Angiotensin II-mediated adaptive and maladaptive remodeling of cardiomyocyte excitation-contraction coupling.

Cardiac hypertrophy is associated with alterations in cardiomyocyte excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) and Ca(2+) handling. Chronic elevation of plasma angiotensin II (Ang II) is a major determinant in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy and congestive heart failure. However, the molecular mechanisms by which the direct actions of Ang II on cardiomyocytes contribute to ECC remodeling are not precisely known. This question was addressed using cardiac myocytes isolated from transgenic (TG1306/1R [TG]) mice exhibiting cardiac specific overexpression of angiotensinogen, which develop Ang II-mediated cardiac hypertrophy in the absence of hemodynamic overload. Electrophysiological techniques, photolysis of caged Ca(2+) and confocal Ca(2+) imaging were used to examine ECC remodeling at early ( approximately 20 weeks of age) and late ( approximately 60 weeks of age) time points during the development of cardiac dysfunction. In young TG mice, increased cardiac Ang II levels induced a hypertrophic response in cardiomyocyte, which was accompanied by an adaptive change of Ca(2+) signaling, specifically an upregulation of the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger-mediated Ca(2+) transport. In contrast, maladaptation was evident in older TG mice, as suggested by reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) content resulting from a shift in the ratio of plasmalemmal Ca(2+) removal and sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) uptake. This was associated with a conserved ECC gain, consistent with a state of hypersensitivity in Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release. Together, our data suggest that chronic elevation of cardiac Ang II levels significantly alters cardiomyocyte ECC in the long term, and thereby contractility, independently of hemodynamic overload and arterial hypertension.

How are Spanish academics coping with changes? Responses from a life histories research.

[eng] This report is part of the research project, The effects of social changes in work and professional life of Spanish academics, partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEJ2006-01876), that has explored change in legislation, organisation, research schemes and so on, in the last thirty years. The main aim of this project is deepening our understanding of the impact of undergoing economic, social, cultural, technological and labour change in Spanish universities in the life and professional identity of the teaching and research staff, taking into account the national and european context. This paper gathers part of the results gained from the project, being its primary objective to contribute to an improved knowledge-base on professional knowledge and work experience in higher education institutions in Spain and, as a consequence, to understand how Spanish academics are coping with current changes.

How are Spanish academics coping with changes? Responses from a life histories research.

[eng] This report is part of the research project, The effects of social changes in work and professional life of Spanish academics, partially financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SEJ2006-01876), that has explored change in legislation, organisation, research schemes and so on, in the last thirty years. The main aim of this project is deepening our understanding of the impact of undergoing economic, social, cultural, technological and labour change in Spanish universities in the life and professional identity of the teaching and research staff, taking into account the national and european context. This paper gathers part of the results gained from the project, being its primary objective to contribute to an improved knowledge-base on professional knowledge and work experience in higher education institutions in Spain and, as a consequence, to understand how Spanish academics are coping with current changes.

Maladaptive exploratory behavior and neuropathology of the PS-1 P117L Alzheimer transgenic mice.

Patients with the early-onset Alzheimer's disease P117L mutation in the presenilin-1 gene (PS-1) present pathological hallmarks in the hippocampus, the frontal cortex and the basal ganglia. In the present work we determined by immunohistochemistry which brain regions were injured in the transgenic PS-1 P117L mice, in comparison to their littermates, the B6D2 mice. Furthermore, as these regions are involved in novelty detection, we investigated the behavior of these mice in tests for object and place novelty recognition. Limited numbers of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles were detected in aged PS-1 P117L mice in the CA1 only, indicating that the disease is restrained to an initial neuropathological stage. Western blots showed a change in PSD-95 expression (p=0.03), not in NR2A subunit, NR2B subunit and synaptophysin expressions in the frontal cortex, suggesting specific synaptic alterations. The behavioral tests repeatedly revealed, despite a non-significant preference for object or place novelty, maladaptive exploratory behavior of the PS-1 P117L mice in novel environmental conditions, not due to locomotor problems. These mice, unlike the B6D2 mice, were less inhibited to visit the center of the cages (p=0.01) and they continued to move excessively in the presence of a displaced object (p=0.021). Overall, the PS-1 P117L mice appear to be in an initial Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathological stage, and they showed a lack of reaction toward novel environmental conditions.

Coping with continuous human disturbance in the wild: insights from penguin heart rate response to various stressors.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: A central question for ecologists is the extent to which anthropogenic disturbances (e.g. tourism) might impact wildlife and affect the systems under study. From a research perspective, identifying the effects of human disturbance caused by research-related activities is crucial in order to understand and account for potential biases and derive appropriate conclusions from the data. RESULTS: Here, we document a case of biological adjustment to chronic human disturbance in a colonial seabird, the king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus), breeding on remote and protected islands of the Southern ocean. Using heart rate (HR) as a measure of the stress response, we show that, in a colony with areas exposed to the continuous presence of humans (including scientists) for over 50 years, penguins have adjusted to human disturbance and habituated to certain, but not all, types of stressors. When compared to birds breeding in relatively undisturbed areas, birds in areas of high chronic human disturbance were found to exhibit attenuated HR responses to acute anthropogenic stressors of low-intensity (i.e. sounds or human approaches) to which they had been subjected intensely over the years. However, such attenuation was not apparent for high-intensity stressors (i.e. captures for scientific research) which only a few individuals experience each year. CONCLUSIONS: Habituation to anthropogenic sounds/approaches could be an adaptation to deal with chronic innocuous stressors, and beneficial from a research perspective. Alternately, whether penguins have actually habituated to anthropogenic disturbances over time or whether human presence has driven the directional selection of human-tolerant phenotypes, remains an open question with profound ecological and conservation implications, and emphasizes the need for more knowledge on the effects of human disturbance on long-term studied populations.

A case study of landslides and coping strategies in two villages of central-eastern Nepal

Landslides are an increasing problem in Nepal's Middle Hills due to both natural and human phenomena: mainly increasingly intense monsoon rains and a boom in rural road construction. This problem has largely been neglected due to underreporting of losses and the dispersed nature of landslides. Understanding how populations cope with landslides is a first step toward developing more effective landslide risk management programs. The present research focuses on two villages in Central-Eastern Nepal, both affected by active landslides but with different coping strategies. Research methods are interdisciplinary, based on a geological assessment of landslide risk and a socio-economic study of the villages using household questionnaires, focus group discussions and transect walks. Community risk maps are compared with geological landslide risk maps to better understand and communicate community risk perceptions, priorities and coping strategies. A modified typology of coping strategies is presented, based on previous work by Burton, Kates, and White (1993) that is useful for decision-makers for designing more effective programs for landslide mitigation. Main findings underscore that coping strategies, mainly seeking external assistance and outmigration, are closely linked to access to resources, ethnicity/social status and levels of community organization. Conclusions include the importance of investing in organizational skills, while building on local knowledge about landslide mitigation for reducing landslide risk. There is great potential to increase coping strategies by incorporating skills training on landslide mitigation in existing agricultural outreach and community forest user group training.

Correlational study: illness representations and coping styles in caregivers for individuals with schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Caring for individuals with schizophrenia can create distress for caregivers which can, in turn, have a harmful impact on patient progress. There could be a better understanding of the connections between caregivers' representations of schizophrenia and coping styles. This study aims at exploring those connections. METHODS: This correlational descriptive study was conducted with 92 caregivers of individuals suffering from schizophrenia. The participants completed three questionnaires translated and validated in French: (a) a socio-demographic questionnaire, (b) the Illness Perception Questionnaire for Schizophrenia and (c) the Family Coping Questionnaire. RESULTS: Our results show that illness representations are slightly correlated with coping styles. More specifically, emotional representations are correlated to an emotion-focused coping style centred on coercion, avoidance and resignation. CONCLUSION: Our results are coherent with the Commonsense Model of Self-Regulation of Health and Illness and should enable to develop new interventions for caregivers.

Religious coping in schizophrenia patients : spiritual support in medical care and pastoral counselling

Following an introduction focusing on the role of religion in the treatment of psychosis, the first part of this paper describes an initial study in which the role of spirituality and religiosity was assessed in 115 patients with schizophrenia in Geneva (Switzerland) and 126 in Trois-Rivières (Quebec). These themes have been shown to be highly prevalent for these patients, though their clinicians are often unaware of this prevalence. The following part of the paper presents a second study where religious supervision was offered to clinicians in Geneva. Comparison between forty patients who received spiritual assessment and opportunities to work on religious topics with their clinicians was made with thirty patients without religious intervention. In the supervisory sessions, six different types of religious interventions were suggested. Outcomes at three months show that patients of the intervention group maintain their interest for help in religious matters while clinicians' interest in integrating religious topics in discussions with their patients has decreased. The third and main part of the paper is devoted to an analysis of the suggested interventions from the viewpoint of the study of religions. Five aspects of religion are distinguished, and explanations of the reasons some of them are easier to manage for clinicians are proposed. The paper concludes with proposals for the education of clinicians to help them to differentiate different kinds of religious coping and to recognize when it could be helpful to refer the patient to a pastoral counsellor.

Collective symbolic coping with disease threat and othering: A case study of avian influenza

Much research studies how individuals cope with disease threat by blaming out-groups and protecting the in-group. The model of collective symbolic coping (CSC) describes four stages by which representations of a threatening event are elaborated in the mass media: awareness, divergence, convergence, and normalization. We used the CSC model to predict when symbolic in-group protection (othering) would occur in the case of the avian influenza (AI) outbreak. Two studies documented CSC stages and showed that othering occurred during the divergence stage, characterized by an uncertain symbolic environment. Study 1 analysed media coverage of AI over time, documenting CSC stages of awareness and divergence. In Study 2, a two-wave repeated cross-sectional survey was conducted just after the divergence stage and a year later. Othering was measured by the number of foreign countries erroneously ticked by participants as having human victims. Individual differences in germ aversion and social dominance orientation interacted to predict othering during the divergence stage but not a year later. Implications for research on CSC and symbolic in-group protection strategies resulting from disease threat are discussed.

Stage fright: its experience as a problem and coping with it.

PURPOSE AND METHOD: This questionnaire survey of 190 university music students assessed negative feelings of music performance anxiety (MPA) before performing, the experience of stage fright as a problem, and how closely they are associated with each other. The study further investigated whether the experience of stage fright as a problem and negative feelings of MPA predict the coping behavior of the music students. Rarely addressed coping issues were assessed, i.e., self-perceived effectiveness of different coping strategies, knowledge of possible risks and acceptance of substance-based coping strategies, and need for more support.RESULTS: The results show that one-third of the students experienced stage fright as a problem and that this was only moderately correlated with negative feelings of MPA. The experience of stage fright as a problem significantly predicted the frequency of use and the acceptance of medication as a coping strategy. Breathing exercises and self-control techniques were rated as effective as medication. Finally, students expressed a strong need to receive more support (65%) and more information (84%) concerning stage fright.CONCLUSION: Stage fright was experienced as a problem and perceived as having negative career consequences by a considerable percentage of the surveyed students. In addition to a desire for more help and support, the students expressed an openness and willingness to seriously discuss and address the topic of stage fright. This provides a necessary and promising basis for optimal career preparation and, hence, an opportunity to prevent occupational problems in professional musicians. [Authors]

Coping is excellent in Swiss Children with inflammatory bowel disease: results from the Swiss IBD cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) starting during childhood has been assumed to impair quality of life (QoL) of affected children. As this aspect is crucial for further personality development, the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed in a Swiss nationwide cohort to obtain detailed information on the fields of impairment. METHODS: Data were prospectively acquired from pediatric patients included in the Swiss IBD Cohort Study. IBD activity was evaluated by PCDAI and PUCAI. The age adapted KIDSCREEN questionnaire was evaluated for 110 children with IBD (64 with Crohn's disease 46 with ulcerative colitis). Data were analyzed with respect to established reference values of healthy controls. RESULTS: In the KIDSCREEN index a moderate impairment was only found for physical wellbeing due to disease activity. In contrast, mental well-being and social support were even better as compared to control values. A subgroup analysis revealed that this observation was restricted to the children in the German speaking part of Switzerland, whereas there was no difference compared to controls in the French part of Switzerland. Furthermore, autonomy and school variables were significantly higher in the IBD patients as compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: The social support for children with IBD is excellent in this cohort. Only physical well-being was impaired due to disease activity, whereas all other KIDSCREEN parameters were better as compared to controls. This indicates that effective coping and support strategies may be able to compensate the burden of disease in pediatric IBD patients.

Coping with an HIV infection. A multicenter qualitative survey on HIV positive adolescents' perceptions of their disease, therapeutic adherence and treatment.

HIV-positive adolescents face a number of challenges in dealing with their disease and its treatment. In this qualitative study, twenty-nine HIV-positive adolescents aged 13 to 20 years (22 girls), who live in Switzerland, were asked, in a semi-structured interview (duration of 40-110 minutes), to describe their perceptions and experiences with the disease itself and with therapeutic adherence. While younger adolescents most often thought of their disease as fate, older adolescents usually knew that they had received it through vertical transmission, although the topic appeared to be particularly difficult to discuss for those living with their HIV-positive mothers. Based on their attending physician's assessment, 18 subjects were judged highly adherent, 4 fairly and 7 poorly adherent. High adherence appeared linked with adequate psychological adjustment and effective coping mechanisms, as well as with the discussion and adoption of explicit medication-taking strategies. The setting and organisation of health care teams should allow for ongoing discussions with HIV-positive adolescents that focus on their perceptions of their disease, how they cope with it and with the treatment, and how they could improve their adherence.

Coping with Technology: A Study on Economic Methodology and Strategic Management of Technology

There is a broad consensus among economists that technologicalchange has been a major contributor to the productivity growth and, hence, to the growth of the material welfare in western industrialized countries at least over the last century. Paradoxically, this issue has not been the focal point of theoretical economics. At the same time, we have witnessed the rise of the importance of technological issues at the strategic management level of business firms. Interestingly, the research has not accurately responded to this challenge either. The tension between the overwhelming empirical evidence of the importance of technology and its relative omission in the research offers a challenging target for a methodological endeavor. This study deals with the question of how different theories cope with technology and explain technological change. The focusis at the firm level and the analysis concentrates on metatheoretical issues, except for the last two chapters, which examine the problems of strategic management of technology. Here the aim is to build a new evolutionary-based theoreticalframework to analyze innovation processes at the firm level. The study consistsof ten chapters. Chapter 1 poses the research problem and contrasts the two basic approaches, neoclassical and evolutionary, to be analyzed. Chapter 2 introduces the methodological framework which is based on the methodology of isolation. Methodological and ontoogical commitments of the rival approaches are revealed and basic questions concerning their ways of theorizing are elaborated. Chapters 3-6 deal with the so-called substantive isolative criteria. The aim is to examine how different approaches cope with such critical issues as inherent uncertainty and complexity of innovative activities (cognitive isolations, chapter 3), theboundedness of rationality of innovating agents (behavioral isolations, chapter4), the multidimensional nature of technology (chapter 5), and governance costsrelated to technology (chapter 6). Chapters 7 and 8 put all these things together and look at the explanatory structures used by the neoclassical and evolutionary approaches in the light of substantive isolations. The last two cpahters of the study utilize the methodological framework and tools to appraise different economics-based candidates in the context of strategic management of technology. The aim is to analyze how different approaches answer the fundamental question: How can firms gain competitive advantages through innovations and how can the rents appropriated from successful innovations be sustained? The last chapter introduces a new evolutionary-based technology management framework. Also the largely omitted issues of entrepreneurship are examined.