Peer to peer sexual harassment in early adolescence: a developmental perspective

The goal of this study was to examine sexual harassment in early adolescence. Available data indicate that peer to peer sexual harassment is prevalent in high school and is associated with psychosocial problems for both victims and perpetrators. For the present study, we adopted a developmental contextual model to examine the possibility that this behavior develops during the late elementary and middle school years and is linked to the biological and social changes that occur at this time. Youths from Grades 6-8 (N = 1,213) enrolled in seven elementary and middle schools in a large south-central Canadian city were asked to report on their sexual harassment behaviors with same- and cross-gender peers; their pubertal development, and the gender composition of their peer network. The results revealed that cross-gender harassment was distinct from same-gender harassment, increased in frequency from Grade 6 to Grade 8, and was linked to pubertal maturation and participation in mixed-gender peer groups. The implications of a developmental contextual model for understanding the emergence of this problematic behavior in adolescence are discussed.     

A community-based approach to sexual assault

The community-based Athens-Clarke County Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (ACC-SANE) program was developed to respond to the needs of sexual assault victims. Although this type of SANE model allows for a strong nurse-managed program, there are frustrations and pitfalls that differ from most hospital-based programs. At this time, the majority (71%) of SANE programs are based in hospitals, and few (15%) function in outpatient/community facilities. In the ACC-SANE program, many community agencies interact to provide a seamless approach to postassault health care, counseling, and criminal prosecution. SANE nurses are well equipped to provide forensic examinations in a caring, out-of-hospital environment. The program is housed in a remodeled cottage that rests on property owned by the Athens-Clarke County government and that is adjacent to the local police department. ACC-SANE is governed by a nonprofit board of directors. This management model has allowed the original organizing groups to remain active in the development of the program. As these agencies continue in the governance of the program, they remain committed to the success of ACC-SANE. The impact of program growth and published program guidelines is examined.     

Can we talk? Developing a social support nursing intervention for couples

Social support is an important influence on success during lifestyle modification attempts. According to the theory of expressed emotion, support that is perceived by the recipient as critical or overprotective is unhelpful and perhaps harmful. This article describes an intervention for couples and preliminary assessment of its feasibility and acceptability by the nurses who trialed it. Four staff nurses and 2 advanced practice nurses administered the intervention to 15 couples and reported on the benefits and limitations of the intervention. One individual in each couple had a chronic or an acute cardiac illness. The nurses perceived the intervention as valuable; even a single session stimulated discussion between the couple about important issues. Complexity, logistic barriers, and time constraints limited the technique. The authors conclude that this intervention may be most useful to clinical nurse specialists who have additional education, training in communication, and teaching and consulting skills.     

Teaching on the front lines: using the Internet and problem-based learning to enhance classroom teaching

Working on the front lines in health care at the bedsides, in the primary and specialty care offices and in the community with patients; and in health care education, teaching graduate and undergraduate students, is more challenging today than ever before. Shifts in reimbursement from fee for service to a managed care model, increasingly informed consumers, and increasingly complex health problems create a tension that often leaves the advanced practice nurse (APN) managing conflicting human and business interests. Nurse educators must prepare providers to function in that world. Using Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to provide APN students with experiences that will supply them with rehearsal will better prepare them to function in today's primary care environment. Providing PBL using the Internet is the next logical step and may insure that this type of experience is more widely available to students.     

Measurement of endotoxin activity in critically ill patients using whole blood neutrophil dependent chemiluminescence

Background  

Lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin) from the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria is a potent trigger for the release of host-derived inflammatory mediators. The relationship between endotoxaemia, Gram-negative infection and the clinical syndrome of sepsis has been difficult to establish, in part because of the limitations of available endotoxin assays.     

Inhibition of interleukin-1 but not tumor necrosis factor suppresses neovascularization in rat models of corneal angiogenesis and adjuvant arthritis

OBJECTIVE: To assess the capacities of the cytokine inhibitors interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra; anakinra) and PEGylated soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor I (PEG sTNFRI; pegsunercept) to suppress neovascularization. METHODS: A corneal angiogenesis assay was performed by implanting nylon discs impregnated with an angiogenic stimulator (basic fibroblast growth factor or vascular endothelial growth factor) into one cornea of female Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were treated with IL-1Ra or PEG sTNFRI for 7 days, after which new vessels were quantified. In a parallel study, male Lewis rats with mycobacteria-induced adjuvant-induced arthritis were treated with IL-1Ra or PEG sTNFRI for 7 days beginning at disease onset, after which scores for inflammation and bone erosion as well as capillary counts were acquired from sections of arthritic hind paws. RESULTS: Treatment with IL-1Ra yielded a dose-dependent reduction in growth factor-induced corneal angiogenesis, while PEG sTNFRI did not. IL-1Ra, but not PEG sTNFRI, significantly reduced the number of capillaries in arthritic paws, even though both anticytokines reduced inflammation and bone erosion to a similar degree. CONCLUSION: These data support a major role for IL-1, but not TNFalpha, in angiogenesis and suggest that an additional antiarthritic mechanism afforded by IL-1 inhibitors, but not anti-TNF agents, is the suppression of the angiogenic component of pannus.     

Nigrostriatal lesion and dopamine agonists affect firing patterns of rodent entopeduncular nucleus neurons

Altered activity of the entopeduncular nucleus, the rodent homologue of the globus pallidus internal segment in primates, is thought to mediate behavioral consequences of midbrain dopamine depletion in rodents. Few studies, however, have examined dopaminergic modulation of spiking activity in this nucleus. This study characterizes changes in entopeduncular neuronal activity after nigrostriatal dopaminergic lesion and the effects of systemic treatment with selective D(1) (SKF 38393) and D(2) (quinpirole) agonists in lesioned rats. Extracellular single-unit recordings were performed in awake immobilized rats, either in neurologically intact animals (n = 42) or in animals that had received unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine infusion into the medial forebrain bundle several weeks previously (n = 35). Nigrostriatal lesion altered baseline activity of entopeduncular neurons in several ways. Interspike interval distributions had significantly decreased modes and significantly increased coefficient of variation, skewness and kurtosis; yet interspike interval mean (the inverse of firing rate) was not affected. Also, spectral analysis of autocorrelograms indicated that lesion significantly reduced the incidence of regular-spiking neurons and increased the incidence of neurons with 4-18 Hz oscillations. Dopamine agonist treatment reversed some lesion-induced effects: quinpirole reversed changes in interspike interval distribution mode and coefficient of variation, while combined quinpirole and SKF 38393 blocked the appearance of 4-18 Hz oscillations. However, no agonist treatment normalized all aspects of entopeduncular activity. Additionally, inhibition of firing rates by D(1) or combined D(1)/D(2) receptor activation indicated that dopamine agonists affected the overall level of entopeduncular activity in a manner similar to that found in the substantia nigra pars reticulata and globus pallidus internal segment after dopamine neuron lesion. These data demonstrate that lesion of the nigrostriatal tract leads to modifications of several aspects of firing pattern in the rodent entopeduncular nucleus and so expand on similar findings in the rodent substantia nigra pars reticulata and in the globus pallidus internal segment in humans and nonhuman primates. The results support the view that dysfunction in the basal ganglia after midbrain dopamine neuron loss relates more consistently to abnormal activity patterns than to net changes in firing rate in the basal ganglia output nuclei, while overall decreases in firing rate in these structures may play a more important role in adverse motor reactions to dopamine agonist treatments.