Mother and Adolescent Reports of Associations Between Child Behavior Problems and Mother-Child Relationship Qualities: Separating Shared Variance from Individual Variance

This study contrasts results from different correlational methods for examining links between mother and child (N = 72 dyads) reports of early adolescent (M = 11.5 years) behavior problems and relationship negativity and support. Simple (Pearson) correlations revealed a consistent pattern of statistically significant associations, regardless of whether scores came from the same reporter or from different reporters. When correlations between behavior problems and relationship quality differed, within-reporter correlations were always greater in magnitude than between-reporter correlations. Dyadic (common fate) analyses designed for interdependent data decomposed within-reporter correlations into variance shared across reporters (dyadic correlations) and variance unique to specific reporters (individual correlations). Dyadic correlations were responsible for most associations between adolescent behavior problems and relationship negativity; after partitioning variance shared across reporters, no individual correlations emerged as statistically significant. In contrast, adolescent behavior problems were linked to relationship support via both shared variance and variance unique to maternal perceptions. Dyadic analyses provide a parsimonious alternative to multiple contrasts in instances when identical measures have been collected from multiple reporters. Findings from these analyses indicate that same-reporter variance bias should not be assumed in the absence of dyadic statistical analyses

The Effect of Communication Change on Long‐term Reductions in Child Exposure to Conflict: Impact of the Promoting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) Program

African American couples (n = 331) with children, 89% of whom were married, were assigned to either (a) a culturally sensitive couple‐ and parenting‐enhancement program (ProSAAF) or (b) an information‐only control condition in which couples received self‐help materials. Husbands averaged 41 years of age and wives averaged 39 years. We found significant effects of program participation in the short term on couple communication, which was targeted by the intervention, as well as over the long term, on self‐reported arguing in front of children. Long‐term parenting outcomes were fully mediated by changes in communication for wives, but not for husbands. For husbands, positive change depended on amount of wife reported change. We conclude that wives\u27 changes in communication from baseline to posttest may be more pivotal for the couples\u27 long‐term experience of decreased arguing in front of children than are husbands\u27 changes, with wives\u27 changes leading to changes in both partners\u27 reports of arguments in front of children

Mental Health of Parents and Life Satisfaction of Children: A Within-Family Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission of Well-Being

This paper addresses the extent to which there is an intergenerational transmission of mental health and subjective well-being within families. Specifically it asks whether parents’ own mental distress influences their child’s life satisfaction, and vice versa. Whilst the evidence on daily contagion of stress and strain between members of the same family is substantial, the evidence on the transmission between parental distress and children’s well-being over a longer period of time is sparse. We tested this idea by examining the within-family transmission of mental distress from parent to child’s life satisfaction, and vice versa, using rich longitudinal data on 1,175 British youths. Results show that parental distress at year t-1 is an important determinant of child’s life satisfaction in the current year. This is true for boys and girls, although boys do not appear to be affected by maternal distress levels. The results also indicated that the child’s own life satisfaction is related with their father’s distress levels in the following year, regardless of the gender of the child. Finally, we examined whether the underlying transmission correlation is due to shared social environment, empathic reactions, or transmission via parent-child interaction

General Practitioners involvement in enteral tube feeding at home: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complex medical treatment is moving from hospital to primary care and General Practitioners (GPs) are increasingly asked to undertake new roles. There are now an estimated 19,500 patients being fed in the UK in the community on enteral tube feeding using a variety of different feeding tubes (Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG), Jejunostomy, or nasogastric (NG). The majority of patients are over the age of 65 years when they had artificial feeding initiated and mainly because of dysphagia. The aim of this study was to explore GPs knowledge, attitudes and skills relating to enteral feeding in the community.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Semi-structured one-to-one interviews with a convenience sample of GPs in Northern Ireland.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-three GPs in three health boards in Northern Ireland participated in the study. Most found dealing with enteral feeding to be a predominantly negative experience. They had little involvement in patient selection for the procedure and poor or no discharge information. GPs felt inadequately trained, there was poor communication between primary and secondary care and little support. There was anger and frustration among GPs about lack of resources (funding and training), and the perception that primary care was used as a dumping ground.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Moving complex medical treatment from secondary to primary care has major implications for GPs who should be included in the patient selection process, have adequate discharge information about their patients, be adequately resourced and have appropriate support and training.</p

A randomised phase II study of pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20) in Asian advanced hepatocellular carcinoma patients

[[abstract]]Background:Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells are largely deficient of argininosuccinate synthetase and thus auxotrophic for arginine. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and pharmacodynamics of pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG 20), a systemic arginine deprivation agent, in Asian HCC patients. Methods:Patients with advanced HCC who were not candidates for local therapy were eligible and randomly assigned to receive weekly intramuscular injections of ADI-PEG 20 at doses of 160 or 320 IU m-2. The primary end point was disease-control rate (DCR). Results:Of the 71 accruals, 43.6% had failed previous systemic treatment. There were no objective responders. The DCR and the median overall survival (OS) of the intent-to-treat population were 31.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 20.5-43.1) and 7.3 (95% CI: 4.7-9.9) months respectively. Both efficacy parameters were comparable between the two study arms. The median OS of patients with undetectable circulating arginine for more than or equal to and <4 weeks was 10.0 (95% CI: 2.1-17.9) and 5.8 (95% CI: 1.4-10.1) months respectively (P=0.251, log-rank test). The major treatment-related adverse events were grades 1-2 local and/or allergic reactions. Conclusions:ADI-PEG 20 is safe and efficacious in stabilising the progression of heavily pretreated advanced HCC in an Asian population, and deserves further exploration.British Journal of Cancer advance online publication, 31 August 2010; doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6605856 www.bjcancer.com

The short-chain fatty acid acetate reduces appetite via a central homeostatic mechanism

Increased intake of dietary carbohydrate that is fermented in the colon by the microbiota has been reported to decrease body weight, although the mechanism remains unclear. Here we use in vivo11C-acetate and PET-CT scanning to show that colonic acetate crosses the blood–brain barrier and is taken up by the brain. Intraperitoneal acetate results in appetite suppression and hypothalamic neuronal activation patterning. We also show that acetate administration is associated with activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and changes in the expression profiles of regulatory neuropeptides that favour appetite suppression. Furthermore, we demonstrate through 13C high-resolution magic-angle-spinning that 13C acetate from fermentation of 13C-labelled carbohydrate in the colon increases hypothalamic 13C acetate above baseline levels. Hypothalamic 13C acetate regionally increases the 13C labelling of the glutamate–glutamine and GABA neuroglial cycles, with hypothalamic 13C lactate reaching higher levels than the ‘remaining brain’. These observations suggest that acetate has a direct role in central appetite regulation

HCV Infection among Saudi Population: High Prevalence of Genotype 4 and Increased Viral Clearance Rate

HCV is a major etiological agent of liver disease with a high rate of chronic evolution. The virus possesses 6 genotypes with many subtypes. The rate of spontaneous clearance among HCV infected individuals denotes a genetic determinant factor. The current study was designed in order to estimate the rate of HCV infection and ratio of virus clearance among a group of infected patients in Saudi Arabia from 2008 to 2011. It was additionally designed to determine the genotypes of the HCV in persistently infected patients. HCV seroprevalence was conducted on a total of 15,323 individuals. Seropositive individuals were tested by Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan HCV assay to determine the ratio of persistently infected patients to those who showed spontaneous viral clearance. HCV genotyping on random samples from persistently infected patients were conducted based on the differences in the 5′untranslated region (5′UTR). Anti-HCV antibodies were detected in 7.3% of the totally examined sera. A high percentage of the HCV infected individuals experienced virus clearance (48.4%). HCV genotyping revealed the presence of genotypes 1 and 4, the latter represented 97.6% of the tested strains. Evidences of the widespread of the HCV genotype 4 and a high rate of HCV virus clearance were found in Saudi Arabia

The Small Molecule Inhibitor QLT0267 Radiosensitizes Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells of the Head and Neck

BACKGROUND: The constant increase of cancer cell resistance to radio- and chemotherapy hampers improvement of patient survival and requires novel targeting approaches. Integrin-Linked Kinase (ILK) has been postulated as potent druggable cancer target. On the basis of our previous findings clearly showing that ILK transduces antisurvival signals in cells exposed to ionizing radiation, this study evaluated the impact of the small molecule inhibitor QLT0267, reported as putative ILK inhibitor, on the cellular radiation survival response of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells (hHNSCC). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Parental FaDu cells and FaDu cells stably transfected with a constitutively active ILK mutant (FaDu-IH) or empty vectors, UTSCC45 cells, ILK(floxed/floxed(fl/fl)) and ILK(-/-) mouse fibroblasts were used. Cells grew either two-dimensionally (2D) on or three-dimensionally (3D) in laminin-rich extracellular matrix. Cells were treated with QLT0267 alone or in combination with irradiation (X-rays, 0-6 Gy single dose). ILK knockdown was achieved by small interfering RNA transfection. ILK kinase activity, clonogenic survival, number of residual DNA double strand breaks (rDSB; gammaH2AX/53BP1 foci assay), cell cycle distribution, protein expression and phosphorylation (e.g. Akt, p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)) were measured. Data on ILK kinase activity and phosphorylation of Akt and p44/42 MAPK revealed a broad inhibitory spectrum of QLT0267 without specificity for ILK. QLT0267 significantly reduced basal cell survival and enhanced the radiosensitivity of FaDu and UTSCC45 cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. QLT0267 exerted differential, cell culture model-dependent effects with regard to radiogenic rDSB and accumulation of cells in the G2 cell cycle phase. Relative to corresponding controls, FaDu-IH and ILK(fl/fl) fibroblasts showed enhanced radiosensitivity, which failed to be antagonized by QLT0267. A knockdown of ILK revealed no change in clonogenic survival of the tested cell lines as compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data clearly show that the small molecule inhibitor QLT0267 has potent cytotoxic and radiosensitizing capability in hHNSCC cells. However, QLT0267 is not specific for ILK. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary to clarify the potential of QLT0267 as a targeted therapeutic in the clinic

IL28B Genetic Variation Is Associated with Spontaneous Clearance of Hepatitis C Virus, Treatment Response, Serum IL-28B Levels in Chinese Population

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Background:&lt;/b&gt; The interleukin-28B gene (IL28B) locus has been associated with host resistance to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and response to PEG-IFN/RBV treatment in western populations. This study was to determine whether this gene variant is also associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV infection, treatment response and IL-28B protein production in Chinese patients.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods:&lt;/b&gt; We genotyped IL28B genetic variations (rs12980275, rs8103142, rs8099917 and rs12979860) by pyrosequencing DNA samples from cohorts consisting of 529 subjects with persistent HCV infection, 196 subjects who cleared the infection, 171 healthy individuals and 235 chronic HCV patients underwent IFN/RBV treatment. The expression of IL-28B were measured by ELISA and RT-PCR.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results:&lt;/b&gt; We found that the four IL28B variants were in complete linkage disequilibrium (r2 = 0.97–0.98). The rs12979860 CC genotype was strongly associated with spontaneously HCV clearance and successful IFN/RBV treatment compared to the CT/TT. IL-28B levels in persistent HCV patients were significantly lower than subjects who spontaneously resolved HCV and healthy controls and were also associated with high levels of ALT (alanine aminotransferase) and AST (aspartate aminotransferase). IL-28B levels were also significantly lower in individuals carrying T alleles than CC homozygous.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; Thus, the rs12979860-CC variant upstream of IL28B gene is associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV, susceptible to IFN/RBV treatment and increased IL-28B levels in this Chinese population.&lt;/p&gt

Reprogramming of hepatic fat accumulation and 'browning' of adipose tissue by the short-chain fatty acid acetate

Background/Objectives: Short-chain fatty acids, produced by microbiome fermentation of carbohydrates, have been linked to a reduction in appetite, body weight and adiposity. However, determining the contribution of central and peripheral mechanisms to these effects has not been possible. Subjects/Methods:C57BL/6 mice fed with either normal or high-fat diet were treated with nanoparticle-delivered acetate, and the effects on metabolism were investigated. Results:In the liver, acetate decreased lipid accumulation and improved hepatic function, as well as increasing mitochondrial efficiency. In white adipose tissue, it inhibited lipolysis and induced 'browning', increasing thermogenic capacity that led to a reduction in body adiposity. Conclusions:This study provides novel insights into the peripheral mechanism of action of acetate, independent of central action, including ‘browning’ and enhancement of hepatic mitochondrial function