Development and application of an index of social function.
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Brief indexes of social function were constructed in a project to develop a health index questionnaire designed to measure the social, emotional, and physical function of free-living populations. The social function items have been found to be generally applicable, capable of application by lay interviewers, and acceptable to interviewees. Initial evaluations to form composite scores for social function items have demonstrated their validity against concurrent assessments of a health professional. These social function indexes have been successfully applied in two randomized trials of innovative primary care services. The criteria for inclusion of items in the social function index questionnaire, the generation of the instrument, and the evaluation of questionnaire responses for their validity are summarized here. (+info)
Impact of social interactions in the community on the transmission of tuberculosis in a high incidence area.
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BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted by close contact with an infectious person. It is assumed that close contact occurs amongst household members and that contact outside the house is "causal" and does not play a major role in the transmission of TB. METHODS: This study was conducted in an impoverished area with a high incidence of TB and a low HIV seropositive prevalence. Thirty three households with 84 TB patients were identified between February 1993 and April 1996 and the transmission of TB was studied by combining Mycobacterium tuberculosis fingerprinting with in depth sociological interviews. RESULTS: Forty two strain genotypes were identified in the 84 patients. In 15 households all the patients had identical strains, in nine households all the patients had different strains, and in nine households some patients had identical strains and one had a different strain. In 26 houses at least one patient had a strain which formed part of a larger community cluster and in 12 of these households the patient(s) had contact with a community member who had the identical strain. In 58% of the cases the contact took place while drinking in social groups. CONCLUSION: In high incidence areas contact outside the household may be important for the transmission of TB. This contact often takes place during recreation which, in the case of this study of impoverished people, consisted of drinking in social groups. Social interaction patterns should be studied and understood for effective implementation of control strategies. (+info)
Scent of a Ewe: transmission of a social cue by conspecifics affects sexual performance in male sheep.
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Unlike males from other domestic species, domestic rams (Ovis aries) are not sexually stimulated, as determined by measuring sexual performance, following the opportunity to watch a copulating pair. Previously, we reported that aspects of ram sexual performance were improved when rams interacted with a male conspecific that had mated an estrous ewe. Whether the cues were gender-, estrous state-, or behavior-related was tested in this study. Sexually experienced rams were exposed to male pen mates that had interacted with an estrous ewe, a non-estrous ewe, an estrous ewe with a cloth perineal patch, or a ram, or that had been placed alone in a small pen. The rams were then tested for sexual performance. Rams performed more olfactory investigative behaviors toward pen mates that had interacted with a ewe, regardless of her estrous state, than toward a pen mate that had been exposed to another male. Rams exposed to pen mates that had interacted with a ewe also had shorter postejaculatory and interejaculation intervals and subsequently achieved more ejaculations in standardized sexual performance tests. Results from this experiment confirm that male-male interactions affect sexual performance in male sheep and that olfactory cues likely account for the transfer of information among individuals. (+info)
Sensitization to the effects of tumor necrosis factor-alpha: neuroendocrine, central monoamine, and behavioral variations.
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Consistent with the proposition that cytokines act as immunotransmitters between the immune system and the brain, systemic administration of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha; 1.0-4.0 microg) induced mild illness in CD-1 mice, increased plasma corticosterone concentrations, and altered central norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin turnover. The actions of TNF-alpha were subject to a time-dependent sensitization effect. After reexposure to a subeffective dose of the cytokine (1.0 microgram) 14-28 d after initial treatment, marked illness was evident (reduced consumption of a palatable substance and diminished activity and social exploration), coupled with an elevation of plasma corticosterone levels. In contrast, cytokine reexposure 1-7 d after initial treatment did not elicit illness, and at the 1 d interval the corticosterone response to the cytokine was reduced. The increase of norepinephrine release within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, as reflected by elevated accumulation of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, was augmented at the longer reexposure intervals. In contrast, within the central amygdala and the prefrontal cortex TNF-alpha reexposure at the 1 d interval was associated with a pronounced sensitization-like effect, which was not apparent at longer intervals. Evidently, systemic TNF-alpha proactively influences the response to subsequent treatment; however, the nature of the effects (i.e., the behavioral, neuroendocrine, and central transmitter alterations) vary over time after initial cytokine treatment. It is suggested that the sensitization may have important repercussions with respect to cognitive effects of TNF-alpha and may also be relevant to analyses of the neuroprotective or neurodestructive actions of cytokines. (+info)
Child outcomes when child care center classes meet recommended standards for quality. NICHD Early Child Care Research Network.
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OBJECTIVES: This study assessed outcomes for children when child care centers meet recommended care standards. METHODS: Data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care were used to examine the association between meeting standards for child-staff ratios, group sizes, caregiver training, and caregiver education and children's development at 24 and 36 months of age. RESULTS: There were 5 major findings: (1) most classes observed did not meet all 4 recommended standards (compliance ranged from 10% at 6 months of age to 34% at 36 months of age); (2) linear associations were found between number of standards met and child outcomes, and this was more the case at 36 months than at 24 months of age: (3) there was no evidence of threshold effects; (4) children in classes that met more standards had better school readiness and language comprehension scores as well as fewer behavior problems at 36 months of age; and (5) child outcomes were predicted by child-staff ratio at 24 months and caregiver training and education at 36 months of age. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes were better when children attended classes that met recommended child-staff ratios and recommended levels of caregiver training and education. (+info)
Intracommunity relationships, dispersal pattern and paternity success in a wild living community of Bonobos (Pan paniscus) determined from DNA analysis of faecal samples.
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Differences in social relationships among community members are often explained by differences in genetic relationships. The current techniques of DNA analysis allow explicit testing of such a hypothesis. Here, we have analysed the genetic relationships for a community of wild bonobos (Pan paniscus) using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers extracted from faecal samples. Bonobos show an opportunistic and promiscuous mating behaviour, even with mates from outside the community. Nonetheless, we find that most infants were sired by resident males and that two dominant males together attained the highest paternity success. Intriguingly, the latter males are the sons of high-ranking females, suggesting an important influence of mothers on the paternity success of their sons. The molecular data support previous inferences on female dispersal and male philopatry. We find a total of five different mitochondrial haplotypes among 15 adult females, suggesting a frequent migration of females. Moreover, for most adult and subadult males in the group we find a matching mother, while this is not the case for most females, indicating that these leave the community during adolescence. Our study demonstrates that faecal samples can be a useful source for the determination of kinship in a whole community. (+info)
Individual causal models and population system models in epidemiology.
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A group of individuals behaves as a population system when patterns of connections among individuals influence population health outcomes. Epidemiology usually treats populations as collections of independent individuals rather than as systems of interacting individuals. An appropriate theoretical structure, which includes the determinants of connections among individuals, is needed to develop a "population system epidemiology." Infection transmission models and sufficient-component cause models provide contrasting templates for the needed theoretical structure. Sufficient-component cause models focus on joint effects of multiple exposures in individuals. They handle time and interactions between individuals in the definition of variables and assume that populations are the sum of their individuals. Transmission models, in contrast, model interactions among individuals over time. Their nonlinear structure means that population risks are not simply the sum of individual risks. The theoretical base for "population system epidemiology" should integrate both approaches. It should model joint effects of multiple exposures in individuals as time related processes while incorporating the determinants and effects of interactions among individuals. Recent advances in G-estimation and discrete individual transmission model formulation provide opportunities for such integration. (+info)
Bullying behaviour and psychosocial health among school students in New South Wales, Australia: cross sectional survey.
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OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence of bullying behaviours in schoolchildren and the association of bullying with psychological and psychosomatic health. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: Government and non-government schools in New South Wales, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 3918 schoolchildren attending year 6 (mean age 11.88 years), year 8 (13.96), and year 10 (15.97) classes from 115 schools. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self reported bullying behaviours and psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. RESULTS: Almost a quarter of students (23.7%) bullied other students, 12.7% were bullied, 21.5% were both bullied and bullied others on one or more occasions in the last term of school, and 42.4% were neither bullied nor bullied others. More boys than girls reported bullying others and being victims of bullying. Bullying behaviour was associated with increased psychosomatic symptoms. Bullies tended to be unhappy with school; students who were bullied tended to like school and to feel alone. Students who both bullied and were bullied had the greatest number of psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Being bullied seems to be widespread in schools in New South Wales and is associated with increased psychosomatic symptoms and poor mental health. Health practitioners evaluating students with common psychological and psychosomatic symptoms should consider bullying and the student's school environment as potential causes. (+info)