Attitudes of Healthcare Workers towards Older People in a Rural Population: A Survey Using the Kogan Scale

With the global trend towards an increasingly ageing population, it is clear that nurses need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to fulfil significant roles in responding to future health and support needs. This paper reports the results of a survey that aimed to identify and evaluate the attitudes of nurses, healthcare assistants, and nursing students towards older people. The survey was undertaken in a rural county in the Republic of Ireland. It is reassuring that in our study, we found that these healthcare workers hold positive attitudes towards older people. In addition, we found that study to a higher level at university appears to mitigate towards holding more positive attitudes, and this is an important finding in light of the shift towards nursing as an all-graduate profession

Muscle & money : determining the relationship between occupational physical demands and individual earning power

Women are economically disadvantaged in most U.S. labor markets, demonstrated by a persistent gender wage gap. The relative wage discrepancy can be understood as a result of labor market conditions, human capital investments, and gender discrimination. To determine if the wage gap could be decreased, I use classical regression modeling to examine how physically demanding occupations affect women’s and men’s earnings. I control for a range of variables indicating employee investments in human capital, demand-side characteristics including occupational physical demands, and factors representing cultural constraints and institutional bias. Using the Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement from March 2006 for Oregon and Washington combined with the Directory of Occupational Titles from the United States Department of Labor, I examine if individual earning power would be higher for workers in physically demanding occupations as compared to those in non-physically demanding occupations. Results show that women in the Pacific Northwest are economically disadvantaged, even after controlling for theoretically based wage determinants. Some occupational physical demands do increase wage, such as climbing and strength within a goods-based occupation, however most of these demands are only relevant for male-dominated occupations. Women may earn more money if they infiltrate male-dominated occupations requiring physical demands. Effective local and state level government policies may be fostered to recruit and retain non-college educated women into physically demanding jobs. However, these solutions are temporary because once an occupation has more women employed, the wages are likely to decrease for all workers. While no easy solution exists, it is my hope that lessening the societal constructions which limit women’s occupational opportunities will not only lessen the gender wage gap, but work to address a systemic bias against women

Infection with a Virulent Strain of Wolbachia Disrupts Genome Wide-Patterns of Cytosine Methylation in the Mosquito Aedes aegypti

BACKGROUND Cytosine methylation is one of several reversible epigenetic modifications of DNA that allow a greater flexibility in the relationship between genotype and phenotype. Methylation in the simplest models dampens gene expression by modifying regions of DNA critical for transcription factor binding. The capacity to methylate DNA is variable in the insects due to diverse histories of gene loss and duplication of DNA methylases. Mosquitoes like Drosophila melanogaster possess only a single methylase, DNMT2. DESCRIPTION Here we characterise the methylome of the mosquito Aedes aegypti and examine its relationship to transcription and test the effects of infection with a virulent strain of the endosymbiont Wolbachia on the stability of methylation patterns. CONCLUSION We see that methylation in the A. aegypti genome is associated with reduced transcription and is most common in the promoters of genes relating to regulation of transcription and metabolism. Similar gene classes are also methylated in aphids and honeybees, suggesting either conservation or convergence of methylation patterns. In addition to this evidence of evolutionary stability, we also show that infection with the virulent wMelPop Wolbachia strain induces additional methylation and demethylation events in the genome. While most of these changes seem random with respect to gene function and have no detected effect on transcription, there does appear to be enrichment of genes associated with membrane function. Given that Wolbachia lives within a membrane-bound vacuole of host origin and retains a large number of genes for transporting host amino acids, inorganic ions and ATP despite a severely reduced genome, these changes might represent an evolved strategy for manipulating the host environments for its own gain. Testing for a direct link between these methylation changes and expression, however, will require study across a broader range of developmental stages and tissues with methods that detect splice variants.This research was supported by The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

A brief measure of peer affiliation and social acceptance (PASA): Validity in an ethnically diverse sample of early adolescents

Objective Conduct a multiagent–multimethod analysis of the validity of a brief measure of deviant peer affiliations and social acceptance (PASA) in young adolescents. Peer relationships are critical to child and adolescent social and emotional development, but currently available measures are tedious and time consuming. The PASA consists of a youth, parent, and teacher report that can be collected longitudinally to study development and intervention effectiveness. Method This longitudinal study included 998 middle school students and their families. We collected the PASA and peer sociometrics data in Grade 7 and a multiagent–multimethod construct of deviant peer clustering in Grade 8. Results Confirmatory factor analyses of the multiagent–multimethod data revealed that the constructs of deviant peer affiliations and social acceptance and rejection were distinguishable as unique but correlated constructs within the PASA. Convergent, discriminant, concurrent, and predictive validity of the PASA was satisfactory, although the acceptance and rejection constructs were highly correlated and showed similar patterns of concurrent validity. Factor invariance was established for mother and for father reports. Conclusions Results suggest that the PASA is a valid and reliable measure of peer affiliation and of social acceptance among peers during the middle school years and provides a comprehensive yet brief assessment of peer affiliations and social acceptance

The Relative Importance of Innate Immune Priming in Wolbachia-Mediated Dengue Interference

The non-virulent Wolbachia strain wMel and the life-shortening strain wMelPop-CLA, both originally from Drosophila melanogaster, have been stably introduced into the mosquito vector of dengue fever, Aedes aegypti. Each of these Wolbachia strains interferes with viral pathogenicity and/or dissemination in both their natural Drosophila host and in their new mosquito host, and it has been suggested that this virus interference may be due to host immune priming by Wolbachia. In order to identify aspects of the mosquito immune response that might underpin virus interference, we used whole-genome microarrays to analyse the transcriptional response of A. aegypti to the wMel and wMelPop-CLA Wolbachia strains. While wMel affected the transcription of far fewer host genes than wMelPop-CLA, both strains activated the expression of some immune genes including anti-microbial peptides, Toll pathway genes and genes involved in melanization. Because the induction of these immune genes might be associated with the very recent introduction of Wolbachia into the mosquito, we also examined the same Wolbachia strains in their original host D. melanogaster. First we demonstrated that when dengue viruses were injected into D. melanogaster, virus accumulation was significantly reduced in the presence of Wolbachia, just as in A. aegypti. Second, when we carried out transcriptional analyses of the same immune genes up-regulated in the new heterologous mosquito host in response to Wolbachia we found no over-expression of these genes in D. melanogaster, infected with either wMel or wMelPop. These results reinforce the idea that the fundamental mechanism involved in viral interference in Drosophila and Aedes is not dependent on the up-regulation of the immune effectors examined, although it cannot be excluded that immune priming in the heterologous mosquito host might enhance the virus interference trait

The wMelPop strain of Wolbachia interferes with dopamine levels in Aedes aegypti

Wolbachia is an intracellular bacterium that has been stably transinfected into the mosquito vector of dengue, Aedes aegypti. This inherited infection causes a range of metabolic and phenotypic alterations in the mosquito, which might be related to neuronal abnormalities. In order to determine if these alterations were caused by the manipulation of neuroamines by this bacterium, we studied the expression of genes involved in the dopamine biosynthetic pathway and also measured the amount of dopamine in infected and uninfected mosquitoes of different ages. Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes exhibit greater expression of some genes related to the melanization pathway, but not for those directly linked to dopamine production. Although dopamine levels were higher in Wolbachia-positive mosquitoes this was not consistent across all insect ages nor was it related to the previously described Wolbachia induced "bendy" and "shaky" phenotypes

Retinoids regulate TGFβ signaling at the level of Smad2 phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation

AbstractIndirect regulation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling by retinoids occurs on a long-term timescale, secondary to transcriptional events. Studies by our group show loss of retinoid X receptor (RXR) alpha results in increased TGFβ2 in the midgestational heart, which may play a role in the cardiac defects seen in this model [S.W. Kubalak, D.R. Hutson, K.K. Scott and R.A. Shannon, Elevated transforming growth factor beta2 enhances apoptosis and contributes to abnormal outflow tract and aortic sac development in retinoic X receptor alpha knockout embryos, Development 129 (2002) 733–746.]. Acute and direct interactions between retinoid and TGFβ signaling, however, are not clearly understood. Treatment of dispersed hearts and NIH3T3 cells for 1 h with TGFβ and retinoids (dual treatment) resulted in increased phosphorylated Smad2 and Smad3 when compared to treatment with TGFβ alone. Of all dual treatments, those with the RXR agonist Bexarotene, resulted in the highest level of phosphorylated Smad2, a 7-fold increase over TGFβ2 alone. Additionally, during dual treatment phosphorylation of Smad2 occurs via the TGFβ type I receptor but not by increased activation of the receptor. As loss of RXRα results in increased levels of Smad2 phosphorylation in response to TGFβ treatment and since nuclear accumulation of phosphorylated Smad2 is decreased during dual treatment, we propose that RXRα directly regulates the activities of Smad2. These data show retinoid signaling influences the TGFβ pathway in an acute and direct manner that has been unappreciated until now

Prophylactic Anticonvulsants in Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Background and Purpose Prophylactic anticonvulsants are routinely prescribed in the acute setting for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients, but some studies have reported an association with worse outcomes. We sought to characterize the prevalence and predictors of prophylactic anticonvulsant administration after ICH as well as guideline adherence. We also sought to determine whether prophylactic anticonvulsants were independently associated with poor outcome. Methods We performed a retrospective study of primary ICH in our two academic centers. We used a propensity matching approach to make treated and non-treated groups comparable. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to identify independent predictors of prophylactic anticonvulsant initiation and its association with poor outcome as measured by modified Rankin score. Results We identified 610 patients with primary ICH, of whom 98 were started on prophylactic anticonvulsants. Levetiracetam (97%) was most commonly prescribed. Age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95–0.99, p < .001), lobar location (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.76–4.91, p < .001), higher initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.40–3.79, p = .001), craniotomy (OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.51–6.20, p = .002), and prior ICH (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.10–5.07, p = .028) were independently associated with prophylactic anticonvulsant initiation. Prophylactic anticonvulsant use was not associated with worse functional outcome [modified Rankin score (mRS) 4–6] at hospital discharge or with increased case-fatality. There was no difference in prescribing patterns after 2010 guideline publication. Discussion Levetiracetam was routinely prescribed following ICH and was not associated with worse outcomes. Future investigations should examine the effect of prophylactic levetiracetam on cost and neuropsychological outcomes as well as the role of continuous EEG in identifying subclinical seizures

Histopathologic characterization of the BTBR mouse model of autistic-like behavior reveals selective changes in neurodevelopmental proteins and adult hippocampal neurogenesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The inbred mouse strain BTBR T+ tf/J (BTBR) exhibits behavioral deficits that mimic the core deficits of autism. Neuroanatomically, the BTBR strain is also characterized by a complete absence of the corpus callosum. The goal of this study was to identify novel molecular and cellular changes in the BTBR mouse, focusing on neuronal, synaptic, glial and plasticity markers in the limbic system as a model for identifying putative molecular and cellular substrates associated with autistic behaviors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Forebrains of 8 to 10-week-old male BTBR and age-matched C57Bl/6J control mice were evaluated by immunohistochemistry using free-floating and paraffin embedded sections. Twenty antibodies directed against antigens specific to neurons, synapses and glia were used. Nissl, Timm and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) stains were performed to assess cytoarchitecture, mossy fibers and cholinergic fiber density, respectively. In the hippocampus, quantitative stereological estimates for the mitotic marker bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) were performed to determine hippocampal progenitor proliferation, survival and differentiation, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA was quantified by <it>in situ </it>hybridization. Quantitative image analysis was performed for NG2, doublecortin (DCX), NeuroD, GAD67 and Poly-Sialic Acid Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (PSA-NCAM).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In midline structures including the region of the absent corpus callosum of BTBR mice, the myelin markers 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNPase) and myelin basic protein (MBP) were reduced, and the oligodendrocyte precursor NG2 was increased. MBP and CNPase were expressed in small ectopic white matter bundles within the cingulate cortex. Microglia and astrocytes showed no evidence of gliosis, yet orientations of glial fibers were altered in specific white-matter areas. In the hippocampus, evidence of reduced neurogenesis included significant reductions in the number of doublecortin, PSA-NCAM and NeuroD immunoreactive cells in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus, and a marked reduction in the number of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) positive progenitors. Furthermore, a significant and profound reduction in BDNF mRNA was seen in the BTBR dentate gyrus. No significant differences were seen in the expression of AchE, mossy fiber synapses or immunoreactivities of microtubule-associated protein MAP2, parvalbumin and glutamate decarboxylase GAD65 or GAD67 isoforms.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We documented modest and selective alterations in glia, neurons and synapses in BTBR forebrain, along with reduced neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. Of all markers examined, the most distinctive changes were seen in the neurodevelopmental proteins NG2, PSA-NCAM, NeuroD and DCX. Our results are consistent with aberrant development of the nervous system in BTBR mice, and may reveal novel substrates to link callosal abnormalities and autistic behaviors. The changes that we observed in the BTBR mice suggest potential novel therapeutic strategies for intervention in autism spectrum disorders.</p

Comparative susceptibility of mosquito populations in North Queensland, Australia to oral infection with dengue virus.

Dengue is the most prevalent arthropod-borne virus, with at least 40% of the world's population at risk of infection each year. In Australia, dengue is not endemic, but viremic travelers trigger outbreaks involving hundreds of cases. We compared the susceptibility of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes from two geographically isolated populations to two strains of dengue virus serotype 2. We found, interestingly, that mosquitoes from a city with no history of dengue were more susceptible to virus than mosquitoes from an outbreak-prone region, particularly with respect to one dengue strain. These findings suggest recent evolution of population-based differences in vector competence or different historical origins. Future genomic comparisons of these populations could reveal the genetic basis of vector competence and the relative role of selection and stochastic processes in shaping their differences. Lastly, we show the novel finding of a correlation between midgut dengue titer and titer in tissues colonized after dissemination