Positive Development and Changes in Self-Rated Health Among Young Sexual Minority Males: The P18 Cohort Study.

We seek to move beyond a deficits-based approach, which has dominated our understanding of health and wellbeing in in young sexual minority males (YSMM), by examining how indicators of positive development are associated with development of positive self-rated health in YSMM. Using data from a prospective cohort study of YSMM (n = 514; 18-22 years old; 36.9% Hispanic/Latino, 15.6% non-Hispanic Black, 30.2% White, 16.9% other/multi-racial), we examined how three measures of positive development-the Life Orientation Test, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Social Responsibility Scale (SRS) were associated with self-rated health (SRH), a valid and reliable measure of self-assessed general health status. Findings suggest that YSMM who self-identified as homosexual reported higher SRH while those who reported higher levels of substance use and mental health burdens reported lower SRH. Second, in linear growth models controlling for mental health burdens and substance use, higher scores on all measures of positive development were associated with higher ratings of SRH over time. In conclusion, the presence of positive development characteristics, specifically generalized optimism, life satisfaction and social responsibility, may buffer against negative SRH assessments. Health promotion programs focusing on positive development may more effectively promote health and well-being among YSMM.

Emergence and virulence of encephalitogenic arboviruses.

Each arbovirus that causes encephalitis is geographically restricted by the availability of appropriate vectors and reservoir hosts. These viruses evolve regionally by recombination, reassortment and point mutation and can "emerge" as causes of human encephalitis through extension to new geographic regions or by selection of more virulent or more efficiently transmitted virus variants. The properties of arboviruses that result in encephalitis involve efficient replication in peripheral tissues after initiation of infection, production of a viremia, entry into the central nervous system and efficient replication in neurons with spread to additional populations of neurons. Many of these steps are determined by properties of the envelope glycoproteins responsible for cellular attachment, but changes in noncoding regions of the genome, as well as in other structural and nonstructural proteins, also contribute to neurovirulence.

Toxoplasma gondii: molecular cloning and characterization of a novel 18-kDa secretory antigen, TgMIC10.

Hoff, E. F., Cook, S. H., Sherman, G. D., Harper, J. M., Ferguson, D. J. P., Dubremetz, J. F., and Carruthers, V. B. 2001. Toxoplasma gondii: Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel 18-kDa secretory antigen, TgMIC10. Experimental Parasitology, 97, 77-88. During host cell invasion, Toxoplasma gondii secretes proteins from specialized organelles (micronemes and rhoptries) located at the apical end of the parasite. The contents of the micronemes appear to be crucial to T. gondii invasion, as inhibition of microneme secretion prevents parasite entry into host cells. Here we describe a new T. gondii microneme protein, TgMIC10. Molecular characterization of a full-length TgMIC10 cDNA revealed that TgMIC10 lacks homology to any previously characterized proteins, although a homologue, NcMIC10, was identified in a closely related parasite, Neospora caninum. TgMIC10 has an unusually long secretory leader sequence of 58 amino acids; the mature TgMIC10 is 18 kDa, possesses nine diglutamic acid repeats and an imperfect repeat sequence (RK(R/Y)HEEL), and is entirely devoid of cysteines. Antibodies raised against recombinant TgMIC10 recognized the native TgMIC10 and localized the protein to the micronemes in indirect immunofluorescence and immunoEM experiments. Comparison of immunofluorescence images indicates that TgMIC10 expression is higher in T. gondii tachyzoites, which are responsible for active infection, than in bradyzoites, which are responsible for latent infection.

The self in self-awareness.

The concepts of 'self' and 'person' are central to educational and therapeutic endeavours. This paper examines the emergence of 'self-awareness' as an explicit concern in the education of preregistration nurses. In particular, it questions the claims that specific experiential learning strategies are the most appropriate for promoting self-awareness in students, and that these strategies produce greater understanding of theory in students and give greater depth of meaning to theory for students. It argues that the long and complex history associated with the concepts of self, self-awareness and 'person' makes the unproblematic stance adopted towards them in the nursing literature untenable, and calls for a more rigorous and critical appraisal of experiential learning strategies commonly used to promote self-awareness.

Teaching group dynamics: a critical evaluation of an experiential programme.

Nursing interventions based on a group approach have increased considerably in recent years. Although more common in mental health settings, group interventions are no longer exclusive to them. In this paper the authors argue that groups are now such a common feature of the experiences of all nurses that it is essential that educational programmes for nurses provide them with an opportunity to become acquainted with the ever-widening body of theory related to this subject. They identify the dissatisfaction and problems generated by the existing strategy for introducing pre-registration students to group dynamics in their college. A new course intended to address this dissatisfaction is described, including an outline of the principles which underpinned its design, and an evaluation of its implementation.

Mind the theory/practice gap in nursing.

The theory/practice gap is a recurrent theme in the nursing literature. Numerous suggestions have been made about how this gap may be narrowed or even closed. However, there appears to have been little attempt to date to examine the ways in which research conducted into the hidden curriculum, and philosophical analysis of the concepts involved, might inform our understanding of the reasons for the existence of the theory/practice gap. This paper attempts to utilize some of the contributions from these areas of research, and as a result will argue that, while narrowing of the theory/practice gap may be a realistic goal, any attempt to close it completely will be doomed to failure.

Intralesional infusion of lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells and recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2) for the treatment of patients with malignant brain tumor.

Twenty patients with supratentorial, intracerebral lesions defined by computed tomographic scan or magnetic resonance imaging were treated by surgery and adoptive immunotherapy with lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells and recombinant Interleukin-2 (rIL-2, Cetus). Seventeen patients had glioblastoma, two had high-grade oligodendroglioma, and one patient had two metastatic sarcoma lesions. LAK cells were produced from blood mononuclear cells (MNC) obtained by 2 to 3 leukapheresis procedures and cultured (2.5 x 10(6) MNC/ml) 3 to 5 days with 1000 units rIL-2/ml. Although LAK cells could be produced from MNC of all patients, those taking steroids or with a low Karnofsky functional status generated, on average, suboptimal LAK cell activity. Age, sex, and serum anticonvulsant levels do not seem to influence a patient's ability to produce LAK cells in vitro. For therapy, cultured MNC (1-15 x 10(9] containing LAK cells were suspended in saline containing 10(6) units rIL-2 and injected into tissue surrounding the tumor cavity during craniotomy. For 3 days after their operations, patients received 10(6) units rIL-2 into the tumor cavity through an Ommaya reservoir. The treatment protocol was tolerated well by all patients, although they all experienced some degree of headache, fever, or lethargy that cleared within a few days of the last rIL-2 injection. When computed tomographic (CT) scans were obtained soon after treatment, areas of low density suggested a greater-than-normal extent of edema around the operative site. At the present time, CT scans indicate that the tumors of seven patients have recurred with an average disease-free interval of 25 +/- 6 weeks.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Host factors in Coxsackievirus B4-induced pancreopathy.

The diabetogenic potential of the human isolate, Coxsackievirus B4 (CB4) (Edwards) was studied in three inbred mice strains, SWR/J, DBA/2, and C57BL/6. The mice were infected with this agent and evaluated for mortality, pancreatic histopathology, and glucose tolerance. Results showed that the mortality induced by CB4 in these inbred strains differed considerably. There was no evidence of a correlation between virus-induced mortality and virus-induced pancreopathy. Although CB4 (Edwards) was most lethal to C57BL/6 mice, based on the infecting 50 per cent lethal dose (LD50), this mouse strain developed no pancreatic pathology. The most severe pancreopathy, i.e., acinar necrosis with acute interstitial inflammation and islet atrophy, was observed in SWR/J mice, which had an intermediate susceptibility to virus-induced mortality. DBA/2 mice, which displayed the lowest susceptibility to virus-induced lethality, showed less pancreatic pathology (i.e., acute and chronic interstitial inflammation) than SWR/J mice. IN SWR/J mice, virus-mediated alteration in glucose homeostasis was expressed by an increase in glucose tolerance 7 and 21 days after infection. In contrast, C57BL/6 mice showed a tendency toward chemical diabetes at 21 days postinfection. This study suggests that CB4-induced mortality and pancreatic pathology are independent parameters and do not necessarily determine the glucose tolerance of a given host genotype.