Cancer-specific worry interference in women attending a breast and ovarian cancer risk evaluation program: impact on emotional distress and health functioning

Intrusive thoughts about cancer, often identified as ‘cancer-specific worries’ or ‘cancer-specific distress’, have been postulated to be associated with dysfunction in women at increased risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer. The current study discusses the development and validation of a measure designed to assess women's perceptions of the interference such worries create in their daily functioning. Analyses revealed that approximately two-thirds of a high-risk breast cancer clinic sample perceived worries about breast cancer as interfering with their functioning across a variety of life domains. Multiple regression analyses indicated that worry interference scores predicted Profile of Mood States (POMS) Anxiety and Confusion, and Short Form-36 (SF-36) Role-Emotional and Mental Health scores after the effects of other variables such as frequency of worry about breast cancer, and having a family history of cancer had been considered. Women who perceived their worries as interfering with their functioning reported higher levels of anxiety and confusion, and diminished mental health and role functioning. The results add to the expanding area of anxiety/distress in at-risk populations by providing (1) a direct measure of the perceived interference associated with breast cancer-specific thoughts, (2) a validation of the measure via its associations with standard measures of emotional distress and health functioning, and (3) evidence of the measure's incremental predictive value in explaining distress and quality of life, after consideration of background variables, such as having a family history of cancer. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/35160/1/510_ftp.pd

Structural and Functional Analysis of the Human Nuclear Xenobiotic Receptor PXR in Complex with RXRα

The human nuclear xenobiotic receptor PXR recognizes a range of potentially harmful drugs and endobiotic chemicals, but must complex with the nuclear receptor RXRα to control the expression of numerous drug metabolism genes. To date, the structural basis and functional consequences of this interaction have remained unclear. Here we present 2.8 Å resolution crystal structures of the heterodimeric complex formed between the ligand binding domains (LBDs) of human PXR and RXRα. These structures establish that PXR and RXRα form a heterotetramer unprecedented in the nuclear receptor family of ligand-regulated transcription factors. We further show that both PXR and RXRα bind to the transcriptional coregulator SRC-1 with higher affinity when they are part of the PXR-RXRα heterotetramer complex than they do when each LBD is examined alone. Furthermore, we purify the full-length forms of each receptor from recombinant bacterial expression systems, and characterize their interactions with a range of direct and everted repeat DNA elements. Taken together, these data advance our understanding of PXR, the master regulator of drug metabolism gene expression in humans, in its functional partnership with RXRα

THE IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY ON HOUSEHOLDS - A REVIEW OF HOUSEHOLD STUDIES

Thirty two studies of the impact of HIV/AIDS on households conducted over the last decade were reviewed. The direct and indirect costs of HIV/AIDS to households increase with severity of illness and ultimately death. HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality affect household income and expenditure patterns. Households employ various survival strategies to alleviate loss of labour and income, survive the financial cost and optimise the use of safety networks. Various gaps were found in the literature, which future studies could explore. Household surveys should be multi-disciplinary and longitudinal in nature so that the full impact of HIV/AIDS could be assessed over time. Copyright 2005 Economic Society of South Africa.