Differential response effects of data collection mode in a cancer screening study of unmarried women ages 40–75 years: A randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Little is known about the impact of data collection method on self-reported cancer screening behaviours, particularly among hard-to-reach populations. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of data collection mode on response to indicators of cancer screenings by unmarried middle-aged and older women.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three survey methods were evaluated for collecting data about mammography and Papanicolaou (hereafter, Pap) testing among heterosexual and sexual minority (e.g., lesbian and bisexual) women. Women ages 40–75 were recruited from June 2003 – June 2005 in Rhode Island. They were randomly assigned to receive: Self-Administered Mailed Questionnaire [SAMQ; N = 202], Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview [CATI; N = 200], or Computer-Assisted Self-Interview [CASI; N = 197]. Logistic regression models were computed to assess survey mode differences for 13 self-reported items related to cancer screenings, adjusting for age, education, income, race, marital status, partner gender, and recruitment source.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to women assigned to CATI, women assigned to SAMQ were less likely to report two or more years between most recent mammograms (CATI = 23.2% vs. SAMQ = 17.7%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3 – 0.8) and women assigned to CASI were slightly less likely to report being overdue for mammography (CATI = 16.5% vs. CASI = 11.8%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3 – 1.0) and Pap testing (CATI = 14.9% vs. CASI = 10.0%; AOR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.2 – 1.0). There were no other consistent mode effects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Among participants in this sample, mode of data collection had little effect on the reporting of mammography and Pap testing behaviours. Other measures such as efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the mode should also be considered when determining the most appropriate form of data collection for use in monitoring indicators of cancer detection and control.</p

SP-A binds alpha(1)-antitrypsin in vitro and reduces the association rate constant for neutrophil elastase

BACKGROUND: α1-antitrypsin and surfactant protein-A (SP-A) are major lung defense proteins. With the hypothesis that SP-A could bind α1-antitrypsin, we designed a series of in vitro experiments aimed at investigating the nature and consequences of such an interaction. METHODS AND RESULTS: At an α1-antitrypsin:SP-A molar ratio of 1:1, the interaction resulted in a calcium-dependent decrease of 84.6% in the association rate constant of α1-antitrypsin for neutrophil elastase. The findings were similar when SP-A was coupled with the Z variant of α1-antitrypsin. The carbohydrate recognition domain of SP-A appeared to be a major determinant of the interaction, by recognizing α1-antitrypsin carbohydrate chains. However, binding of SP-A carbohydrate chains to the α1-antitrypsin amino acid backbone and interaction between carbohydrates of both proteins are also possible. Gel filtration chromatography and turnover per inactivation experiments indicated that one part of SP-A binds several molar parts of α1-antitrypsin. CONCLUSION: We conclude that the binding of SP-A to α1-antitrypsin results in a decrease of the inhibition of neutrophil elastase. This interaction could have potential implications in the physiologic regulation of α1-antitrypsin activity, in the pathogenesis of pulmonary emphysema, and in the defense against infectious agents

Inflammatory Genital Infections Mitigate a Severe Genetic Bottleneck in Heterosexual Transmission of Subtype A and C HIV-1

The HIV-1 epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is driven largely by heterosexual transmission of non-subtype B viruses, of which subtypes C and A are predominant. Previous studies of subtype B and subtype C transmission pairs have suggested that a single variant from the chronically infected partner can establish infection in their newly infected partner. However, in subtype A infected individuals from a sex worker cohort and subtype B individuals from STD clinics, infection was frequently established by multiple variants. This study examined over 1750 single-genome amplified viral sequences derived from epidemiologically linked subtype C and subtype A transmission pairs very early after infection. In 90% (18/20) of the pairs, HIV-1 infection is initiated by a single viral variant that is derived from the quasispecies of the transmitting partner. In addition, the virus initiating infection in individuals who were infected by someone other than their spouse was characterized to determine if genital infections mitigated the severe genetic bottleneck observed in a majority of epidemiologically linked heterosexual HIV-1 transmission events. In nearly 50% (3/7) of individuals infected by someone other than their spouse, multiple genetic variants from a single individual established infection. A statistically significant association was observed between infection by multiple genetic variants and an inflammatory genital infection in the newly infected individual. Thus, in the vast majority of HIV-1 transmission events in cohabiting heterosexual couples, a single genetic variant establishes infection. Nevertheless, this severe genetic bottleneck can be mitigated by the presence of inflammatory genital infections in the at risk partner, suggesting that this restriction on genetic diversity is imposed in large part by the mucosal barrier

Life-Cycle and Genome of OtV5, a Large DNA Virus of the Pelagic Marine Unicellular Green Alga Ostreococcus tauri

Large DNA viruses are ubiquitous, infecting diverse organisms ranging from algae to man, and have probably evolved from an ancient common ancestor. In aquatic environments, such algal viruses control blooms and shape the evolution of biodiversity in phytoplankton, but little is known about their biological functions. We show that Ostreococcus tauri, the smallest known marine photosynthetic eukaryote, whose genome is completely characterized, is a host for large DNA viruses, and present an analysis of the life-cycle and 186,234 bp long linear genome of OtV5. OtV5 is a lytic phycodnavirus which unexpectedly does not degrade its host chromosomes before the host cell bursts. Analysis of its complete genome sequence confirmed that it lacks expected site-specific endonucleases, and revealed the presence of 16 genes whose predicted functions are novel to this group of viruses. OtV5 carries at least one predicted gene whose protein closely resembles its host counterpart and several other host-like sequences, suggesting that horizontal gene transfers between host and viral genomes may occur frequently on an evolutionary scale. Fifty seven percent of the 268 predicted proteins present no similarities with any known protein in Genbank, underlining the wealth of undiscovered biological diversity present in oceanic viruses, which are estimated to harbour 200Mt of carbon

Rigorous and thorough bioinformatic analyses of olfactory receptor promoters confirm enrichment of O/E and homeodomain binding sites but reveal no new common motifs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mammalian olfactory receptors (ORs) are subject to a remarkable but poorly understood regime of transcriptional regulation, whereby individual olfactory neurons each express only one allele of a single member of the large OR gene family.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We performed a rigorous search for enriched sequence motifs in the largest dataset of OR promoter regions analyzed to date. We combined measures of cross-species conservation with databases of known transcription factor binding sites and <it>ab initio </it>motif-finding algorithms. We found strong enrichment of binding sites for the O/E family of transcription factors and for homeodomain factors, both already known to be involved in the transcriptional control of ORs, but did not identify any novel enriched sequences. We also found that TATA-boxes are present in at least a subset of OR promoters.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our rigorous approach provides a template for the analysis of the regulation of large gene families and demonstrates some of the difficulties and pitfalls of such analyses. Although currently available bioinformatics methods cannot detect all transcriptional regulatory elements, our thorough analysis of OR promoters shows that in the case of this gene family, experimental approaches have probably already identified all the binding factors common to large fractions of OR promoters.</p

Self-help interventions for depressive disorders and depressive symptoms: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Research suggests that depressive disorders exist on a continuum, with subthreshold symptoms causing considerable population burden and increasing individual risk of developing major depressive disorder. An alternative strategy to professional treatment of subthreshold depression is population promotion of effective self-help interventions that can be easily applied by an individual without professional guidance. The evidence for self-help interventions for depressive symptoms is reviewed in the present work, with the aim of identifying promising interventions that could inform future health promotion campaigns or stimulate further research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A literature search for randomised controlled trials investigating self-help interventions for depressive disorders or depressive symptoms was performed using PubMed, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Reference lists and citations of included studies were also checked. Studies were grouped into those involving participants with depressive disorders or a high level of depressive symptoms, or non-clinically depressed participants not selected for depression. A number of exclusion criteria were applied, including trials with small sample sizes and where the intervention was adjunctive to antidepressants or psychotherapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of interventions searched had no relevant evidence to review. Of the 38 interventions reviewed, the ones with the best evidence of efficacy in depressive disorders were S-adenosylmethionine, St John's wort, bibliotherapy, computerised interventions, distraction, relaxation training, exercise, pleasant activities, sleep deprivation, and light therapy. A number of other interventions showed promise but had received less research attention. Research in non-clinical samples indicated immediate beneficial effects on depressed mood for distraction, exercise, humour, music, negative air ionisation, and singing; while potential for helpful longer-term effects was found for autogenic training, light therapy, omega 3 fatty acids, pets, and prayer. Many of the trials were poor quality and may not generalise to self-help without professional guidance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A number of self-help interventions have promising evidence for reducing subthreshold depressive symptoms. Other forms of evidence such as expert consensus may be more appropriate for interventions that are not feasible to evaluate in randomised controlled trials. There needs to be evaluation of whether promotion to the public of effective self-help strategies for subthreshold depressive symptoms could delay or prevent onset of depressive illness, reduce functional impairment, and prevent progression to other undesirable outcomes such as harmful use of substances.</p

Protective Mechanisms for Depression among Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth: Empirical Findings, Issues, and Recommendations

We (1) review empirical studies that report findings regarding putative protective mechanisms when exposed to risk of depression in African American and Hispanic adolescents; (2) identify key protective mechanisms for different risk contexts that garner empirical support; (3) synthesize the mechanisms identified as protective against depression among racial/ethnic minority adolescents; and (4) discuss improved methods for advancing understanding of resilience against depression in minority youth. The studies were selected from PsycINFO searches that met the following inclusion criteria: participants between 12 and 21&nbsp;years of age, inclusions of racial/ethnic minority members, examining protection through an interaction with a risk factor, and outcome measures of depression, depressed mood, or depressive symptomatology. We found 39 eligible studies; 13 of which included multiple racial/ethnic groups. The following were supported as protective mechanisms, at least preliminarily, for at least one racial/ethnic group and in at least one risk context: employment, extracurricular activities, father–adolescent closeness, familism, maternal support, attending predominately minority schools, neighborhood composition, non-parent support, parental inductive reasoning, religiosity, self-esteem, social activities, and positive early teacher relationships. To investigate protective mechanisms more comprehensively and accurately across individual, social, and community levels of influence, we recommend incorporating multilevel modeling or multilevel growth curve analyses and large diverse samples