Children of prisoners: exploring the impact of families' reappraisal of the role and status of the imprisoned parent on children's coping strategies

Qualitative data from a larger study on the impact of parental imprisonment in four countries found that children of prisoners face fundamentally similar psychological and social challenges. The ways that children cope, however, are influenced by the interpretative frame adopted by the adults around them, and by how issues of parental imprisonment are talked about in their families. This article argues that families have to reappraise their view of the imprisoned parent and then decide on their policy for how to deal with this publicly. Their approach may be based on openness and honesty or may emphasise privacy and secrecy, or a combination of these. Children are likely to be influenced by their parents'/carers' views, although these may cause conflict for them. Where parents/carers retain a positive view of the imprisoned parent, children are likely to benefit; where parents/carers feel issues of shame and stigma acutely, this is likely to be transmitted to their children. This is important for social workers and practitioners involved in supporting prisoners' families and for parenting programmes

Detection of human tumor cells by amplicon fusion site polymerase chain reaction (AFS-PCR)

Reliable diagnostic strategies for individuals with cancer demand practical methods for highly sensitive and specific detection of tumor cells. Amplification of genomic regions that include putative oncogenes is common in tumor cells of various types. Genomic array platforms offer the opportunity to identify and precisely map amplified genomic regions (ampGRs). The stable existence of these tumor cell–specific genomic aberrations during and after therapy, in theory, make ampGRs optimal targets for cancer diagnostics. In this study, we mapped ampGRs around the proto-oncogene MYCN of human neuroblastomas using a high-resolution tiling array (HR-TA). Based on the HR-TA data, we were able to precisely describe the telomeric and centromeric borders of the ampGRs and deduce virtual fusion sites of the joined ampGRs (amplicon fusion sites [AFSs]). These AFSs served as blueprints for the subsequent design of AFS bridging PCR assays (AFS-PCRs). Strikingly, these assays were absolutely tumor cell specific and capable of detecting 1 tumor cell in 1 × 106 to 8 × 106 control cells. We successfully proved the in vivo practicability of AFS-PCR by detecting and quantifying the specific AFS DNA of human MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas in the patients’ corresponding peripheral blood and bone marrow samples. Thus, we believe AFS-PCR could become a powerful and nevertheless feasible personalized diagnostic tool applicable to a large number of cancer patients, including children with MYCN-amplified neuroblastomas

Self-reported cardiovascular health of teachers: results from the 5-year follow-up of the Gutenberg Health Study cohort

Objectives!#!Following an exploratory approach, we examined cardiovascular disease risk factors at baseline and the 5-year incidence proportion of self-reported doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in teachers and other occupational groups of the Gutenberg Health Study.!##!Methods!#!Study participants lived in the region of Mainz, Germany. Data from 6510 working participants without prevalent CVD at baseline (2007-2012) were analyzed. Participants were teachers (n = 215), other professionals from the health, social or educational (HSE) fields (n = 1061) or worked outside the HSE fields (n = 5234). For occupational comparisons, we estimated prevalence ratios (PR) for each CVD risk factor at baseline with robust Poisson regression analyses. We calculated crude CVD incidence rates based on the observed 5-year CVD cumulative incidence at follow-up and estimated age-weighted incidence proportions. All analyses were stratified by sex.!##!Results!#!Male non-HSE workers showed a higher prevalence of smoking and physical inactivity than male teachers (PR 2.26; 95%-CI: 1.06-4.82/PR 1.89; 95%-CI: 1.24-2.87). In contrast, non-HSE workers and other HSE professionals were less likely to have reported an unhealthy alcohol intake than teachers. Differences were attenuated after SES-adjustment. We did not detect occupational group-specific differences in CVD incidence. However, there were only two cases of CVD among the teachers.!##!Conclusion!#!Particularly male teachers showed a healthier lifestyle regarding physical inactivity and smoking. Nevertheless, occupational-medical care practitioners and researchers need to be aware of the relatively heightened prevalence of unhealthy alcohol intake in female and male teachers, and in absolute terms, the high hypertension prevalence in male teachers