of the three clusters were positively controlled by NtrC and showed maximal expression at the early stage of biofilm development. Mutants deficient in one of the genes (VV1_2661, VV2_1579 and VV1_2305) in each cluster showed decreased production of EPS, attenuated ability to form biofilm and lowered cytoadherence to human epithelial cells. However, mutations in VV2_1579 and VV1_2305 resulted in lower cytotoxicity to human cells and mortality to mice than the mutation in VV1_2661. These results demonstrate that NtrC‐regulated EPS are crucial in biofilm formation of V. vulnificus, and some EPS components play important roles in interacting with hosts.
YabA of Bacillus subtilis controls DnaA‐mediated replication initiation but not the transcriptional response to replication stress
Authors: Goranov Alexi I. , Breier Adam M. , Merrikh Houra , Grossman Alan D. 
Published: September 2009

Summary yabA encodes a negative regulator of replication initiation in Bacillus subtilis and homologues are found in many other Gram‐positive species. YabA interacts with the β‐processivity clamp (DnaN) of DNA polymerase and with the replication initiator and transcription factor DnaA. Because of these interactions, YabA has been proposed to modulate the activity of DnaA. We investigated the role of YabA in regulating replication initiation and the activity of DnaA as a transcription factor. We found that YabA function is mainly limited to replication initiation at oriC. Loss of YabA did not significantly alter expression of genes controlled by DnaA during exponential growth or after replication stress, indicating that YabA is not required for modulating DnaA transcriptional activity. We also found that DnaN activates replication initiation apparently through effects on YabA. Furthermore, association of GFP‐YabA with the replisome correlated with the presence of DnaN at replication forks, but was independent of DnaA. Our results are consistent with models in which YabA inhibits replication initiation at oriC, and perhaps DnaA function at oriC, but not with models in which YabA generally modulates the activity of DnaA in response to replication stress.
The rice transcription factor IDEF1 is essential for the early response to iron deficiency, and induces vegetative expression of late embryogenesis abundant genes
Authors: Kobayashi Takanori , Itai Reiko Nakanishi , Ogo Yuko , Kakei Yusuke , Nakanishi Hiromi , Takahashi Michiko , Nishizawa Naoko K. 
Published: September 2009

SummaryHigher plants maintain iron homeostasis by regulating the expression of iron (Fe)‐related genes in accordance with Fe availability. The transcription factor IDEF1 regulates the response to Fe deficiency in Oryza sativa (rice) by recognizing CATGC sequences within the Fe deficiency‐responsive cis‐acting element IDE1. To investigate the function of IDEF1 in detail, we analyzed the response to Fe deficiency in transgenic rice plants exhibiting induced or repressed IDEF1 expression. Fe‐deficiency treatment in hydroponic culture revealed that IDEF1 knock‐down plants are susceptible to early‐stage Fe deficiency, in contrast to IDEF1‐induced plants. Time‐course expression analyses using quantitative reverse‐transcriptase PCR revealed that the IDEF1 expression level was positively correlated with the level of induction of the Fe utilization‐related genes OsIRO2, OsYSL15, OsIRT1, OsYSL2, OsNAS1, OsNAS2, OsNAS3 and OsDMAS1, just after the onset of Fe starvation. However, this overall transactivation mediated by IDEF1 became less evident in subsequent stages. Microarray and in‐silico analyses revealed that genes positively regulated by IDEF1, especially at the early stage, exhibit over‐representation of CATGC and IDE1‐like elements within the proximal promoter regions. These results indicate the existence of early and subsequent responses to Fe deficiency, with the former requiring IDEF1 more specifically. Proximal regions of IDEF1‐regulated gene promoters also showed enrichment of RY elements (CATGCA), which regulate gene expression during seed maturation. The expression of several genes encoding late embryogenesis abundant proteins, including Osem, was induced in Fe‐deficient roots and/or leaves in an IDEF1‐dependent manner, suggesting a possible function of seed maturation‐related genes in Fe‐deficient vegetative organs.
Leishmaniasis in Turkey: molecular characterization of Leishmania from human and canine clinical samples
Authors: Toz Seray Ozensoy , Nasereddin Abedelmajeed , Ozbel Yusuf , Ertabaklar Hatice , Culha Gulnaz , Sevil Naser , Ziya Alkan M. , Jaffe Charles L. 
Published: September 2009

SummaryHuman leishmaniasis, both visceral and cutaneous, and canine leishmaniasis have been reported in Turkey for centuries. However, the advent of new diagnostic tools during the last 30 years has led to the recognition that leishmaniasis is an important public health problem throughout the country. In most disease foci both canine and human leishmaniases exist together and identification of parasite species causing these diseases is a pre‐requisite for understanding disease epidemiology. A total of 109 samples obtained from human and canine leishmaniasis cases were examined using internal transcribed spacer 1 PCR followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Our results indicate that two species, Leishmania tropica and Leishmania infantum, are primarily responsible for cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, respectively, in Turkey. However, a new focus of human cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. infantum in Hatay region is described. This finding further stresses the importance of Leishmania species molecular characterization in prescribing appropriate therapy and understanding the disease’s transmission in different endemic foci.
GENETIC STUDY: The interaction between the dopamine transporter gene and age at onset in relation to tobacco and alcohol use among 19‐year‐olds
Authors: Schmid Brigitte , Blomeyer Dorothea , Becker Katja , Treutlein Jens , Zimmermann Ulrich S. , Buchmann Arlette F. , Schmidt Martin H. , Esser Günter , Banaschewski Tobias , Rietschel Marcella , Laucht Manfred 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACTRecent evidence suggests that heterogeneity in the age at onset could explain the inconsistent findings of association studies relating the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene with alcohol and nicotine consumption. The aim of this study was to examine interactions between two DAT1 polymorphisms and different initiation ages with regard to alcohol and tobacco consumption levels and dependence. Two hundred and ninety‐one young adults (135 males, 156 females) participating in the Mannheim Study of Children at Risk were genotyped for the 40‐bp variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) and rs27072 polymorphisms of DAT1. Age at initiation was assessed at age 15 and 19 years. Information about current alcohol and tobacco consumption was obtained at age 19 years using self‐report measures and structured interviews. Results suggest that age at onset of intensive consumption moderated the association of the DAT1 gene with early adult substance use and dependence, revealing a DAT1 effect only among individuals homozygous for the 10r allele of the 40‐bp VNTR who had started daily smoking or being intoxicated early in life. Equally, carriers of the T allele of the rs27072 polymorphism reporting an early age at first intoxication showed higher current alcohol consumption at age 19 years. In contrast, no interaction between rs27072 and the age at first cigarette with regard to later smoking was observed. These findings provide evidence that the DAT1 gene interacts with an early heavy or regular drug exposure of the maturing adolescent brain to predict substance (ab)use in young adulthood. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.
HUMAN STUDY: Preconscious attentional bias in cigarette smokers: a probe into awareness modulation on attentional bias
Authors: Yan Xiaodan , Jiang Yi , Wang Jin , Deng Yuan , He Sheng , Weng Xuchu 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACTIt has been frequently reported that smokers showed attentional bias toward smoking‐related stimuli. The current study aimed to examine whether such bias was also present when subjects were unaware of the presented stimuli and the possible role of awareness modulation on attentional bias. With a psychophysical approach (interocular suppression), we suppressed subjects' awareness to the cigarette pictures presented to one of their eyes. The visual dot probe task was modified to increase the perceptual load and to control the physical features between two rivaling images. Twenty‐eight male smokers and 25 male non‐smokers participated in the experiment. We found a significant interaction between experiment conditions and subject groups, with only the smoker group showed attentional bias toward cigarette pictures in unaware condition. Moreover, smokers' attentional bias in unaware condition was negatively correlated with their scores on Cigarette Dependence Scale while their attentional bias in aware condition was positively correlated with scores on Questionnaires of Smoking Urges. Such dissociation indicates the possibility of awareness modulation on attentional bias: it is possible that in aware condition, the attentional bias was modulated by smoking urge in awareness, thus concealed the effect of dependence degree. Further studies indicated that awareness modulated attentional bias through many factors, such as craving, quit attempt, attitude and disgust. Interestingly, non‐smokers also showed attentional bias in aware condition, which further suggested that due to awareness modulation, attentional bias could even be addiction‐unrelated.
PRECLINICAL STUDY: Acquisition and reinstatement of MDMA‐induced conditioned place preference in mice pre‐treated with MDMA or cocaine during adolescence
Authors: Daza‐Losada Manuel , Rodríguez‐Arias Marta , Aguilar María A. , Miñarro José 
Published: September 2009

ABSTRACTThose who take ecstasy are more likely to consume other drugs than non‐users with cocaine abuse being reported by 75.5% of high school student MDMA (± 3,4‐methylenedioxymetamphetamine hydrochloride) users. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effects of exposure during adolescence to MDMA, cocaine or to both drugs on the MDMA‐induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in adult mice. Animals received two daily administrations of saline, 10 mg/kg of MDMA, 25 mg/kg of cocaine or 10 mg/kg of MDMA plus 25 mg/kg of cocaine over 3 days (from PD28 to 30). Three weeks after pre‐treatment, the MDMA‐induced CPP procedure was initiated (PD52). Acquisition of CPP was induced with a sub‐threshold dose of MDMA (1.25 mg/kg) only in animals treated during adolescence with MDMA alone. Preference was established in all the groups after conditioning with 10 mg/kg of MDMA, while the time required to achieve extinction was longer in those pre‐treated with cocaine or MDMA alone (46 and 28 sessions, respectively). Moreover, preference was reinstated with progressively lower priming doses of MDMA in mice pre‐treated with MDMA or cocaine alone. These results demonstrate that early exposure to MDMA or cocaine induces long‐lasting changes that last until adulthood and modify the response of animals to MDMA.