More positive or less negative? Trends in research on adjustment of families rearing children with developmental disabilities

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer observed in women, and endogenous estrogen is thought to play a major role in its development. Because of this, any conditions or exposures which enhance estrogenic responses would result in an increased risk for breast cancer. The role of xenoestrogenic compounds, such as DDT, in the etiology of breast cancer is still very controversial. In the following paper we discuss recently-published observations by ourselves and others which indicate that xenoestrogens may play a significant role in the development of breast cancer. Specifically, we hypothesize that during periods of high growth rates and during breast development the sensitivity of breast cells to estrogenic compounds is sufficiently great for xenoestrogens to significantly enhance risk for breast cancer.     

An overview of statistical methods for multiple failure time data in clinical trials

In a long term clinical trial to evaluate a new treatment, quite often each study subject may experience a number of 'failures' that correspond to repeated occurrences of the same type of event or events of entirely different natures during his/her follow-up period. To obtain efficient inference procedures for the therapeutic effect over time, it is desirable to utilize those multiple event times in the analysis. In this article, we review some useful procedures for analysing different kinds of multivariate failure time data. Specifically, we discuss the two-sample problems and the general regression problems with various survival models. We also give some recommendations of appropriate procedures for each type of multiple event data structure for practical usage.     

Help seeking and problem perception among Asian Americans.

Compared the presenting concerns of 3,050 counseling center clients (undergraduate and graduate students) as those concerns varied by ethnicity, gender, and previous counseling experience. Asian-American clients were much more likely to perceive themselves as having educational or vocational concerns, whereas White clients were disproportionately more likely to admit to personal or emotional concerns. The comparison among 7 different Asian-American groups revealed that Filipino-American and Asian-American/White mixed clients were more likely to endorse personal or emotional concerns than other Asian-American groups. Gender and previous counseling experience were found to be related to the presenting concern, but the effects were the same in each ethnic comparison. Results are interpreted with respect to (1) what counselors should be aware of in interacting with Asian-American clients and (2) how they differ both from White clients and among themselves. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A 1 MA, variable risetime pulse generator for high energy density plasma research

COBRA is a 0.5 Omega pulse generator driving loads of order 10 nH inductance to >1 MA current. The design is based on independently timed, laser-triggered switching of four water pulse-forming lines whose outputs are added in parallel to drive the load current pulse. The detailed design and operation of the switching to give a wide variety of current pulse shapes and rise times from 95 to 230 ns is described. The design and operation of a simple inductive load voltage monitor are described which allows good accounting of load impedance and energy dissipation. A method of eliminating gas bubbles on the underside of nearly horizontal insulator surfaces in water was required for reliable operation of COBRA; a novel and effective solution to this problem is described.     

MONITORING POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC COMPOUNDS IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND WORKPLACE SAMPLES USING CONVENTIONAL METHODS AND THE AMES MUTAGENICITY ASSAY OF THEIR NITRATED DERIVATIVES

The development of sensitive methods for monitoring polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) has been a central focus of industrial hygiene studies in those industries where workers are exposed to petroleum oils, bitumen fumes or fuel combustion products. The work reported here focuses on one aspect of that effort—workplace monitoring of airborne PAC levels in the hot-mix asphalt paving industry. During the manufacture, transport, and roadway application of hot-mix asphalt (HMA), workers are exposed to low levels of bitumen fumes emanating from the hot product. Over the last twenty-five years, concerns about the health effects of these exposures have prompted numerous studies of the airborne levels of asphalt fumes in the workplace. By and large, these studies have shown that PAC exposures are extremely low—often below the detection limits of standard analytical techniques. For the present study, we have used standard industrial hygiene methods, together with a newer, biologically based assay called the Nitration Assay to measure relative ambient levels of fumes and/or PACs in various paving workplace settings. The latter assay was also used to test bitumen fumes generated in the laboratory by a new “microfuming” technique and to determine specific activities of the 16 PAHs designated by the US EPA as priority pollutants. The Nitration Assay takes advantage of two properties of 3–7-ring PACs: the ease with which they can be chemically nitrated and the high mutagenic potency of the nitrated products in the Ames Salmonella mutagenicity assay. Measurements of fumes and nitratable PAC levels on seven different hot-mix paving jobs showed reasonable correlations between the various methods, as well as patterns of exposure consistent with proximity to fume source.     

A multidimensional scaling analysis of supervisory dimensions and their perceived relevance across trainee experience levels.

The Level of Supervision Scale (LSS; R. D. Miars et al, 1983) was administered to 69 supervisors with experience supervising 1st-semester practicum and intern-level trainees. The structure of their responses to 28 LSS items assessing perceptions of supervision as they varied across these 2 trainee experience levels was examined using 3-way multidimensional scaling. A 4-dimensional solution was yielded, which accounted for 63% of the variance. The 4-dimensions are (1) enhancing dynamic understanding, (2) didactic instruction, (3) counseling vs supportive supervisory functions, and (4) authoritative vs collaborative style. The study demonstrated clear differences in the salience of the dimensions across supervisors' perceptions of the 2 trainee experience groups. Supervisors perceived the enhancing dynamic understanding dimension as most important in their supervision of interns, whereas didactic instruction was most salient in perceptions of supervising beginning trainees. No differences were found across experience level for the other 2 dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Safety and immunogenicity of REMUNE in HIV-infected Thai subjects

The safety and immunogenicity of REMUNE, an HIV-specific immune based therapy for HIV infection, was evaluated in a cohort of 30 HIV infected subjects in Thailand. This therapy utilizes a gp120 depleted inactivated virus (HZ321), which exhibits a high degree of conservation with the core antigens of both type B' and E strains of HIV, the predominant Thailand isolates. The treatment was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported over the course of the 4-month trial. Treatment in which four doses were administered with REMUNE appeared to boost HIV-specific immune responses, with approximately 75% of the treated subjects demonstrating an increase in either the repertoire or the intensity of the serological response to HIV as measured by Western blot. CD4%, viral load, and weight remained stable over the course of the 4-month study relative to baseline values. Viral subtyping of this cohort revealed a predominance of type 'E'. These data suggest that REMUNE is safe and immunogenic in seropositive Thai subjects and supports further study of the therapeutic potential of REMUNE to treat HIV-1 infection.     

Disaggregating parental depression and family stress in assessing families of children with developmental disabilities: a multisample analysis

Thymic nurse cells are defined in vitro as multicellular complexes of epithelial cells and thymocytes. Although these structures have been implicated in the intrathymic differentiation of thymocytes, little is known about the biology of this cell complex and about the occurrence of the cells in the thymus in situ. Therefore, to clarify the matter, in this review we have presented characteristics of epithelial cells capable of forming complexes with thymocytes, in light of the literature data and the experience of the authors. The structure of cells within the complexes allowed us to distinguish three types of thymic nurse cells. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the thymus and observations employing TEM and SEM demonstrated the presence of distinct types of complexes in various topographic regions of the thymus. Where possible, the functional relevance of the morphological data was analyzed.