“The Cancer Bond”: Exploring the Formation of Cancer Risk Perception in Families with Lynch Syndrome

This study explores the social context of hereditary cancer risk perception in three families, an African-American family, a Mexican-American family, and a Caucasian family, each with Lynch Syndrome documented by a mismatch repair gene mutation. Communication network assessments measured family communication about cancer experiences and genetic testing information among a total of 26 participants. Participant narratives were evaluated to gain insight into how family cancer experiences and genetic testing information have shaped perceptions of cancer risk. Analysis of communication networks indicated that some families discussed cancer experiences to a greater extent than genetic testing information, and vice-versa. Interviews elucidated that sharing both types of health information led participants to conceptualize linkages among a strong family history of cancer, genetic testing information, and cancer prevention strategies. Understanding how different types of family communication influence the formation of perceived hereditary disease risk may enhance efforts to tailor genetic counseling services for families.     

A randomized trial of a self-help smoking cessation intervention in a nonvolunteer female population: testing the limits of the public health model.

Reaching nonvolunteer female smokers with effective smoking cessation programs is a critical public health challenge. Smokers (N = 2,786) among 15,004 female members of a health maintenance organization who completed a routine needs assessment were invited into the "UCLA Preventive Health Behavior Study," consisting of five telephone interviews over 2 years assessing health practices. Participants (N = 1,396) were randomized into experimental or control conditions of an unsolicited, mailed, self-help smoking cessation program. Subjects were not alerted to the link between the program and the health study. Smoking status was assessed at 1, 6, 12, and 18 months. Across all subjects, point prevalence at 18 months was 18.62, and continuous abstinence was 2.71%. No difference was found between treatment and control groups regarding smoking status or readiness to stop smoking--raising questions about the value of mailing cessation materials to nonvolunteers. Quit rates increased over the 18-month follow-up; those still smoking at 18 months reported increased readiness to quit. Predictors at each follow-up point were examined multivariately.     

Debunking myths about self-quitting. Evidence from 10 prospective studies of persons who attempt to quit smoking by themselves

This article examines data from 10 longterm prospective studies (N greater than 5,000) in relation to key issues about the self-quitting of smoking, especially those discussed by Schachter. When a single attempt to quit was evaluated, self-quitters' success rates were no better than those reported for formal treatment programs. Light smokers (20 or less cigarettes per day) were 2.2 times more likely to quit than heavy smokers. The cyclical nature of quitting was also examined. There was a moderate rate (mdn = 2.7%) of long-term quitting initiated after the early months (expected quitting window) of these studies, but also a high rate (mdn = 24%) of relapsing for persons abstinent for six months. The number of previous unsuccessful quit attempts was unrelated to success in quitting. Finally, there were few occasional smokers (slips) among successful long-term quitters. We argue that quitting smoking is a dynamic process, not a discrete event.     

Use of diet pills and amphetamines to lose weight among smoking and nonsmoking high school seniors

Used data on 3,305 high school seniors collected as part of the 1984 Monitoring the Future project to examine the relationships among cigarette use, diet pill use, and use of amphetamines for weight loss. Results indicate that females were more likely than males to report use of all three substances. In addition, Whites were more likely than Blacks to use all three substances. Both female and male smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to use diet pills. Amphetamine use for weight loss was positively related to smoking among females, but not among males. The relationships between smoking and diet pill use, and smoking and amphetamine use to lose weight, were maintained when race, sex, and other drug use were controlled simultaneously. Two explanations for these relationships are considered. The first is that smoking is related to the use of most other licit and illicit drugs. The second explanation is that there is a greater preoccupation with weight among smokers, with weight concerns potentially motivating the initiation of smoking.     

The association between body image and smoking cessation among individuals living with HIV/AIDS

Lower smoking cessation rates are associated with body image concerns in the general population. This relationship is particularly important to study in individuals living with HIV/AIDS due to alarmingly high smoking rates and considerable bodily changes experienced with HIV disease progression and treatment. The association between body image and smoking cessation rates was examined among individuals living with HIV/AIDS participating in a smoking cessation intervention. Body image concerns were significantly associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and social support, all variables known to affect cessation rates. However, reduced quit rates were found among individuals reporting elevated and low levels of body image concerns at the end of treatment. These findings suggest a unique relationship between smoking and body image among individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Further research is needed to examine these effects and whether moderate levels of body image concerns in this population reflect realistic body perceptions associated with positive mental health.     

Chronic nicotine and withdrawal effects on radial-arm maze performance in rats

Rats were tested for choice accuracy in an eight-arm radial maze during and after chronic administration of nicotine via subcutaneously implanted glass and Silastic capsules. Nicotine administration significantly improved choice accuracy relative to controls. The effect gradually became apparent over the first 2 weeks of exposure and persisted through the third week. Surprisingly, the significant facilitation of the nicotine-treated rats relative to controls continued for 2 weeks after the end of nicotine administration. No effects of nicotine were seen on choice latency or the strategy to make adjacent arm entries.     

Discovering New Ways of Moving: Observational Analysis of Motor Creativity While Dancing Contact Improvisation and the Influence of the Partner

Contact improvisation (CI) is a form of dance based on motor creativity, improvisation and the physical contact between different improvisers dancing together. This will generate different ways of moving and a varied use of motor creativity depending on the dancers involved. This study aims to observe the differences in movement generation depending on the partner by using OSMOS (Observational System of Motor Skills; Castañer & Camerino 2006; Castañer et al., 2009). Four contact improvisers were video‐recorded while dancing in duets. Data were analysed by three observers using Theme Coder software (Magnusson, 1996) for the detection of T‐patterns and the production of event frequency charts. The results show that (1) the motor skills that appear most frequently are the conduction of partners, elevations, spatial level changes and turns; (2) motor creativity is affected by the partner, as there is a reciprocal influence in the dance; and (3) motor creativity is enhanced by interaction with a partner.     

Why Dexamethasone Poorly Penetrates in Brain

Dexamethasone poorly penetrates in brain. A tracer amount of [3H]-dexamethasone administered to adrenalectomized rats or mice is poorly retained by glucocorticoid receptors in brain, while pituitary corticotrophs containing equivalent amounts of these receptors accumulate and retain large amounts of this synthetic steroid. However, adrenalectomized mice with a genetic disruption of the multiple drug resistance (mrd1a) gene have a tenfold increase of [3H]-dexamethasone uptake in brain glucocorticoid target sites reaching levels observed in the pituitary. These data demonstrate that dexamethasone is extruded from brain by the mrd1a-encoded P-glycoproteins. The data support the concept of a pituitary site of action of dexamethasone in blockade of stress-induced ACTH release, which implies that chronic dexamethasone treatment does not replace the endogenous corticosteroids depleted from brain mineralocorticoid (MRs) and glucocorticoid receptors (GRs). Dexamethasone, therefore, causes a profound disturbance in the balance of these two receptor types in hippocampus, which is an unfavourable condition threatening the neuronal integrity of this brain structure through the expression of noxious genes.     

Dexamethasone Does Not Prevent Seven-Day ADX-Induced Apoptosis in the Dentate Gyrus of the Rat Hippocampus

Long-term adrenalectomy (ADX) is known to result in apoptosis within the dentate gyrus of the rat hippocampus. While the underlying mechanism is still unclear, adrenal steroids appear to play a pivotal role in granule cell survival, as administration of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) agonists, corticosterone and aldosterone, to ADX rats results in protection against the ADX-induced effect. The consequence of administration of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) agonists, dexamethasone and RU28362, however, is less clear, and either complete or only partial protection for the ADX animal has been reported. This study investigated further the role played by GR in the degenerative process. After establishing the characteristics of seven-day ADX-induced apoptosis in the young male Wistar rat, the effect of chronically-implanted, subcutaneous pellets containing various doses of dexamethasone and corticosterone, on ADX-induced apoptosis was studied. Both high and low doses of corticosterone were found to be protective. In contrast to some other studies, however, neither dose of dexamethasone had any obvious protective effect and rather seemed to increase apoptosis in dentate gyrus of intact animals. Intracerebroventricular infusion of dexamethasone for seven days was also found to be ineffective in preventing apoptosis, demonstrating that it is occupation of MR, rather than GR, which is crucial to dentate gyrus granule cell survival.