International migrations: A framework for directing research.

Current, large-scale, cross-cultural migrations offer promising research targets for the study of human adaptations. The opportunities for such research, however, remain substantially unused in the mainstream of psychology. The purpose here is to provide a framework encompassing components of the migration experience to aid such research. Contextual factors in the sending and receiving societies impinge on the components of the migration experience: social networks, SES, and culture. The components, treated as intertwining transitional experiences in migration, should be juxtaposed in research to examine their effects. Gender and age mediate the effects. The framework aims to benefit research that implicates, directly or heuristically, the experiences of persons exposed to rapid sociocultural change and the consequences of such changes in their lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

HDL3-mediated cholesterol efflux from cultured enterocytes: The role of apoproteins A-I and A-II

High density lipoproteins (HDL) were recently demonstrated in an enterocyte model (CaCo-2 cells) to mediate reverse cholesterol transport by retroendocytosis. The present study was carried out to define the role of the major HDL apoproteins (apo) A-I and apo A-II in this pathway. HDL₃ was fractionated by heparin affinity chromatography into the two main fractions containing either apo A-I only (fraction A) or both apo A-I and apo A-II (fraction B). In addition, liposomes were reconstituted from purified apo A-I or apo A-II and dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine. The cell binding properties and cholesterol efflux potential were studied in the lipoprotein fractions and the liposomes. Both fractions exhibited similar maximal binding capacities of 4427 (A) and 5041 (B) ng/mg cell protein, but their dissociation constants differed (40.5 and 167.7 μg/mL, respectively). Fraction A induced cholesterol efflux and stimulated cholesterol synthesis more than did fraction B. Fraction A mobilized both cellular free and esterified cholesterol, whereas fraction B preferentially mobilized cholesteryl esters. Liposomes, containing either apo A-I or apo A-II, showed specific binding, endocytosis and endosomal transport, and were released as intact particles. Apo A-I liposomes also mediated cholesterol efflux. In conclusion, there is evidence that the HDL₃ subfractions A and B, as well as reconstituted liposomes containing either apo A-I or apo A-II, were specifically bound and entered a retroendocytosis pathway which was directly linked to cholesterol efflux. Quantitatively, the apo A-I subfraction appeared to play the dominant role in normal enterocytes. The apo A-II content of fraction B was related to the mobilization of cholesteryl esters.     

Culturally sensitive psychotherapy for Puerto Rican children and adolescents: A program of treatment outcome research.

Recognition of cultural distance between Hispanic clients and non-Hispanic therapists has prompted efforts to introduce culture into therapy, but there is little evidence that such efforts influence treatment outcomes. This article evaluates treatment outcomes from a program of research on modeling therapy with Puerto Ricans, targeting anxiety symptoms, acting-out behavior, and self-concept problems. Evaluation of outcomes confirmed the impact of culturally sensitive modeling therapy on anxiety symptoms and other selected target behaviors, but negative treatment effects also were evident. Results suggest that new approaches to psychotherapy for special populations, such as Hispanic children and adolescents, should be buttressed by programmatic research oriented toward the comparative evaluation of treatment outcomes and should be attuned to therapeutic processes mediating between culture and outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential response of ducks and chicks to dietary sorghum tannins

White Pekin ducklings were reared in floor pens and given access to nipple-type waterers in order to eliminate a feeding behaviour previously observed in battery brooder-raised ducks in which sorghum tannins were possibly detoxicated by exposure of the ground grain to water. High-tannin sorghum (HTS)—soya bean meal and low-tannin sorghum (LTS)—soya bean meal diets, suboptimal in protein, with or without supplemental methionine, and either in dry mash or pellet form, were fed to both day-old ducks and chicks for either 14 or 17 days, respectively. The chicks were reared in battery brooders. In contrast to previous findings with ducks raised in battery brooders, HTS-fed ducks reared in floor pens exhibited reduced weight gain and feed efficiency values compared with LTS-fed ducks. However, the magnitude of the growth depression caused by feeding ducks HTS versus LTS was much less than that observed in chicks fed the identical diets (17 versus 33%, respectively). Methionine supplementation of the HTS diets completely overcame the reduced weight gain in ducks, but feed efficiency values were still significantly poorer than those of ducks fed methionine-supplemented LTS diets. In contrast, although HTS-fed chicks responded to dietary methionine supplementation, they still exhibited poorer weight gain and feed eficiency values compared with birds fed LTS diets similarly supplemneted. Increasing the dietary level of supplemental methionine did not result in any further improvement in performance of chicks fed either LTS- or HTS-based diets. It was concluded that, compared with chicken, ducks are less affected by dietary sorghum tannins.     

Hero/heroine modeling for Puerto Rican adolescents: A preventive mental health intervention.

Culturally sensitive treatments of the special mental health needs of high-risk Puerto Rican adolescents are lacking. The hero/heroine intervention was based on adult Puerto Rican role models to foster ethnic identity, self-concept, and adaptive coping behavior. 90 nonclinical Puerto Rican 8th and 9th graders were screened for presenting behavior problems in school and randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. After 19 sessions, the intervention significantly increased adolescents' ethnic identity and self-concept and reduced anxiety. Treatment outcomes varied as a function of grade level, sex, and household composition. Self-concept was negatively affected among girls from intact families. The study supports the effectiveness of the culturally sensitive modality as a preventive mental health intervention for high-risk Puerto Rican adolescents, especially from single-parent families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Insulin-like growth factor II blocks apoptosis of N-myc2-expressing woodchuck liver epithelial cells

N-myc2 and insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) are coordinately overexpressed in the great majority of altered hepatic foci, which are the earliest precancerous lesions observed in the liver of woodchuck hepatitis virus carrier woodchucks, and these genes continue to be overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). We have investigated the function of these genes in woodchuck hepatocarcinogenesis by using a woodchuck liver epithelial cell line (WC-3). WC-3 cells react positively with a monoclonal antibody (12.8.5) against woodchuck oval cells, suggesting a lineage relationship with oval cells. Overexpression of N-myc2 in three WC-3 cell lines caused their morphological transformation and increased their growth rate and saturation density in medium containing 10% serum. Removal of serum from the medium increased cell death of the N-myc2-expressing lines, whereas cell death in control lines was minimal. The death of N-myc2-expressing WC-3 cells was accompanied by nucleosomal fragmentation of cellular DNA, and DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining revealed condensation and fragmentation of the nuclei, suggesting that N-myc2-expressing WC-3 cells undergo apoptosis in the absence of serum. In colony regression assays, conducted in the absence of serum, control colonies were stable, while N-myc2-expressing colonies regressed to various degrees. Addition of recombinant human IGF-II to the serum-free medium blocked both cell death and colony regression in all the N-myc2-expressing lines. Therefore, coordinate overexpression of N-myc2 and IGF-II in woodchuck altered hepatic foci may allow cells which otherwise might die to survive and progress to hepatocellular carcinoma.     

Reply to "The empirical basis of ethnocultural and linguistic bias in mental health evaluations of Hispanics."

Replies to S. López (see record 1989-16799-001) on the present authors' (see record 1987-22971-001) article, and argues that both true and treated prevalence data are needed in studies on Hispanic mental health. Issues concerning test bias and language expression (i.e., Spanish or English) of mental health problems are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)