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Objectives. This article describes results of a randomized controlled trial comparing a time-limited early-stage memory loss (ESML) support group program conducted by a local Alzheimer's Association chapter to a wait-list (WL) control condition. Methods. One hundred and forty-two dyads were randomized in blocks to ESML (n = 96) or WL (n = 46). Mean age of participants was 74.9 years, and mean Mini-Mental State Examination was 23.4. The primary outcome was participant's quality of life; secondary outcomes included mood, family communication, and perceived stress. Results. On the intent-to-treat (ITT) pre-post analysis, significant differences were seen in participant quality of life (p < .001), depression (p < .01), and family communication (p < .05). Within the care partner groups, there was no significant difference between ESML and WL in the ITT analysis. A post hoc exploratory examination of changes that were associated with improved quality of life in ESML participants revealed significant reductions of depressive symptoms and behavior problems (p < .05), improved family communication (p < .05), self-efficacy (p < .01), Medical Outcomes Study short form (SF-36) role--emotional (p < .05), SF-36 social functioning (p < .05), and SF-36 mental health components (p < .01) in improvers. Discussion, These results support the efficacy of ESML support groups for individuals with dementia. Key Words: Alzheimer's disease--Caregivers--Dementia--Depression--Quality of life. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbq054.

The Initial development and psychometric properties of the Adolescent Perceptions of Parental Pro-Educational Attitudes and Behaviors Scale (APPEABS) are reviewed. Evidence of content convergent, and construct validity are reported. The [...]

Objective: Evidence implicating a role of natural and synthetic estrogens and/or progestin on ethanol pharmacokinetics can be traced back to the mid-1970s when reports of large metabolic differences were found suggesting that sex hormones interfered with the efficient clearance of alcohol at the liver microsomal level. Research teams in this area manipulate sex hormone levels by either examining natural-cycling women at different phases of their menstrual cycle or others taking oral contraceptives that synthetically regulate the hormonal fluctuations. These collective studies (over a dozen to date involving over 200 participants) have all been similar in focus and outcome. With one important exception, the published laboratory research since 1976 has failed to replicate the earliest research suggesting sex hormone effects. One well-controlled study in 1987 did generate renewed interest in the area with the paradoxical finding that progesterone actually enhanced alcohol elimination at low blood concentrations (, EVIDENCE SUGGESTING A ROLE of natural and synthetic estrogens and/or progestin on ethanol pharmacokinetics can be traced back to the initial reports of large metabolic differences among women, both natural-cycling [...]

Given the paucity of literature addressing the experiences of rural youth, this study investigated the ability of assessed levels of social support, perceived parental involvement, academic self-efficacy, and perceived educational barriers to predict school engagement and work role attitudes among rural high school students. The authors specifically intended to test the generalizability of M. E. Kenny, D. L. Blustein, A. Chaves, J. M. Grossman. and L. A. Gallagher's '(2003) findings with a rural population and within a social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 2002) framework. Results supported the hypothesized importance of contextual factors (social support and parent involvement/and self-efficacy in predicting the work and school attitudes of rural students.

26 male and 87 female college students filled out Stets' Psychological Aggression Scale, Stets' Interpersonal Control Scale, Straus' Physical Violence Scale, and Fisch and Brainerd's Use and Approval of Jealousy-inducing Behaviors Scale. Use and approval of jealousy-inducing behaviors were good predictors of high need for interpersonal control and the use of psychological aggression. The use of jealousy-inducing behaviors but not the approval of these behaviors was a strong predictor of physical aggression in romantic relationships.

In this study, we demonstrate the developmental activation, in the zebrafish embryo, of a surveillance mechanism which triggers apoptosis to remove damaged cells. We determine the time course of activation of this mechanism by exposing embryos to camptothecin, an agent which specifically inhibits topoisomerase I within the DNA replication complex and which, as a consequence of this inhibition, also produces strand breaks in the genomic DNA. In response to an early (pre-gastrula) treatment with camptothecin, apoptosis is induced at a time corresponding approximately to mid-gastrula stage in controls. This apoptotic response to a block of DNA replication can also be induced by early (pre-MBT) treatment with the DNA synthesis inhibitors hydroxyurea and aphidicolin. After camptothecin treatment, a high proportion of cells in two of the embryo's three mitotic domains (the enveloping and deep cell layers), but not in the remaining domain (the yolk syncytial layer), undergoes apoptosis in a cell-autonomous fashion. The first step in this response is an arrest of the proliferation of all deep- and enveloping-layer cells. These cells continue to increase in nuclear volume and to synthesize DNA. Eventually they become apoptotic, by a stereotypic pathway which involves cell membrane blebbing, 'margination' and fragmentation of nuclei, and cleavage of the genomic DNA to produce a nucleosomal ladder. Fragmentation of nuclei can be blocked by the caspase-1,4,5 inhibitor Ac-YVAD-CHO, but not by the caspase-2,3,7[,1] inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO. This suggests a functional requirement for caspase-4 or caspase-5 in the apoptotic response to camptothecin. Recently, Xenopus has been shown to display a developmental activation of the capability for stress- or damaged-induced apoptosis at early gastrula stage. En masse, our experiments suggest that the apoptotic responses in zebrafish and Xenopus are fundamentally similar. Thus, as for mammals, embryos of the lower vertebrates exhibit the activation of surveillance mechanisms, early in development, to produce the selective apoptosis of damaged cells. Key Words: zebrafish; checkpoint; camptothecin; apoptosis; caspase.