The contribution of social cognition in predicting social participation following moderate and severe TBI in youth.

Youth with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are at risk for reduced social participation after the injury, and the contribution of social cognition to these changes in functioning has been little studied. This study aimed to examine social participation and to measure the contribution of social and non-social cognitive functions to social participation impairment in youth (ages 12-21) who sustained moderate or severe TBI. Youth with TBI (n = 23) were compared to typically developing (TD) controls on self- and parent-rated social participation questionnaires. Direct testing of social cognition (mentalising, social knowledge, emotion recognition) and higher order cognitive abilities (intellectual abilities, attention and executive functions) was also conducted. Significant differences were found between the TBI participants and TD controls on social participation measures. Mentalising and problem-solving abilities revealed to be significant correlates of social participation as reported by youth with brain-injury and their parents. Overall, these results corroborate previous findings by showing that social participation is significantly reduced after TBI, and further shows that mentalising, which is not always considered during rehabilitation, is an important contributing factor. In addition to executive function measures, social cognition should therefore be systematically included in assessment following youth TBI for intervention and prevention purposes.

Predicting spatial patterns of eagle migration using a mesoscale atmospheric model: a case study associated with a mountain-ridge wind development.

High resolution numerical atmospheric modeling around a mountain ridge in Northeastern British Columbia (BC), Canada was performed in order to examine the influence of meteorology and topography on Golden Eagle migration pathways at the meso-scale (tens of km). During three eagle fall migration periods (2007-2009), local meteorological conditions on the day of peak bird counts were modeled using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) mesoscale model. Hourly local surface wind speed, wind direction, temperature, pressure and relative humidity were also monitored during these migration periods. Eagle migration flight paths were observed from the ground and converted to three-dimensional tracks using ArcGIS. The observed eagle migration flight paths were compared with the modeled vertical velocity wind fields. Flight tracks across the study area were also simulated using the modeled vertical velocity field in a migration model based on a fluid-flow analogy. It was found that both the large-scale weather conditions and the horizontal wind fields across the study area were broadly similar on each of the modeled migration days. Nonetheless, the location and density of flight tracks across the domain varied between days, with the 2007 event producing more tracks to the southwest of the observation location than the other 2 days. The modeled wind fields suggest that it is not possible for the eagles to traverse the study area without leaving updraft regions, but birds do converge on the locations of updrafts as they move through the area. Statistical associations between observed eagles positions and the vertical velocity field suggest that to the northwest (and to a lesser extent the southwest) of the main study ridge (Johnson col), eagles can always find updrafts but that they must pass through downdraft regions in the NE and SE as they make their way across the study area. Finally, the simulated flight tracks based on the fluid-flow model and the vertical velocity fields are in general agreement with the observed flight track patterns. Our results suggest that use of high resolution meteorological fields to locate the occurrence of updrafts in proposed ridge-line wind installations could aid in predicting, and mitigating for, convergence points in raptor migrations.

Neural processing of sensory and emotional-communicative information associated with the perception of vicarious pain.

The specific neural processes underlying vicarious pain perception are not fully understood. In this functional imaging study, 20 participants viewed pain-evoking or neutral images displaying either sensory or emotional-communicative information. The pain images displayed nociceptive agents applied to the hand or the foot (sensory information) or facial expressions of pain (emotional-communicative information) and were matched with their neutral counterparts. Combining pain-evoking and neutral images showed that body limbs elicited greater activity in sensory motor regions, whereas midline frontal and parietal cortices and the amygdala responded more strongly to faces. The pain-evoking images elicited greater activity than their neutral counterparts in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and the bilateral extrastriate body area. However, greater pain-related activity was observed in the rostral IPL when images depicted a hand or foot compared to a facial expression of pain, suggesting a more specific involvement in the coding of somato-motor information. Posterior probability maps enabling Bayesian inferences further showed that the anterior IFG (BA 45 and 47) was the only region showing no intrinsic probability of activation by the neutral images, consistent with a role in the extraction of the meaning of pain-related visual cues. Finally, inter-individual empathy traits correlated with responses in the supracallosal mid/anterior cingulate cortex and the anterior insula when pain-evoking images of body limbs or facial expressions were presented, suggesting that these regions regulated the observer's affective-motivational response independent from the channels from which vicarious pain is perceived.

Mature bone marrow erythroid burst-forming units do not require T cells for induction of erythropoietin-dependent differentiation.

Cell-cell interactions between mature T cells and peripheral blood null cells induce erythropoietin-stimulated differentiation of peripheral blood-derived erythroid progenitors. By the use of complement-fixing cytolytic murine hybridoma and antibody uniquely reactive with mature T lymphocytes, this dependence of immature peripheral blood erythroid burst-forming unit (BFU-E) differentiation upon mature T cells or a T cell conditioned medium is confirmed. By using the same antibody, it is demonstrated that the differentiation of mature bone marrow BFU-E does not require either mature T cells or lymphocyte mitogenic factor. These findings do not preclude the presence in the bone marrow of other cells, perhaps even immature T cells, that influence erythropoietin-dependent erythroid differentiation of mature marrow BFU-E.

The use of an atmospheric dispersion model to determine influence regions in the Prince George, B.C. airshed from the burning of open wood waste piles.

A means of determining air emission source regions adversely influencing the city of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada from potential burning of isolated piles of mountain pine beetle-killed lodge pole pine is presented. The analysis uses the CALPUFF atmospheric dispersion model to identify safe burning regions based on atmospheric stability and wind direction. Model results show that the location and extent of influence regions is sensitive to wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric stability and a threshold used to quantify excessive concentrations. A concentration threshold based on the Canada Wide PM(2.5) Standard is used to delineate the influence regions while Environment Canada's (EC) daily ventilation index (VI) is used to quantify local atmospheric stability. Results from the analysis, to be used by air quality meteorologists in assessing daily requests for burning permits, are presented as a series of maps delineating acceptable burning locations for sources placed at various distances from the city center and under different ventilation conditions. The results show that no burning should be allowed within 10 km of the city center; under poor ventilation conditions, no burning should be allowed within 20 km of the city center; under good ventilation conditions, burning can be allowed within 10-15 km of the city center; under good to fair ventilation conditions, burning can be allowed beyond 15 km of the city center; and if the wind direction can be reliably forecast, burning can be allowed between 5 and 10 km downwind of the city center under good ventilation conditions.

Monocytes do not inhibit peripheral blood erythroid burst forming unit colony formation.

To determine a possible role of peripheral blood monocytes in erythroid differentiation, various fractions of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were prepared from normal volunteers. The fractions contained 3-95% monocytes. These freshly prepared monocytes did not inhibit erythroid burst forming unit expression in plasma clot erythroid colony culture. Null cell preparations contaminated by up to 84% monocytes expressed erythroid burst forming unit colony formation when either T lymphocytes or T-cell conditioned medium was added. These results indicate that certain peripheral blood null cells engage the program of erythroid differentiation in the presence of T cells and erythropoietin. Monocytes do not inhibit this engagement.

Control of the simian fetal hemoglobin switch at the progenitor cell level.

This investigation was designed to define the cellular level at which the gamma to beta globin switch is established in the developing simian fetus in order to determine whether the switch is controlled by environmental influences within differentiating erythroid precursors or predetermined by the genetic program of erythroid progenitors. Samples of marrow and liver were obtained from rhesus fetuses throughout the switch period, and marrow was obtained from adult rhesus monkeys. Globin chain synthesis was then measured in differentiated erythroblasts and in erythroid progenitor-derived colonies grown in semisolid media. The relative rates of synthesis of gamma and beta chains were determined by the uptake of [(3)H]leucine into the respective chains separated by Triton gel electrophoresis and in some cases by urea carboxymethyl cellulose chromatography. Four periods of the switch were defined during fetal development. In the preswitch period both erythroblasts and progenitor-derived colonies produced <5% beta globin. In the early switch erythroblasts produced 5-15% beta globin, while progenitor-derived colonies produced 10-35% beta globin. In mid-switch erythroblasts synthesized 50% beta globin, whereas progenitor-derived colonies produced only 15-35% beta. At the completion of the switch erythroblasts produced 100% beta globin, while progenitor-derived colonies produced as little as 40% beta chains. We conclude that the program of globin synthesis that characterizes the fetal switch is established at the level of erythroid progenitors. Fetal erythroid burst-forming units (BFU-E) dominate the marrow prior to the switch. The early switch period is heralded by the appearances of adult erythroid burst-forming units programmed to express increasing beta chain synthesis in colonies. By mid-switch a second class of adult erythroid progenitors capable of giving rise to fetal and adult hemoglobin synthesis in in vitro colonies becomes apparent. These shifting populations of erythroid progenitors with unique globin synthesis programs give rise to the erythroblasts that create the sigmoid pattern of the fetal to adult hemoglobin switch in the developing simian fetus.

Virus and cell requirements for Friend virus granulocytic leukemogenesis in long-term bone marrow cultures of NIH swiss [N:NIH(S)] mice.

The effect of hematopoietic stem cell age on leukemogenesis in vitro was tested in nonrecharged, corticosterold-supplemented NIH Swiss [N:NIH(S)] mouse long-term bone marrow cultures infected with Friend murine leukemia virus of anemia-inducing strain (F-MuLV-A) or spleen focus-forming virus (SFFV) [Rauscher murine leukemia virus (R-MuLV)], a pseudotype virus derived by rescue of the SFFV genome from SFFV-Balb/3T3 clone A31 nonproducer cells with clonal helper R-MuLV. Cultures at 33 degrees C derived from 10-day-old or adult mouse marrow generated colony-forming unit culture granulocytic macrophage (CFUc) progenitor cells for over 20 weeks and colony-forming unit spleen cells for 14 weeks and generated permanent granulocytic leukemia cell lines after infection with F-MuLV-A at week 1, 2, or 4 but not at week 8. Leukemia lines were of granulocyte phenotype whether induced by F-MuLV-A or SFFV (R-MuLV) and synthesized myeloperoxidase and lysozyme but were restricted in ability to generate superoxide in response to phorbol myristate acetate stimulation. Cultures (31 degrees C) infected with temperature-sensitive (ts) helper virus mutant pseudotypes of SFFV as well as SFFV (R-MuLV) generated granulocytic leukemia lines, whereas only SFFV (R-MuLV) pseudotype virus-infected cultures became leukemic at 37 degrees C. R-MuLV wild type or ts mutant helper virus infection alone increased cell proliferation and numbers of CFUc but did not generate leukemia. These data indicated that gene(s) specific to F-MuLV-A or a virus rescued from SFFV-Balb/3T3 clone A31 nonproducer cells are required for transformation in vitro of a hematopoietic stem cell present in early but absent in late bone marrow cultures.

Repeated exposure to others' pain reduces vicarious pain intensity estimation.

BACKGROUND: Pain perception in others can be influenced by different contextual factors. In clinical settings, the repeated exposure to others' pain has been proposed as a factor that could explain underestimation of patients' pain by health care providers. Previous research supported this idea by showing that repeated exposure to persons in pain biases the subsequent willingness to impute pain in others. However, it remains unclear if the effect of repeated exposure on the detection of pain extends to deliberate pain estimation of stimuli presented for a longer period. METHOD: Therefore, in a first experiment, healthy participants were either exposed to clips of facial expressions of intense pain or neutral expressions before estimating the intensity of other individuals' pain expressions. To test the specificity of this effect with regard to the pain content, a second study was conducted with healthy adults, which compared the effect of exposure to fear, pain and neutral videos on subsequent pain assessment in others. RESULTS: Results from the first experiment indicated that repeated exposure to others' pain diminished the subsequent estimation of the intensity of pain in others. Results from the second experiment suggested that exposure to fear could bias pain estimation in a similar manner. However, the absence of difference in ratings between the exposure to fear and neutral groups warrants caution in the interpretation of these findings. CONCLUSION: By demonstrating that repeated exposure to others' pain diminished subsequent pain estimation in others, this study adds relevant information on the factors that could contribute to pain underestimation in health care professionals. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD?: Repeated exposure to facial expressions of intense pain not only biases pain detection, but also pain estimation in others. Prior exposure to facial expressions of pain compared to exposure to neutral ones leads to a reduced estimation of others' pain. This effect is not specific to pain as exposure to another negative emotion (fear) also biases subsequent pain estimation. These results support the interpretation that the underestimation of patients' pain by health care professionals could be related to repeated exposure to other's pain.

QSAR of the anticonvulsant enaminones; molecular modeling aspects and other assessments.

The enaminones represent potentially useful agents for the clinical treatment in generalized tonic-clonic seizures (Epilepsia, 1993, 34(6), 1141-1145, Biopharm. Drug Disp. 2003, 397-407). A regression analysis was performed to provide a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) correlation model for prediction of activity for the anticonvulsant enaminones. Molecular modeling was performed to determine the molecular confluence of the Unverferth model (J. Med. Chem. 1998, 41, 63-73) to the enaminones. Conclusions related to the sodium channel model were assessed.

Automatic assignment of NOESY cross peaks and determination of the protein structure of a new world scorpion neurotoxin using NOAH/DIAMOD.

The 3D NMR structures of the scorpion neurotoxin, CsE-v5, were determined from the same NOESY spectra with NOAH/DIAMOD, an automated assignment and 3D structure calculation software package, and with a conventional manual assignment combined with a distance geometry/simulated annealing (X-PLOR) refinement method. The NOESY assignments and the 3D structures obtained from the two independent methods were compared in detail. The NOAH/DIAMOD program suite uses feedback filtering and self-correcting distance geometry methods to automatically assign NOESY spectra and to calculate the 3D structure of a protein. NOESY cross peaks were automatically picked using a standard software package and combined with 74 manually assigned NOESY peaks to start the NOAH/DIAMOD calculations. After 63 NOAH/DIAMOD cycles, using REDAC procedures in the last 8 cycles, and final FANTOM constrained energy minimization, a bundle of 20 structures with the smallest target functions has a RMSD of 0.81 A for backbone atoms and 1.11 A for all heavy atoms to the mean structure. Despite some missing chemical shifts of side chain protons, 776 (including 74 manually assigned) of 1130 NOE peaks were unambiguously assigned, 150 peaks have more than one possible assignment compatible with the bundle structures, and only 30 peaks could not be assigned within the given chemical shift tolerance ranges in either the D1 or the D2 dimension. The remaining 174, mainly weak NOE peaks were not compatible with the final 20 best bundle structures at the last NOAH/DIAMOD cycle. The automatically determined structures agree well with the structures determined independently using the conventional method and the same NMR spectra, with the mean RMSD in well-defined regions of 0.84 A for bb and 1.48 A for all heavy atoms from residues 2-5, 18-26, 32-36, and 39-45. This study demonstrates the potential of the NOAH/DIAMOD program suite to automatically assign NMR data for proteins and determine their structure.

Primary care needs of children with hydrocephalus.

Nurse practitioners are frequently called on to provide primary care to children with chronic medical conditions. Some conditions are seen less often than others, and primary care providers may be hesitant or reluctant to administer care without consultation or referral to the attending specialist. However, the attending specialist often is not trained in primary care and is unfamiliar with current immunization schedules, treatments for common infectious conditions, or child care and school regulations. Consequently, these children often receive less than optimal primary health care. Children with hydrocephalus have life-long special health care needs. These needs may alter their primary care; however, a review of the condition, its current treatment, and associated problems can provide the nurse practitioner with the necessary information to provide optimal primary health care to these children and their families.

Professional practice of pediatric nurse practitioners: implications for education and training of PNPs.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of employment, the characteristics of children served, and the role functions of recent graduates of pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) programs and to compare these characteristics across programs. METHOD: A 60-item multiple-choice survey tool was sent to graduates from 1996-1998 of 6 universities across the United States. RESULTS: A total of 137 surveys were received for a return rate of 52%. Less than half of the respondents (44%) indicated that they were employed in a primary care practice. Seventy percent indicated they "often" or "sometimes" provided care to children with acute/critical conditions, and 77% reported caring for children with chronic conditions. Role functions of case management, staff development, consultation, administration, and implementation of research were performed "often" or "sometimes" by more than 50% of respondents. Findings were fairly consistent in 5 out of 6 programs surveyed. DISCUSSION: Graduates of PNP programs are increasingly called on to provide care to children with complex health care needs in non-primary care settings. Role functions beyond the traditional areas required for pediatric primary care are now common practice. Educational programs should address these dynamic changes by assessing the adequacy of their curricula and clinical residencies in preparing graduates.

Advanced practice nursing. Part 2--Opportunities and challenges for PNPs.

The recent movement towards defining advanced nursing practice offers opportunities and challenges for pediatric nurse practitioners and educators. The definitions of nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, and advanced practice nurse indicate similarities and distinct differences in role definitions and expectations. Nurse practitioner practice and education will need to change significantly for nurse practitioners to be considered advanced practice nurses and to retain their legacy as nursing leaders.

Subclinical vitamin A deficiency: a potentially unrecognized problem in the United States.

Vitamin A deficiency in its subclinical form is a world health problem in young children. The problem is probably under recognized in the United States and other developed countries who do not normally consider their citizens to be malnourished. Lack of a simple screening test to measure subclinical deficiency adds to this problem. Consequently, focused dietary assessment of vitamin A intake by a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is a necessary component of health care maintenance, especially for toddlers and preschool age children. Dietary counseling and vitamin supplementation for high risk children is a necessary health promotion intervention.

Professional partnerships in primary care practice.

Professional partnerships in pediatric primary care produce opportunities for blending nursing and medical roles to offer optimal health care to children and families. During the Sixth Annual Pediatric Nursing Conference, held October 4-7, 1990 in San Francisco, issues of role delineation, reimbursement or salary schedules, prescriptive authority, on-call status, malpractice coverage, and hospital privileges were discussed among a distinguished panel of PNPs and physicians.

Precocious puberty: identifying early sexual development.

Primary care providers should have the ability to identify normal and abnormal variations of sexual development in children. The incidence of precocious puberty is approximately one child in every 10,000 children in the United States. While etiologies vary, precise differential diagnosis is essential because it will determine the course of treatment required. New forms of therapy using long-acting luteinizing releasing factor agonists are currently being investigated. Developmentally appropriate explanations for affected children regarding the diagnosis and treatment plan are a crucial component of care. Ongoing educational and emotional support for the child and family are essential as they learn to cope with early sexual development.

The influence of body configuration on motor imagery of walking in younger and older adults.

Motor imagery (MI) refers to the mental simulation of a movement. It is used as a tool to improve motor function in several populations. In young adults, it has been repeatedly shown that MI of upper-limb movements is facilitated when one's posture is congruent with the movement to simulate. As MI training is notably used for improving locomotor-related activities in older populations, it may be questioned whether subjects' body configuration could also influence MI of walking movements and whether this influence is preserved with age. In the present study, we examined the impact of one's body position (congruent with walking: standing/incongruent with walking: sitting) on the duration of walking simulation over two distances (3m/6m), in 26 young (21 females, 5 males; mean: 23.2 ± 2.4 years) and 26 elderly (18 females, 8 males; mean: 72.7 ± 5.5 years) healthy subjects. It was found that, in both age groups, walking simulation times while standing were shorter than while sitting. Furthermore, walking simulation times in the standing position were closer to actual walking times to cover the same distances. The present findings extend to walking movements the notion that adopting a posture congruent with the movement to imagine facilitates the simulation process. They also suggest that, at least for simple walking tasks, this effect is maintained across the lifespan. The implication of our findings for optimizing MI training of locomotor-related activities is underlined.

Variability in the effector-specific pattern of motor facilitation during the observation of everyday actions: implications for the clinical use of action observation.

Action observation is increasingly considered as a rehabilitation tool as it can increase the cortical excitability of muscles involved in the observed movements and therefore produce effector-specific motor facilitation. In order to investigate the action observation mechanisms, simple single joint intransitive movements have commonly been used. Still, how the observation of everyday movements which often are the prime target of rehabilitation affects the observer cortical excitability remains unclear. Using transcranial magnetic stimulations, we aimed at verifying if the observation of everyday movements made by the proximal or distal upper-limb produces effector-specific motor facilitation in proximal (arm) and distal (hand) muscles of healthy subjects. Results suggest that, similar to simple intransitive movements, observation of more complex everyday movements involving mainly the proximal or distal part of upper limb induces different patterns of motor facilitation across upper limb muscles (P=0.02). However, we observed large inter-individual variability in the strength of the effector-specific motor facilitation induced by action observation. Yet, subjects had similar types of response (strong or weak effector-specific effects) when watching proximal or distal movements indicating that the facilitation pattern was highly consistent within subjects (r=0.83-0.88, P<0.001). This suggests that some individuals are better than other at precisely mapping the observed movements on their motor repertoire and that this type of response holds for various types of everyday actions.