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Background: High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency (

Cross-cultural variability in respondent processing of survey questions may bias results from multiethnic samples. We analyzed behavior codes, which identify difficulties in the interactions of respondents and interviewers, from a discrimination module contained within a field test of the 2007 California Health Interview Survey. In all, 553 (English) telephone interviews yielded 13,999 interactions involving 22 items. Multilevel logistic regression modeling revealed that respondent age and several item characteristics (response format, customized questions, length, and first item with new response format), but not race/ethnicity, were associated with interactional problems. These findings suggest that item function within a multi-cultural, albeit English language, survey may be largely influenced by question features, as opposed to respondent characteristics such as race/ethnicity.

Conventional wisdom indicates that receipt of social support is universally beneficial. Social support from network ties is believed to be a fundamental aspect of psychological well-being and the therapeutic process (Kawachi & Berkman, 2001); however, social strain rooted in the same support networks may contribute to poorer mental health outcomes (Kook, 1992). Furthermore, research suggests support and strain may differentially affect men and women (Umberson, Chen, House, Hopkins, & Slaten, 1996). Recent research suggests that social networks and the ways individuals use these networks may also vary by culture, yet studies on minority communities, such as Asian Americans, are limited (H. S. Kim, Sherman, Ko, & Taylor, 2006). Asian Americans are one of the fastest-growing minority groups in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). Although prior research suggests that Asian Americans have lower rates of psychological disorder and use of mental health services than other racial and ethnic groups (Matsuoka, Breaux, & Kyujin, 1997), recent studies indicate a substantial need for mental health care among Asian Americans (Marshall, Schell, Elliott, Berthold, & Chun, 2005; Mui & Kang, 2006; Takeuchi et al., 2007). Shame and stigma associated with mental illness may discourage people from using formal mental health services. This may be particularly true among Asian Americans, who often rely on family and members of their informal networks for support of their mental health problems (Leong & Lau, 2001; Spencer & Chen, 2004). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of social support and strain on mental health among Asian Americans. This study has several unique features. First, in contrast to prior studies that only focus on either support or strain, we examine both factors simultaneously while distinguishing between support and strain from friends and from family. Second, we investigate major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) because these are clinical outcomes that contribute to considerable disability (World Health Organization, 2001). Third, we explore possible gender differences in these relations. Finally, we examine these issues among an understudied population and use a nationally representative sample. BACKGROUND Social Support, Social Strain, and Well-Being A large body of literature has described the salubrious effects of social support (Berkman & Glass, 2000; House, Landis, & Umberson, 1988). Berkman and Glass described social support as emotional, instrumental, tangible, and informational resources that individuals obtain from their network ties. These resources are known to promote mental health by enhancing self-esteem, strengthening effective coping, and mitigating distress. In studies on Asian Americans, social support has been negatively associated with acculturative stress and depression (Mui, 2001; Yeh & Inose, 2003). Social support also buffered the effect of stressors on mental and physical health among diverse Asian American groups (Choi, 1997; Gee et al., 2006). Other research suggests that Asian cultural values related to collectivism can limit the healthful benefits of social support. In contrast to Western individualism, a collectivist orientation may hinder disclosure of personal problems for fear of burdening others, disrupting group harmony, or losing face (B.S.K. Kim, Atkinson, & Umemoto, 2001; H. S. Kim et al., 2006). Indeed, some studies have found that compared with white Americans, Asian Americans appear less likely to seek social support in response to stress (Taylor et al,, 2004) or after breast-cancer treatment (Wellisch et al., 1999). H. S. Kim et al. (2006) found that Asian American students sought less support from family and friends and, further, perceived support to be less helpful in dealing with stress than white students. Taken together, the conflicting findings regarding social support's effectiveness for Asian Americans demonstrate a need for further investigation. …

Self-reported discrimination is linked to diminished well-being, but the processes generating these reports remain poorly understood. Employing the life course perspective, this paper examines the correspondence between expected age preferences for workers and perceived age discrimination among a nationally representative sample of 7,225 working women, followed between 1972-1989. Analyses find that perceived age discrimination is high in the 20s, drops in the 30s and peaks in the 50s. This curvilinear pattern matches external reports of age preferences and is robust to a variety of controls and model specifications. Additionally, the primary driver of perceived age discrimination is age – not cohort or historical period. These findings suggest that perceived age discrimination is a useful indicator of population-level exposure to work-related age discrimination among women.

We have been researching the capability of atomic force microscopy to reveal nontopographic properties of tissue embedded in plastic and sectioned with standard electron microscopic techniques. We present topography and elasticity maps of plastic-embedded, thin sections of muscle tissue. The images show topography correlated with the normal repeating structure of the sarcomere. Elasticity mapping using force modulation revealed contrast between the actin- and myosin-rich areas. We attribute the observed contrast in elasticity to the difference in local concentrations of biological material in embedding plastic.

The enumeration of lymphocyte subsets in absolute counts has long relied on different methods applied separately to whole blood cell count, lymphocyte differential appreciation, and flow cytometric evaluation of lymphocyte subsets percentages. The development of multicolor labeling methods inflow cytometry now allows a more homogeneous appreciation of several cell subsets among gated lymphocytes. The use of internal calibrators, such as microbead suspensions, also permits a direct appreciation of subsets in absolute counts in a single-platform method. These methods were compared with a traditional multiplatform method of assessing absolute counts of lymphocyte subsets in a pilot study in which all manipulations were performed by 1 person and in a full-scale larger study performed in the normal working conditions of a hospital laboratory. Microspheres seem to be a reliable tool to perform absolute count enumeration inflow cytometry, but several precautions in the sample preparation and flow cytometric analysis are required.

Quantitation of lysozyme in human milk was performed by a microparticle-enhanced nephelometric immunoassay based on the measurement of the light scattered during the competitive immunoagglutination of a microparticle–lysozyme conjugate with an anti-lysozyme antiserum. This immunoassay has a detection limit of 8 μg/L of reaction mixture and can be performed using diluted milk (1:6000, in reaction mixture), excluding sample pretreatment. Human milk lysozyme can be quantified over the concentration range 0.09–1.50 g/L, with within- and between-run coefficients of variation

Blood samples were obtained from 16 hemophiliacs who had a 50%-94% defined risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection on the basis of treatment history and from 14 controls not at risk for HIV infection. HIV-1 was not detected in any of 12 patient samples by cocultivation nor in 14 patient samples by the polymerase chain reaction. Peripheral blood cells from 7 seronegative hemophiliacs at highest risk of seroconversion (94%) were less susceptible to HIV-1 infection in vitro than were cells from healthy controls (P < .025, one-tailed Wilcoxon rank sum test). In contrast, the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection of lymphocytes from 6 seronegative hemophiliacs at moderate risk (50%-56%) of seroconversion did not differ from that of cells from controls or from high-risk hemophiliacs. Therefore, prolonged periods of seronegative HIV-1 infection are not common in this high-risk population. In addition, among hemophiliacs there may exist heterogeneity in susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in vitro and in vivo.

Bacterial ribosomes have been shown to induce effective humoral and cellular immunological responses to whole microorganisms. In this study, the numbers of specific antibody producing cells directed towards Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes and Haemophilus influenzae ribosomes or whole bacteria sonicates were compared in the peripheral blood and tonsils of 7 children, and in the tonsils, mesenteric and cervical lymph nodes of 10 sheep. No significant difference was noted between the two types of antigens, confirming that ribosomal preparations are able to mimic the immunogenicity of whole bacteria in the mucosae-associated lymphoid tissue.

Crude thyroid peroxidase extracted from human thyroid microsomes was covalently bound onto polyacrylic and polyfunctional copolymerized microparticles. We observed agglutination of the thyroid peroxidase-microparticle conjugate with 13 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific for epitopes on four different antigenic domains of human thyroid peroxidase (TPO; EC 1.11.1.7), after addition of anti-mouse immunoglobulins. We quantified agglutination by measuring with a specially designed nephelometer the light scattered by the conjugates. This allowed us to develop a microparticle-enhanced nephelometric immunoassay for human anti-TPO autoantibodies (aAbs) with defined epitopic specificity, based on the ability of aAbs to inhibit mAb-induced agglutination. Applied to patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases, this assay confirmed the polyclonality of anti-TPO aAbs and their preferential reactivity toward epitopes located on the A and B antigenic domains of the TPO molecule. The same specificities seem to be present in patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis or Graves disease.

An immunohistomorphometric study was performed on human samples of duodenum (10) and tonsil (25) to assess the numbers of plasma cells producing kappa or lambda chains. Different reagents were used and carefully assayed for specificity and absence of cross-reactivity. Kappa chains were found predominantly with these antibodies in 46 bone marrow-derived B-cell proliferations used as reagents' control samples. In contrast, plasma cells producing lambda chains were found to be more numerous in the samples of mucosal tissues. The kappa/lambda ratio observed was 0.53. This finding could be another feature reflecting the autonomy of the immune system of mucosae (MALT) in humans.