Anxiety symptoms in African-American and Caucasian youth: relations to negative life events, social support, and coping.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relations among negative life events, social support, coping and anxiety symptoms in 709 Caucasian and African-American youth between 11 and 14 years of age. Results indicated that more negative life events, less social support, more coping efforts, and African-American status were related to more anxiety symptoms. Additionally, although active coping moderated the relationship between negative life events and anxiety, these relations were qualified in separate analyses for the African-American and Caucasian youth.

Direct effects of HIV-1 Tat on excitability and survival of primary dorsal root ganglion neurons: possible contribution to HIV-1-associated pain.

The vast majority of people living with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) have pain syndrome, which has a significant impact on their quality of life. The underlying causes of HIV-1-associated pain are not likely attributable to direct viral infection of the nervous system due to the lack of evidence of neuronal infection by HIV-1. However, HIV-1 proteins are possibly involved as they have been implicated in neuronal damage and death.

Merkel cell polyomavirus-specific CD8⁺ and CD4⁺ T-cell responses identified in Merkel cell carcinomas and blood.

Purpose: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is prevalent in the general population, integrates into most Merkel cell carcinomas (MCC), and encodes oncoproteins required for MCC tumor growth. We sought to characterize T-cell responses directed against viral proteins that drive this cancer as a step toward immunotherapy.

Experimental Design: Intracellular cytokine cytometry, IFN-γ enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay, and a novel HLA-A*2402-restricted MCPyV tetramer were used to identify and characterize T-cell responses against MCPyV oncoproteins in tumors and blood of MCC patients and control subjects.

Identification and validation of a novel mature microRNA encoded by the Merkel cell polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinomas.

Background: Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is present in approximately 80% of human Merkel cell carcinomas (MCCs). A previous in silico prediction suggested MCPyV encodes a microRNA (miRNA) that may regulate cellular and viral genes.

Objectives: To determine the presence and prevalence of a putative MCPyV-encoded miRNA in human MCC tumors.

One-month-old human infants learn about the social world while they sleep.

Although infants display preferences for social stimuli early in their lives, we know relatively little about the mechanisms of infant learning about the social world. In the current set of studies, 1-month-old infants underwent an adapted eyeblink conditioning paradigm to examine learning to both 'social' and non-social cues. While infants were asleep, they were presented with either a 'social' stimulus (a female voice) or one of two non-social stimuli (tone or backward voice) followed by an airpuff presented to the eyelid.

Neurocognitive impact of substance use in HIV infection.

Background: : To determine how serious a confound substance use (SU) might be in studies on HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), we examined the relationship of SU history to neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in participants enrolled in the Central Nervous System HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research study.

Methods: : After excluding cases with behavioral evidence of acute intoxication and histories of factors that independently could account for NCI (eg, stroke), baseline demographic, medical, SU, and neurocognitive data were analyzed from 399 participants. Potential SU risk for NCI was determined by the following criteria: lifetime SU Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition diagnosis, self-report of marked lifetime SU, or positive urine toxicology.

Selecting a clinical intervention documentation system for an academic setting.

Pharmacists' clinical interventions have been the subject of a substantial body of literature that focuses on the process and outcomes of establishing an intervention documentation program within the acute care setting. Few reports describe intervention documentation as a component of doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs; none describe the process of selecting an intervention documentation application to support the complete array of pharmacy practice and experiential sites. The process that a school of pharmacy followed to select and implement a school-wide intervention system to document the clinical and financial impact of an experiential program is described.

Prognostic significance of mitotic rate in localized primary cutaneous melanoma: an analysis of patients in the multi-institutional American Joint Committee on Cancer melanoma staging database.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the independent prognostic value of primary tumor mitotic rate compared with other clinical and pathologic features of stages I and II melanoma.

Methods: From the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) melanoma staging database, information was extracted for 13,296 patients with stages I and II disease who had mitotic rate data available.

Results: Survival times declined as mitotic rate increased.

Transcriptome-wide studies of merkel cell carcinoma and validation of intratumoral CD8+ lymphocyte invasion as an independent predictor of survival.

Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a polyomavirus-associated skin cancer that is frequently lethal and lacks established prognostic biomarkers. This study sought to identify biomarkers that improve prognostic accuracy and provide insight into MCC biology.

Patients And Methods: Gene expression profiles of 35 MCC tumors were clustered based on prognosis.

Planning: fixed-foreperiod event-related potentials during the Tower of London task.

Slow wave ERPs were recorded from 28 young adults as they generated plans for various difficulty levels of a fixed-foreperiod version of the Tower of London task. The resulting waveform included three segments: (1) a left-lateralized negative early-interval wave, which was frontally maximal but not sensitive to difficulty, (2) a right-lateralized frontally maximal mid-interval wave, which was more positive for more difficult problems, and (3) a left lateralized centrally maximal negative-ramping contingent negative variation (CNV) late wave, which was more negative for more difficult problems. The current study adds to the current literature in that it finds that the frontal and central neural utilization with difficulty changes across plan generation.

A new American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: creation and rationale for inclusion of tumor (T) characteristics.

Background: The incidence of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is increasing. Although most patients achieve complete remission with surgical treatment, those with advanced disease have a poor prognosis. The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) is responsible for the staging criteria for all cancers.

Diversity Summit 2008: challenges in the recruitment and retention of ethnic minorities in neuropsychology.

The 2008 Diversity Summit recognized the many advantages of increasing the number of neuropsychologists from ethnically diverse backgrounds. The Summit addressed the aspiration of creating a more ethnically diverse body of neuropsychologists by increasing the recruitment of ethnic minority students to neuropsychology training programs. Challenges to successful recruitment and retention of ethnic minority students were discussion points at the Summit.

Pathologic nodal evaluation improves prognostic accuracy in Merkel cell carcinoma: analysis of 5823 cases as the basis of the first consensus staging system.

Background: The management of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) has been complicated by a lack of detailed prognostic data and by the presence of conflicting staging systems.

Objective: We sought to determine the prognostic significance of tumor size, clinical versus pathologic nodal evaluation, and extent of disease at presentation and thereby derive the first consensus staging/prognostic system for MCC.

Methods: A total of 5823 prospectively enrolled MCC cases from the National Cancer Data Base had follow-up data (median 64 months) and were used for prognostic analyses.

Status of diabetes care among community pharmacy patients with diabetes: analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Objective: To determine the status of diabetes care among community pharmacy patients with diabetes.

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: United States, 2005.

Newborn infants learn during sleep.

Newborn infants must rapidly adjust their physiology and behavior to the specific demands of the novel postnatal environment. This adaptation depends, at least in part, on the infant's ability to learn from experiences. We report here that infants exhibit learning even while asleep.

Increasing culturally competent neuropsychological services for ethnic minority populations: a call to action.

US demographic and sociopolitical shifts have resulted in a rapidly growing need for culturally competent neuropsychological services. However, clinical neuropsychology as a field has not kept pace with the needs of ethnic minority clients. In this discussion we review: historical precedents and the limits of universalism in neuropsychology; ethical/professional guidelines pertinent to neuropsychological practice with ethnic minority clients; critical cultural considerations in neuropsychology; current disparities germane to practice; and challenges to the provision of services to racial/ethnic minority clients.

Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors among 2,313 patients with stage III melanoma: comparison of nodal micrometastases versus macrometastases.

Purpose: To determine the survival rates and independent predictors of survival using a contemporary international cohort of patients with stage III melanoma.

Patients And Methods: Complete clinicopathologic and follow-up data were available for 2,313 patients with stage III disease in an updated and expanded American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) melanoma staging database. Kaplan-Meier and Cox multivariate survival analyses were performed.

Deconstructing the tower: parameters and predictors of problem difficulty on the Tower of London task.

The Tower of London (TOL) task has been widely used in both clinical and research realms. In the current study, 104 healthy participants attempted all possible moderate- to high-difficulty TOL problems in order to determine: (1) optimal measures of problem solving performance, (2) problem characteristics, other than the minimum moves necessary to solve the problem, that determine participants' difficulty in solving problems successfully, quickly, and efficiently, and (3) effects of increased task experience on which problem characteristics determine problem difficulty. A factor analysis of six performance measures found that, regardless of task experience, problem difficulty could be captured well either by a single factor corresponding to general quality of solution or possibly by three subordinate factors corresponding to solution efficiency, solution speed, and initial planning speed.

Timing effects of syllable structure and stress on nasals: a real-time MRI examination.

The coordination of velum and oral gestures for English [n] is studied using real-time MRI movies to reconstruct vocal tract aperture functions. This technique allows for the examination of parts of the vocal tract otherwise inaccessible to dynamic imaging or movement tracking. The present experiment considers syllable onset, coda, and juncture geminate nasals and also addresses the effects of a variety of word stress patterns on segment internal coordination.

Preoperative and intraoperative sonographic visibility of collagen-based breast biopsy marker clips.

Rationale And Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the sonographic visibility of implanted collagen-based breast biopsy marker clips in the clinic and operating room.

Materials And Methods: Female patients aged > or =18 years who presented for preoperative surgical evaluation within 4 weeks of ultrasound-guided breast biopsy and collagen-based marker clip placement were eligible for this pilot study. The sonographic visibility of the marker clips was rated from 1 (not visible) to 5 (clearly visible) by surgeons at the preoperative appointment, by radiologists at wire localization, and by surgeons in the operating room.

An articulatory view of Kinyarwanda coronal harmony.

Coronal harmony in Kinyarwanda causes alveolar fricatives to become postalveolar preceding a postalveolar fricative within a stem. Alveolar and postalveolar stops, affricates and palatals block coronal harmony, but the flap and non-coronal consonants are reported to be transparent. Kinematic data on consonant production in Kinyarwanda were collected using electromagnetic articulography.

A high-affinity inhibitor of human CD59 enhances complement-mediated virolysis of HIV-1: implications for treatment of HIV-1/AIDS.

Many pathogenic enveloped viruses, including HIV-1, escape complement-mediated virolysis by incorporating host cell regulators of complement activation into their own viral envelope. The presence of complement regulators including CD59 on the external surface of the viral envelope confers resistance to complement-mediated virolysis, which may explain why human pathogenic viruses such as HIV-1 are not neutralized by complement in human fluids, even in the presence of high Ab titers against the viral surface proteins. In this study, we report the development of a recombinant form of the fourth domain of the bacterial toxin intermedilysin (the recombinant domain 4 of intermedilysin [rILYd4]), a 114 aa protein that inhibits human CD59 function with high affinity and specificity.