Effect of parenting, emotional intelligence, hostile attributional bias, and peer status on problem behavior

Early experiences tend to influence internalizing and externalizing behavior. Children experiencing harsh, noncontingent discipline often understand relationships as unpredictable and filled with conflict. They take this understanding into interactions with other children, behave aggressively, and are rejected by peers, reaffirming their hostile view and increasing the likelihood of aggression. Social rejection has also been found to be associated with internalizing behavior, with rejected boys being higher internalizers than rejected girls. Because boys\u27 relationships are more of group form and girls more of dyadic form, whether reciprocated friendships moderate group rejection was examined. Aggressive and depressive children tend to attribute hostile intent in negative situations, with depressives feeling assertive behavior would result in negative outcomes, and aggressives feeling the opposite. Therefore, locus of control was examined. Because children with hostile attributional bias have emotional difficulty, emotional intelligence was also examined. Although harsh, noncontingent discipline has been associated with aggression, examined here was whether corporal punishment in the absence of more severe punishment increases aggression. Emotional intelligence of children experiencing harsh discipline was also examined, as was whether emotional intelligence mediates the effect of parenting on problem behavior. Sixth-grade students (N = 252) in New Hampshire were tested. Peer rejection, but not friendship, was associated with internalizing. Friended females scored lower in externalizing than nonfriended females and friended males. Children with internal locus of control were less aggressive and depressed. Emotional intelligence was negatively associated with hostile attributional bias, and uniquely predictived externalizing, but not internalizing scores. Parental warmth was not predictive of emotional intelligence over and above parental control. Although no difference in emotional intelligence was found between authoritative and authoritarian parenting, differences were found between both and neglectful parenting. Children experiencing less parental control had external locus of control and higher internalizing scores. External locus of control was associated with internalizing scores. Corporal punishment uniquely predicted externalizing scores but harsh discipline was not associated with emotional intelligence. Structural equation modeling indicated that emotional intelligence mediated the effect of parenting quality on problem behavior. Reciprocated friendships did not moderate the effect of peer rejection on problem behavior

PHOENIX: Public Health and Obesity in England – the New Infrastructure eXamined First interim report: the scoping review

The PHOENIX project aims to examine the impact of structural changes to the health and care system in England on the functioning of the public health system, and on the approaches taken to improving the public’s health. The scoping review has now been completed. During this phase we analysed: Department of Health policy documents (2010-2013), as well as responses to those documents from a range of stakeholders; data from 22 semi-structured interviews with key informants; and the oral and written evidence presented at the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee on the role of local authorities in health issues. We also gathered data from local authority (LA) and Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) websites and other sources to start to develop a picture of how the new structures are developing, and to collate demographic and other data on local authorities. A number of important themes were identified and explored during this phase. In summary, some key points related to three themes - governance, relationships and new ways of working - were: The reforms have had a profound effect on leadership within the public health system. Whilst LAs are now the local leaders for public health, in a more fragmented system, leadership for public health appears to be more dispersed amongst a range of organisations and a range of people within the LA. At national level, the leadership role is complex and not yet developed (from a local perspective). Accountability mechanisms have changed dramatically within public health, and many people still seem to be unclear about them. Some performance management mechanisms have disappeared, and much accountability now appears to rely on transparency and the democratic accountability that this would (theoretically) enable. The extent to which ‘system leaders’ within PHE are able to influence local decisions and performance will depend on the strength of relationships principally between the LA and the local Public Health England centre. These relationships will take time to develop. Many people have faced new ways of working, in new settings, and with new relationships to build. Public health teams in LAs have faced the most profound of these changes, having gone from a position of ‘expert voice’ to a position where they must defend their opinions and activities in the context of competing demands and severely restricted resources. Public health staff may require new skills, and may need to seek new ‘allies’ to thrive in the new environment. HWBs could be crucial in bringing together a fragmented system and dispersed leadership. The next phase of data collection will begin in March with the initiation of case study work. National surveys will be conducted in June/July this year (2014), and at the same time the following year. In this work, we will further explore the following themes: relationships, governance, decision making, new ways of working, and opportunities and difficulties

Views of public health leaders in English local authorities – changing perspectives following the transfer of responsibilities from the National Health Service to local government

This paper reports on the findings of a research project that examined the changes to the public health system in England introduced in 2013. Drawing on case study research and two national surveys the findings explore the impact of organisational change on the composition and role of public health teams. Views and experiences were obtained from public health leaders involved in the transfer of staff and functions from the National Health Service in England to local authorities. National surveys at two points in time aimed to compare and contrast views on the evolving changes. The new organisational and managerial arrangements had enabled public health professionals to widen their work and influence, and public health skills and budgets were welcomed by those in local government. Initially, in some areas, directors of public health were less certain of the benefits of the transfer to local government compared to high levels of confidence expressed by elected members, but perspectives changed over time and moved closer together. National headline figures were found to mask high levels of turbulence and churn being experienced by individual authorities identified in the case study research, and the trend of reducing capacity through cuts to staff, budget and services was a cause for serious concern

The diagnosis of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) infection in owned and group-housed rescue cats in Australia

A field study was undertaken to (i) measure the prevalence of feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) exposure and FeLV infection in a cross-section of healthy Australian pet cats; and (ii) investigate the outcomes following natural FeLV exposure in two Australian rescue facilities. Group 1 (n = 440) consisted of healthy client-owned cats with outdoor access, predominantly from eastern Australia. Groups 2 (n = 38) and 3 (n = 51) consisted of a mixture of healthy and sick cats, group-housed in two separate rescue facilities in Sydney, Australia, tested following identification of index cases of FeLV infection in cats sourced from these facilities. Diagnostic testing for FeLV exposure/infection included p27 antigen testing using three different point-of-care FeLV kits and a laboratory-based ELISA, real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) testing to detect FeLV proviral DNA in leukocytes, real-time reverse-transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) testing to detect FeLV RNA in plasma, and neutralising antibody (NAb) testing. Cats were classified as FeLV-uninfected (FeLV-unexposed and presumptively FeLV-abortive infections) or FeLV-infected (presumptively regressive and presumptively progressive infections). In Group 1, 370 FeLV-unexposed cats (370/440, 84%), 47 abortive infections (47/440, 11%), nine regressive infections (9/440, 2%), and two progressive infections (2/440, 0.5%) were identified, and 12 FeLV-uninfected cats (12/440, 3%) were unclassifiable as FeLV-unexposed or abortive infections due to insufficient samples available for NAb testing. In Groups 2 and 3, 31 FeLV-unexposed cats (31/89, 35%), eight abortive infections (8/89, 9%), 22 regressive infections (22/89; 25%), and 19 progressive infections (19/89; 21%) were discovered, and nine FeLV-uninfected cats (9/89; 10%) were unclassifiable due to insufficient samples available for NAb testing. One of the presumptively progressively-infected cats in Group 3 was likely a focal FeLV infection. Two other presumptively progressively-infected cats in Group 3 may have been classified as regressive infections with repeated testing, highlighting the difficulties associated with FeLV diagnosis when sampling cats at a single time point, even with results from a panel of FeLV tests. These results serve as a reminder to Australian veterinarians that the threat of FeLV to the general pet cat population remains high, thus vigilant FeLV testing, separate housing for FeLV-infected cats, and FeLV vaccination of at-risk cats is important, particularly in group-housed cats in shelters and rescue facilities, where outbreaks of FeLV infection can occur

A novel class of CoA-transferase involved in short-chain fatty acid metabolism in butyrate-producing human colonic bacteria

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Engineering rotating apical-out airway organoid for assessing respiratory cilia motility

Motile cilia project from the airway apical surface and directly interface with inhaled external environment. Owing to cilia\u27s nanoscale dimension and high beating frequency, quantitative assessment of their motility remains a sophisticated task. Here we described a robust approach for reproducible engineering of apical-out airway organoid (AOAO) from a defined number of cells. Propelled by exterior-facing cilia beating, the mature AOAO exhibited stable rotational motion when surrounded by Matrigel. We developed a computational framework leveraging computer vision algorithms to quantify AOAO rotation and correlated it with the direct measurement of cilia motility. We further established the feasibility of using AOAO rotation to recapitulate and measure defective cilia motility caused by chemotherapy-induced toxicity and by CCDC39 mutations in cells from patients with primary ciliary dyskinesia. We expect our rotating AOAO model and the associated computational pipeline to offer a generalizable framework to expedite the modeling of and therapeutic development for genetic and environmental ciliopathies

Access to communication technologies in a sample of cancer patients: an urban and rural survey

BACKGROUND: There is a growing awareness among providers of the symptom burden experienced by cancer patients. Systematic symptom screening is difficult. Our plan was to evaluate a technology-based symptom screening process using touch-tone telephone and Internet in our rural outreach cancer program in Indiana. Would rural patients have adequate access to technologies for home-based symptom reporting? OBJECTIVES: 1) To determine access to touch-tone telephone service and Internet for patients in urban and rural clinics; 2) to determine barriers to access; 3) to determine willingness to use technology for home-based symptom reporting. METHODS: Patients from representative clinics (seven rural and three urban) in our network were surveyed. Inclusion criteria were age greater than 18, able to read, and diagnosis of malignancy. RESULTS: The response rate was 97%. Of 416 patients completing the survey (230 rural, 186 urban), 95% had access to touch-tone telephone service, while 46% had Internet access (56% of urban patients, 38% of rural patients). Higher rates of Internet access were related to younger patient age, current employment, and higher education and income. The primary barrier to Internet access was lack of interest. Use of the Internet for health related activities was less than 50%. The preferred means of symptom reporting in patients with internet access were the touch-tone telephone (70%), compared to reporting by the Internet (28%). CONCLUSION: Access to communication technologies appears adequate for home-based symptom reporting. The use of touch-tone telephone and Internet reporting, based upon patient preference, has the potential of enhancing symptom detection among cancer patients that is not dependent solely upon clinic visits and clinician inquiry