Age, Health and Attractiveness Perception of Virtual (Rendered) Human Hair

The social significance of physical appearance and beauty has been documented in many studies. It is known that even subtle manipulations of facial morphology and skin condition can alter people’s perception of a person’s age, health and attractiveness. While the variation in facial morphology and skin condition cues has been studied quite extensively, comparably little is known on the effect of hair on social perception. This has been partly caused by the technical difficulty of creating appropriate stimuli for investigations of people’s response to systematic variation of certain hair characteristics, such as color and style, while keeping other features constant. Here, we present a modeling approach to the investigation of human hair perception using computer-generated, virtual (rendered) human hair. In three experiments, we manipulated hair diameter (Experiment 1), hair density (Experiment 2), and hair style (Experiment 3) of human (female) head hair and studied perceptions of age, health and attractiveness. Our results show that even subtle changes in these features have an impact on hair perception. We discuss our findings with reference to previous studies on condition-dependent quality cues in women that influence human social perception, thereby suggesting that hair is a salient feature of human physical appearance, which contributes to the perception of beauty

Perceptions of Collaboration and Mutual Respect Among Members of Interprofessional Teams

Government agencies are encouraging healthcare practitioners to work in interprofessional teams to address the complex needs of an aging population, to improve client outcomes, and to increase the cost-effectiveness of health care. However, a clearer understanding of the elements required for an effective interprofessional collaborative practice is needed. The purpose of this online, descriptive study was to focus on one component, mutual respect, and determine its relationship to collaboration among members of interprofessional teams working in family health teams (FHTs) and community health centers (CHCs) across Ontario. D\u27Amour\u27s four-dimensional model of collaboration was used as the theoretical basis. This model suggests that collective action can be analyzed based on shared goals and vision, internalization, formalization, and governance. FHTs and CHCs were contacted by telephone and email to recruit participants and 99 healthcare professionals returned usable surveys. Using Spearman\u27s rho and multiple regression, a significant positive relationship was found between mutual respect and collaboration. After controlling for the respondents\u27 demographic characteristics, the correlation between these variables remained significant. Correlation scores between mutual respect and collaboration were higher in FHTs compared to CHCs. Significant differences in scores were also demonstrated between nurses and nonurses, and levels of education. This research provided data on how collaboration is progressing, how respected professionals felt, and assisted in the identification of areas that may be influential in making improvements. The knowledge obtained can affect positive social change by influencing practice, education, and guiding future research

Decreased clearance of von Willebrand factor in a patient with type 2B von Willebrand disease following development of immune thrombocytopenia

We report a case of concurrent type 2B von Willebrand disease (VWD) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). The patient had characteristic loss of von Willebrand factor (VWF) high molecular weight multimers (HMWM) but a normal platelet count in the initial 8 years after diagnosis of type 2B VWD. When he developed severe thrombocytopenia, however, both his VWD indices and VWF HMWM normalized. As his platelet count increased, he again lost the HMWM and his VWD indices decreased. These results suggest that the severe thrombocytopenia led to decreased clearance of VWF, especially the HMWM. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2008;51:416–418. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60454/1/21593_ftp.pd

Inhibition of β2Integrin–Mediated Leukocyte Cell Adhesion by Leucine–Leucine–Glycine Motif–Containing Peptides

Many integrins mediate cell attachment to the extracellular matrix by recognizing short tripeptide sequences such as arginine–glycine–aspartic acid and leucine–aspartate–valine. Using phage display, we have now found that the leukocyte-specific β2 integrins bind sequences containing a leucine–leucine–glycine (LLG) tripeptide motif. An LLG motif is present on intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, the major β2 integrin ligand, but also on several matrix proteins, including von Willebrand factor. We developed a novel β2 integrin antagonist peptide CPCFLLGCC (called LLG-C4), the structure of which was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance. The LLG-C4 peptide inhibited leukocyte adhesion to ICAM-1, and, interestingly, also to von Willebrand factor. When immobilized on plastic, the LLG-C4 sequence supported the β2 integrin–mediated leukocyte adhesion, but not β1 or β3 integrin–mediated cell adhesion. These results suggest that LLG sequences exposed on ICAM-1 and on von Willebrand factor at sites of vascular injury play a role in the binding of leukocytes, and LLG-C4 and peptidomimetics derived from it could provide a therapeutic approach to inflammatory reactions

Identification of amino acid residues responsible for von Willebrand factor binding to sulfatide by charged-to-alanine-scanning mutagenesis

von Willebrand factor (VWF) performs its hemostatic functions through binding to various proteins. The A1 domain of VWF contains binding sites of not only physiologically important ligands, but also exogenous modulators that induce VWF-platelet aggregation. Sulfatides, 3-sulfated galactosyl ceramides, that are expressed on oligodendrocytes, renal tubular cells, certain tumor cells and platelets, have been suggested to interact with VWF under some pathological conditions. The binding of VWF to sulfatide requires the A1 domain, but its binding sites have not been precisely identified. Here, we report that alanine mutations at Arg1392, Arg1395, Arg1399 and Lys1423 led to decreased VWF–sulfatide binding. These sites have been reported to be the binding sites for platelet membrane glycoprotein (GP) Ib and/or snake venom botrocetin, and, interestingly, are identical to the monoclonal antibody (mAb) NMC4 epitope previously reported to inhibit the VWF-GPIb interaction. We observed that NMC4 also inhibited VWF interaction with sulfatides in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, we conclude that VWF binding sites of sulfatide overlap those of platelet GPIb and botrocetin