The use and perceptions of concept mapping as a learning tool by dietetic internship students and preceptors.

Critical thinking and problem solving skills are currently emphasis areas in the education of allied health professionals. Use of concept maps to teach these skills have been utilized primarily in nursing and medical education, but little has been published about their use in dietetics education. Therefore the purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential efficacy of concept mapping as a learning tool for nutrition assessment among dietetic interns and its acceptability by internship preceptors.

Black and white adult family members' attitudes toward a dementia diagnosis.

Objectives: To examine potential benefits of and barriers to diagnosis from the perspective of black and white adults directly affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: Telephone survey.

Setting: Convenience sample recruited from two U.

Predictors of physician referral for patient recruitment to Alzheimer disease clinical trials.

Background: Inadequate recruitment into Alzheimer disease clinical trials is an important threat to the validity and generalizability of the studies. The majority of dementia patients are first evaluated by community-based physicians; however, physician perceptions of clinical research are largely unknown.

Methods: A survey was distributed to 3123 physicians in 3 states; 370 were returned.

Racial differences in knowledge and beliefs about Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a growing public health problem that disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities, including African Americans. Given that the perceptions of illness can influence response to treatment options and coping with disease burden, we examined differences between African Americans and whites with regard to their attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about AD. A total of 301 participants (mean age = 57 y; 80% female; 47% African American) were surveyed by telephone, with overrepresentation of caregivers and first-degree relatives of people with AD (62% of sample).

Effects of a Telephone-Based Exercise Intervention for Dementia Caregiving Wives: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Despite the importance of self-care for dementia caregivers, few interventions have included a focus on health behaviors. The current study reports outcomes of a telephone-based exercise intervention designed for women caring for a spouse with dementia. Caregivers (N = 137) were randomized to intervention or control conditions.

Maltreatment following reunification: predictors of subsequent Child Protective Services contact after children return home.

Objectives: This study examined risk of maltreatment among children exiting foster care using a statewide sample of children reunified between 2001 and 2004 in Rhode Island. The objectives were: (1) to compare rates of maltreatment following parental reunification for youth in care as a result of maltreatment with those in care for other reasons; and (2) to assess the effects of child, family, and case characteristics on rates of re-maltreatment among children placed in foster care due to maltreatment.

Method: A longitudinal dataset of all reunified cases was matched with state records of substantiated Child Protective Service (CPS) investigations.

Health-related quality of life in bereaved HIV-positive adults: relationships between HIV symptoms, grief, social support, and Axis II indication.

Objective: This study evaluated a model of the impact of borderline and antisocial personality disorder indications on HIV symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in AIDS-bereaved adults, accounting for grief severity, social support, and years since HIV diagnosis.

Design: Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed model in a sample of 268 HIV-seropositive adults enrolled in an intervention for coping with AIDS-related bereavement.

Main Outcome Measures: Functional assessment of HIV infection, HIV symptoms.

Congenital molluscum contagiosum: report of four cases and review of the literature.

Molluscum contagiosum is a viral infection of the skin and mucous membranes that is caused by infection with the molluscum contagiosum virus. Molluscum contagiosum can be acquired from skin to skin contact which may be during play, in a swimming pool, or through sexual contact. Sexually acquired molluscum is rare in younger children, but becomes quite common during adolescence and young adulthood, after the sexual debut.

Nuclear survivin abrogates multiple cell cycle checkpoints and enhances viral oncolysis.

Survivin (BIRC5) promotes cell division and survival with roles as chromosomal passenger protein and inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP). It is overexpressed in many cancers and is associated with resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. Previously, we showed that expression of survivin within the nucleus of HeLa cells accelerates its degradation and blocks apoptosis inhibition without affecting localization during mitosis.

Demographic and clinical characteristics predictive of asthma diary use among women.

Background: Current asthma guidelines encourage the use of an asthma diary for patients whose symptoms are not under control, who are being introduced to new treatments, or who need help in identifying environmental or occupational exposures. Despite the potential benefit of diaries in asthma management, gaps in the understanding of their use exist. Our objective was to identify demographic and clinical characteristics predictive of diary use by women with asthma as women patients predominate in asthma among adults and have higher rates of associated asthma management problems.

Incidence and risk factors for verrucae in women.

Objectives: To describe the incidence and risk factors for verrucae in HIV-infected and uninfected women.

Design And Methods: A prospective study of 1790 HIV-infected and 772 uninfected women. Skin examinations and interviews were performed every 6 months over an 8-year study period.

Antecedents of Physical Activity Among Family Caregivers.

Objectives: We examined exercise behaviors among family caregivers and the degree to which aspects of the caregiving role influenced exercise behaviors. Understanding factors associated with caregiver physical activity provides practitioners the means to design and tailor interventions to be effective for caregivers.

Methods: Caregivers (N=208) participating in a self-care intervention to promote caregiving skills were surveyed at baseline, prior to training.

Theory of planned behavior and multivitamin supplement use in Caucasian college females.

The objective of this study was to identify predictors of the use of multivitamin supplements (MVS) among Caucasian college females utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Variables of the TPB and the self-reported use of multivitamin supplements were measured by two separate surveys within 1 week with a convenience sample of 96 Caucasian college student females. Two attitudinal beliefs and one control belief significantly predicted behavioral intention to use multivitamin.

Nuclear survivin has reduced stability and is not cytoprotective.

Survivin is an essential mitotic protein that is overexpressed in many cancers, and its presence is correlated with increased resistance to radiation and chemotherapy. Here we demonstrate that sending survivin into the nucleus accelerates its degradation in a cdh1-dependent manner, abolishes the radio resistance normally conferred to cells by its overexpression, and prevents survivin from inhibiting apoptosis without affecting its mitotic localization. Our data suggest that targeting survivin to the nucleus provides an efficient means of eliminating it from the cell and may prove a novel strategy in cancer treatment, particularly in combination with radiotherapy.

Poverty and food intake in rural America: diet quality is lower in food insecure adults in the Mississippi Delta.

Objective: To determine if measures of diet quality differ between food insecure and food secure adults in a rural high-risk population.

Design: Random digit dialing telephone survey of a cross-section of the population designed to collect data on food intake, household demographics, and food security status.

Setting: A representative sample of adults who live in 36 counties in the Lower Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The influence of personality disorder indication, social support, and grief on alcohol and cocaine use among HIV-positive adults coping with AIDS-related bereavement.

Substance use is prevalent among HIV-positive adults and linked to a number of adverse health consequences; however little is known about risk and protective factors that influence substance use among HIV-positive adults coping with AIDS-related bereavement. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), male gender, diagnostic indications of antisocial and borderline personality disorders (PD), and grief severity were tested as risk factors, and social support as a protective factor, for alcohol and cocaine use among a diverse sample of 268 HIV-positive adults enrolled in an intervention for AIDS-related bereavement. Results indicated that the hypothesized model fit the study data.

Public opinion about Alzheimer disease among blacks, hispanics, and whites: results from a national survey.

Recent research has documented notable differences in knowledge, awareness, and cultural beliefs about Alzheimer disease (AD) among groups defined by race and ethnicity. The present study was conducted to assess racial differences in knowledge and attitudes about AD among a national sample of adults. Data from 1,176 adults aged 35 years and over (48.

Impact of a positive youth development program in urban after-school settings on the prevention of adolescent substance use.

Purpose: Positive youth development (PYD) emphasizes a strengths-based approach to the promotion of positive outcomes for adolescents. After-school programs provide a unique opportunity to implement PYD approaches and to address adolescent risk factors for negative outcomes, such as unsupervised out-of-school time. This study examines the effectiveness of an after-school program delivered in urban settings on the prevention of adolescent substance use.

Clinical impact of, and prognostic stratification by, F-18 FDG PET/CT in head and neck mucosal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine prospectively the incremental value of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) over conventional assessment (clinical examination and CT/MRI imaging).

Methods: All patients undergoing (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT for primary head and neck mucosal squamous cell carcinoma between January 2002 and December 2003 (inclusive) were included in this study provided they had undergone contemporaneous conventional assessment of the head and neck region and had 12 months minimum follow-up.

Results: Seventy-six patients underwent 100 PET/CT scans.

Re-referral to child protective services: the influence of child, family, and case characteristics on risk status.

Introduction: This study examines child, family, and case characteristics that impact rates of re-referral to Child Protective Services (CPS) using data on all closed CPS investigations for the state of Rhode Island between 2001 and 2004.

Method: A longitudinal dataset of all referrals to CPS was created using state submissions to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). After excluding children whose initial CPS investigation resulted in removal from the home, a Cox proportional hazards model was tested to examine factors impacting the likelihood of re-referral.

The impact of parental alcohol or drug removals on foster care placement experiences: a matched comparison group study.

Research has established the coincidence of parental alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and child maltreatment, but few studies have examined the placement experiences and outcomes of children removed because of parental AOD use. The present study examines demographic characteristics and placement experiences of children removed from their homes because of parental AOD use (n = 1,333), first in comparison to the remaining sample of children in foster care (n = 4,554), then in comparison to a matched comparison group of children in foster care who were removed for other reasons (n = 1,333). Relative to the comparison sample, children removed for parental AOD use are less likely to experience co-occurring removal because of neglect and physical or sexual abuse and are more likely to be placed in relative foster care.

Food supply adequacy in the Lower Mississippi Delta.

Objective: To assess food supply adequacy within 3 food store types in the Lower Mississippi Delta.

Design: Regional food store survey to determine availability and quality of 102 food items in 62 supermarkets, 77 small/medium stores, and 86 convenience stores.

Setting: Lower Mississippi Delta region of the United States.

Tobacco-related disease mortality among men who switched from cigarettes to spit tobacco.

Background: Although several epidemiological studies have examined the mortality among users of spit tobacco, none have compared mortality of former cigarette smokers who substitute spit tobacco for cigarette smoking ("switchers") and smokers who quit using tobacco entirely.

Methods: A cohort of 116,395 men were identified as switchers (n = 4443) or cigarette smokers who quit using tobacco entirely (n = 111,952) when enrolled in the ongoing US American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II. From 1982 to 31 December 2002, 44 374 of these men died.

Fit for life steps: results of a community walking intervention in the rural Mississippi delta.

Background: A collaborative community--university--U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA)/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) partnership developed and implemented a 6-month walking intervention whereby volunteer coaches were trained to lead community walking groups in a rural Mississippi Delta Community.

Conducting needs assessment using the comprehensive participatory planning and evaluation model to develop nutrition and physical activity interventions in a rural community in the Mississippi delta.

Background: Members of a Lower Mississippi Delta community and university partners used the Comprehensive Participatory Planning and Evaluation (CPPE) model to assess nutrition and health problems and develop a menu of interventions.

Objectives: We sought to identify and prioritize nutrition and physical activity problems in the community and to identify interventions to address the problems.

Methods: Community members and university partners used the CPPE process to identify and prioritize nutrition and physical activity problems.