Dreaming in Spain: parental determinants of immigrant children's ambition

We examine determinants of educational and occupational aspirations and expectations among children of immigrants in Spain on the basis of a unique data set that includes statistically representative data for foreign-origin secondary students in Madrid and Barcelona plus a sample of one-fourth of their parents. Independently collected data for both generations allow us to establish effects of parental characteristics on children's orientations without the confounding potential inherent in children's reports about parents. We analyse first determinants of parental ambition and, through a series of stepwise regressions, the effects of these goals and other parental and family characteristics on children's aspirations and expectations. A structural equations model synthesizes the results of the analysis. The model confirms predictions from the research literature, especially those based on the Wisconsin status attainment model, but rejects others, including the predicted significance of private versus public school attendance. Parental ambition, knowledge of Spanish by parents and children, gender and children's age are major determinants of youths' educational and occupational goals. These results have direct implications for policy; these are discussed in the conclusion.     

Interactions of divalent cations with single calcium channels from rat brain synaptosomes

Voltage-dependent calcium channels from a rat brain membrane preparation ("synaptosomes") were incorporated into planar lipid bilayers. The effects of calcium, barium, strontium, manganese, and cadmium ions on the amplitudes and kinetics of single channel currents were examined. The order of single channel conductances was gBa greater than gSr greater than gMn, which was the inverse of the order of the mean channel open times: TMn greater than TCa = TSr greater than TBa. In contrast, the identity of the charge carrier had little or no effect on the mean closed times of the channel. Manganese, in the absence of other permeant ions, can pass through single channels (gMn = 4 pS). However, when added to a solution that contained another type of permeant divalent cation, manganese reduced the single channel current in a voltage-dependent manner. Cadmium, a potent blocker of macroscopic "ensemble" calcium currents in many preparations, reduced the current through an open channel in a manner consistent with Cd ions both not being measurably permeant and interacting with a single site. The permeant ions competed with cadmium for this site with the following order: Mn greater than Sr = Ca greater than Ba. These results are consistent with the existence of no less than one divalent cation binding site in the channel that regulates ion permeation.     

Whole Grain Intakes in the Diets Of Malaysian Children and Adolescents – Findings from the MyBreakfast Study

Background

Diets rich in whole grain are associated with several health benefits. Little is known however, about whole grain consumption patterns in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to assess whole grain intakes and dietary source in Malaysian children and adolescents.

Methods

This analysis is from the MyBreakfast study, a national cross sectional study investigating eating habits among primary and secondary school children throughout Malaysia, conducted in 2013. Children (n = 5,165) and adolescents (n = 2,947) who completed two days of dietary assessment using a food record or recall respectively were included. The whole grain content of foods was estimated mainly through the use of quantitative ingredient declarations on food labels. All wholegrain foods were considered irrespective of the amount of whole grain they contained.

Results

Overall, only 25% of children and 19% of adolescents were wholegrain consumers. Mean daily intakes in the total sample were 2.3g/d (SD 5.8g/d) in children and 1.7g/d (SD 4.7g/d) in adolescents and in the consumer’s only sample, mean intakes reached 9.1g/d (SD 8.6) and 9.2g/d (SD 7.1g/d) respectively. Wheat was the main grain source of whole grain while ready to eat breakfast cereals and hot cereals were the main food contributors. Less than 3% of the children and adolescents reached the US quantitative whole grain recommendation of 48g/day.

Conclusion

Whole grain is consumed by only a minority of Malaysian children and adolescents and even among consumers, intakes are well below recommendations. Efforts are needed to firstly understand the barriers to whole grain consumption among Malaysian children in order to design effective health promotion initiatives to promote an increase in whole grain consumption.     

Screening of Miners and Millers at Decreasing Levels of Asbestos Exposure: Comparison of Chest Radiography and Thin-Section Computed Tomography

Background

Chest radiography (CXR) is inferior to Thin-section computed tomography in the detection of asbestos related interstitial and pleural abnormalities. It remains unclear, however, whether these limitations are large enough to impair CXR´s ability in detecting the expected reduction in the frequency of these asbestos-related abnormalities (ARA) as exposure decreases.

Methods

Clinical evaluation, CXR, Thin-section CT and spirometry were obtained in 1418 miners and millers who were exposed to progressively lower airborne concentrations of asbestos. They were separated into four groups according to the type, period and measurements of exposure and/or procedures for controlling exposure: Group I (1940–1966/tremolite and chrysotile, without measurements of exposure and procedures for controlling exposure); Group II (1967–1976/chrysotile only, without measurements of exposure and procedures for controlling exposure); Group III (1977–1980/chrysotile only, initiated measurements of exposure and procedures for controlling exposure) and Group IV (after 1981/chrysotile only, implemented measurements of exposure and a comprehensive procedures for controlling exposure).

Results

In all groups, CXR suggested more frequently interstitial abnormalities and less frequently pleural plaques than observed on Thin-section CT (p<0.050). The odds for asbestosis in groups of decreasing exposure diminished to greater extent at Thin-section CT than on CXR. Lung function was reduced in subjects who had pleural plaques evident only on Thin-section CT (p<0.050). In a longitudinal evaluation of 301 subjects without interstitial and pleural abnormalities on CXR and Thin-section CT in a previous evaluation, only Thin-section CT indicated that these ARA reduced as exposure decreased.

Conclusions

CXR compared to Thin-section CT was associated with false-positives for interstitial abnormalities and false-negatives for pleural plaques, regardless of the intensity of asbestos exposure. Also, CXR led to a substantial misinformation of the effects of the progressively lower asbestos concentrations in the occurrence of asbestos-related diseases in miners and millers.     

Diversity of galling insects in Styrax pohlii (Styracaceae): edge effect and use as bioindicators

Impacts of forest fragmentation and edge effect on plant-herbivores interactions are relatively unknown, and the relationships between galling insects and their host plants are very susceptible to environmental variations. The goal of our study was to test the edge effect hypothesis for galling insects associated with Styrax pohlii (Styracaceae) host plant. Samplings were conducted at a fragment of semi-deciduous forest in Goiania, Goiás, Brazil. Thirty host plant individuals (15 at fragment edge and 15 in its interior) were sampled in July of 2007; in each plant, 10 apical branches were collected at the top, middle and bottom crown levels. Our results supported the prediction of greater richness of gall morphotypes in the edge habitat compared with remnant interior. In a similar way, gall abundance and frequency of attacked leaves were also greater in the fragment edge. These findings consequently suggest a positive response of galling insect diversity to edge effect; in the Saint-Hilaire forest, this effect probably operates through the changes in microclimatic conditions of edge habitats, which results in an increased hygrothermal stress, a determinant factor to distribution patterns of galling insects. We also concluded that these organisms could be employed as biological indicators (i) because of their host-specificity, (ii) they are sensitive to changes in plant quality, and (iii) present dissimilar and specific responses to local variation in habitat conditions.     

Cigarette smoke-induced accumulation of lung dendritic cells is interleukin-1α-dependent in mice

Background

Evidence suggests that dendritic cells accumulate in the lungs of COPD patients and correlate with disease severity. We investigated the importance of IL-1R1 and its ligands IL-1α and β to dendritic cell accumulation and maturation in response to cigarette smoke exposure.

Methods

Mice were exposed to cigarette smoke using a whole body smoke exposure system. IL-1R1-, TLR4-, and IL-1α-deficient mice, as well as anti-IL-1α and anti-IL-1β blocking antibodies were used to study the importance of IL-1R1 and TLR4 to dendritic cell accumulation and activation.

Results

Acute and chronic cigarette smoke exposure led to increased frequency of lung dendritic cells. Accumulation and activation of dendritic cells was IL-1R1/IL-1α dependent, but TLR4- and IL-1β-independent. Corroborating the cellular data, expression of CCL20, a potent dendritic cells chemoattractant, was IL-1R1/IL-1α-dependent. Studies using IL-1R1 bone marrow-chimeric mice revealed the importance of IL-1R1 signaling on lung structural cells for CCL20 expression. Consistent with the importance of dendritic cells in T cell activation, we observed decreased CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell activation in cigarette smoke-exposed IL-1R1-deficient mice.

Conclusion

Our findings convey the importance of IL-1R1/IL-1α to the recruitment and activation of dendritic cells in response to cigarette smoke exposure.     

Chemical variability in the essential oil of Hyptis suaveolens

The essential oils of Hyptis suaveolens plants collected from 11 localities of the Brazilian Cerrado region were investigated by GC-MS. Sabinene, limonene, biclyclogermacrene, beta-phellandrene and 1,8-cineole were the principal constituents. The results were submitted to principal component and chemometric cluster analysis which allowed three groups of essential oils to be distinguished with respect to the content of p-mentha-2,4(8)-diene, limonene/beta-phellandrene/gamma-terpinene and germacrene D/bicyclogermacrene. In patterns of geographic variation in essential oil composition indicated that the sesquiterpenes are mainly produced in the samples grown at lower latitudes.     

Pseudorhabdosynochus spp. (Monogenea: Diplectanidae) from the gills of Epinephelus spp. in Brazilian waters

Pseudorhabdosynochus sulamericanus n. sp. from the gills of Epinephelus niveatus has a reniform proximal region of the cirrus-bulb which is divided in four chambers and contains a large, round reservoir of the male accessory glands, a partly sclerotised vagina which is enclosed in a muscular funnel cap and squamodiscs with 15–16 open concentric rows of elements. P. beverleyburtonae (Oliver, 1984) is redescribed from E. marginatus with additional morphological data. These are the first reports of Pseudorhabdosynochus spp. in South American Atlantic waters, where the potentiality for the mariculture of Epinephelus spp. is currently being evaluated. Pseudorhabdosynochus hargisi (Oliver & Paperna, 1984) n. comb. is proposed for Diplectanum hargisi.     

Macrophage deformability and phagocytosis

The influence of several metabolic inhibitors and pharmacologic agents on macrophage deformation (induced by fluid shear stress) was examined in relationship to changes in ATP content and phagocytosis of latex beads. Two relatively specific inhibitors of glycolysis (iodoacetate [IA], and sodium fluoride [NaF]) and a sulfhydryl-binding agent (N-ethylmaleimide [NEM] markedly inhibited phagocytosis and reduced cell deformability. A microtubule-disrupting agent (vinblastine) and a highly specific inhibitor of glycolysis (2-deoxyglucose) markedly inhibited phagocytosis without influencing cell deformability. An organomercurial sulfhydryl binding agent p-chloromercuribenzene (PCMBS) and a microfilament-disrupting agent (cytochalasin B) inhibited phagocytosis and increased cell deformability. The effects of these agents on phagocytosis and cell deformability bore no consistent relationship to alterations in cellular content of ATP. The observation that 2-deoxyglucose, the most specific inhibitor of glycolysis examined, reduced ATP content to levels far lower (15 percent of control values) than those achieved by any other agent examined and inhibited phagocytosis without altering cell deformability, suggests that alterations in cell deformability induced by NaF, IA, NEM, PCMBS, and cytochalasin B are not due to inhibition of glycolysis per se, but instead result from direct or indirect effects of these agents on cell constituents, possibly contractile proteins, which are determinants of cell deformability. The finding that cytochalasin B, NEM, PCMBS, and IA interfere with phagocytosis and alter cell deformability, together with evidence that these agents interact with isolated actin and myosin, suggests that contractile proteins are important both in phagocytosis and as determinants of cell deformability. The observation that vinblastine, colchicines, and heavy water (D(2)O) did not alter cell deformability, even though vinblastine caused formation of intracellular crystals of microtubular protein, indicates that microtubules are not major determinants of cell deformability. The observations that beads adhered normally to surfaces of cytochalasin B- and of PCMBS-treated cells and that shear-stress induced deformation was increased whereas phagocytosis was markedly inhibited, suggest that deformation of cells around beads associated with ingestion depends on some form of cellular (contractile?) activity, whereas deformation of cells by fluid shear stress is a passive phenomenon.