Evaluation of the SPARK Child Mentoring Program: A Social and Emotional Learning Curriculum for Elementary School Students

Journal of Prevention - Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programs seek to enhance social and emotional competencies in children, including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness,...     

Human-Type Blood Factors in Gibbons, with Special Reference to the Multiplicity of Serological Specificities of Human Type M Blood

The human-type blood groups of 20 gibbons of subspecies Hylobates lar lar and of four gibbons of subspecies Hylobates lar pileatus have been determined. Differences in distribution of the ABO blood groups and MN types were observed for the two subspecies, but all 24 gibbons were of Rh-Hr type Rh^Gi. All the animals also lack both factors I and i. By absorption experiments anti-M reagents were shown to contain antibodies of at least three distinct M specificities; one M specificity is shared by all gibbon red cells, a second is absent from all gibbon red cells, while a third is shared only by gibbons red cells of type (M)^Gi and type (MN)^Gi. The theoretical and practical significance of the multiplicity of M factors in human M blood are pointed out.     

Training the future psychiatrist in mental retardation

Summary The psychiatric aspects of mental retardation, and their potential value in the training of future psychiatrists, have been neglected. The authors review factors which suggest that the psychiatric trainee can richly profit from guided experiences in mental retardation, as part of the basic curriculum.The symptomatic nature of mental retardation presents some of the most complex and challenging problems in medicine, unique opportunities for collaborative efforts with a wide variety of medical and paramedical diagnostic and treatment specialists, and a good general introduction to comprehensive treatment planning for handicapped individuals who are mentally and/or physically chronically ill. Since the majority of mentally retarded children or adults who will be seen by a psychiatrist are also emotionally and multiply handicapped, the psychiatrist must be broadly skilled and prepared to orchestrate the multiple treatment needs which are so commonly necessary. The present accent in the field of mental retardation is on the dynamic rather than the static aspects of this area.Our psychiatric residency training programs, by embracing these current dynamic aspects of mental retardation, can enhance comprehensive training experiences for our future colleagues.From the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Nebraska Psychiatric Institute, Omaha, Nebraska. This study was supported by Public Health Service Research Grant HD-00370 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Project 405 from the Children's Bureau.     

β2-Adrenergic receptor polymorphism and nitric oxide-dependent forearm blood flow responses to isoproterenol in humans

Polymorphisms in the gene encoding the β₂-adrenoceptor have been associated with interindividual differences in blood pressure and the diagnosis of hypertension. A common polymorphism resulting in a change from arginine to glycine at amino acid 16 (Arg16 → Gly) enhances agonist-promoted downregulation of receptor expression in vitro . It is unknown whether genotype-dependent differences in nitric oxide generation contribute to differences in vasodilator responses to β₂-agonists in vivo . To address this question, venous occlusion plethysmography was used to measure forearm blood flow responses to graded brachial artery infusions of the β-agonist isoproterenol in 41 healthy normotensive Caucasian adults (mean age (± s.d .) = 29 ± 6 years), who were either Arg16  ( n = 18)  or Gly16  ( n = 23)  homozygotes. Compared to Arg16 homozygotes, Gly16 homozygotes demonstrated significantly greater blood flow responses to isoproterenol ( P = 0.02). After inhibition of nitric oxide synthase by N ^γ-monomethyl- l -arginine, blood flow responses did not differ significantly between genotype groups ( P = 0.27). Consequently, effects of the Arg16 → Gly polymorphism on forearm blood flow responses to isoproterenol appear to be dependent on differences in endothelial generation of nitric oxide. In contrast to previous reports based on systemic infusions of β₂-agonists, our findings indicate that regional blood flow responses to locally infused isoproterenol are significantly greater in Gly16 than in Arg16 homozygotes.     

Human leukocyte response to an endurance race

Summary The response of circulating leukocytes (WBC's) with regard to changes in number, proportion of neutrophils versus lymphocytes and changes in lymphocyte function as well as proportions of T and B cells was studied in eleven men who ran a 20-mile race. A marked leukocytosis was noted 10–15 min after the race with the predominant increase being polymorphonuclear leukocytes (P<0.001). A significant rise in mean serum cortisol levels was also noted (P<0.001) which correlated with both the increase in total WBC's (P< 0.001) and granulocytes (P<0.001), but not lymphocytes. The increase in serum cortisol was inversely correlated with miles of prior training (P<0.001). An increase in lymphocytes from 1767±112/mm³ to 2431±202/mm³ was less than that previously described in short-term exercise. As with short-term exercise the most significant increase in lymphocytes was in B lymphocytes bearing surface immunoglobulin (P<0.0025). However, in contrast to short-term exercise lymphocytes maintained good in vitro response to the mitogen phytohemagglutinin.This study demonstrates that endurance racing produces a more marked granulocytosis and less lymphocytosis than short bouts of exercise. It is suggested that the degree of leukocytosis is stress dependent in that it was positively correlated with serum cortisol and inversely correlated with prior training.Supported in part by a joint fellowship from the National and Wisconsin Kidney Foundations     

Screening for Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Illinois

Objective: To determine the incidence of infection with Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a tertiary referral center in Chicago, where a similar study had been performed in 1984, to evaluate cases of disease reported to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) in 1993, and to determine laboratory practices used to detect this infection throughout the state.
Methods: During a 6-month period in 1993, all stool specimens at Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center (RPSLMC) were tested for E. coli O157:H7. Reports of diagnosed E. coli O157:H7 cases investigated by IDPH were also reviewed. A survey of 73 hospitals in the Chicago area was performed to determine routine culturing practices, specifically, the selection of stool specimens for evaluation for this pathogen.
Results: In the RPSLMC survey, two cases were identified among 1985 samples (incidence 0.1%), similar to the 0.08% incidence detected in a similar study conducted at the same institution in 1984. Through passive surveillance, the IDPH received 44 reports of E. coli O157:H7 in 1993. The hospital survey revealed that, in the seven labs testing all stool specimens for E. coli O157:H7, an incidence of 16/8137 specimens (0.2%) was determined.
Conclusions: These data suggest that sporadic E. coli O157:H7 remains uncommon in Illinois and that the incidence may not have changed over a 9-year period. The low yield and substantial cost of culturing all stools suggest that only specimens from patients with bloody diarrhea should be evaluated routinely in areas of low endemicity.     

Stress resistance as a determinate of C. elegans lifespan

It is difficult to exaggerate the progress that has been made in biogerontology over the last 15 years. As with all scientific revolutions, a few experiments in a small number of laboratories have changed the way in which we think about and design experiments. As a result of these experiments, there is much evidence to suggest that a rudimentary understanding of some of the processes that cause aging will be available in the next decade. One particular area of progress is the molecular genetics of lifespan. Although one may draw some distinctions between chronological lifespan and normal aging, extended lifespan remains one of the best indicators that an intervention in an aging process has been made. The isolation of a long-lived variant of a laboratory invertebrate is now essentially a trivial project but the information obtained from this approach is proving invaluable. As with most other biological problems, the most important experimental developments are coming from studying simple organisms in a reductionist fashion.     

Impaired Induction of the Apoptosis-Protective Protein Bcl-xL in Activated PBMC from Asymptomatic HIV-Infected Individuals

Progression to AIDS in asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals is characterized by a gradual but progressive loss of CD4⁺ T cells. While the mechanisms underlying this decline are currently unknown, recent evidence suggests that these cells are abnormally sensitive to apoptosis in response to activation signals. Recent work has implicated downregulation of Bcl-2 with the increased spontaneous apoptosis in lymphocytes from HIV-infected patients. We have evaluated the roles of the apoptosis-protective proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-x in stimulated PBMC from asymptomatic HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals. We found that Bcl-2 was constitutively expressed in PBMC from both HIV-infected and uninfected samples. However, Bcl-x induction was delayed and responses were decreased in stimulated HIV-infected samples. Additionally, single-cell intracellular staining of Bcl-x revealed a significant inverse correlation between PWM-induced Bcl-x expression and apoptosis (r = –0.695, P = 0.005). This was confirmed at the single-cell level in direct experiments when stimulated cells were sorted based on Bcl-x induction and then measured for apoptosis. Furthermore, low Bcl-x expression was not due to reduced lymphocyte activation following PWM stimulation. Our data indicate that the induction of Bcl-x is markedly impaired in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients and that stimuli which induce inadequate expression of Bcl-x are associated with increased levels of apoptosis in these cells.