Darbepoetin alfa given every 1 or 2 weeks alleviates anaemia associated with cancer chemotherapy.

In part A of this study, patients were randomised to cohorts receiving darbepoetin alfa at doses of 0.5 to 8.0 m.c.g x kg(-1) x wk(-1) or to a control group receiving epoetin alfa at an initial dose of 150 U x kg(-1) three times weekly. In part B, the cohorts were darbepoetin alfa 3.0 to 9.0 m.c.g x kg(-1) every 2 weeks or epoetin alfa, initial dose 40 000 U x wk(-1). Safety was assessed by adverse events, changes in blood pressure, and formation of antibodies to darbepoetin alfa. Efficacy was assessed by several haematologic endpoints, including change in haemoglobin from baseline. The adverse event profile of darbepoetin alfa was similar to that of epoetin alfa. No relationship between the rapidity of haemoglobin response and any adverse event was observed. No antibodies to darbepoetin alfa were detected. Higher doses of darbepoetin alfa increased the proportion of patients with a haemoglobin response and decreased the median time to response. The overall dose of darbepoetin alfa required to produce a mean increase in haemoglobin does not increase when the dosing interval is increased from 1 to 2 weeks. Therapy with darbepoetin alfa is safe and effective in producing a dose-related increase in haemoglobin levels in patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy

Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group C Deficiency Alters Cigarette Smoke DNA Damage Cell Fate and Accelerates Emphysema Development

Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure is a major risk factor for the development of emphysema, a common disease characterized by loss of cells comprising the lung parenchyma. The mechanisms of cell injury leading to emphysema are not completely understood but are thought to involve persistent cytotoxic or mutagenic DNA damage induced by CS. Using complementary cell culture and mouse models of CS exposure, we investigated the role of the DNA repair protein, xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XPC), on CS-induced DNA damage repair and emphysema. Expression of XPC was decreased in mouse lungs after chronic CS exposure and XPC knockdown in cultured human lung epithelial cells decreased their survival after CS exposure due to activation of the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Similarly, cell autophagy and apoptosis were increased in XPC-deficient mouse lungs and were further increased by CS exposure. XPC deficiency was associated with structural and functional changes characteristic of emphysema, which were worsened by age, similar to levels observed with chronic CS exposure. Taken together, these findings suggest that repair of DNA damage by XPC plays an important and previously unrecognized role in the maintenance of alveolar structures. These findings support that loss of XPC, possibly due to chronic CS exposure, promotes emphysema development and further supports a link between DNA damage, impaired DNA repair, and development of emphysema

Use of anabolic implants in calves to increase weaning weight and backgrounding gains

The main component of the beef industry in South Carolina is cow/calf operations. Recent advances in implant technology are being utilized to help these producers increase weights at time of sale to feedlots. The objective of this study was to determine how the use of anabolic implants in steer calves at 4 mo of age and at weaning altered weight gain at two different farm locations in South Carolina. Steers ( year 1; n= 161, year 2 n=116) from Edisto REC and Simpson REC were randomly allotted into two treatment groups: 1) no implant or 2) implant at 4 mo of age plus implant at weaning. Weights were obtained at implanting, weaning, and the end of backgrounding. Real-time ultrasound measurements of the ribeye area and fat thickness were collected at the end of the backgrounding period. Data were analyzed with the treatment, location, year, and the interaction in the model. Implanting the steers increased (P\u3c0.001) average daily gains from implanting to weaning, weaning to the end of the backgrounding, and overall by 0.36, 0.15, 0.25 lb/hd/d respectively. Implanting also increased ribeye area by 0.34 in2. Weight and gains of the steers differed by location and year but there were no interactions between location, year, and implant treatment. The use of anabolic implants in steer calves at 4 mo of age and then again at weaning helped to increase weight gain, other desirable carcass traits and produced heavier steers for marketing

Use of anabolic implants in calves to increase weaning weight and backgrounding gains

The main component of the beef industry in South Carolina is cow/calf operations. Recent advances in implant technology are being utilized to help these producers increase weights at time of sale to feedlots. The objective of this study was to determine how the use of anabolic implants in steer calves at 4 mo of age and at weaning altered weight gain at two different farm locations in South Carolina. Steers ( year 1; n= 161, year 2 n=116) from Edisto REC and Simpson REC were randomly allotted into two treatment groups: 1) no implant or 2) implant at 4 mo of age plus implant at weaning. Weights were obtained at implanting, weaning, and the end of backgrounding. Real-time ultrasound measurements of the ribeye area and fat thickness were collected at the end of the backgrounding period. Data were analyzed with the treatment, location, year, and the interaction in the model. Implanting the steers increased (P\u3c0.001) average daily gains from implanting to weaning, weaning to the end of the backgrounding, and overall by 0.36, 0.15, 0.25 lb/hd/d respectively. Implanting also increased ribeye area by 0.34 in2. Weight and gains of the steers differed by location and year but there were no interactions between location, year, and implant treatment. The use of anabolic implants in steer calves at 4 mo of age and then again at weaning helped to increase weight gain, other desirable carcass traits and produced heavier steers for marketing

Rehabilitating antisocial personalities: treatment through self-governance strategies

Offenders with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are widely assumed to reject psychotherapeutic intervention. Some commentators, therefore, argue that those with the disorder are better managed in the criminal justice system, where, following the introduction of indeterminate sentences, engagement with psychological treatment is coercively linked to the achievement of parole. By comparison, National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines on the management and treatment of ASPD recommend that those who are treatment seeking should be considered for admission to specialist psychiatric hospitals. The rationale is that prison-based interventions are underresourced, and the treatment of ASPD is underprioritised. The justification is that offenders with ASPD can be rehabilitated, if they are motivated. One problem, however, is that little is known about why offenders with ASPD seek treatment or what effect subsequent treatment has on their self-understanding. The aim of this paper is to address these unresolved issues. It draws on the findings of Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded qualitative study examining the experiences of sentenced male offenders admitted to a specialist personality disorder ward within the medium secure estate and the medical practitioners who treat them. The data are analysed with reference to Michel Foucault’s work on governmentality and strategy in power relations. Two arguments are advanced: first, offenders with ASPD are motivated by legal coercive pressures to implement a variety of Foucauldian-type strategies to give the false impression of treatment progress. Second, and related, treatment does not result in changes in self-understanding in the resistive client with ASPD. This presupposes that, in respect of this group at least, Foucault was mistaken in his claim that resistive behaviours merely mask the effectiveness of treatment norms over time. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that specialist treatment in the hospital setting can effect changes in the resistive offender’s self-understanding, but not if the completion of treatment results, as is commonplace, in his prison readmission

Managing the Socially Marginalized: Attitudes Towards Welfare, Punishment and Race

Welfare and incarceration policies have converged to form a system of governance over socially marginalized groups, particularly racial minorities. In both of these policy areas, rehabilitative and social support objectives have been replaced with a more punitive and restrictive system. The authors examine the convergence in individual-level attitudes concerning welfare and criminal punishment, using national survey data. The authors\u27 analysis indicates a statistically significant relationship between punitive attitudes toward welfare and punishment. Furthermore, accounting for the respondents\u27 racial attitudes explains the bivariate relationship between welfare and punishment. Thus, racial attitudes seemingly link support for punitive approaches to opposition to welfare expenditures. The authors discuss the implications of this study for welfare and crime control policies by way of the conclusion

Experiences of youth justice: youth justice discourses and their multiple effects

Interventions within youth justice systems draw on a range of rationales and philosophies. Traditionally demarcated by a welfare/justice binary, the complex array of contemporary rationales meld different philosophies and practices, suggesting a mutability that gives this sphere a continued (re)productive and felt effect. While it may be increasingly difficult to ascertain which of these discourses is dominant in different jurisdictions in the UK, particular models of justice are perceived to be more prominent (Muncie, 2006). Traditionally it is assumed that Northern Ireland prioritises restoration, Wales prioritises rights, England priorities risk and Scotland welfare (McVie, 2011; Muncie, 2008, 2011). However, how these discourses are enacted in practice, how multiple and competing rationales circulate within them and most fundamentally how they are experienced by young people is less clear. This paper, based on research with young people who have experienced the full range of interventions in the youth justice system in Northern Ireland examines their narratives of ‘justice’. It considers how different discourses might influence the same intervention and how the deployment of multiple rationalities gives the experience of ‘justice’ its effect

Home Exercise DVD Promotes Exercise Accuracy by Caregivers of Children and Adolescents With Brachial Plexus Palsy

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147221/1/pmr2924.pd

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Infants with Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy: A Pilot Study

Background: Biceps recovery is a critical determinant for treatment decision-making in patients with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP). One treatment intervention used by therapists is neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), but its use remains controversial. This study’s aim was to determine the effect and safety of NMES on biceps function in infants with NBPP compared to standard therapy. Methods: In this pilot, randomized controlled study, patients were randomized to the NMES treatment or control/sham group. Inclusion criteria were infants 3 to 9 months of age with a confirmed diagnosis of NBPP and biceps weakness, without other comorbidities. The parents administered the NMES (treatment or control) 30 min daily. Outcomes of active range of motion (AROM), muscle strength, and morphometric measurements were assessed by one of two blinded therapists at enrollment and 1-, 2-, and 3-month follow-up intervals. Results: Seventeen patients (10 NMES, seven control) participated in the study. Despite equal group demographics, the treatment group demonstrated significant improvement in elbow flexion AROM after the first month of NMES compared to the control group (improvement 31° vs. -3°, P = .047). No adverse effects were reported. Conclusion: Use of NMES can be beneficial and should be considered in the early rehabilitation protocol for infants with NBPP

Regulation of the human LAT gene by the Elf-1 transcription factor

BACKGROUND: The LAT gene encodes an intracellular adaptor protein that links cell-surface receptor engagement to numerous downstream signalling events, and thereby plays an integral role in the function of cell types that express the gene, including T cells, mast cells, natural killer cells, and platelets. To date, the mechanisms responsible for the transcriptional regulation of this gene have not been investigated. RESULTS: In this study we have mapped the transcriptional start sites for the human LAT gene and localized the 5' and 3' boundaries of the proximal promoter. We find that the promoter contains both positive and negative regulatory regions, and that two binding sites for the Ets family of transcription factors have a strong, positive effect on gene expression. Each site binds the Ets family member Elf-1, and overexpression of Elf-1 augments LAT promoter activity. The promoter also contains a Runx binding site adjacent to one of the Ets sites. This site, which is shown to bind Runx-1, has an inhibitory effect on gene expression. Finally, data is also presented indicating that the identified promoter may regulate cell-type specific expression. CONCLUSION: Collectively, these results provide the first insights into the transcriptional regulation of the LAT gene, including the discovery that the Ets transcription factor Elf-1 may play a central role in its expression