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A number of studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report thinner cerebral cortical gyri using gyrus-based analysis or thinner foci within the gyri using vertex-based analysis. However, the locations of these findings are inconsistent across studies, and the spatial transformations required during vertex-based analysis may affect the focal findings. A mega-analysis using a large number of subjects from multiple PTSD studies could potentially identify more reproducible cortical thickness abnormalities. Investigating both the vertex and gyral thicknesses simultaneously may verify the vertex-based focal findings using gyral data without imposing any spatial transformation. Here we aggregated data from 24 international laboratories using ENIGMA standardized procedures for 949 adult PTSD patients and 1493 controls without PTSD (age 18 to 65 years). We examined whether gyral and vertex cortical thickness are (a) different between subjects with PTSD and controls and (b) associated with PTSD symptom severity in trauma-exposed subjects. Regions with overlapping thinner cortical gyri and thinner vertex clusters were located in frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital cortices. Thinner right lateral orbitofrontal and right lingual gyri and concomitantly thinner vertex clusters in the anterior portions of both gyri were associated with PTSD symptom severity. Convergent findings in these locations suggest focally thinner cortex in these gyri, which may be involved in altered processing and regulation of emotion and sensory inputs underlying posttraumatic stress symptoms.

For many young adults today dating is not taken as a path to marriage, but as a relationship to be considered on its own terms with a beginning, middle, and end. Yet, research has not kept pace as most studies that look at relationships over time focus on marriages. In the present study, we look at individual differences and normative patterns of dating relationship quality over time. We tested a path model of associations between relationship duration, attachment insecurity, and four relationship quality domains (sexual frequency, commitment, satisfaction, and companionship) among a large sample of dating young adults (N = 1345). Based on a conceptual model of romantic relationship development, results supported expectations that dating trajectories are curvilinear, with unique patterns of accent, peak, and decent for each relationship domain. Dating duration also moderated the relationship between dating quality and attachment insecurity with anxious attachment becoming a more salient predictor of lower satisfaction and lower commitment in long-term versus short-term relationships. A quadratic interaction with sexual frequency indicated that insecurity predicted less sexual activity in new relationships, more activity among relationships between two and four years, but then less again in longer-term relationships. Findings suggest patterns of stability and change in dating relationships during emerging adulthood that complement those observed from the marriage literature.

The authors have developed a direct method to study femoral artery stent deformations in vivo. A previously described imaging and analysis approach based on a calibrated phantom was used to examine stents in human volunteers treated for atherosclerotic disease. In this pilot study, forces on stents were evaluated under different in-vivo flexion conditions.The optimized imaging protocol for imaging with a C-arm computed tomography system was first verified in an in-vivo porcine stent model. Human data were obtained by imaging 13 consenting volunteers with stents in femoral vessels. The affected leg was imaged in straight and bent positions to observe stent deformations. Semiautomatic software was used to calculate the changes in bending, extension, and torsion on the stents for the two positions.For the human studies, tension and bending calculation were successful. Bending was found to compress stent lengths by 4% ± 3% (-14.2 to 1.5 mm), increase their average eccentricity by 10% ± 9% (0.12 to -0.16), and change their mean curvature by 27% ± 22% (0 to -0.005 mm(-1)). Stents with the greatest change in eccentricity and curvature were located behind the knee or in the pelvis. Torsion calculations were difficult because the stents were untethered and are symmetric. In addition, multiple locations in each stent underwent torsional deformations.The imaging and analysis approach developed based on calibrated in vitro measurements was extended to in-vivo data. Bending and tension forces were successfully evaluated in this pilot study.

This paper includes research comprised of field studies and laboratory experiments to examine our diathesis-stress model that students with an extrinsic motivational orientation given evaluative/controlling directives are at risk for maladaptive achievement patterns, including performance, cognitive, and emotional deficits of helplessness. The findings, using our multimethod approach, confirmed our assumptions and indicated that motivational orientation is a more reliable predictor of helplessness than either attributions or perceptions of competence. The pattern of data obtained across studies is discussed in light of other theoretical approaches to understanding achievement patterns in students.

Background Interactions between cancer cells and stroma are critical for growth and invasiveness of epithelial tumors. The biochemical mechanisms behind tumor-stromal interactions leading to increased invasiveness and metastasis are mostly unknown. The goal of this study was to analyze the direct effects of staged stroma-derived extracellular matrices on breast cancer cell behavior. Methods Early and late three-dimensional matrices were produced by NIH-3T3 and tumor-associated murine fibroblasts, respectively. After removing fibroblasts, extracted matrices were re-cultured with breast epithelial cells of assorted characteristics: MCF-10A (non-tumorigenic), MCF-7 (tumorigenic, non-invasive), and MDA-MB-231 (tumorigenic, invasive). Effects prompted by staged matrices on epithelial cell's growth, morphology and invasion were determined. Also, matrix-induced velocity, directionality and relative track orientation of invasive cells were assessed in the presence or absence of inhibitors of phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) and/or beta-1 integrin. Results We observed that assorted breast epithelial cells reacted differently to two-dimensional vs. staged, control (early) and tumor-associated (late), three-dimensional matrices. MCF-10A had a proliferative advantage on two-dimensional substrates while MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 showed no difference. MCF-10A and MCF-7 formed morphologically distinguishable aggregates within three-dimensional matrices, while MDA-MB-231 exhibited increased spindle-shape morphologies and directional movements within three-dimensional matrices. Furthermore, MDA-MB-231 acquired a pattern of parallel oriented organization within tumor-associated, but not control matrices. Moreover, tumor-associated matrices induced PI3K and beta1-integrin dependent Akt/PKB activity in MDA-MB-231 cells. Interestingly, beta1-integrin (but not PI3K) regulated tumor-associated matrix-induced mesenchymal invasion which, when inhibited, resulted in a change of invasive strategy rather than impeding invasion altogether. Conclusion We propose that both cells and matrices are important to promote effective breast cancer cell invasion through three-dimensional matrices and that beta1-integrin inhibition is not necessarily sufficient to block tumor-matrix induced breast cancer cell invasion. Additionally, we believe that characterizing stroma staging (e.g., early vs. late or tumor-associated) might be beneficial for predicting matrix-induced cancer cell responses in order to facilitate the selection of therapies.

Purpose The authors have developed a direct method to study femoral artery stent deformations in vivo. A previously described imaging and analysis approach based on a calibrated phantom was used to examine stents in human volunteers treated for atherosclerotic disease. In this pilot study, forces on stents were evaluated under different in-vivo flexion conditions. Materials and Methods The optimized imaging protocol for imaging with a C-arm computed tomography system was first verified in an in-vivo porcine stent model. Human data were obtained by imaging 13 consenting volunteers with stents in femoral vessels. The affected leg was imaged in straight and bent positions to observe stent deformations. Semiautomatic software was used to calculate the changes in bending, extension, and torsion on the stents for the two positions. Results For the human studies, tension and bending calculation were successful. Bending was found to compress stent lengths by 4% ± 3% (−14.2 to 1.5 mm), increase their average eccentricity by 10% ± 9% (0.12 to −0.16), and change their mean curvature by 27% ± 22% (0 to −0.005 mm −1 ). Stents with the greatest change in eccentricity and curvature were located behind the knee or in the pelvis. Torsion calculations were difficult because the stents were untethered and are symmetric. In addition, multiple locations in each stent underwent torsional deformations. Conclusions The imaging and analysis approach developed based on calibrated in vitro measurements was extended to in-vivo data. Bending and tension forces were successfully evaluated in this pilot study.

Heavy episodic drinking is a relatively common phenomenon among college students, and students who engage in binge drinking are at increased risk for a variety of adverse consequences. This paper investigates relationships between substance use and reinforcement derived from specific categories of substance-free activities among a sample of 256 college undergraduates. Data from a standardized behavioral inventory were used to compare the frequency, pleasure, and reinforcement potential of substance-free events and activities experienced by binge drinkers and a comparison group. Binge drinkers reported significantly lower scores across a variety of substance-free activity categories and, in the majority of the cases, the relationship between binge drinking and decreased reinforcement density remained significant after accounting for the effects of the use of other drugs and demographic variables. These results are consistent with a growing body of evidence linking substance use to deprivation of substance-free reinforcement.

Prostaglandins are being commonly used to maintain the patency of the ductus arteriosus in infants with congenital ductal-dependent heart disease. A significant and unusual side effect of this drug treatment is the symmetrical development of periostitis of the long bones. A review of neonates with congenital heart disease requiring prostaglandin treatment at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario revealed five infants who developed periostitis, the earliest onset being after 14 days of prostaglandin infusion. The drug dosage varied in these infants from 0.02 to 0.10 micrograms/kg/min. The periostitis was associated with limb pain and considerable swelling of the extremities in all children. The periostitis improved on cessation of the prostaglandin infusion, and by 6 weeks after the cessation of the drug, the periostitis had decreased significantly. Periostitis seemed more dependent on the duration of administration of the prostaglandin than on the dosage of prostaglandin administered. Awareness of this entity is essential not only for the treatment team caring for these infants but also for consultant pediatric orthopaedists to avoid excessive investigation for infection, metabolic disease, or vitamin deficiencies that resemble prostaglandin-induced periostitis.

The role that stromal renal cell carcinoma (RCC) plays in support of tumor progression is unclear. Here we sought to determine the predictive value on patient survival of several markers of stromal activation and the feasibility of a fibroblast-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) based three-dimensional (3D) culture stemming from clinical specimens to recapitulate stromal behavior in vitro. The clinical relevance of selected stromal markers was assessed using a well annotated tumor microarray where stromal-marker levels of expression were evaluated and compared to patient outcomes. Also, an in vitro 3D system derived from fibroblasts harvested from patient matched normal kidney, primary RCC and metastatic tumors was employed to evaluate levels and localizations of known stromal markers such as the actin binding proteins palladin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), fibronectin and its spliced form EDA. Results suggested that RCCs exhibiting high levels of stromal palladin correlate with a poor prognosis, as demonstrated by overall survival time. Conversely, cases of RCCs where stroma presents low levels of palladin expression indicate increased survival times and, hence, better outcomes. Fibroblast-derived 3D cultures, which facilitate the categorization of stromal RCCs into discrete progressive stromal stages, also show increased levels of expression and stress fiber localization of α-SMA and palladin, as well as topographical organization of fibronectin and its splice variant EDA. These observations are concordant with expression levels of these markers in vivo. The study proposes that palladin constitutes a useful marker of poor prognosis in non-metastatic RCCs, while in vitro 3D cultures accurately represent the specific patient's tumor-associated stromal compartment. Our observations support the belief that stromal palladin assessments have clinical relevance thus validating the use of these 3D cultures to study both progressive RCC-associated stroma and stroma-dependent mechanisms affecting tumorigenesis. The clinical value of assessing RCC stromal activation merits further study.

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a fatal disease in urgent need of novel diagnostic and treatment tools. Metastasis to the secondary site is the main cause of death in RCC. Although renal tumor cells are intercalated within a mesenchymal stromal microenvironment during RCC tumorigenesis, not much is known about this specific stroma. Therefore, questioning the specific importance of RCC's stroma is of noteworthy interest. In this study we questioned whether stromal and tumor components progress at similar rates and whether assessing rates of stromal progression are of clinical importance. Our experimental system uses fibroblasts harvested from patient matched normal kidney, as well as primary and secondary RCC surgical samples. We tested several stromal markers such as actin binding protein palladin, alpha-smooth muscle actin and fibronectin spliced form EDA, all known to be upregulated in tumor associated stroma, and uncovered that their expression levels depend on the production of stromal extracellular matrices (ECMs) using an in vitro 3-D stromal system derived from the harvested fibroblasts. In addition, using a well annotated tumor micro array, we specifically demonstrate that stromal palladin and α-SMA expression levels correlate to each other. Moreover, we observed that stromal palladin expression levels are indicative of poor outcomes in early non-metastatic RCCs. Here we not only introduce an in vitro 3-D stroma system which accurately mimics the in vivo features of human RCC-associated stroma, but we demonstrate a clinical relevance to assessing stromal activation in human pathological RCC samples. Results from this study underscore a distinctive clinical relevance to assessing stromal progression in renal cell carcinomas. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3171. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3171

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to perform a detailed clinical pathological analysis of breast relapses in patients treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy in an effort to classify those relapses as true local recurrences or second primary tumors, and to assess the prognostic and therapeutic implications of such a classification system. Methods and Materials: Of 990 patients treated with conservative surgery and radiation therapy at our facilities prior to December 1987, 82 patients have experienced a relapse in the conservatively treated breast as the primary site of failure. Patients were classified as having new primary tumors if they fulfilled any one of the following criteria: a) breast relapse occurring at a site distinctly removed from the original tumor; b) histology of the breast relapse compared with the original tumor consistent with a new primary; or c) DNA flow cytometry converting from an aneuploid primary to a diploid relapse. Results: As of 2/92, with a median follow-up of 5.4 years from the time of breast relapse, the overall 5-year survival rate following breast relapse was 55%. Forty-seven patients were classified as true recurrences and 33 patients were classified as new primaries. Patients classified as true recurrences had a shorter median time to breast relapse than patients classified as new primaries (3.16 years vs.5.42 years, p

A solution strategy for the analysis of nonlinear structures is described. The strategy is a simple extension of existing Newton-type procedures, and can easily be incorporated into existing computer programs. Earlier work which contributed to the development of the strategy is reviewed and the theory of the procedure is presented. Six examples, covering several different types of structural behaviour are described. These examples suggest that the strategy is remarkably stable and efficient.

This research considered the status, the underlying causes, and the effects of sport specialization at the high school level. A questionnaire was utilized to solicit the perceptions of 152 high school athletic directors in Illinois. Athletic directors perceived that specialization at the high school level has increased over the past ten years and predicted that it is likely to continue to increase over the next decade. Athletic directors perceived that specialization occurs at the high school level primarily because of the influence of adults and, because of the perception by athletes that specialization increases the possibility of both participating in state championships and of receiving a collegiate athletic scholarship. Directors were highly critical of coaches who promote specialization in their programs, however, they acknowledged that specialization enhances athletic performance for both individuals and teams. Finally, the findings suggest that athletic directors perceive that sport specialization is contrary to the basic purposes of high school athletics. Thus, schools should actively promote multi-sport participation in their athletic programs.

SUMMARY (1) Relatively low levels of three inhalable oxidants, NO 2, ozone and hyperoxia over short periods, produce changes in redox states within the alveolar macrophage. (2) With NO 2 there were alterations of both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial NAD + /NADH ratios without gross histologic changes. (3) Ozone and oxygen produced ratios. (4) TPGS, a water-soluble derivative of α-tocopherol, protected the mitochondrial compartment of the cells from the effects of NO 2 and O 2 . (5) These studies suggest a common oxident lesion involving the mitochondrial redox state.