Memory for medication side effects in younger and older adults: the role of subjective and objective importance

Older adults often experience memory impairments, but can sometimes use selective processing and schematic support to remember important information. The current experiments investigate to what degree younger and healthy older adults remember medication side effects that were subjectively or objectively important to remember. Participants studied a list of common side effects, and rated how negative these effects were if they were to experience them, and were then given a free recall test. In Experiment 1, the severity of the side effects ranged from mild (e.g., itching) to severe (e.g., stroke), and in Experiment 2, certain side effects were indicated as critical to remember (i.e., “contact your doctor if you experience this”). There were no age differences in terms of free recall of the side effects, and older adults remembered more severe side effects relative to mild effects. However, older adults were less likely to recognize critical side effects on a later recognition test, relative to younger adults. The findings suggest that older adults can selectively remember medication side effects, but have difficulty identifying familiar but potentially critical side effects, and this has implications for monitoring medication use in older age

Ambivalence toward men: comparing sexism among Polish, South African and British university students

This study extends the literature on attitudes toward gender roles by exploring whether the nature of sexism (i.e., benevolence and hostility directed at men) differs among university students from two under-researched countries, Poland (n = 190) and South Africa (n = 188), in a comparison with students in the United Kingdom (n = 166). Based on empirical literature applying Ambivalent Sexism Theory, and in the light of the socio-political context, it was hypothesized that: (1) both hostile and benevolent attitudes toward men in Poland would be more liberal than in South Africa and more conservative than in the United Kingdom, and (2), women would exhibit more hostile but less benevolent attitudes than men in relatively more conservative South Africa. The Ambivalence to Men Inventory was used to measure the two types of sexist attitudes about men. Findings supported the first hypothesis for hostile attitudes and partially for benevolent attitudes. South African and Polish students were more benevolent and hostile to men than British students, and students from South Africa were more hostile than those from Poland. Moreover, as predicted, a significant country-by-gender interaction revealed that South African women had more hostile and less benevolent attitudes to men than South African men. No such gender gap was present in the case of hostile attitudes in Poland and benevolent attitudes in the United Kingdom. Findings are discussed in terms of Ambivalent Sexism Theory and the countries’ socio-cultural context

Public Claims about Automatic External Defibrillators: An Online Consumer Opinions Study

Patients are no longer passive recipients of health care, and increasingly engage in health communications outside of the traditional patient and health care professional relationship. As a result, patient opinions and health related judgements are now being informed by a wide range of social, media, and online information sources. Government initiatives recognise self-delivery of health care as a valuable means of responding to the anticipated increased global demand for health resources. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), designed for the treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), have recently become available for 'over the counter' purchase with no need for a prescription. This paper explores the claims and argumentation of lay persons and health care practitioners and professionals relating to these, and how these may impact on the acceptance, adoption and use of these devices within the home context. METHODS: We carry out a thematic content analysis of a novel form of Internet-based data: online consumer opinions of AED devices posted on Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer. A total of 83 online consumer reviews of home AEDs are analysed. The analysis is both inductive, identifying themes that emerged from the data, exploring the parameters of public debate relating to these devices, and also driven by theory, centring around the parameters that may impact upon the acceptance, adoption and use of these devices within the home as indicated by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). RESULTS: Five high-level themes around which arguments for and against the adoption of home AEDs are identified and considered in the context of TAM. These include opinions relating to device usability, usefulness, cost, emotional implications of device ownership, and individual patient risk status. Emotional implications associated with AED acceptance, adoption and use emerged as a notable factor that is not currently reflected within the existing TAM. CONCLUSIONS: The value and credibility of the findings of this study are considered within the context of existing AED research, and related to technology acceptance theory, and current methods and practice. From a methodological perspective, this study demonstrates the potential value of online consumer reviews as a novel data source for exploring the parameters of public debate relating to emerging health care technologies

Regulation of Oxidative Stress Response by CosR, an Essential Response Regulator in Campylobacter jejuni

CosR (Campylobacter oxidative stress regulator; Cj0355c) is an OmpR-type response regulator essential for the viability of Campylobacter jejuni, a leading foodborne pathogen causing human gastroenteritis worldwide. Despite importance, the function of CosR remains completely unknown mainly because of cell death caused by its knockout mutation. To overcome this technical limitation, in this study, antisense technology was used to investigate the regulatory function of CosR by modulating the level of CosR expression. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE) was performed to identify the CosR regulon either by suppressing CosR expression with antisense peptide nucleic acid (PNA) or by overexpressing CosR in C. jejuni. According to the results of 2DGE, CosR regulated 32 proteins involved in various cellular processes. Notably, CosR negatively regulated a few key proteins of the oxidative stress response of C. jejuni, such as SodB, Dps, Rrc and LuxS, whereas CosR positively controlled AhpC. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that CosR directly bound to the promoter region of the oxidative stress genes. DNase I footprinting assays identified 21-bp CosR binding sequences in the sodB and ahpC promoters, suggesting CosR specifically recognizes and binds to the regulated genes. Interestingly, the level of CosR protein was significantly reduced by paraquat (a superoxide generator) but not by hydrogen peroxide. Consistent with the overall negative regulation of oxidative stress defense proteins by CosR, the CosR knockdown by antisense rendered C. jejuni more resistant to oxidative stress compared to the wild type. Overall, this study reveals the important role played by the essential response regulator CosR in the oxidative stress defense of C. jejuni

Assessing the impact of low level laser therapy (LLLT) on biological systems: a review

PURPOSE: Low level laser therapy (LLLT) in the visible to near infrared spectral band (390-1100 nm) is absorption of laser light at the electronic level, without generation of heat. It may be applied in a wide range of treatments including wound healing, inflammation and pain reduction. Despite its potential beneficial impacts, the use of lasers for therapeutic purposes still remains controversial in mainstream medicine. Whilst taking into account the physical characteristics of different qualities of lasers, this review aims to provide a comprehensive account of the current literature available in the field pertaining to their potential impact at cellular and molecular levels elucidating mechanistic interactions in different mammalian models. The review also aims to focus on the integral approach of the optimal characteristics of LLLT that suit a biological system target to produce the beneficial effect at the cellular and molecular levels. METHODS: Recent research articles were reviewed that explored the interaction of lasers (coherent sources) and LEDs (incoherent sources) at the molecular and cellular levels. RESULTS: It is envisaged that underlying mechanisms of beneficial impact of lasers to patients involves biological processes at the cellular and molecular levels. The biological impact or effects of LLLT at the cellular and molecular level could include cellular viability, proliferation rate, as well as DNA integrity and the repair of damaged DNA. This review summarizes the available information in the literature pertaining to cellular and molecular effects of lasers. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that a change in approach is required to understand how to exploit the potential therapeutic modality of lasers whilst minimizing its possible detrimental effects

Radiation transport calculations for the new ion beam laboratory at Sandia National Laboratory

A new Ion Beam Laboratory (IBL) is currently under construction at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM, USA. Three existing accelerators will be moved to the IBL, and two more will be purchased to replace existing systems. The IBL will have extensive radiation shielding that will enable a number of new experiments that Will be discussed in this paper. This paper also provides the details of extensive radiation transport calculations that were used to determine the thickness and height of the shield walls