Rural Revolt in Mexico: U.S. Intervention and the Domain of Subaltern Politics

Rural Revolt in Mexico: U.S. Intervention and the Domain of Subaltern Politics. Daniel Nugent. ed. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1998. 384 pp.     

Intervention studies in breast diseases

Based on results of comprehensive examination of 20,000 females with different breast diseases in a specialized mammological room, the paper presents the most informative invasive techniques that combine diagnostic and therapeutical potentialities, such as ductography, cystography using various sclerosing solution, various types of needle biopsies under X-ray guidance, stereotactic computer devices, ultrasound study, and various labeling modes for nonpalpable formation before surgery. It shows in expedient to make a comprehensive examination under the conditions of a mammological room where the advantages of this or that invisable intervention, including those without a dosage load, are rationally, without duplicating, used depending on the diseases detected, which increases the significance of preoperative diagnosis up to 95-98%, including that of nonpalpable formations by substantially reducing the proportion of surgical interventions into the breast.     

Prospects of Parathyroid Hormone in Therapeutic Intervention

International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics - Biologically active peptides and proteins have wide applications as therapeutic agents as well as diagnostics. Parathyroid hormone...     

Intervention in a family of Boolean networks

MOTIVATION: Intervention in a gene regulatory network is used to avoid undesirable states, such as those associated with a disease. Several types of intervention have been studied in the framework of a probabilistic Boolean network (PBN), which is a collection of Boolean networks in which the gene state vector transitions according to the rules of one of the constituent networks and where network choice is governed by a selection distribution. The theory of automatic control has been applied to find optimal strategies for manipulating external control variables that affect the transition probabilities to desirably affect dynamic evolution over a finite time horizon. In this paper we treat a case in which we lack the governing probability structure for Boolean network selection, so we simply have a family of Boolean networks, but where these networks possess a common attractor structure. This corresponds to the situation in which network construction is treated as an ill-posed inverse problem in which there are many Boolean networks created from the data under the constraint that they all possess attractor structures matching the data states, which are assumed to arise from sampling the steady state of the real biological network. RESULTS: Given a family of Boolean networks possessing a common attractor structure composed of singleton attractors, a control algorithm is derived by minimizing a composite finite-horizon cost function that is a weighted average over all the individual networks, the idea being that we desire a control policy that on average suits the networks because these are viewed as equivalent relative to the data. The weighting for each network at any time point is taken to be proportional to the instantaneous estimated probability of that network being the underlying network governing the state transition. The results are applied to a family of Boolean networks derived from gene-expression data collected in a study of metastatic melanoma, the intent being to devise a control strategy that reduces the WNT5A gene's action in affecting biological regulation. AVAILABILITY: The software is available on request. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The supplementary Information is available at http://ee.tamu.edu/~edward/tree     

Intervention in context-sensitive probabilistic Boolean networks

MOTIVATION: Intervention in a gene regulatory network is used to help it avoid undesirable states, such as those associated with a disease. Several types of intervention have been studied in the framework of a probabilistic Boolean network (PBN), which is essentially a finite collection of Boolean networks in which at any discrete time point the gene state vector transitions according to the rules of one of the constituent networks. For an instantaneously random PBN, the governing Boolean network is randomly chosen at each time point. For a context-sensitive PBN, the governing Boolean network remains fixed for an interval of time until a binary random variable determines a switch. The theory of automatic control has been previously applied to find optimal strategies for manipulating external (control) variables that affect the transition probabilities of an instantaneously random PBN to desirably affect its dynamic evolution over a finite time horizon. This paper extends the methods of external control to context-sensitive PBNs. RESULTS: This paper treats intervention via external control variables in context-sensitive PBNs by extending the results for instantaneously random PBNs in several directions. First, and most importantly, whereas an instantaneously random PBN yields a Markov chain whose state space is composed of gene vectors, each state of the Markov chain corresponding to a context-sensitive PBN is composed of a pair, the current gene vector occupied by the network and the current constituent Boolean network. Second, the analysis is applied to PBNs with perturbation, meaning that random gene perturbation is permitted at each instant with some probability. Third, the (mathematical) influence of genes within the network is used to choose the particular gene with which to intervene. Lastly, PBNs are designed from data using a recently proposed inference procedure that takes steady-state considerations into account. The results are applied to a context-sensitive PBN derived from gene-expression data collected in a study of metastatic melanoma, the intent being to devise a control strategy that reduces the WNT5A gene's action in affecting biological regulation, since the available data suggest that disruption of this influence could reduce the chance of a melanoma metastasizing.     

A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Intervention Study to Assess the Effect of a Contact Intervention in Reducing Leprosy-Related Stigma in Indonesia

Background

Can deliberate interaction between the public and persons affected by leprosy reduce stigmatization? The study described in this paper hypothesises that it can and assesses the effectiveness of a ‘contact intervention’.

Methods/Principal Findings

This cluster-randomized controlled intervention study is part of the Stigma Assessment and Reduction of Impact (SARI) project conducted in Cirebon District, Indonesia. Testimonies, participatory videos and comics given or made by people affected by leprosy were used as methods to facilitate a dialogue during so-called ‘contact events’. A mix of seven quantitative and qualitative methods, including two scales to assess aspects of stigma named the SDS and EMIC-CSS, were used to establish a baseline regarding stigma and knowledge of leprosy, monitor the implementation and assess the impact of the contact events. The study sample were community members selected using different sampling methods. The baseline shows a lack of knowledge about leprosy, a high level of stigma and contrasting examples of support. In total, 91 contact events were organised in 62 villages, directly reaching 4,443 community members (mean 49 per event). The interview data showed that knowledge about leprosy increased and that negative attitudes reduced. The adjusted mean total score of the EMIC-CSS reduced by 4.95 points among respondents who had attended a contact event (n = 58; p <0.001, effect size = 0.75) compared to the score at baseline (n = 213); for the SDS this was 3.56 (p <0.001, effect size = 0.81). About 75% of those attending a contact event said they shared the information with others (median 10 persons).

Conclusions/Significance

The contact intervention was effective in increasing knowledge and improving public attitudes regarding leprosy. It is relatively easy to replicate elsewhere and does not require expensive technology. More research is needed to improve scalability. The effectiveness of a contact intervention to reduce stigma against other neglected tropical diseases and conditions should be evaluated.     

护理干预在胰岛素泵强化治疗中的作用研究

目的:探讨护理干预对临床使用胰岛素泵治疗糖尿病效果的影响。方法:在161例用口服降糖药及常规胰岛素皮下注射进行血糖控制但效果不佳的糖尿病患者使用胰岛素泵治疗过程中,护理人员对其进行心理护理、置泵前告之患者用胰岛素泵治疗的方法、低血糖的预防、输部位的正确选择等全方位护理。结果:在胰岛素泵使用过程中,护理人员全面、细致、持续的干预达到使用的最佳效果。结论:护理干预是糖尿病患者学会正确的自我管理、自我保健知识和泵使用的各种技术的关键,同时也是保证糖尿病患者胰岛素泵治疗顺利进行的基础和关键。     

护理干预在胰岛素泵强化治疗中的作用研究

目的：探讨护理干预对临床使用胰岛素泵治疗糖尿病效果的影响。方法：在161例用口服降糖药及常规胰岛素皮下注射进行血糖控制但效果不佳的糖尿病患者使用胰岛素泵治疗过程中,护理人员对其进行心理护理、置泵前告之患者用胰岛素泵治疗的方法、低血糖的预防、输部位的正确选择等全方位护理。结果：在胰岛素泵使用过程中,护理人员全面、细致、持续的干预达到使用的最佳效果。结论：护理干预是糖尿病患者学会正确的自我管理、自我保健知识和泵使用的各种技术的关键,同时也是保证糖尿病患者胰岛素泵治疗顺利进行的基础和关键。     

学业自我妨碍的干预策略

为使学业自我妨碍者获得学业进步,学校教育必须消除和改变自我妨碍策略发生的线索,避免学生过多使用自我妨碍的动机策略来保护其自尊水平。文章对学业自我妨碍的概念、影响因素、作用结果和干预策略进行了综述,旨在为学校教育提供科学信息,使自我妨碍的学生走出学业困境,提高其学业水平。