Child Aggression in a Post-Communist Country: Race and Gender Aspects in a Cross-Cultural Comparison

Gypsies represent approximately 2.5% of the Czech population, but are considerably over-represented among the unemployed, prisoners, schooldropouts, neglected children, etc. Together with racist attitudes on the part of the majority, this causes strong inter-ethnic tension and obviouseconomic, moral and political problems. This research studied the way in which this situation is reflected in peer relations between Gypsy andmajority children in schools. Six samples of children (totalling 2974 children aged 7-15, of whom 15% were Gypsies) were studied through peernomination, teacher assessment and self-reporting. Gypsy/non-Gypsy and gender dichotomies were correlated with measures of aggression,victimisation and acceptance/rejection. The results showed that Gypsy children, both boys and girls, were more likely to nominate their Gypsy peers as aggressors than they nominatemajority children, implying that they tend to direct their rejection toward their own kind. The number of Gypsy children in a class was also animportant factor with Gypsies being more likely to be accepted and less likely to appear aggressive when they were only one or two in a class, thanin a class where there was a greater number of Gypsy pupils. When whole classes were taken as the unit of analysis, Gypsy children were seen asmore likely to behave aggressively in class by their Gypsy and non-Gypsy counterparts as well as by their teachers. At the same time they aremuch less likely to become victims of aggression than are non-Gypsy children, both boys and girls. Mr. Rican also found that the acceptance/rejection patterns of Gypsy children betray their unsatisfactory socialisation. Among their peers, Gypsyor non-Gypsy, they tend to prefer aggressors or children who teachers describe as showing little discipline or effort to succeed at school. Partialcorrelation to assess the influence of seniority on aggressiveness provided a warning that the recent lengthening of compulsory school attendance islikely to bring an increase in aggressiveness. He believes that Gypsy ethnic identity has lost many of its important positive aspects, making itsnegative aspects more prominent and more dangerous. He does however find some possible ways for teachers to reinforce the positive aspects ofGypsy children's identities in order to support their socialisation at schools.

Dynamics of Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in Northern Lao PDR Between 2000 and 2009 Based on an Analysis of MODIS Time Series and Landsat Images

The rotational nature of shifting cultivation poses several challenges to its detection by remote sensing. Consequently, there is a lack of spatial data on the dynamics of shifting cultivation landscapes on a regional, i.e. sub-national, or national level. We present an approach based on a time series of Landsat and MODIS data and landscape metrics to delineate the dynamics of shifting cultivation landscapes. Our results reveal that shifting cultivation is a land use system still widely and dynamically utilized in northern Laos. While there is an overall reduction in the areas dominated by shifting cultivation, some regions also show an expansion. A review of relevant reports and articles indicates that policies tend to lead to a reduction while market forces can result in both expansion and reduction. For a better understanding of the different factors affecting shifting cultivation landscapes in Laos, further research should focus on spatially explicit analyses.

Serological and DNA-based evaluation of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in inflammatory bowel disease

OBJECTIVES: Chlamydia has been associated with autoimmune diseases, but a link between chlamydial infection and the aetiopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains controversial. In this study we assessed the relationship between chlamydial infection and IBD, as evidenced by serological measurement and DNA analysis of mucosal biopsy specimens. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The sera of 78 patients with Crohn's disease (CD), 24 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), 73 healthy family members, and 20 healthy controls were tested for anti-C. pneumoniae IgG titres. A subgroup consisting of 13 UC and 39 CD patients was screened for the presence of chlamydial DNA on 42 inflamed versus 30 non-inflamed biopsy specimens and for mutations of their NOD2/CARD15 gene. RESULTS: Anti-C. pneumoniae IgG antibodies were found in the sera of 32 (41%) patients with CD, 11 (46%) patients with UC, 35 (48%) of unaffected family members, and nine (45%) unrelated healthy controls. Thirty-five percent of the control, 18% CD and 24% UC biopsy specimens contained C. pneumoniae DNA. In CD, however, C. pneumoniae DNA was significantly more frequently found in inflamed (27%) versus non-inflamed (8%) biopsy specimens (P < 0.05, Fisher's exact test). The frequencies of NOD2/CARD15 mutations were 33% for CD patients with C. pneumoniae DNA compared to 47% for CD patients without C. pneumoniae DNA. CONCLUSION: We found no marked differences in respect to anti-C. pneumoniae serum IgG or C. pneumoniae DNA between healthy controls and patients with IBD. However, in CD patients, inflamed tissue specimens contained significantly more likely C. pneumoniae DNA compared with biopsies from unaffected areas. Thus C. pneumoniae is unlikely to be of pathogenic importance in IBD while it may still influence local clinical manifestations.

Percutaneous coronary interventions in Europe: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections based on data up to 2004

AIMS: A registry mandated by the European Society of Cardiology collects data on trends in interventional cardiology within Europe. Special interest focuses on relative increases and ratios in new techniques and their distributions across Europe. We report the data through 2004 and give an overview of the development of coronary interventions since the first data collection in 1992. METHODS AND RESULTS: Questionnaires were distributed yearly to delegates of all national societies of cardiology represented in the European Society of Cardiology. The goal was to collect the case numbers of all local institutions and operators. The overall numbers of coronary angiographies increased from 1992 to 2004 from 684 000 to 2 238 000 (from 1250 to 3930 per million inhabitants). The respective numbers for percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) and coronary stenting procedures increased from 184 000 to 885 000 (from 335 to 1550) and from 3000 to 770 000 (from 5 to 1350), respectively. Germany was the most active country with 712 000 angiographies (8600), 249 000 angioplasties (3000), and 200 000 stenting procedures (2400) in 2004. The indication has shifted towards acute coronary syndromes, as demonstrated by rising rates of interventions for acute myocardial infarction over the last decade. The procedures are more readily performed and perceived safer, as shown by increasing rate of "ad hoc" PCIs and decreasing need for emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). In 2004, the use of drug-eluting stents continued to rise. However, an enormous variability is reported with the highest rate in Switzerland (70%). If the rate of progression remains constant until 2010 the projected number of coronary angiographies will be over three million, and the number of PCIs about 1.5 million with a stenting rate of almost 100%. CONCLUSION: Interventional cardiology in Europe is ever expanding. New coronary revascularization procedures, alternative or complementary to balloon angioplasty, have come and gone. Only stenting has stood the test of time and matured to the default technique. Facilitated access to PCI, more complete and earlier detection of coronary artery disease promise continued growth of the procedure despite the uncontested success of prevention.

Age and gender-dependent alternative splicing of P/Q-type calcium channel EF-hand

Ca(v)2.1 Ca(2+) channels (P/Q-type), which participate in various key roles in the CNS by mediating calcium influx, are extensively spliced. One of its alternatively-spliced exons is 37, which forms part of the EF hand. The expression of exon 37a (EFa form), but not exon 37b (EFb form), confers the channel an activity-dependent enhancement of channel opening known as Ca(2+)-dependent facilitation (CDF). In this study, we analyzed the trend of EF hand splice variant distributions in mouse, rat and human brain tissues. We observed a developmental switch in rodents, as well as an age and gender bias in human brain tissues, suggestive of a possible role of these EF hand splice variants in neurophysiological specialization. A parallel study performed on rodent brains showed that the data drawn from human and rodent tissues may not necessarily correlate in the process of aging.