Religiosity and decreased risk of substance use disorders: is the effect mediated by social support or mental health status?

The negative association between religiosity (religious beliefs and church attendance) and the likelihood of substance use disorders is well established, but the mechanism(s) remain poorly understood. We investigated whether this association was mediated by social support or mental health status. We utilized cross-sectional data from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (n = 36,370). We first used logistic regression to regress any alcohol use in the past year on sociodemographic and religiosity variables. Then, among individuals who drank in the past year, we regressed past year alcohol abuse/dependence on sociodemographic and religiosity variables. To investigate whether social support mediated the association between religiosity and alcohol use and alcohol abuse/dependence we repeated the above models, adding the social support variables. To the extent that these added predictors modified the magnitude of the effect of the religiosity variables, we interpreted social support as a possible mediator. We also formally tested for mediation using path analysis. We investigated the possible mediating role of mental health status analogously. Parallel sets of analyses were conducted for any drug use, and drug abuse/dependence among those using any drugs as the dependent variables. The addition of social support and mental health status variables to logistic regression models had little effect on the magnitude of the religiosity coefficients in any of the models. While some of the tests of mediation were significant in the path analyses, the results were not always in the expected direction, and the magnitude of the effects was small. The association between religiosity and decreased likelihood of a substance use disorder does not appear to be substantively mediated by either social support or mental health status

Pathogenesis of Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis

The severity of renal involvement is the major factor determining the long-term outcome of children with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) nephritis (HSPN). Approximately 40% children with HSP develop nephritis, usually within 4 to 6 weeks after the initial onset of the typical purpuric rashes. Although the pathogenetic mechanisms are still not fully delineated, several studies suggest that galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) is recognized by anti-glycan antibodies, leading to the formation of the circulating immune complexes and their mesangial deposition that induce renal injury in HSPN

Prefazione

Si tratta della prefazione a un volume divulgativo dell’ANPO (Associazione Nazionale Prevenzione Oncologica) sulla prevenzione dei tumori professionali, opera che appare assai utile e tempestiva. Dopo avere inquadrato il complesso problema dell’oncogenesi occupazionale nel contesto legislativo e medico-legale italiano, lil volume riunisce in modo sintetico e comprensibile anche ai non medici le attuali conoscenze sulle malattie neoplastiche che possono insorgere a causa del lavoro. In particolare, sono descritti i compiti e le responsabilità delle figure professionali a vario titolo coinvolte nella tutela della salute dei lavoratori e cioè i lavoratori stessi, i loro rappresentanti, il datore di lavoro, i preposti, il responsabile del servizio di prevenzione e protezione, il medico competente. Delle più comuni forme neoplastiche sono illustrati l’eziologia (agenti coinvolti e comparti produttivi a rischio), le caratteristiche anatomo-patologiche (sede d’insorgenza, varianti istologiche), gli aspetti clinici (sintomatologia, prognosi, diagnosi, terapia, riabilitazione) e le possibilità di prevenzione (eliminazione/contenimento dei fattori di rischio, screening, sorveglianza sanitaria). È pertanto auspicabile che questa pubblicazione aumenti la consapevolezza e il senso di responsabilità di tutti nei confronti dei tumori sul lavoro e delle malattie neoplastiche in genere, intese non come eventi fatali e ineluttabili ma come patologie prevenibili, curabili e spesso guaribili

Qualitative Research on LGBTQ-Parent Families

Qualitative research on LGBTQ-parent families and queer individuals and families of all kinds has burgeoned, to include narratives, interviews, diaries, emotion maps, participatory action research, and visual and performative methods—individually or in combination. In this chapter, we examine a range of qualitative methods, particularly from the lens of a qualitative multiple methods approach developed by Jacqui Gabb. We also address conceptual, theoretical, intersectional, and methodological tensions that remain or have emerged regarding how qualitative LGBTQ-parent family research is conducted, to what ends, and how it should be represented in publication, for researchers, for practitioners, and for participants themselves. Our goal is to show that qualitative LGBTQ-parent family research has come of age: a great deal of exciting research is appearing around the globe, and yet this area also faces numerous challenges to retaining its cutting edge nature. Finally, we combine new conceptual areas with empirical exemplars on topics highly relevant to studying family relationships in the context of sexuality and other intersections: (a) era, age, and generation; (b) social class, sociocultural capital, and the economies of reproductive labor; (c) listening to children; and (d) situating sexual-maternal identities at home

Re-evaluation of the role of auxin binding site II

Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Binding of 1-naphthylacetic acid (1-NAA) was assayed in microsomal membranes from Zea mays coleoptiles and from hypocotyls of Cucurbita pepo. Auxin binding site II was differentiated from site I binding by using phenylacetic acid (PAA) to saturate site I binding capacity. The amount of type-II binding sites, per gram original fresh weight, was 34 pmol with Zea and 6.4 pmol with Cucurbita. When maize membranes were separated by dextran gradient centrifugation, auxin binding site II migrated coincident with tonoplast marker enzymes. The physiologically active auxin 4-chloroindoleacetic acid (4-Cl-IAA) competed very poorly with 1-NAA binding to both site I and site II. This result suggests that sites I and II are not involved in the regulation of growth. When comparing isolated outer epidermis with intact coleoptile of Zea, similar amounts and ratios of site I and site II binding activities were observed.Peer reviewe