How does participation of youth with spina bifida vary by age?

Background: Youth with disabilities are at risk for decreased participation in community activities. However, little is known about participation at different developmental periods of childhood and adolescence among youth with spina bifida (SB) or whether child, family, and SB-associated factors influence participation.

Questions/purposes: Our cross-sectional study examined participation among youth with SB and assessed how participation differs between youth ages 2-5, 6-12, and 13-18; how participation relates to child (gender) and family (caregiver marital status, education, and employment) characteristics; and how participation relates to SB-related factors (motor level, hydrocephalus, ambulation, medical issues, and bladder/bowel needs).

Impact of the human circadian system, exercise, and their interaction on cardiovascular function.

The risk of adverse cardiovascular events peaks in the morning (≈9:00 AM) with a secondary peak in the evening (≈8:00 PM) and a trough at night. This pattern is generally believed to be caused by the day/night distribution of behavioral triggers, but it is unknown whether the endogenous circadian system contributes to these daily fluctuations. Thus, we tested the hypotheses that the circadian system modulates autonomic, hemodynamic, and hemostatic risk markers at rest, and that behavioral stressors have different effects when they occur at different internal circadian phases.

Changes in arterial distensibility and flow-mediated dilation after acute resistance vs. aerobic exercise.

Previous research has shown significantly lower arterial distensibility (AD) after resistance exercise (RE) yet higher AD after aerobic exercise (AE). These changes may be related to exercise-induced differences in vasodilatory capacity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the vasodilatory and AD responses to acute AE and RE.

Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

We show that the oil sands industry releases the 13 elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) under the US Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act, via air and water, to the Athabasca River and its watershed. In the 2008 snowpack, all PPE except selenium were greater near oil sands developments than at more remote sites. Bitumen upgraders and local oil sands development were sources of airborne emissions.

GENDERED CHALLENGE, GENDERED RESPONSE: Confronting the Ideal Worker Norm in a White-Collar Organization.

This article integrates research on gendered organizations and the work-family interface to investigate an innovative workplace initiative, the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), implemented in the corporate headquarters of Best Buy, Inc. While flexible work policies common in other organizations "accommodate" individuals, this initiative attempts a broader and deeper critique of the organizational culture. We address two research questions: How does this initiative attempt to change the masculinized ideal worker norm? And what do women's and men's responses reveal about the persistent ways that gender structures work and family life? Data demonstrate the ideal worker norm is pervasive and powerful, even as employees begin critically examining expectations regarding work time that have historically privileged men.

Diagnosis and treatment of postpartum bipolar depression.

The postpartum period is a time of increased risk of new-onset psychiatric illness, hospital admissions and out-patient psychiatric care for new mothers. Research into postpartum mood disorders has focused primarily on major depressive disorder, and has overlooked the study of bipolar disorder, particularly bipolar II disorder and bipolar disorder not otherwise specified. Failure to properly diagnose postpartum bipolar disorder may delay the initiation of appropriate treatment, lead to inappropriate treatment - thereby precipitating (hypo)mania, rapid cycling or a mixed episode - or result in polypharmacy and treatment refractoriness.

Effects of olanzapine and risperidone on lipid metabolism in chronic schizophrenic patients with long-term antipsychotic treatment: a randomized five month study.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome and elevated lipids, related to cardiovascular risk factors, are more prevalent in schizophrenia and there has been much debate about the extent to which specific antipsychotics contribute more to the increased risk of developing hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Most studies have concentrated on fasting levels in patients recently started on medication. Randomized prospective studies of metabolic effects of 2nd generation antipsychotics using both fasting measures and provocative tests may provide results that are more informative.

Health-related quality of life after pediatric spinal cord injury.

Objective: To describe health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among youth with spinal cord injury (SCI), examine agreement between child and caregiver report HRQOL, investigate relationships between HRQOL and demographic, injury and psychological variables.

Methods: Caregivers and youth with SCI completed a pediatric HRQOL measure and mental health measures; injury information was gathered from medical records.

Results: One hundred and ninety-seven youth with SCI and their caregivers participated.

Calcium-activated pathways and oxidative burst mediate zymosan-induced signaling and IL-10 production in human macrophages.

Outside of the TLR paradigm, there is little understanding of how pathogen recognition at the cell surface is linked to functional responses in cells of the innate immune system. Recent work in this area demonstrates that the yeast particle zymosan, by binding to the beta-glucan receptor Dectin-1, activates an ITAM-Syk-dependent pathway in dendritic cells, which is required for optimal cytokine production and generation of an oxidative burst. It remains unclear how activation of Syk is coupled to effector mechanisms.

Girls with spinal cord injury: social and job-related participation and psychosocial outcomes.

Objective: To examine social and job-related participation among girls with spinal cord injury (SCI) and relationships between participation, depression, and quality of life.

Participants And Setting: This sample included 97 girls (aged 7-17 years) who had sustained SCI at least 1 year prior to interview, and who were receiving care at three pediatric SCI centers within a single hospital system.

Measures: Participants completed the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment, Children's Depression Inventory, and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.

Assessing patterns of participation and enjoyment in children with spinal cord injury.

Aim: To determine patterns of participation and levels of enjoyment in young people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and to assess how informal and formal participation varies across child, injury-related, household, and community variables.

Method: One hundred and ninety-four participants (106 males, 88 females; mean age 13y 2mo, SD 3y 8mo, range 6-18y) with SCI and their primary caregivers completed a demographics questionnaire and a standardized measure of participation (the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment, [CAPE]) at three pediatric SCI centers in a single hospital system in the United States. Their mean age at injury was 7 years 2 months (SD 5y 8mo, range 0-17y); 71% had paraplegia, and 58% had complete injuries.

Oil sands development contributes polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

For over a decade, the contribution of oil sands mining and processing to the pollution of the Athabasca River has been controversial. We show that the oil sands development is a greater source of contamination than previously realized. In 2008, within 50 km of oil sands upgrading facilities, the loading to the snowpack of airborne particulates was 11,400 T over 4 months and included 391 kg of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC), equivalent to 600 T of bitumen, while 168 kg of dissolved PAC was also deposited.

Methamphetamine use, dependence and treatment access in rural and regional North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Introduction And Aims: To identify the sociodemographic, health, drug use patterns, treatment coverage and barriers to treatment among regular methamphetamine users in rural and regional North Coast of New South Wales.

Design And Methods: A structured questionnaire was used to measure sociodemographic factors, health and well-being, drug use patterns, methamphetamine dependence, engagement in methamphetamine treatment and barriers to treatment. Participants were 140 regular methamphetamine users.

Effects of olanzapine and risperidone on glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in chronic schizophrenic patients with long-term antipsychotic treatment: a randomized 5-month study.

Background: Comparisons of diabetic potential, glucose related metabolic levels, and insulin resistance between olanzapine and risperidone have produced variable results in cross-sectional and epidemiologic studies. Randomized prospective studies of metabolic effects during treatment with these drugs may provide results that are more informative.

Method: Hospitalized patients with chronic schizophrenia (DSM-IV), most of whom had been treated with multiple antipsychotics in the past, were randomly assigned to treatment with a single antipsychotic, olanzapine or risperidone, for a period of 5 months.

"Fit" inside the Work-Family Black Box: An Ecology of the Life Course, Cycles of Control Reframing.

Scholars have not fully theorized the multifaceted, interdependent dimensions within the work-family "black box." Taking an ecology of the life course approach, we theorize common work-family and adequacy constructs as capturing different components of employees' cognitive appraisals of fit between their demands and resources at the interface between home and work. Employees' appraisals of their work-family linkages and of their relative resource adequacy are not made independently but, rather, co-occur as identifiable constellations of fit.

Work, family and life-course fit: Does control over work time matter?

This study moves from "work-family" to a multi-dimensional "life-course fit" construct (employees' cognitive assessments of resources, resource deficits, and resource demands), using a combined work-family, demands-control and ecology of the life course framing. It examined (1) impacts of job and home ecological systems on fit dimensions, and (2) whether control over work time predicted and mediated life-course fit outcomes. Using cluster analysis of survey data on a sample of 917 white-collar employees from Best Buy headquarters, we identified four job ecologies (corresponding to the job demands-job control model) and five home ecologies (theorizing an analogous home demands-home control model).

Anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with spinal cord injuries.

Aim To determine the levels of anxiety and depression in young people with spinal cord injuries (SCI) and their associated factors and outcomes. Method Children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years at interview who had sustained SCI at least 1 year before the study were assessed using the Children's Depression Inventory, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory, the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment, and a demographic questionnaire designed for the study. Results The 118 participants (61 males, 57 females) had a mean age of 12 years 4 months, SD 3 y 1 mo, range 7-17 y.

Resonant and notch behavior in intracranial pressure dynamics.

Object: The intracranial pulse pressure is often increased when neuropathology is present, particularly in cases of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) such as occurs in hydrocephalus. This pulse pressure is assumed to originate from arterial blood pressure oscillations entering the cranium; the fact that there is a coupling between the arterial blood pressure and the ICP is undisputed. In this study, the nature of this coupling and how it changes under conditions of increased ICP are investigated.

Mercury in the Mackenzie River delta and estuary: concentrations and fluxes during open-water conditions.

Estimates of mercury (Hg) loadings to the Arctic Ocean from circumpolar rivers have not considered biogeochemical changes that occur when river water is temporarily stored in large deltas (delta effect). There are also few data describing Hg changes across the freshwater-saltwater transition zone (FSTZ) of these rivers. We assessed temporal changes in unfiltered total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations during open-water 2004 in the Mackenzie River upstream of the Mackenzie River delta, and in 6 floodplain lakes across an elevation gradient.

Perceptions of medical malpractice and medical malpractice reform among first- and fourth-year medical students.

Objectives: Comparison of first- and fourth-year medical student perceptions of the U.S. medical malpractice system and their disposition toward reform, and examination of the relationship between school year and other potential correlates of these perceptions.

Impaired physical health among methamphetamine users in comparison with the general population: the role of methamphetamine dependence and opioid use.

Aim: To examine the extent of physical health impairment among a community sample of methamphetamine users in comparison with the general population, and factors associated with impairment among this group.

Method: A cross-sectional survey of 309 regular methamphetamine users from Sydney. The Physical Component Scale of the Short Form 12 (SF-12) was used to measure impairment in physical health (score < 40).

Intracranial pressure waves: characterization of a pulsation absorber with notch filter properties using systems analysis: laboratory investigation.

Object: The relationship between the waveform of intracranial pressure (ICP) and arterial blood pressure can be quantitatively characterized using a newly developed technique in systems analysis, the time-varying transfer function. This technique considers the arterial blood pressure as an input signal composed of multiple frequencies represented in the output ICP according to the transfer function imposed by the intracranial system on the input signal. The transfer function can change with time and with physiological manipulations.

Compliance in Rhode Island emergency departments with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for adolescent sexual assaults.

Objectives: We assessed the offering of American Academy of Pediatrics-recommended tests and prophylaxes after sexual assault to adolescents who presented to Rhode Island emergency departments for 3 categories of sexual exposures: sexual assault, consensual sex, and suspected sexual abuse.

Patients And Methods: This study entailed a retrospective review of visits for adolescent sexual exposures across 11 Rhode Island emergency departments between January 1995 and June 2001. Cases were identified through billing codes.