Validation of a Commercial Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Allopregnanolone in the Saliva of Healthy Pregnant Women

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for saliva are simple, non-invasive methods for hormone detection. Allopregnanolone (ALLO) is a neuroactive steroid hormone that plays a crucial role in the aetiology of reproductive mood disorders. To better understand the relationship between ALLO and mood, a validated method to measure peripheral hormone levels is required. Currently, there is no commercially available ELISA with which to measure ALLO in saliva. We validated two ELISAs, developed for use with blood, with the saliva samples of 25 pregnant women, examining the range and sensitivity, intra- and inter-assay precision, parallelism, linearity of dilution, and recovery. The samples were simultaneously analysed using the liquid-chromatography–mass-spectrometry (LC-MS) method. The kits differed in range (31.2–2000 pg/mL vs. 1.6–100 ng/mL) and sensitivity (<9.5 pg/mL vs. 0.9 ng/mL), with the latter showing significant matrix effects and the former fulfilling the acceptance criteria of all the parameters. The concentrations measured with LC–MS were below the lower limit of quantification (<1.0 ng/mL) and no signal was detected. One of the tested ELISAs is a valid method for detecting ALLO in the saliva of pregnant women. It has a suitable measurement range and higher sensitivity than the conventional LC–MS method

The Boomerang Bunch: A School-Based Multifamily Group Approach For Students And Their Families Recovering From Parental Separation And Divorce

Because the community lacked counseling services for whole families experiencing separation and divorce, The Boomerang Bunch was conceived, designed and implemented by six school counselors to identify and therapeutically address changes impacting the participant families as they attempted to bounce back from separation and divorce. Building on the strengths and resilience of these families, school counselors met with students and their families at the community public school outside of school hours for 8 weeks. The rationale, group process, techniques, therapeutic activities, and outcome are outlined providing school counselors with the specifics to replicate The Boomerang Bunch in their school setting. © 2007 ASGW

Macrojustice: The Political Economy of Fairness. By SERGE-CHRISTOPHE KOLM

Cross-linked polymers in which part of the covalent cross-links have been replaced by reversible cross-links have potential application in coatings with improved stress relaxation. Here we present a detailed study of materials based on copolymers of e-caprolactone and L-lactic acid, containing different ratios of covalent and ureidopyrimidinone (UPy) dimer cross-links. Their thermal and mechanical properties were tested by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS). By extrapolation of the R* relaxation process in DMA (arising from dynamics of the reversible UPy cross-links) to temperatures below the glass transition temperature (Tg), it was shown that the reversible cross-links contribute significantly to the relaxation of stress below Tg that was observed in creep measurements