Cutis Calcinosis of the Hand in 2 Patients With Symbrachydactyly.

Cutis calcinosis of the hand in the setting of symbrachydactyly is presented in 2 unique patients. Both lesions were treated based on the standard of care protocols with resection of the calcified mass and hand reconstruction, as appropriate. The patients healed uneventfully without recurrence of the calcification at a the 1-year follow-up. The association between symbrachydactyly and calcinosis cutis is discussed along with a hypothesis on the pathophysiologic mechanism that could potentially explain this unusual occurrence and why it might be more common than previously identified.

Cortisol Stress Response Variability in Early Adolescence: Attachment, Affect and Sex.

Attachment, affect, and sex shape responsivity to psychosocial stress. Concurrent social contexts influence cortisol secretion, a stress hormone and biological marker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity. Patterns of attachment, emotion status, and sex were hypothesized to relate to bifurcated, that is, accentuated and attenuated, cortisol reactivity. The theoretical framework for this study posits that multiple individual differences mediate a cortisol stress response. The effects of two psychosocial stress interventions, a modified Trier Social Stress Test for Teens and the Frustration Social Stressor for Adolescents were developed and investigated with early adolescents. Both of these protocols induced a significant stress reaction and evoked predicted bifurcation in cortisol responses; an increase or decrease from baseline to reactivity. In Study I, 120 predominantly middle-class, Euro-Canadian early adolescents with a mean age of 13.43 years were studied. The girls' attenuated cortisol reactivity to the public performance stressor related significantly to their self-reported lower maternal-attachment and higher trait-anger. In Study II, a community sample of 146 predominantly Euro-Canadian middle-class youth, with an average age of 14.5 years participated. Their self-reports of higher trait-anger and trait-anxiety, and lower parental attachment by both sexes related differentially to accentuated and attenuated cortisol reactivity to the frustration stressor. Thus, attachment, affect, sex, and the stressor contextual factors were associated with the adrenal-cortical responses of these adolescents through complex interactions. Further studies of individual differences in physiological responses to stress are called for in order to clarify the identities of concurrent protective and risk factors in the psychosocial stress and physiological stress responses of early adolescents.

Caregiver burden: three voices-three realities.

Just as the voices of people with Alzheimer's disease are driving changes, the voices of caregivers can also facilitate change, which is vital now and for the future. Caregivers play an important role in the educational process.

Mercury distribution in two Sierran forest and one desert sagebrush steppe ecosystems and the effects of fire.

Mercury (Hg) concentration, reservoir mass, and Hg reservoir size were determined for vegetation components, litter, and mineral soil for two Sierran forest sites and one desert sagebrush steppe site. Mercury was found to be held primarily in the mineral soil (maximum depth of 60 to 100 cm), which contained more than 90% of the total ecosystem reservoir. However, Hg in foliage, bark, and litter plays a more dominant role in Hg cycling than the mineral soil. Mercury partitioning into ecosystem components at the Sierran forest sites was similar to that observed for other US forest sites. Vegetation and litter Hg reservoirs were significantly smaller in the sagebrush steppe system because of lower biomass. Data collected from these ecosystems after wildfire and prescribed burns showed a significant decrease in the Hg pool from certain reservoirs. No loss from mineral soil was observed for the study areas but data from fire severity points suggested that Hg in the upper few millimeters of surface soil may be volatilized due to exposure to elevated temperatures. Comparison of data from burned and unburned plots suggested that the only significant source of atmospheric Hg from the prescribed burn was combustion of litter. Differences in unburned versus burned Hg reservoirs at the forest wildfire site demonstrated that drastic reduction in the litter and above ground live biomass Hg reservoirs after burning had occurred. Sagebrush and litter were absent in the burned plots after a wildfire suggesting that both reservoirs were released during the fire. Mercury emissions due to fire from the forest prescribed burn, forest wildfire, and sagebrush steppe wildfire sites were roughly estimated at 2.0 to 5.1, 2.2 to 4.9, and 0.36+/-0.13 g ha(-1), respectively, with litter and vegetation being the most important sources.

Enhancing adolescent health behaviors through strengthening non-resident father-son relationships: a model for intervention with African-American families.

This paper provides a description of and rationale for components of a theoretically based conceptual model that guided the development and implementation of the Fathers and Sons Intervention Program. Using a community-based participatory research process, this intervention was designed to prevent risky health behaviors through strengthening father-son relationships among non-resident African-American fathers and their pre-adolescent sons. The implications of the conceptual model for future interventions with African-American fathers and sons are discussed.