Exploring youth and caregiver preferences for asthma education video content

Objective: This study examines (1) whether youth and their caregivers have different preferences for asthma education video topics and (2) if education topic preferences vary by youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: Youth (n?=?83) ages 7–17 years with persistent asthma and their caregivers were recruited at two pediatric practices in North Carolina. Sociodemographic information and youth and caregiver preferences for nine asthma video education topics were collected during in-person interviews. Bonferroni-corrected Chi-square or McNemar tests (α?=?0.0056) were used to compare youth and caregivers differences in topic preferences and topic preferences by youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, and age. Results: Youth were primarily male (52%) and from low-income families (74%; caregiver annual income less than $30 000) and many were Hispanic (45%). Youth and parents expressed the most interest in the following two topics: “how to deal with triggers” (90% and 95%, respectively) and “how to keep asthma under control” (87% and 96%, respectively). Caregivers and children were discordant for two topics: “the difference between a rescue and controller medicine” and “how to [help your child] talk to your [his/her] friends about asthma.” No differences were found between youth and caregiver sociodemographic characteristics and video topic preferences. Conclusions: Youth with persistent asthma and their caregivers differed in their asthma education topic preferences, but preferences did not vary by caregiver or youth sociodemographic characteristics. Studies examining the effectiveness of interventions tailored to differences in educational preferences of youth with asthma and their caregivers are needed.     

The Positively Aging teaching materials improve middle school students' images of older people

PURPOSE: The Positively Aging program is an innovative set of interdisciplinary teaching materials that uses examples from geriatrics and gerontology to teach sixth through eighth grade curricular elements. The purpose of this study was to determine if use of the Positively Aging teaching materials by regular classroom teachers could change middle school students' images of elders. DESIGN AND METHODS: At the beginning of the 1998-1999 school year, students at two San Antonio, Texas, middle schools were asked to draw a typical older person. These drawings were coded as positive, neutral, or negative portrayals of elders. One school then used the Positively Aging materials as part of the curriculum; the other school served as the control. Second drawings were obtained from the students at the end of the school year and compared to those from baseline. RESULTS: Both drawings were completed by 60% of students at the intervention school and 55% of students at the control school. Of the 782 paired drawings from the intervention school, 34% were more positive at Time 2 compared to 25% of 591 paired drawings from the control school (chi2 = 13.9, p < .001). In addition, only 20% of the second drawings from the intervention school were more negative than the first drawing compared to 27% from the control school (chi2 = 11.3, p < .001). Using a generalized logit model, we adjusted for each student's baseline drawing (positive-neutral-negative), grade level, gender, ethnic group, and socioeconomic status. After adjustment, students in the intervention school were more likely to draw positive (odds ratio [OR] 1.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.13, 1.94) or positive and neutral images (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.21, 2.19) at follow-up compared to the control school. IMPLICATIONS: This controlled study demonstrated that use of the Positively Aging teaching materials and activities moved middle school students toward a more positive view of elders. Interdisciplinary teaching materials based on geriatrics and gerontology can be successfully developed and tested in public school systems to affect attitudes about aging.     

Negative affect and smoking motives sequentially mediate the effect of panic attacks on tobacco-relevant processes

Introduction: Empirical work has documented a robust and consistent relation between panic attacks and smoking behavior. Theoretical models posit smokers with panic attacks may rely on smoking to help them manage chronically elevated negative affect due to uncomfortable bodily states, which may explain higher levels of nicotine dependence and quit problems. Methods: The current study examined the effects of panic attack history on nicotine dependence, perceived barriers for quitting, smoking inflexibility when emotionally distressed, and expired carbon monoxide among 461 treatment-seeking smokers. A multiple mediator path model was evaluated to examine the indirect effects of negative affect and negative affect reduction motives as mediators of the panic attack-smoking relations. Results: Panic attack history was indirectly related to greater levels of nicotine dependence (b?=?0.039, CI_95%?=?0.008, 0.097), perceived barriers to smoking cessation (b?=?0.195, CI_95%?=?0.043, 0.479), smoking inflexibility/avoidance when emotionally distressed (b?=?0.188, CI_95%?=?0.041, 0.445), and higher levels of expired carbon monoxide (b?=?0.071, CI_95%?=?0.010, 0.230) through the sequential effects of negative affect and negative affect smoking motives. Conclusions: The present results provide empirical support for the sequential mediating role of negative affect and smoking motives for negative affect reduction in the relation between panic attacks and a variety of smoking variables in treatment-seeking smokers. These mediating variables are likely important processes to address in smoking cessation treatment, especially in panic-vulnerable smokers.     

A peptide mimetic of calcium.

Proteins of the troponin superfamily use homologous amino acid sequences as binding sites for Ca2+ and seem to have evolved from an ancestral Ca2+ binding site. We have utilized this ancestral sequence to construct a peptide (Ca(2+)-like peptide) with inverted hydropathy to the calcium-coordinating region of this protein. This synthetic peptide acted like Ca2+ in that (i) it increased the calmodulin-dependent hydrolysis of cAMP by phosphodiesterase, (ii) it interacted with EDTA, and (iii) it enhanced contraction of urinary bladder smooth muscle in vitro. Unlike Ca2+, the peptide's effects were destroyed by acid hydrolysis. These findings demonstrate the synthesis of a peptide that can substitute for Ca2+ and may have considerable utility for the study of Ca(2+)-regulated pathways and possible therapeutic value as a pharmacologic agent.     

Cloning and direct sequencing from lambda cDNA libraries using the polymerase chain reaction: suppressin and the vasopressin receptor as models.

A strategy using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to screen a lambda gt11 pituitary cDNA library for cDNAs encoding suppressin, a putative anti-proliferative protein, and a putative vasopressin receptor is described. The use of this technique will facilitate the demonstration of e.g. the presence of "neuropeptide receptors" on cells of the lymphoid system, confirming the concept of "shared ligands and receptors" by the neuroendocrine and the immune system. Neither of the genes encoding the proteins of the present study have previously been cloned. The PCR-screening procedure requires sequence information from the gene of interest which permits the generation of complementary primers. These primers are then used in combination with lambda phage primers complementary to regions flanking the cloning site in a PCR to amplify cDNAs derived from the gene of interest. This novel screening procedure yields cDNA related to the gene of interest, including the largest clone present in the library. To confirm the utility of this technique for cDNA libraries, the library was also screened using traditional cDNA hybridization techniques. The largest clone obtained by screening the cDNA library with PCR was the same as that obtained by the conventional technique. Thus, the results of these studies show that the PCR method can be used instead of more conventional means to screen cDNA libraries. Lastly, we describe a protocol for directly sequencing PCR-amplified DNA using the same primers that are used for amplification. The combined use of these two strategies permits cloning and sequencing of cDNAs from lambda cDNA libraries in a fraction of the time required using traditional screening techniques, but with identical results.     

Structural polymorphism of glycophorins demonstrated by immunoblotting techniques

We have explored the polymorphism of the glycophorin system in the human erythrocyte membrane using the immunoblotting techniques and examining 52 individuals selected without prior bias as to their serologic state and ten documented serologic variants of M, N, S, s blood group system. Polyclonal antisera to alpha glycophorin and to alpha glycophorin CNBr carboxyl terminal fragment C (residues 82-131) and M and N specific monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were used. The first two reagents detect specific regions of the alpha glycophorin molecule and all electrophoretically resolved species of glycophorins immunologically related to alpha and delta glycophorins (delta glycophorin, [alpha-delta] hybrids and other glycophorins with an alteration in the carboxyl terminal segment); the M and N MoAbs identified the glycophorin species containing or lacking the M or N determinant in the amino terminal octapeptide structures. We find that immunoblotting confirmed in all cases the serologically determined phenotype; we also find that polymorphic forms of the glycophorin system are relatively infrequent; immunoblotting, independent from serologic testing, was capable of detecting five mutants, two most likely S-s-U-phenotypes; a new glycophorin species was detected in normal red cells with both antiglycophorin and antipeptide C sera, which is not evident with MoAbs; immunoblots of known glycophorin variants (En(a-), U-, Mg, Mi I, II, III, V, and Sta) confirmed but also extended our knowledge of the abnormal glycophorins involved; and the He+ and Wrb(-) cells showed normal patterns.