Coping with pediatric cancer: the importance of family member coping on the outcomes of other members

This study investigated the relations across time between stressful life events, coping, and mental and physical health symptoms among families of pediatric cancer patients. Coping was measured both in the form of self report and through assessing the perceptions each family member held regarding the coping of other family members. The results of this study showed that the relations between predictor and outcome measures differed significantly across the four groups of participants: Cancer patients, siblings, mothers, and fathers. In general, the coping of parents was a better predictor of child outcomes than was the self reported coping of the children. Parent results showed that the coping efforts of their partner and their children both predicted parent outcomes. The relations between stressful life events and outcomes also differed for the four different groups. The author suggests that coping researchers would be well advised to investigate the coping of all members of a family, especially when studying stressful events that require a response from all family members

Frailty and the Burden of Concurrent and Incident Disability in Patients With Cirrhosis: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Frailty results from the chronic effects of malnutrition and muscle wasting in patients with cirrhosis. It is well-established that frailty is strongly associated with mortality in this population. However, little is known of its relationship with physical disability, a critical patient-centered outcome. Adults with cirrhosis underwent outpatient testing of frailty using the Liver Frailty Index (LFI) and disability using activities of daily living (ADL; range 0-6) and Instrumental ADL (IADL; range 0-8) scales at one center between 2012 and 2016. We used adjusted multilevel logistic mixed-effects regression to test the association between frailty and current disability (impairment with ≥1 ADL or IADL) and incident disability at 6 months among those without baseline disability. Of the 983 participants, 20% were robust, 32% were less robust, 33% were prefrail, and 15% were frail; 587 (60%) had at least 1 assessment. The percentage of participants with at least 1 baseline ADL or IADL impairment was 28% and 37%, respectively. In adjusted regression models, each point LFI increase was associated with a 3.3 and 4.6 higher odds of current difficulty with at least 1 ADL and IADL (P < 0.001 for each), respectively. Among participants without baseline disability, each point LFI increase was associated with a 2.6 and 1.7 higher odds of having difficulty with at least 1 ADL and IADL at 6 months, respectively. Conclusion: Frailty is strongly associated with concurrent and incident disability in patients with cirrhosis. In the clinic, the LFI can be used to identify those in greatest need for additional support/resources to maintain functional independence. In research settings, the LFI may help to identify an enriched population for clinical trials of interventions aimed at those most vulnerable to disability

Real-Time Coral Stress Observations Before, During, and After Beach Nourishment Dredging Offshore SE Florida

Beach nourishment in Southeast Florida involves dredging sand source borrow areas located between offshore reefs. From May 2005 to February 2006 Broward County, FL. nourished 10.9 km of beach with 1.5 ×106 m3 of sand. As part of a program to monitor potential reef community impacts, a visual stress index was developed from laboratory experiments and histological analyses for three stony coral species (Montastrea cavernosa, Solenastrea bournoni, and Siderastrea siderea). Scoring involved healthy = 0; moderately stressed = 1 (polyp swelling, increased mucus); markedly stressed = 2 (coloration changes, increased mucus secretion, tissue thinning); and severely stressed = 3 (severe swelling/thinning tissue erosion/necrosis). Colonies were scored weekly at sites adjacent to borrow areas and control sites pre-, during, and post-dredging. Permit conditions were established which would suspend dredging based on mean stress index values above 1.5 at 50% of monitored sites adjacent to borrow areas. This condition was never met. However, three hurricanes, passing the region during dredging, contributed to an elevated mean stress level above 1.0. Post-dredging observations documented recovery to pre-dredging stress levels. This program was effectively used to monitor stress on a sensitive marine habitat adjacent to sediment dredging activities

Hypothesis-based Restoration Study For Mitigation of a Damaged SE Florida Coral Reef: A Work in Progress

The United States Submarine Memphis (Figure 1) ran aground in approximately 10 meter depth on a coral reef off southeast Florida (Figure 2) February 25, 1993. Extensive physical damage to the reef substrate and injury to the coral community were attributed to the initial grounding and subsequent attempts to free the submarine from the impacted reef (Figures 3 and 4). The impact of the grounding was assessed, and the area of damage was determined through field and photographic studies. An impacted area of 2,310 m2 was assessed with 1,205 m2 having been totally destroyed (Figures 3 and 4). In 1997, the State of Florida was awarded a settlement of $750,000 by the Federal government for environmental damages caused by the submarine grounding. A plan to perform hypothesis testing of restoration techniques was developed and initiated. Using artificial reefs as experimental platforms, we are examining three restoration strategies: 1) the potential of enhancing coral recruitment through the use of coral larval attractants, 2) the effect of reef structure on the associated fish assemblages, and 3) the interaction between fish assemblages and coral recruitment and survival

Cumulative stress in childhood is associated with blunted reward-related brain activity in adulthood

Early life stress (ELS) is strongly associated with negative outcomes in adulthood, including reduced motivation and increased negative mood. The mechanisms mediating these relations, however, are poorly understood. We examined the relation between exposure to ELS and reward-related brain activity, which is known to predict motivation and mood, at age 26, in a sample followed since kindergarten with annual assessments. Using functional neuroimaging, we assayed individual differences in the activity of the ventral striatum (VS) during the processing of monetary rewards associated with a simple card-guessing task, in a sample of 72 male participants. We examined associations between a cumulative measure of ELS exposure and VS activity in adulthood. We found that greater levels of cumulative stress during childhood and adolescence predicted lower reward-related VS activity in adulthood. Extending this general developmental pattern, we found that exposure to stress early in development (between kindergarten and grade 3) was significantly associated with variability in adult VS activity. Our results provide an important demonstration that cumulative life stress, especially during this childhood period, is associated with blunted reward-related VS activity in adulthood. These differences suggest neurobiological pathways through which a history of ELS may contribute to reduced motivation and increased negative mood

Country, sex, and parent occupational status: Moderators of the continuity of aggression from childhood to adulthood

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109352/1/ab21546.pd

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 32

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Risk factors for youth violence: Youth violence commission, International Society For Research On Aggression (ISRA)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144599/1/ab21766.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144599/2/ab21766_am.pd