Family correlates of daughter's and son's locus of control expectancies during childhood

Children who expect they can bring about good outcomes and avoid bad outcomes tend to experience more personal successes. Little is known about factors that contribute to these ‘control expectancies’. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether children's internal control expectancies occur in the context of parents’ internal control expectancies, low family strain, and high family cohesiveness and whether these factors are more strongly related to daughters’ than sons’ control expectancies. A community sample of 85 children aged 9–11 years and their parents (85 mothers; 63 fathers) completed rating scales. Fathers’ more internal control expectancies and mothers’ reports of fewer family strains were associated with daughters’ but not sons’ greater internal control expectancies, and greater family cohesiveness was related to both daughters’ and sons’ internal control orientations. These findings suggest that family factors may contribute to children's, particularly daughters’, development of internal control expectancies.     

Improved Diagnostic Sensitivity of Bowel Disease of Prematurity on Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound

Bowel diseases of prematurity, including necrotizing enterocolitis, are dreaded ailments of neonates. Early diagnosis is difficult, with clinical and radiographic findings often inconclusive. We present a novel use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in detection of pediatric bowel disease. Early identification of compromised blood flow or an at-risk bowel can be quantitatively detected and monitored. This ability has implications for guidance of emerging therapies, allowing targeting of inflammation. These findings represent an advancement in detection of bowel disease in neonates.     

Application of the adverse outcome pathway framework to genotoxic modes of action

In May 2017, the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute's Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee hosted a workshop to discuss whether mode of action (MOA) investigation is enhanced through the application of the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) framework. As AOPs are a relatively new approach in genetic toxicology, this report describes how AOPs could be harnessed to advance MOA analysis of genotoxicity pathways using five example case studies. Each of these genetic toxicology AOPs proposed for further development includes the relevant molecular initiating events, key events, and adverse outcomes (AOs), identification and/or further development of the appropriate assays to link an agent to these events, and discussion regarding the biological plausibility of the proposed AOP. A key difference between these proposed genetic toxicology AOPs versus traditional AOPs is that the AO is a genetic toxicology endpoint of potential significance in risk characterization, in contrast to an adverse state of an organism or a population. The first two detailed case studies describe provisional AOPs for aurora kinase inhibition and tubulin binding, leading to the common AO of aneuploidy. The remaining three case studies highlight provisional AOPs that lead to chromosome breakage or mutation via indirect DNA interaction (inhibition of topoisomerase II, production of cellular reactive oxygen species, and inhibition of DNA synthesis). These case studies serve as starting points for genotoxicity AOPs that could ultimately be published and utilized by the broader toxicology community and illustrate the practical considerations and evidence required to formalize such AOPs so that they may be applied to genetic toxicity evaluation schemes. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 61:114–134, 2020. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of Price,Information, and Transactions Cost Interventions to Raise Voluntary Enrollment in a Social Health Insurance Scheme: A Randomized Experiment in the Philippines

A cluster randomized experiment was undertaken testing two sets of interventions encouraging enrollment in the Individually Paying Program (IPP), the voluntary component of the Philippines' social health insurance program. In early 2011, 1037 unenrolled IPP‐eligible families in 179 randomly selected intervention municipalities were given an information kit and offered a 50% premium subsidy valid until the end of 2011; 383 IPP‐eligible families in 64 control municipalities were not. In February 2012, the 787 families in the intervention sites who were still IPP‐eligible but had not enrolled had their vouchers extended, were resent the enrollment kits and received SMS reminders. Half the group also received a ‘handholding’ intervention: in the endline interview, the enumerator offered to help complete the enrollment form, deliver it to the insurer's office in the provincial capital, and mail the membership cards. The main intervention raised the enrollment rate by 3 percentage points (ppts) (p = 0.11), with an 8 ppt larger effect (p < 0.01) among city‐dwellers, consistent with travel time to the insurance office affecting enrollment. The handholding intervention raised enrollment by 29 ppts (p < 0.01), with a smaller effect (p < 0.01) among city‐dwellers, likely because of shorter travel times, and higher education levels facilitating unaided completion of the enrollment form. Copyright © The World Bank Health Economics © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psoriasis confined strictly to vitiligo areas – a Koebner‐like phenomenon?

Vitiligo and psoriasis are both common skin disorders. However, psoriasis strictly confined to pre-existing vitiligo areas is rare and suggests a causal relationship. We report here on two patients with a strict anatomical colocalization of vitiligo and psoriasis. The histopathological examinations showed typical changes for both diseases together with a dense infiltrate of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. By immunohistochemistry, intracytoplasmatic granzyme B and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were detected within the T-cell population, suggesting the functional activity of these cells and the creation of a local T helper 1 (Th1)-cytokine milieu. Additionally, in one patient we could identify anti-melanocytic T cells by tetramer staining and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) analysis. These skin-infiltrating lymphocytes might trigger, by the local production of Th-1 cytokines such as TNF-alpha and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), the eruption of psoriatic plaques in patients with a genetic predisposition for psoriasis.