Registered Nurses'' Willingness to Serve Populations on the Periphery of Society

PURPOSE: To (a) determine the relative combined contributions of age, highest level of education, gender, and nursing certification on registered nurses' values, and (b) to identify the relative combined contributions of age, highest level of education, gender, nursing certification, and values on registered nurses' willingness to serve underserved and disenfranchised populations. DESIGN: Survey. METHODS: Web-based anonymous survey containing the AACN Values QuestionnaireNurse, the Willingness to Serve the Underserved and Disenfranchised Scale, and a demographic questionnaire were used to assess the meaning that participants attach to seven values; the willingness of participants to care for members of diverse groups; and participant demographic information. Data analysis was accomplished using regression analyses with a convenience sample of 128. FINDINGS: Age and highest level of education showed significant combined contributions to the values scores; however, these variables, including values, were not significant in predicting nurses' willingness to serve underserved and disenfranchised populations. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic characteristics (age and level of education) showed limited influence on values, but no variables included in this study were significantly associated with registered nurses' willingness to serve populations on the periphery of society.     

农田灭鼠对害鼠群落结构的影响

目的：探明灭鼠对害鼠群落结构的影响，为鼠害预测和防制提供依据。方法：1987—2000年，每年春、秋季使用第一代慢性灭鼠剂进行大面积全方位农田灭鼠，每次灭鼠实行饱和投饵；逢双月用夹夜法调查害鼠的种类、数量和生物量。结果：灭鼠导致板齿鼠的比率、生物量显著上升，黄毛鼠的比率和生物量明显下降，农田鼠类群落结构和害鼠群落多样性指数发生变化。结论：灭鼠会使耐药力较强、体大竞争力强的害鼠数量上升，防制的主要对象增加。     

Antibodies of HIV-1 positive subjects and experimentally immunized primates and rodents bind to sequence divergent regions of the third variable domain (V3) of gp120.

Several motifs have been found to be the target of the neutralizing antibody response to HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. One of the well characterized motifs maps to a loop within the third hypervariable region (V3) of the exterior envelope glycoprotein gp120 at amino acid positions 308-331 and is referred to as the principal neutralizing determinant (PND). The sequence of this V3 loop raises the question of the immunogenicity and the degree of diversity of the antibody response to the PND. We show here that this neutralization-related motif is highly immunogenic in HIV-positive subjects and in experimentally immunized primates and rodents submitted to various anti-HIV immunization regimens. In probing the diversity of the antibody response to PNDs corresponding to 11 HIV sequence-divergent isolates in serum samples of 101 HIV-positive individuals we found that human antibodies exhibit binding affinity to up to nine PND synthetic peptides. This antibody binding was in all cases tested inhibitable by the homologous PND synthetic peptide. We additionally demonstrate that this antibody cross-reactivity towards sequence-divergent PNDs is detectable in the sera of mice and chimpanzees experimentally immunized against a single HIV-1 isolate. Finally, we noticed that there is a hierarchy of reactivity among the various PNDs wherein the synthetic peptide corresponding to the MN isolate was generally the most prominently recognized by antibodies of human, non-human primate, and rodent origins. Based on these findings and on features of the sequences analyzed we suggest that, despite its overall sequence variability, the PND encompasses conserved amino acid positions or epitopes that are the targets of antibodies recognizing sequence-divergent isolates. We also propose that the high positive charge density of the most frequently recognized PNDs and the high antigenicity value of some of their residues are critical to the broad immunoreactivity of this neutralization-related motif.     

The impact of refugee resettlement on Southeast Asian adolescents and young adults: implications for occupational therapists

After the change of governments in Vietnam and Cambodia and amidst turmoil in the mid 1970s, many Southeast Asians, fearing reprisals, emigrated from these countries. Among them were children, many of whom were separated from their families prior to, or during, their escape. Many of them have been reset-tled in the Western countries from the refugee camps, and now are adolescents or are entering into young adulthood. With memories of the war and the stress of separation from family and adaptation to different cultures, psychosocial problems are common in this population. Occupational therapy can help these clients by providing opportunities to: (1) practise appropriate human occupations and establish more satisfying relationships; (2) facilitate release and sublimation of emotional drives; (3) enhance smooth transition and adaptation to the new environment; and (4) assist in the adoption of appropriate occupational roles. General principles are proposed for developing occupational therapy services that are appropriate and culturally relevant to the needs of this client group. Occupational therapists can play an important role in assisting the clients in resettlement, pursuing better quality of life and being a contributing member of the society. Copyright © 1997 Whurr Publishers Ltd.     

Virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome in previously healthy adults

Abstract: The clinical characteristics of 15 adult patients with virus-associated haemophagocytic syndrome (VAHS) were studied. The patients were 3 males and 12 females with a mean age of 39.5 years (range 20 to 67 years). Seven patients (mean age 48.6 years) were immunosuppressed by drugs or as a result of having malignant or autoimmune disease. Eight patients (mean age 31.6 years) had no underlying diseases. The prognosis of the patients with immunosuppression was poor, as previously reported, and 3 of them died. In younger adult patients with this syndrome who had no underlying immunosuppressive diseases, the prognosis was good even without therapy. The sera from the patients in both groups contained extremely high levels of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and slightly elevated levels of tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). These findings suggested that VAHS, can occur in presumably healthy adults and that VAHS can be a more benign condition than previously believed. M-CSF and TNF-α may play an important role in the development of the syndrome in both groups.     

Synthetic combinatorial libraries: Views on techniques and their application

Summary This paper reviews synthetic combinatorial libraries. Particular emphasis is placed on one-bead-one-compound libraries, although issues relating to all synthetic techniques are touched upon. The discussion is focused on questions relating to synthetic diversity, drug discovery assays and structure determination techniques.     

Early Childhood Education Reinvention and Education Policy: Addressing Linguistic and Cultural Diversity

“Americanization” has been a goal of many programs for culturally and linguistically diverse students in America. This approach has not been successful. In its place is a need for forms of education that are directly relevant to the needs of culturally diverse children. While multicultural education is a necessary part of the early childhood curriculum, there is a need to go beyond muticultaralism, developing forms of education that allow all children to participate in “meaning making”.     

中国六个群体Y染色体单核苷酸多态位点的遗传多态性研究

目的　分析中国 6个代表性群体中 Y染色体非重组区 15个单核苷酸多态位点 (single nu-cleotide polymorphism,SNP)的遗传多态性。方法　采用特异性等位基因聚合酶链反应 (allelic specificPCR,ASPCR)扩增技术和琼脂糖凝胶电泳、聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳检测方法 ,对来自中国南方、东北、西北 3个地区的福建汉族、四川汉族、蒙古族、赫哲族、锡伯族、回族 6个代表性群体 343份男性健康无血缘关系血样本的遗传多态性进行分析。结果　共定义出 30种 Y染色体单体群 ,其中 H15、H16、H18是所有 6个群体中共享的单体群。虽然赫哲族、蒙古族、锡伯族之间以及福建汉族、四川汉族、回族之间遗传异质性水平相似 ,但单体群的配对差异是显著的。遗传分子变异分析和单体群分布的主成分分析结果显示 ,赫哲族、蒙古族、锡伯族以及福建汉族、四川汉族、回族两大组群体之间等位基因多样性显著不同。结论　东北 /南方群体之间的遗传差异明显强于东北 /西北和南方 /西北 ,中国 6个群体呈现东北 /西北 /南方的地域性遗传关系。研究结果进一步证实了现代中国人群体遗传结构的复杂性 ,所积累的遗传数据对于构建现代人类基因库以及精确追溯中国人群的历史迁移足迹都具有重要意义。     

Allele polymorphism and haplotype diversity of MICA/B in Tujia nationality of Zhangjiajie,Hunan Province,China

Previous studies indicate the distribution of major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related genes A (MICA) and B (MICB) alleles and haplotypes varies widely between different ethnic populations and geographic areas. It is meaningful to investigate allelic frequencies and establish a genetic database. In this study, we firstly reported the polymorphic variation of MICA/B in 187 healthy, unrelated Tujia individuals in Zhangjiajie region, China. Using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific priming (PCR-SSP) and sequencing-based typing (PCR-SBT), we identified eight MICA-sequence alleles, four MICA-short tandem repeat variants, and 13 MICB variants, of which MICA¹008:04 (29.41%), MICA¹A5 (29.68%), MICA¹A5.1 (29.68%) and MICB¹005:02 (39.57%) were the most frequent. Linkage disequilibrium analysis further revealed MICB¹005:02-MICA¹019 (13.10%) and MICB¹002-MICA¹008:04 (9.89%) as the most common two-locus haplotypes. Data comparison by neighbor-joining dendrograms and principal component analysis to verify allelic frequencies in other Chinese and Asia ethnic groups showed that the Zhangjiajie Tujias were genetically closer to the Guangdong Han population, based on MICA loci variability. Our results provide new information about the MICA/B gene polymorphism in Chinese Tujia population, which will form the basis for future studies on the potential role of MICA/B in allogeneic organ transplantation and disease susceptibility in related ethnic groups.