Purpose
In the USA, white children receive psychoactive drugs more often than black or Hispanic children. This study investigates whether cultural attitudes statistically mediate differences between ...American parents’ self-identified racial–ethnic group membership and their willingness to medicate children for behavioral problems.
Methods
Using data from telephone interviews with 1,145 parents in two Florida counties, structural models tested associations between each group compared with the other, in willingness to medicate children exhibiting different problematic behaviors and hypothesized cultural (familism, fatalism, attitude toward corporal punishment, religiosity, concern about treatment stigma, birth abroad, language of interview) and other mediators (views about medications and causes of children’s problems). Respondent gender, age, socioeconomic status, parent-type household, taking psychoactive medication, and having a child with behavioral problems were used as covariates.
Results
Race–ethnicity was strongly associated with specific cultural attitudes and views about medications and problems, but only Hispanics distinguished themselves significantly from whites in willingness to medicate children. Across groups, parents who viewed medication favorably and endorsed biomedical causes for problems were more willing to medicate. In Hispanic–white and Hispanic–black comparisons, being interviewed in Spanish was the sole but modest cultural mediator of willingness, and in black–white comparisons, only concern about treatment stigma weakly mediated differences in willingness.
Conclusions
These findings provide faint support for a parent-centered cultural explanation of reported prescription differences among youths of different racial–ethnic groups in the USA. However, structural and professional components of a broader cultural hypothesis for such differences, within the USA and between different countries, still require evaluation.
Size exclusion chromatography coupled with triple detection (online laser light scattering, refractometry, and viscosimetry) (SEC–TDA) was applied for the study of hyaluronan (HA) fragments produced ...during hydrolysis catalyzed by bovine testicular hyaluronidase (BTH). The main advantage this approach provides is the complete hydrodynamic characterization without requiring further experiments. HA was hydrolyzed using several BTH amounts and for increasing incubation times. Fragments were characterized in terms of weight and number average molecular weights (
M
w and
M
n, respectively), polydispersity index (
M
w/
M
n), hydrodynamic radius (
R
h), and intrinsic viscosity (
η). The Mark–Houwink–Sakurada (MHS) curves (log
η versus log
M
w) were then derived directly. Fragments covering a whole range of
M
w (10–900
kDa) and size (
R
h
=
4–81
nm) and presenting a rather narrow distribution of molar masses (
M
w/
M
n
=
1.6–1.7) were produced. From the MHS curves, HA conformation resulted in a change from a random coil toward a rigid rod structure while decreasing the
M
w. HA enzymatic hydrolysis in the presence of a BTH inhibitor was also monitored, revealing that inhibition profiles are affected by ionic strength. Finally, a comparison of the kinetic data derived from SEC–TDA with the data from rheological measurements suggested different strengths of the two methods in the determination of the depolymerization rate depending on the hydrolysis conditions.
•HA was crosslinked with DGE under novel conditions to produce scaffold.•Water-insoluble matrices were obtained using the lower DGE amount reported so far.•The exploited approach permitted to define ...the scaffold shape prior to crosslinking.•Hydrogels suitable for the regeneration of soft tissues were produced.•Hydrogels proved outperforming with respect to similar reported in the literature.
A novel approach for hyaluronic acid (HA) crosslinking via diglycidyl ether (DGE) was investigated for scaffolds fabrication. In particular, HA sponges were obtained by lyophilization and then reacted with 1,4-butandiol diglycidyl ether (BDDGE) in heterogeneous conditions. Insoluble matrices with 4–20% of the reactive sites of HA modified were produced. The hydrogels showed high swelling capability depending on external stimuli; when equilibrated in physiological solution, pore ranged from 70 to130μm and G′ values were in the range 2–10kPa. The matrices proved highly stable in cell culture conditions and to enzymatic degradation. A biological evaluation revealed good cellular viability within the scaffolds in two weeks experiments. The main achievement consists in that the novel conditions (BDDGE and heterogeneous reaction) permitted to obtain insoluble, directly structured and potentially applicable scaffolds with the lower content of crosslinker reported to date. The in vitro characterization outcomes propose the hydrogels as promising substrates for soft tissues regeneration.
It has been hypothesized that nonintestinal inflammatory diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) may trigger immunologic gluten intolerance in susceptible people. This ...hypothesis suggests a possible epidemiological link between these two diseases, although this assumption is still a matter of debate.
We conducted a retrospective study to assess the prevalence of celiac disease in HBV carrier patients who had been infected in childhood.
None of the HBV carrier patients had immunoglobulin A antiendomysium and immunoglobulin A anti-tissue transglutaminase, but 6 patients and 1 recovered subject had immunoglobulin A antigliadin and/or immunoglobulin G antigliadin. Moreover, no patient treated with interferon therapy showed any serological marker of celiac disease.
Due to the small sample size, we cannot claim that there is no association between celiac disease (CD) and HBV, although in our study we did not find any CD patients. A sample size that is more representative of the prevalence of CD in Italy would better support the establishment of any possible connection between CD and HBV.
The literature presents a puzzling picture of Latinos being overrepresented in alcohol-related crashes, but not in noncrash drinking and driving. This report examines if, like other demographic ...variables in which some groups are at a higher crash risk than others (e.g., young drivers), different racial/ethnic groups face different crash risks.
This study compares blood-alcohol information from the 2006–2007 U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) with control data from the 2007 U.S. National Roadside Survey. Logistic regression, including a dual interaction between BAC and race/ethnicity, was used to estimate crash risk at different BAC levels.
It was found that, although Hispanic and African-American drivers were less likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes than their White counterparts, all drivers face similar BAC relative crash risk regardless of their group membership. The overrepresentation of Latino drivers in alcohol-related crashes could be explained by differences in patterns of consumption, driving exposure, lack of awareness of driving rules, and/or socioeconomics.
•Blood-alcohol information from the 2006–2007 U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System was compared with control data from the 2007 U.S. National Roadside Survey.•Crash-risk estimates for different racial/ethnic groups were estimated.•Latino and African-American drivers were found less likely to be involved in single-vehicle crashes than their White counterparts.•All drivers face similar BAC relative crash risk regardless of their group membership.
A close link exists between allergic rhinitis and asthma. Small airway disease (SAD), defined by a reduction in forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the pulmonary volume (FEF25-75) and normal ...spirometry (normal forced expiratory volume at 1 second FEV1, forced vital capacity FVC, and FEV1/FVC ratio), may be a marker for early allergic or inflammatory involvement of the small airways in subjects with allergic diseases and no asthma. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between SAD, the outcome variable, and several allergic predictors in patients without asthma but with allergic rhinitis. A cross-sectional study was performed. Two hundred eleven midshipmen attending the third and fifth course of the Navy Academy of Livorno were screened. Fifty-eight midshipmen showed slight spirometric anomalies. Thus, they were referred to the Navy Hospital of La Spezia for standardized tests: skin-prick test, nasal cytology, spirometry, and methacholine bronchial challenge. A reduced FEF(25-75) was arbitrarily defined as < 80% of predicted. All 58 subjects had a normal FEV1, FVC, and FEV1/FVC ratio. Twenty subjects had a reduced FEF(25-75), consistent with the definition of SAD. A mean value of FEF(25-75) of 70.3 (SD, 8.5) was measured in patients with a reduced FEF, and it was 108.0 (SD, 14.3) in patients with preserved FEF(25-75). All the candidate allergic predictors appeared to be strongly associated with a reduced FEF(25-75). The proportion of subjects with reduced FEF(25-75) appeared to increase with increasing severity of the allergic predictors, and, correspondingly, the mean value of FEF(25-75) appeared to decrease. This study provides evidence that there is a relationship between SAD and allergic parameters such as nasal symptoms and eosinophils.
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the oxidative damage in rats of different ages. Weaned rats of 25 g and adults of 300 g were used in groups of 6, a single i.p. dose of morphine sulfate of ...3, 6 or 12 mg/kg was administered. All animals were sacrificed to measure GSH and 5-HT levels in brain by liquid chromatography, as well as Na(+), K(+)-ATPase and total ATPase enzymatic activity. 5-HT levels decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in adult animals that received 3 and 6 mg morphine. Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity increased significantly (p < 0.05) in all groups of weaned animals. In adult animals, Na(+), K(+)-ATPase and total ATPase partially diminished. GSH levels diminished significantly (p < 0.05) both in weaned and in adult groups. The results indicate age-induced changes in cellular regulation and biochemical responses to oxidative stress induced by morphine.
Latina immigrants in the farmworker community are a vulnerable and understudied population at risk of acquiring HIV. Employing a CBPR framework, this pilot study was the first to evaluate the ...efficacy of SEPA, a CDC evidenced‐based and culturally tailored HIV risk reduction intervention on a cohort of N = 110 predominantly undocumented Latina immigrants in a farmworker community. Findings revealed SEPA was effective in increasing HIV knowledge and decreasing HIV risk behaviors. However, no changes in self‐efficacy were found in the present sample. We posit specific socio‐cultural and structural barriers specific to the farmworker community not targeted in the original intervention may have hindered the program's capacity to influence changes in self‐efficacy among this less acculturated population. Possible socio‐cultural adaptations of the intervention to the target population and policy implications are discussed.
Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) is considered an important parameter for asthma diagnosis and follow-up. However, it has been proposed that forced expiratory flow at 25-75% (FEF(25-75)) ...could be more sensitive than FEV1 to detect slight airways obstruction. In this regard, a cutoff FEF(25-75) value has been recently established in a group of asthmatic children: FEF(25-75) < 65% of predicted has been considered impaired. However, the considered population was specifically selected. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to confirm an FEF(25-75) cutoff value in a large cohort of asthmatic children. Seven hundred allergic children (493 male subjects; median age, 11 years) with controlled and partly controlled asthma were evaluated by performing spirometry and skin-prick tests. Three hundred thirteen (44.7%) patients had FEF(25-75%) values of <65% of predicted. Two predictors were significantly associated with impaired FEF(25-75) values: (i) sensitization to perennial allergens (adjusted odds ratio OR(Adj), 3.4) and (ii) FEV(1) ≤ 86% of predicted (OR(Adj), 3.8). This study, conducted in real life, could suggest that FEF(25-75) value of <65% of predicted may be considered abnormal.
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