Indicators for evaluating cancer organizations' support services: performance and associations with empowerment

Community-based cancer organizations provide services to support patients. An anticipated benefit of these services is patient empowerment. However, this outcome has not been evaluated because of the lack of validated health-related empowerment questionnaires in the cancer context. In this validation study, the authors assessed the extent to which 16 indicators used by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and the Cancer Council Victoria, Australia (CCV) to evaluate their services were associated with health-related empowerment.

Associations between socioeconomic status and primary total knee joint replacements performed for osteoarthritis across Australia 2003-10: data from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry

Relatively little is known about the social distribution of total knee joint replacement (TKR) uptake in Australia. We examine associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and TKR performed for diagnosed osteoarthritis 2003-10 for all Australian males and females aged ≥30 yr.

Offending: drug-related expertise and decision making

Drug use is endemic within offender populations and, as a result, considerable heterogeneity can be found in drug-related crime. Expertise in drug-related offending covers an equally broad base from internal mental processes through skill acquisition to social interactions. This review considers decision making and expertise for crimes in the domains of direct causal effects (e.g., burglary) and non-causal relationships (e.g., apprehension avoidance, detection). Also considered is the notion of expertise as it applies to addiction, in particular the conscious and unconscious goal-directed behaviors articulated in the Selfish Goal model (Huang & Bargh, 2014) and a cool cognition/hot affect dual processing model of criminal decision making (Van Gelder, 2013). The review findings would suggest (a) the need for more focused research into whether expertise differs as a function of drug use and (b) a paradigm shift in terms of treatment for drug-using offenders.

Glutaredoxin1 protects neuronal cells from copper-induced toxicity

Glutaredoxin1 (GRX1) is a glutathione (GSH)-dependent thiol oxidoreductase. The GRX1/GSH system is important for the protection of proteins from oxidative damage and in the regulation of protein function. Previously we demonstrated that GRX1/GSH regulates the activity of the essential copper-transporting P1B-Type ATPases (ATP7A, ATP7B) in a copper-responsive manner. It has also been established that GRX1 binds copper with high affinity and regulates the redox chemistry of the metallochaperone ATOX1, which delivers copper to the copper-ATPases. In this study, to further define the role of GRX1 in copper homeostasis, we examined the effects of manipulating GRX1 expression on copper homeostasis and cell survival in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and in human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y). GRX1 knockout led to cellular copper retention (especially when cultured with elevated copper) and reduced copper tolerance, while in GRX1-overexpressing cells challenged with elevated copper, there was a reduction in both intracellular copper levels and copper-induced reactive oxygen species, coupled with enhanced cell proliferation. These effects are consistent with a role for GRX1 in regulating ATP7A-mediated copper export, and further support a new function for GRX1 in neuronal copper homeostasis and in protection from copper-mediated oxidative injury.

Type D personality and the Five-Factor Model : a facet-level analysis

Objective: This study assessed the degree to which NEO-PI-R facets contribute to understanding of Type D personality over and above the Big 5. Method: Healthy participants (n = 268) completed the DS14 and the NEO-PI-R. In addition to analyzing the Type D subscales of social inhibition and negative affectivity, we computed a continuous measure of Type D scored as the sum of the two subscales. Results: Facets provided moderate incremental prediction of Type D subscales. The facets of assertiveness, self- consciousness, and positive emotion provided incremental prediction of negative affectivity, and warmth, activity, and gregariousness provided incremental prediction of social inhibition. Facets provided minimal incremental prediction of continuous Type D. The Big 5 explained substantially more variance in continuous Type D (71%) than negative affectivity (59%) or social inhibition (61%). Conclusions: Overall, the facet-level analysis provided additional insights into the nature of Type D. The incremental prediction of the Type D subscales by facets supported the idea that Type D scales are narrower constructs than the Big 5. However, the strong prediction of continuous Type D by the Big 5 and the lack of incremental prediction by facets points to the overall Type D construct being well represented by the Big 5.

Algae in fish feed: performances and fatty acid metabolism in juvenile Atlantic Salmon

Algae are at the base of the aquatic food chain, producing the food resources that fish are adapted to consume. Previous studies have proven that the inclusion of small amounts (<10% of the diet) of algae in fish feed (aquafeed) resulted in positive effects in growth performance and feed utilisation efficiency. Marine algae have also been shown to possess functional activities, helping in the mediation of lipid metabolism, and therefore are increasingly studied in human and animal nutrition. The aim of this study was to assess the potentials of two commercially available algae derived products (dry algae meal), Verdemin (derived from Ulva ohnoi) and Rosamin (derived from diatom Entomoneis spp.) for their possible inclusion into diet of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). Fish performances, feed efficiency, lipid metabolism and final product quality were assessed to investigated the potential of the two algae products (in isolation at two inclusion levels, 2.5% and 5%, or in combination), in experimental diets specifically formulated with low fish meal and fish oil content. The results indicate that inclusion of algae product Verdemin and Rosamin at level of 2.5 and 5.0% did not cause any major positive, nor negative, effect in Atlantic Salmon growth and feed efficiency. An increase in the omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 LC-PUFA) content in whole body of fish fed 5% Rosamin was observed.

Redox sulfur chemistry of the copper chaperone Atox1 is regulated by the enzyme glutaredoxin 1, the reduction potential of the glutathione couple GSSG/2GSH and the availability of Cu(I)

Glutaredoxins have been characterised as enzymes regulating the redox status of protein thiols via cofactors GSSG/GSH. However, such a function has not been demonstrated with physiologically relevant protein substrates in in vitro experiments. Their active sites frequently feature a Cys-xx-Cys motif that is predicted not to bind metal ions. Such motifs are also present in copper-transporting proteins such as Atox1, a human cytosolic copper metallo-chaperone. In this work, we present the first demonstration that: (i) human glutaredoxin 1 (hGrx1) efficiently catalyses interchange of the dithiol and disulfide forms of the Cys(12)-xx-Cys(15) fragment in Atox1 but does not act upon the isolated single residue Cys(41); (ii) the direction of catalysis is regulated by the GSSG/2GSH ratio and the availability of Cu(I); (iii) the active site Cys(23)-xx-Cys(26) in hGrx1 can bind Cu(I) tightly with femtomolar affinity (K(D) = 10(-15.5) M) and possesses a reduction potential of E(o)' = -118 mV at pH 7.0. In contrast, the Cys(12)-xx-Cys(15) motif in Atox1 has a higher affinity for Cu(I) (K(D) = 10(-17.4) M) and a more negative potential (E(o)' = -188 mV). These differences may be attributed primarily to the very low pKa of Cys23 in hGrx1 and allow rationalisation of conclusion (ii) above: hGrx1 may catalyse the oxidation of Atox1(dithiol) by GSSG, but not the complementary reduction of the oxidised Atox1(disulfide) by GSH unless Cu(aq)(+) is present at a concentration that allows binding of Cu(I) to reduced Atox1 but not to hGrx1. In fact, in the latter case, the catalytic preferences are reversed. Both Cys residues in the active site of hGrx1 are essential for the high affinity Cu(I) binding but the single Cys(23) residue only is required for the redox catalytic function. The molecular properties of both Atox1 and hGrx1 are consistent with a correlation between copper homeostasis and redox sulfur chemistry, as suggested by recent cell experiments. These proteins appear to have evolved the features necessary to fill multiple roles in redox regulation, Cu(I) buffering and Cu(I) transport.

Carpal and scaphoid fracture incidence in south-eastern Australia: an epidemiologic study

UNLABELLED: Carpal fractures were identified by the Geelong Osteoporosis Study Fracture Grid for 2006-2007. Incidence rates were higher in males than females. Males had a lower median age of fracture than females. Females had more fractures on the left side than males. Most fractures were the result of a fall. PURPOSE: In this study, we report the incidence of carpal bone fractures (scaphoid and non-scaphoid) amongst residents from the Barwon Statistical Division over 2 years. METHODS: X-ray reports from imaging centres in the region were used to identify incident fractures during 2006 and 2007. Data were collected as part of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study Fracture Grid. RESULTS: During 2006 and 2007, there were 171 and 41 carpal fractures in males and females, respectively. Of these, 131 males and 29 females had fractured the scaphoid bone. Females had a higher proportion of left-sided fractures (>70 %) than males (∼40 %). Most fractures were the result of an accidental fall (>87 %). Patterns of incidence for males showed one major peak around 20-29 years. For females, peaks occurred around age 10-19 years and 70-79 years. Incidence rates for males (per 100,000 persons per year) were 54.6 (95 % confidence interval (CI) 53.6, 55.7) and 15.9 (95 % CI 15.4, 16.5) for scaphoid and non-scaphoid fractures, respectively. In females, the corresponding rates were 10.6 (95 % CI 10.2, 11.1) and 4.5 (95 % CI 4.2, 4.8). CONCLUSION: Almost all fractures were the result of a fall. In males, carpal fractures were sustained mainly during early adulthood and in females during adolescence and after menopause. Incidence rates for males were higher than those in females for both scaphoid and non-scaphoid fractures.

Accountability in juvenile justice : a framework to assess client outcomes

This article describes the development of an assessment protocol for use with juvenile justice clients that can be used to assess needs in a manner that not only informs the development of case plans but also allows for the assessment of change over the course of a service contact. The youth justice assessment tool supports case needs identification and analysis as well as screening for mental health concerns, risk of harm to self or others, and risk of reoffending. Initial validation of the case needs component has been undertaken and although further validation is required, preliminary data reported in this article suggest that this type of approach to client assessment does hold some promise.