The Effect of Interpersonal Dynamics on Quality of Supervision from a Correctional Client\u27s Perspective

This study assessed the perception of interpersonal relationships between staff member and clients at a halfway house facility from the client’s perspective. The relationship quality was divided into three major constructs: Trust, Caring-Fairness and Toughness. Eighty surveys were sent out to five halfway houses in northwestern Wisconsin with 47 of them being returned. The literature reviewed examined the evolution and philosophy of halfway houses, the principles of effective correctional treatment and therapeutic alliances and dual role relationships. The findings indicated that respondents valued the relationship quality with halfway house staff although did not report this as a main factor in contributing to their success

The Effect of Interpersonal Dynamics on Quality of Supervision from a Correctional Client\u27s Perspective

This study assessed the perception of interpersonal relationships between staff member and clients at a halfway house facility from the client’s perspective. The relationship quality was divided into three major constructs: Trust, Caring-Fairness and Toughness. Eighty surveys were sent out to five halfway houses in northwestern Wisconsin with 47 of them being returned. The literature reviewed examined the evolution and philosophy of halfway houses, the principles of effective correctional treatment and therapeutic alliances and dual role relationships. The findings indicated that respondents valued the relationship quality with halfway house staff although did not report this as a main factor in contributing to their success

The Development and Lived Experience of African Centered Identity: A Qualitative Investigation

The purpose of this study is to explore cultural identity within African Americans. The primary construct of interest is African centered identity, which is comprised of two parts: 1) cultural values with origins in African cultures that have been unintentionally retained, and 2) a social and political ideology that intentionally incorporates elements of an African worldview. This study utilizes qualitative research methodology to investigate the lived experience of African centered identity, and incorporates a developmental perspective. Semi-structured interviews of 14 adults are analyzed using a grounded theory approach. The results reveal many themes in the participants’ lived experience of their cultural identity that are consistent with prominent descriptions of African centered worldview. Less consistent results regarding participants’ development of their cultural identity are discussed within the framework of racial and ethnic identity stage models. Finally, respondents’ narratives are discussed with regards to their implications for identity measurement, the social construction of identity, and the influence of environment on identity development

Exploring the Role of Culture and Race in African American Adolescents

There are myriad definitions of the terms race, ethnicity and culture in social sciences literature. Often these terms are used interchangeably with no conceptual rationale. This study aims to contribute to our greater understanding of the similarities and differences between the conceptualization and use of race and culture as they are experienced by African American adolescents. Multiple regression analyses and factor analysis were conducted for 223 African American high school aged students who completed a survey about racial and ethnic identity and a variety of positive youth development outcomes. Results showed preliminary support for race and culture being distinguishable yet intricately related. Results are also presented that compares the relationship of either a racial or cultural orientation on various youth development outcomes

Integration of DNA into bacterial chromosomes from plasmids without a counter-selection marker.

Most bacteria can only be transformed with circular plasmids, so robust DNA integration methods for these rely upon selection of single-crossover clones followed by counter-selection of double-crossover clones. To overcome the limited availability of heterologous counter-selection markers, here we explore novel DNA integration strategies that do not employ them, and instead exploit (i) activation or inactivation of genes leading to a selectable phenotype, and (ii) asymmetrical regions of homology to control the order of recombination events. We focus here on the industrial biofuel-producing bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, which previously lacked robust integration tools, but the approach we have developed is broadly applicable. Large sequences can be delivered in a series of steps, as we demonstrate by inserting the chromosome of phage lambda (minus a region apparently unstable in Escherichia coli in our cloning context) into the chromosome of C. acetobutylicum in three steps. This work should open the way to reliable integration of DNA including large synthetic constructs in diverse microorganisms. © 2011 The Author(s)

Mathematical modelling reveals properties of TcdC required for it to be a negative regulator of toxin production in Clostridium difficile

The role of the protein TcdC in pathogenicity of the bacterium Clostridium difficile is currently unclear: conflicting reports suggest it is either a negative regulator of toxin production or, on the other hand, has no effect on virulence at all. We exploit a theoretical approach by taking what is known about the network of proteins surrounding toxin production by C. difficile and translating this into a mathematical model. From there it is possible to investigate a range of possible interactions (using numerical and asymptotic analyses), identifying properties of TcdC which would make it a realistic candidate as a toxin inhibitor. Our findings imply that if TcdC is really an inhibitor of toxin production then TcdC production should be at least as fast as that of the protein TcdR and TcdC should remain in the cells throughout growth. These are experimentally-testable hypotheses and are equally applicable to alternative candidates for toxin production inhibition

The analysis of para-cresol production and tolerance in Clostridium difficile 027 and 012 strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Clostridium difficile </it>is the major cause of antibiotic associated diarrhoea and in recent years its increased prevalence has been linked to the emergence of hypervirulent clones such as the PCR-ribotype 027. Characteristically, <it>C. difficile </it>infection (CDI) occurs after treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics, which disrupt the normal gut microflora and allow <it>C. difficile </it>to flourish. One of the relatively unique features of <it>C. difficile </it>is its ability to ferment tyrosine to <it>para</it>-cresol via the intermediate <it>para</it>-hydroxyphenylacetate (<it>p-</it>HPA). <it>P</it>-cresol is a phenolic compound with bacteriostatic properties which <it>C. difficile </it>can tolerate and may provide the organism with a competitive advantage over other gut microflora, enabling it to proliferate and cause CDI. It has been proposed that the <it>hpdBCA </it>operon, rarely found in other gut microflora, encodes the enzymes responsible for the conversion of <it>p-</it>HPA to <it>p</it>-cresol.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We show that the PCR-ribotype 027 strain R20291 quantitatively produced more <it>p</it>-cresol <it>in-vitro </it>and was significantly more tolerant to <it>p</it>-cresol than the sequenced strain 630 (PCR-ribotype 012). Tyrosine conversion to <it>p</it>-HPA was only observed under certain conditions. We constructed gene inactivation mutants in the <it>hpdBCA </it>operon in strains R20291 and 630Δ<it>erm </it>which curtails their ability to produce <it>p</it>-cresol, confirming the role of these genes in <it>p-</it>cresol production. The mutants were equally able to tolerate <it>p</it>-cresol compared to the respective parent strains, suggesting that tolerance to <it>p</it>-cresol is not linked to its production.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>C. difficile </it>converts tyrosine to <it>p</it>-cresol, utilising the <it>hpdBCA </it>operon in <it>C. difficile </it>strains 630 and R20291. The hypervirulent strain R20291 exhibits increased production of and tolerance to <it>p-</it>cresol, which may be a contributory factor to the virulence of this strain and other hypervirulent PCR-ribotype 027 strains.</p

Infection of hamsters with the UK Clostridium difficile ribotype 027 outbreak strain R20291

Clostridium difficile is the main cause of antibiotic-associated disease, a disease of high socio-economical importance that has recently been compounded by the global spread of the 027 (BI/NAP1/027) ribotype. C. difficile cases attributed to ribotype 027 strains have high recurrence rates (up to 36 %) and increased disease severity. The hamster model of infection is widely accepted as an appropriate model for studying aspects of C. difficile host–pathogen interactions. Using this model we characterized the infection kinetics of the UK 2006 outbreak strain, R20291. Hamsters were orally given a dose of clindamycin, followed 5 days later with 10 000 C. difficile spores. All 100 % of the hamsters succumbed to infection with a mean time to the clinical end point of 46.7 h. Colonization of the caecum and colon were observed 12 h post-infection reaching a maximum of approximately 3×104 c.f.u. per organ, but spores were not detected until 24 h post-infection. At 36 h post-infection C. difficile numbers increased significantly to approximately 6×107 c.f.u. per organ where numbers remained high until the clinical end point. Increasing levels of in vivo toxin production coincided with increases in C. difficile numbers in organs reaching a maximum at 36 h post-infection in the caecum. Epithelial destruction and polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) recruitment occurred early on during infection (24 h) accumulating as gross microvilli damage, luminal PMN influx, and blood associated with mucosal muscle and microvilli. These data describe the fatal infection kinetics of the clinical UK epidemic C. difficile strain R20291 in the hamster infection model