Epigenetic dynamics in cancer stem cell dormancy.

Cancer remains one of the most challenging diseases despite significant advances of early diagnosis and therapeutic treatments. Cancerous tumors are composed of various cell types including cancer stem cells capable of self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and invasion of distal tumor sites. Most notably, these cells can enter a dormant cellular state that is resistant to conventional therapies. Thereby, cancer stem cells have the intrinsic potential for tumor initiation, tumor growth, metastasis, and tumor relapse after therapy. Both genetic and epigenetic alterations are attributed to the formation of multiple tumor types. This review is focused on how epigenetic dynamics involving DNA methylation and DNA oxidations are implicated in breast cancer and glioblastoma multiforme. The emergence and progression of these cancer types rely on cancer stem cells with the capacity to enter quiescence also known as a dormant cellular state, which dictates the distinct tumorigenic aggressiveness between breast cancer and glioblastomas.

Perceived physical availability of alcohol at work and workplace alcohol use and impairment: testing a structural model.

This study develops and tests a new conceptual model of perceived physical availability of alcohol at work that provides unique insight into 3 dimensions of workplace physical availability of alcohol and their direct and indirect relations to workplace alcohol use and impairment. Data were obtained from a national probability sample of 2,727 U.S. workers. The results support the proposed conceptual model and provide empirical support for a positive relation of perceived physical availability of alcohol at work to workplace alcohol use and 2 dimensions of workplace impairment (workplace intoxication and workplace hangover). Ultimately, the findings suggest that perceived physical availability of alcohol at work is a risk factor for alcohol use and impairment during the workday, and that this relation is more complex than previously hypothesized.

Symptoms of depression and successful drug court completion.

The majority of drug abusing offenders who need substance abuse treatment do not receive it. Although interventions like drug court increase the probability of offender success, little is known about how co-occurring psychological symptoms impact drug court treatment outcomes. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that co-occurring psychological symptoms would have a significant relationship with successful drug court completion. Using a sample of suburban drug court enrollees (n = 122), multivariate logistic regression was conducted with successful drug court completion as the outcome variable. Predictor variables included symptom counts of depression, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, psychosis, generalized anxiety, and social phobia. Results indicated that participants with fewer symptoms of depression were more likely to successfully complete drug court than participants with more symptoms. The present study extends previous research by demonstrating that symptoms of depression are related to poorer outcomes for drug court enrollees. Accordingly, drug courts need to address participants' symptoms of depression to maximize success.

Relation of supervisor social control to employee substance use: considering the dimensionality of social control, temporal context of substance use, and substance legality.

OBJECTIVE: Research on supervisor social control provided little evidence for a relation to employee alcohol use, and only one study explored illicit drug use. Based on past research, several hypotheses were developed that the relation between supervisor social control and substance use depends on (a) the dimension social control (contact vs. enforcement), (b) the temporal context of substance use (on the job vs. off the job), and (c) substance legality (alcohol vs. illicit drugs). METHOD: Data came from a national probability sample of U.S. workers. Supervisor social control represented both supervisor contact and supervisor enforcement. Measures of alcohol and illicit drug use each assessed several dimensions of off-the-job use (overall use, overall impairment, and use after work) and on-the-job use (use before work, use during the workday, and impairment during the workday). RESULTS: As hypothesized, the results did not support a relation of supervisor contact to off-the-job or on-the-job alcohol use and illicit drug use. Supervisor enforcement was unrelated to off-the-job alcohol use but was negatively related to on-the-job alcohol use. Supervisor enforcement was negatively related to both off-the-job and on-the-job illicit drug use. CONCLUSIONS: These findings help clarify the generally unsupportive findings from past research for a relation between supervisor social control and employee alcohol use, as well as extend this line of research to include illicit drug use. The results suggest that to fully understand the relation of supervisor social control to employee substance use, one must consider the dimension of supervisor social control, temporal context of substance use, and substance legality.