New Approaches on the Horizon: Comments on Jaaniste, Hayes, and von Baeyer\u27s “Providing Children With Information About Forthcoming Medical Procedures: A Review and Synthesis”

Jaaniste, Hayes, and von Baeyer contribute to the growing body of work on preparing children for medical events by describing an Information Provision Model to aid clinicians in developing effective preparatory tools. This commentary considers the contributions of this model, and extends several of the principal ideas in new directions. In doing so, particular attention is paid to investigating the meaning of the phrase “timely and appropriate” when used to describe optimal information provision. In addition, discussion of how the model relates to emerging understandings of coping processes on both neurological and behavioral levels is offered. Throughout, emphasis is placed on using information from a diversity of research programs to help inform the development of better strategies for helping children achieve the best possible outcomes in medical settings

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay controls the changes in yeast ribosomal protein pre-mRNAs levels upon osmotic stress

The expression of ribosomal protein (RP) genes requires a substantial part of cellular transcription, processing and translation resources. Thus, the RP expression must be tightly regulated in response to conditions that compromise cell survival. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells, regulation of the RP gene expression at the transcriptional, mature mRNA stability and translational levels during the response to osmotic stress has been reported. Reprogramming global protein synthesis upon osmotic shock includes the movement of ribosomes from RP transcripts to stress-induced mRNAs. Using tiling arrays, we show that osmotic stress yields a drop in the levels of RP pre-mRNAs in S. cerevisiae cells. An analysis of the tiling array data, together with transcription rates data, shows a poor correlation, indicating that the drop in the RP pre-mRNA levels is not merely a result of the lowered RP transcription rates. A kinetic study using quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the decrease in the levels of several RP-unspliced transcripts during the first 15 minutes of osmotic stress, which seems independent of MAP kinase Hog1. Moreover, we found that the mutations in the components of the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), Upf1, Upf2, Upf3 or in exonuclease Xrn1, eliminate the osmotic stress-induced drop in RP pre-mRNAs. Altogether, our results indicate that the degradation of yeast RP unspliced transcripts by NMD increases during osmotic stress, and suggest that this might be another mechanism to control RP synthesis during the stress response

Influence of Arousal, Previous Experience, and Age on Surgery Preparation of Same Day of Surgery and In-Hospital Pediatric Patients.

Two pediatric surgery populations (aged 4–17 yrs) were studied to determine differences in retention of preparatory information as influenced by time of preparation, arousal levels, previous surgery experience, and age. Ss were divided into those having same-day surgery (12 experimentals and 12 controls) and those remaining in the hospital after surgery (21 experimentals and 21 controls). Experimental Ss were individually prepared with a 10-min hospital-relevant film, while controls viewed a 10-min non-hospital-relevant film. Findings show that experimentals retained more hospital-relevant information following preparation than controls. Older Ss retained more information than younger ones regardless of population. Physiological arousal differences were noted with those in-hospital patients who viewed the relevant experimental film, showing significantly greater decreases in sweating than Ss viewing the film on the same day as surgery. It is suggested that the film may have had a greater impact given the context in which Ss found themselves. The nonrelevant control film served as a distraction for those having surgery immediately on admission, as reflected by a reduction of their hospital fears. Ss with previous surgical experience who were exposed to the relevant film showed significantly greater increases in sweating than those without previous experience regardless of time of film preparation. Consequently, the relevant film may have had a sensitizing effect on Ss previously exposed to surgery

Child health psychology

This unique text offers an interdisciplinary collection of the most current articles concerning the scientific study of Child Health Psychology. The subjects of many articles are applicable to pediatrics, family medicine, child nursing, developmental, clinical child, and pediatric psychology. Emphasizing the scientific basis of the field, this empirical research is invaluable to the specialist, teacher, or student seeking the most contemporary research methods used to study psychological aspects of children's health care

Technological and Medical Advances Implications for Health Psychology

Behavioral telehealth, health informatics, organ and tissue transplantation, and genetics are among the areas that have been affected by advances in technology and medicine. These areas illustrate the opportunities and the challenges that new developments can pose to health psychologists. Each area is discussed with respect to implications for practice, research, public policy, and education and training; recommendations are provided

Recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous infusion of human immunoglobulins for primary immunodeficiency.

BackgroundSubcutaneous immunoglobulin (IGSC) replacement therapy for primary immunodeficiency (PI) is equally efficacious to intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV), induces fewer systemic reactions, and may be self-infused. Limited SC infusion volumes and reduced bioavailability, however, necessitate multiple infusion sites, more frequent treatment, and dose adjustment to achieve pharmacokinetic equivalence. Recombinant human hyaluronidase (rHuPH20) increases SC tissue permeability and facilitates dispersion and absorption, enabling administration of monthly doses in one site.ObjectiveThis study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of rHuPH20-facilitated IGSC (IGHy) in patients with PI.MethodsIn this open-label, multicenter phase III study, 87 patients with PI aged ≥2 years received 10% IGIV for 3 months, then IGHy (n = 83) for approximately 14 to 18 months at 108% of the IGIV dose. IGHy infusions began weekly, increasing to 3- or 4-week intervals.ResultsThe majority (94.0%) of IGHy infusions were administered every 3 or 4 weeks, using one site (median, 1.09/month), with a mean volume of 292.2 mL. The bioavailability of IGHy measured by area under the concentration versus time curve was 93.3% of IGIV, which is pharmacokinetically equivalent. Systemic reactions were less frequent with IGHy than with IGIV (8.3% vs 25.0% of infusions). Local reactions to IGHy were generally mild to moderate, with a rate of 0.203 per infusion. The acute serious bacterial infection rate per subject-year for IGHy was low (0.025; upper 99% CI limit, 0.046). Overall infection rates per subject-year were 2.97 for IGHy and 4.51 for IGIV.ConclusionIGHy was effective, safe, and pharmacokinetically equivalent to IGIV at the same administration intervals, but it caused fewer systemic reactions. Tolerability was good despite high infusion volumes and rates

Recombinant human hyaluronidase-facilitated subcutaneous infusion of human immunoglobulins for primary immunodeficiency.

BackgroundSubcutaneous immunoglobulin (IGSC) replacement therapy for primary immunodeficiency (PI) is equally efficacious to intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV), induces fewer systemic reactions, and may be self-infused. Limited SC infusion volumes and reduced bioavailability, however, necessitate multiple infusion sites, more frequent treatment, and dose adjustment to achieve pharmacokinetic equivalence. Recombinant human hyaluronidase (rHuPH20) increases SC tissue permeability and facilitates dispersion and absorption, enabling administration of monthly doses in one site.ObjectiveThis study investigated the efficacy and tolerability of rHuPH20-facilitated IGSC (IGHy) in patients with PI.MethodsIn this open-label, multicenter phase III study, 87 patients with PI aged ≥2 years received 10% IGIV for 3 months, then IGHy (n = 83) for approximately 14 to 18 months at 108% of the IGIV dose. IGHy infusions began weekly, increasing to 3- or 4-week intervals.ResultsThe majority (94.0%) of IGHy infusions were administered every 3 or 4 weeks, using one site (median, 1.09/month), with a mean volume of 292.2 mL. The bioavailability of IGHy measured by area under the concentration versus time curve was 93.3% of IGIV, which is pharmacokinetically equivalent. Systemic reactions were less frequent with IGHy than with IGIV (8.3% vs 25.0% of infusions). Local reactions to IGHy were generally mild to moderate, with a rate of 0.203 per infusion. The acute serious bacterial infection rate per subject-year for IGHy was low (0.025; upper 99% CI limit, 0.046). Overall infection rates per subject-year were 2.97 for IGHy and 4.51 for IGIV.ConclusionIGHy was effective, safe, and pharmacokinetically equivalent to IGIV at the same administration intervals, but it caused fewer systemic reactions. Tolerability was good despite high infusion volumes and rates