Norovirus Gastroenteritis in a Birth Cohort in Southern India.

Background: Noroviruses are an important cause of gastroenteritis but little is known about disease and re-infection rates in community settings in Asia.

Methods: Disease, re-infection rates, strain prevalence and genetic susceptibility to noroviruses were investigated in a birth cohort of 373 Indian children followed up for three years. Stool samples from 1856 diarrheal episodes and 147 vomiting only episodes were screened for norovirus by RT-PCR.

Rotavirus shedding in symptomatic and asymptomatic children using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR.

Reverse transcription-real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for the VP6 gene was used to study group A rotavirus shedding in children with symptomatic and asymptomatic rotavirus infection. Sequential stool samples (n = 345) from 10 children with rotavirus associated diarrhea and from five children (n = 161) with asymptomatic rotavirus infection were collected over a period of 2 months. A RT-qPCR assay on the samples using a rotavirus VP6 plasmid standard demonstrated high reproducibility, with an inter-assay coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.

Comparison of age-stratified seroprevalence of antibodies against norovirus GII in India and the United Kingdom.

Noroviruses are a common cause of gastroenteritis worldwide, but outbreaks appear to be more common in industrialized countries than in developing countries, possibly reflecting differences in exposure and immunity. In this study, age-stratified sera from India and UK populations were analysed for the presence of norovirus-genogroup II specific IgG by a time resolved immunofluorescence assay and relative levels of antibodies in the two populations were compared. Antibody levels were higher among all age groups in India than in UK and increased with age in India, whereas in the UK, levels of antibody decreased in adulthood.

Association of cotherapy supervision with client outcomes, attrition, and trainee effectiveness in a psychotherapy training clinic.

Objective: Cotherapy supervision has been hypothesized to enhance client outcomes and trainee effectiveness, but there is little empirical evidence relevant to either claim. This study tested both hypotheses, using data from the supervision of psychology doctoral students conducting cognitive behavioral therapy in a university-based clinic.

Method: Groups of clients treated by supervisor-trainee duos and groups of clients treated by solo trainees with varying exposure to cotherapy supervision were compared on changes in symptoms as measured with the Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) and on dropout rates.

Changes in causes of acute gastroenteritis in the United Kingdom over 15 years: microbiologic findings from 2 prospective, population-based studies of infectious intestinal disease.

Background: Large-scale, prospective studies of infectious intestinal disease (IID) in developed countries are uncommon. Two studies of IID incidence and etiology have been conducted in the United Kingdom: the Infectious Intestinal Disease Study in England (IID1) in 1993-1996 and the Second Study of Infectious Intestinal Disease in the Community (IID2) in 2008-2009. We examined changes in etiology and diagnostic yield of IID cases over 15 years.

Protective effect of natural rotavirus infection in an Indian birth cohort.

Background: More than 500,000 deaths are attributed to rotavirus gastroenteritis annually worldwide, with the highest mortality in India. Two successive, naturally occurring rotavirus infections have been shown to confer complete protection against moderate or severe gastroenteritis during subsequent infections in a birth cohort in Mexico. We studied the protective effect of rotavirus infection on subsequent infection and disease in a birth cohort in India (where the efficacy of oral vaccines in general has been lower than expected).

Body shape and size depictions of African American women in JET magazine, 1953-2006.

Depictions of Caucasian women in the mainstream media have become increasingly thinner in size and straighter in shape. These changes may be inconsistent with the growing influence of African American beauty ideals, which research has established as more accepting of larger body sizes and more curvaceous body types than Caucasians. The present study looked at trends in the portrayal of African American women featured in JET magazine from 1953 to 2006.

Methods for determining disease burden and calibrating national surveillance data in the United Kingdom: the second study of infectious intestinal disease in the community (IID2 study).

Background: Infectious intestinal disease (IID), usually presenting as diarrhoea and vomiting, is frequently preventable. Though often mild and self-limiting, its commonness makes IID an important public health problem. In the mid 1990s around 1 in 5 people in England suffered from IID a year, costing around pound0.

A preliminary investigation of the relationship between induced rumination and state body image dissatisfaction and anxiety.

The current study investigated the relationship between cognitive rumination and state body image distress using an experimental design. Specifically, the study examined whether participants induced to ruminate about an imagined negative body image event would report more body image dissatisfaction and anxiety compared to those induced to distract themselves. Ninety-nine undergraduate women completed two measures to assess depressive symptomology and baseline body image distress.

Mood, dietary restraint, and women's smoking and eating urges.

Women may have difficulty maintaining smoking cessation efforts due to negative affect and fear of weight gain. Dieting smokers who rely on cigarettes for affect regulation and weight management may be especially prone to weight gain and smoking relapse following initial smoking abstinence. The present study, which included 82 women smokers, assessed the relationship between dieting status, self-efficacy, and temptation to smoke and eat following a depressing or elating mood induction.

Whole genome characterization of reassortant G10P[11] strain (N155) from a neonate with symptomatic rotavirus infection: identification of genes of human and animal rotavirus origin.

Background: Rotavirus G10P[11] strains have long been associated with asymptomatic neonatal infections in some parts of India. We have previously reported G10P[11] strains associated with both asymptomatic infections and severe gastrointestinal disease in neonates from Vellore in southern India, with >90% partial nucleotide and amino acid identity to the VP4, VP6, VP7 and NSP4 genes of the exclusively asymptomatic G10P[11] strain I321.

Objectives: In this study, the whole genome of a G10P[11] isolate (N155) from a neonate with severe gastrointestinal disease was characterized to determine whether there were significant differences in its genetic makeup in comparison to G10P[11] strain I321 and to establish the origin of the G10P[11] strains in Vellore.

Complex messages regarding a thin ideal appearing in teenage girls' magazines from 1956 to 2005.

Seventeen and YM were assessed from 1956 through 2005 (n=312) to examine changes in the messages about thinness sent to teenage women. Trends were analyzed through an investigation of written, internal content focused on dieting, exercise, or both, while cover models were examined to explore fluctuations in body size. Pearson's Product correlations and weighted-least squares linear regression models were used to demonstrate changes over time.

Evidence of intrafamilial transmission of rotavirus in a birth cohort in South India.

Transmission of rotavirus infection was studied in a birth cohort of children based in an urban slum in Vellore and their familial contacts. Contemporaneous samples from index patients and their familial contacts were collected for analysis in three different settings. Firstly, samples were collected from familial contacts during a period of rotavirus infection in children from the cohort.

The differential depiction of female athletes in judged and non-judged sport magazines.

Sports magazines portrayal of female athletes over the past ten years, in terms of body size, age, and race was examined. Using the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS), estimated body size was obtained for cover models on a set of judged and non-judged sport magazines. The frequency with which the full bodies of models were depicted on the covers of these magazines was also investigated.

Cultural representations of thinness in women, redux: Playboy magazine's depiction of beauty from 1979 to 1999.

Playboy's portrayal of the male ideal of feminine beauty, in terms of overall body size, percent normative weight, and waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs), was analyzed for the years 1979-1999. Trends were examined through body measurements obtained from Playboy centerfolds. Results reveal a continuation of the low body mass index (BMI) found in the Playmates by earlier studies; however, for the 21 years examined, the trend towards increasing thinness seems to have stabilized and may have begun to actually reverse.

Molecular characterization of G11P[25] and G3P[3] human rotavirus strains associated with asymptomatic infection in South India.

Rotaviruses are the major etiological agents of diarrhea in children less than 5 years of age. Two unusual rotavirus strains not previously reported in India, G11P[25] (CRI 10795) and G3P[3] (CRI 33594) were isolated from faecal samples of asymptomatic children in India. The strains were characterized by sequence analysis of the genes encoding the VP7, VP4, VP6, and NSP4.

Modification of rotavirus multiplex RT-PCR for the detection of G12 strains based on characterization of emerging G12 rotavirus strains from South India.

Rotaviruses are the major etiological agents of diarrhea in children less than 5 years of age. The commonest G types in humans are G1-4 and G9. G12 is a rare human rotavirus (HRV) strain first reported in the Philippines.

Do men hold African-American and Caucasian women to different standards of beauty?

Racial differences in men's preferences for African-American and Caucasian women's body size and shape were examined. As expected, there was a trend for African-American men to choose ideal figures with a lower waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), which is associated with a more curvaceous figure. Contrary to expectations, however, African-American men did not choose heavier female figures as ideal.

Human caliciviruses in symptomatic and asymptomatic infections in children in Vellore, South India.

Pediatric gastroenteritis is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide, especially in developing countries. It has been increasingly recognised that human caliciviruses (HuCV), comprising noroviruses (NoV), and sapoviruses (SaV), are important in both outbreak and non-outbreak settings. This study aimed to characterise caliciviruses detected in the faeces of hospitalized children and children in the community in India.

Neonatal infection with G10P[11] rotavirus did not confer protection against subsequent rotavirus infection in a community cohort in Vellore, South India.

Background: Various observational studies have suggested that neonatal rotavirus infection confers protection against diarrhea due to subsequent rotavirus infection. We examined the incidence of rotavirus infection and diarrhea during the first 2 years of life among children infected with the G10P[11] rotavirus strain during the neonatal period and those not infected with rotavirus.

Methods: Children were recruited at birth and were followed up at least twice weekly.

Geographic information systems and genotyping in identification of rotavirus G12 infections in residents of an urban slum with subsequent detection in hospitalized children: emergence of G12 genotype in South India.

Rotavirus infections by G12 strains in several countries have recently been described. In this study, we report the emergence of G12 strains in south India. Fourteen cases of G12 infection were identified between June and September 2005.

Comparative study of the epidemiology of rotavirus in children from a community-based birth cohort and a hospital in South India.

Rotavirus gastroenteritis is the major cause of severe dehydrating diarrhea in children worldwide. This study compares rotavirus diarrhea in 351 children in a community-based cohort and 343 children admitted to a hospital during the same period. Clinical information and fecal specimens were obtained during diarrheal episodes.

Obstetrician-gynecologists' decision making about the diagnosis of major depressive disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is underdiagnosed and undertreated in ambulatory care settings including gynecologic practices. Far less is known about the diagnosis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). Three hundred and thirty-five gynecologists responded to mailed questionnaires that used descriptive scenarios as analogues to clinical cases.

No longer just a pretty face: fashion magazines' depictions of ideal female beauty from 1959 to 1999.

Objective: The print media's depiction of the ideal of feminine beauty as presented to American women was examined for the years 1959-1999.

Method: Trends were investigated through an analysis of cover models appearing on the four most popular American fashion magazines.

Results: Body size for fashion models decreased significantly during the 1980s and 1990s.

Ethnic differences in preferences for female weight and waist-to-hip ratio: a comparison of African-American and White American college and community samples.

This study examined both ethnic differences and differences between college and community samples in male preferences for ideal body size and shape in women. As expected, it was found that African-American men were more likely to choose heavier figures as ideal than White American men did. Contrary to expectations, there were no differences in chosen ideal weight between college and community subsamples.