The challenge of parenting girls in neighborhoods of different perceived quality

It is well-known that disadvantaged neighborhoods, as officially identified through census data, harbor higher numbers of delinquent individuals than advantaged neighborhoods. What is much less known is whether parents’ perception of the neighborhood problems predicts low parental engagement with their girls and, ultimately, how this is related to girls’ delinquency, including violence. This paper elucidates these issues by examining data from the Pittsburgh Girls Study, including parent-report of neighborhood problems and level of parental engagement and official records and girl-reported delinquency at ages 15, 16, and 17. Results showed higher stability over time for neighborhood problems and parental engagement than girls’ delinquency. Parents’ perception of their neighborhood affected the extent to which parents engaged in their girls’ lives, but low parental engagement did not predict girls being charged for offending at age 15, 16 or 17. These results were largely replicated for girls’ self-reported delinquency with the exception that low parental engagement at age 16 was predictive of the frequency of girls’ self-reported delinquency at age 17 as well. The results, because of their implications for screening and early interventions, are relevant to policy makers as well as practitioners

Targeting the cancer cell cycle by cold atmospheric plasma

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), a technology based on quasi-neutral ionized gas at low temperatures, is currently being evaluated as a new highly selective alternative addition to existing cancer therapies. Here, we present a first attempt to identify the mechanism of CAP action. CAP induced a robust ~2-fold G2/M increase in two different types of cancer cells with different degrees of tumorigenicity. We hypothesize that the increased sensitivity of cancer cells to CAP treatment is caused by differences in the distribution of cancer cells and normal cells within the cell cycle. The expression of γH2A.X (pSer139), an oxidative stress reporter indicating S-phase damage, is enhanced specifically within CAP treated cells in the S phase of the cell cycle. Together with a significant decrease in EdU-incorporation after CAP, these data suggest that tumorigenic cancer cells are more susceptible to CAP treatment

Host cell restriction factors that limit transcription and replication of human papillomavirus

The life cycle of human papillomaviruses (HPV) is tightly regulated by the differentiation state of mucosal and cutaneous keratinocytes. To counteract viral infection, constitutively expressed cellular factors, which are defined herein as restriction factors, directly mitigate viral gene expression and replication. In turn, some HPV gene products target these restriction factors and abrogate their anti-viral effects to establish efficient gene expression and replication programs. Ironically, in certain circumstances, this delicate counterbalance between viral gene products and restriction factors facilitates persistent infection by HPVs. This review serves to recapitulate the current knowledge of nuclear restriction factors that directly affect the HPV infectious cycle

The Paper Industry: Strategic Alliances, Joint Ventures, and Electronic Commerce Are Reshaping Our Business Models

J. Ben Reeves, MBA, is a wood and fiber procurement manager, Georgia-Pacific Corperation, Lynchburg, VA 24503. Deanna S. Stepp, MBA, CRP, is a marketing director, Lawrence Transportation, Roanoke, VA 24012. Lewis E. Wertz, Jr., MBA, MSCE, P.E., is an engineer-planner, R & K Engineering Inc., Roanoke, VA 24012. Dale A. Henderson, Ph.D., is assistant professor of management, Department of Management, Radford University, Radford, VA 24142

Optical coherence tomography for bladder cancer - ready as a surrogate for optical biopsy? - Results of a prospective mono-centre study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>New modalities like Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) allow non-invasive examination of the internal structure of biological tissue in vivo. The potential benefits and limitations of this new technology for the detection and evaluation of bladder cancer were examined in this study.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Between January 2007 and January 2008, 52 patients who underwent transurethral bladder biopsy or TUR-BT for surveillance or due to initial suspicion of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder were enrolled in this study. In total, 166 lesions were suspicious for malignancy according to standard white light cystoscopy. All suspicious lesions were scanned and interpreted during perioperative cystoscopy using OCT. Cold cup biopsies and/or TUR-B was performed for all these lesions. For this study we used an OCT-device (Niris^®, Imalux^®, Cleveland, US), that utilizes near-infrared light guided through a flexible fibre-based applicator, which is placed into the bladder via the working channel of the cystoscope. The technology provides high spatial resolution on the order of about 10-20 μm, and a visualization of tissue to a depth of about 2 mm across a lateral span of about 2 mm in width. The device used received market clearance from the FDA and CE approval in Germany. The diagnostic and surgical procedure was videotaped and analyzed afterwards for definitive matching of scanned and biopsied lesion. The primary aim of this study was to determine the level of correlation between OCT interpretation and final histological result.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 166 scanned OCT images, 102 lesions (61.4%) matched to the same site where the biopsy/TUR-BT was taken according to videoanalysis. Only these video-verified lesions were used for further analysis. Of all analyzed lesions 88 were benign (inflammation, edema, hyperplasia etc.) and 14 were malignant (CIS, Ta, T1, T2) as shown by final histo pathology.</p> <p>All 14 malignant lesions were detected correctly by OCT. Furthermore all invasive tumors were staged correctly by OCT regarding tumor growth beyond the lamina propria. There were no false negative lesions detected by OCT. Sensitivity of OCT for detecting the presence of a malignant lesion was 100% and sensitivity for detection of tumor growth beyond the lamina propria was 100% as well. Specificity of OCT for presence of malignancy was 65%, due to the fact that a number of lesions were interpreted as false positive by OCT.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>As a minimally invasive technique, OCT proved to have extremely high sensitivity for detection of malignant lesions as well as estimation of whether a tumor has invaded beyond the lamina propria. However, specificity of OCT within the bladder was impaired (65%), possibly due to a learning curve and/or the relatively low spatial resolution and visualization depth of the OCT technology. Further studies and technical development are needed to establish an adequate surrogate for optical biopsy.</p

Longitudinal Profiles of Girls' Irritable, Defiant and Antagonistic Oppositional Symptoms: Evidence for Group Based Differences in Symptom Severity

Three subdimensions of ODD symptoms have been proposed -angry/irritable (IR), argumentative/defiant (DF) and antagonism (AN). This study tested whether longitudinal symptom trajectories could be identified by these subdimensions. Group-based trajectory analysis was used to identify developmental trajectories of IR, DF and AN symptoms. Multi-group trajectory analysis was then used to identify how subdimension trajectories were linked together over time. Data were drawn from the Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS; N = 2450), an urban community sample of girls between the ages of five--eight at baseline. We included five waves of annual data across ages five-13 to model trajectories. Three trajectories were identified for each ODD subdimension: DF and AN were characterized by high, medium and low severity groups; IR was characterized by low, medium stable, and high increasing groups. Multi-trajectory analysis confirmed these subdimensions were best linked together based on symptom severity. We did not identify girls' trajectory groups that were characterized predominantly by a particular subdimension of ODD symptoms. Membership in more severe symptom groups was significantly associated with worse outcomes five years later. In childhood and early adolescence girls with high levels of ODD symptoms can be identified, and these youth are characterized by a persistently elevated profile of IR, DF and AN symptoms. Further studies in clinical samples are required to examine the ICD-10 proposal that ODD with irritability is a distinct or more severe form of ODD

Reduced intraepithelial corneal nerve density and sensitivity accompany desiccating stress and aging in C57BL/6 mice

Dry Eye disease causes discomfort and pain in millions of patients. Using a mouse acute desiccating stress (DS) model we show that DS induces a reduction in intraepithelial corneal nerve (ICN) density, corneal sensitivity, and apical extension of the intraepithelial nerve terminals (INTs) that branch from the subbasal nerves (SBNs). Topical application of 0.02% Mitomycin C (MMC) or vehicle alone has no impact on the overall loss of axon density due to acute DS. Chronic dry eye, which develops progressively as C57BL/6 mice age, is accompanied by significant loss of the ICNs and corneal sensitivity between 2 and 24 months of age. QPCR studies show that mRNAs for several proteins that regulate axon growth and extension are reduced in corneal epithelial cells by 24 months of age but those that regulate phagocytosis and autophagy are not altered. Taken together, these data demonstrate that dry eye disease is accompanied by alterations in intraepithelial sensory nerve morphology and function and by reduced expression in corneal epithelial cells of mRNAs encoding genes mediating axon extension. Précis: Acute and chronic mouse models of dry eye disease are used to evaluate the pathologic effects of dry eye on the intraepithelial corneal nerves (ICNs) and corneal epithelial cells. Data show reduced numbers of sensory nerves and alterations in nerve morphology, sensitivity, corneal epithelial cell proliferation, and expression of mRNAs for proteins mediating axon extension accompany the pathology induced by dry eye

Semigroup Closures of Finite Rank Symmetric Inverse Semigroups

We introduce the notion of semigroup with a tight ideal series and investigate their closures in semitopological semigroups, particularly inverse semigroups with continuous inversion. As a corollary we show that the symmetric inverse semigroup of finite transformations $\mathscr{I}_\lambda^n$ of the rank $\leqslant n$ is algebraically closed in the class of (semi)topological inverse semigroups with continuous inversion. We also derive related results about the nonexistence of (partial) compactifications of classes of semigroups that we consider.Comment: With the participation of the new coauthor - Jimmie Lawson - the manuscript has been substantially revised and expanded. Accordingly, we have also changed the manuscript titl