Declining immunity with age in the wild

Despite their higher metabolic rates and lifetime energy expenditures, birds generally outlive similar-sized mammals even in the wild, often reaching maturity and aging considerably more slowly. Wild populations of many bird species have been monitored for years using banding-and-recapture methods, allowing field ornithologists to document age-related declines in survival and reproductive success. Although elderly birds rarely reach advanced stages of senescence in nature, many show other signs of physiological deterioration. In this Perspective, we review recent reports of aging-related changes in the immune response of two small European songbirds, the barn swallow and the collared flycatcher. Researchers in both studies challenged birds' humoral immune response by administering antigen to free-ranging adults during the breeding season. Older barn swallows--particularly breeding females--showed lower antibody responses (both primary and secondary) to vaccination with Newcastle disease virus, an avian pathogen. In flycatchers, older females raised lower antibody titers than younger breeders did in response to an injection of sheep red blood cells, a nonpathogenic antigen, and produced offspring with lower average body masses. Although the relevance of such measures of "immunosenescence" to actual fitness, reproductive success, and mortality is still unclear, studies of wild vertebrate populations may ultimately provide an important link between laboratory research and our understanding of the natural history and evolution of basic mechanisms of aging.     

Transition to university and vigorous physical activity: implications for health and psychological well-being

The authors investigated vigorous physical activity and psychological well-being during transition from high school to first-year university in a sample of 145 Canadian undergraduates. Participants completed retrospective measures assessing vigorous physical activity during their first 2 months at university and their last 2 months at high school as well as measures assessing psychological well-being. According to nationally recommended (US Department of Health and Human Services) standards, two thirds (66.2%) of students reported adequate levels of vigorous activity in high school, whereas significantly fewer (44.1%) met the standard during their first 8 weeks at university. One third of students were active in high school but became insufficiently active once at university; 33% were active at both times; 23% consistently fell short of recommended levels; and only 11% became active once at university. Students who had become insufficiently active reported higher levels of fatigue and lower levels of vigor compared with those who continued to be active.     

The economic toll of intimate partner violence against women in the United States

This study provides estimates of the economic cost of intimate partner violence perpetrated against women in the US, including expenditures for medical care and mental health services, and lost productivity from injury and premature death. The analysis uses national survey data, including the National Violence Against Women Survey and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, to estimate costs for 1995. Intimate partner violence against women cost $5.8 billion dollars (95% confidence interval: $3.9 to $7.7 billion) in 1995, including $320 million ($136 to $503 million) for rapes, $4.2 billion ($2.4 to $6.1 billion) for physical assault, $342 million ($235 to $449 million) for stalking, and $893 million ($840 to $946 million) for murders. Updated to 2003 dollars, costs would total over $8.3 billion. Intimate partner violence is costly in the US. The potential savings from efforts to reduce this violence are substantial. More comprehensive data are needed to refine cost estimates and monitor costs over time.     

Maintenance of community change: enforcing youth access to tobacco laws

Youth access to tobacco remains a significant problem for this nation. Methods have been developed to reduce youth access to commercial outlets and these involve enforcement efforts of monitoring and fining merchant offenders. In the present study, over a three year period of time, readiness to participate in these types of enforcement programs were assessed in 11 communities. Several years after the research study was completed, enforcement activities were re-assessed. Findings indicated that those communities that had made the largest changes in community readiness to enforce youth access laws during the three year intervention were the ones most likely to continue enforcement activities into the follow-up period. There is a need to better understand how youth access to tobacco community-based interventions can be maintained.     

Characteristics of adolescents who provide neither parental consent nor refusal for participation in school-based survey research

Schools offer a convenient setting for research on adolescents. However, obtaining active written parental consent is difficult. In a 6th-grade smoking study, students were recruited with two consent procedures: active consent (parents must provide written consent for their children to participate) and implied consent (children may participate unless their parents provide written refusal). Of 4,427 invited students, 3,358 (76%) provided active parental consent, 420 (9%) provided active parental refusal, and 649 (15%) provided implied consent (parental nonresponse). The implied consent procedure recruited more boys, African Americans, students with poor grades, and smokers. This dual-consent procedure is useful for collecting some limited data from students who do not provide active consent or refusal.     

Conventional Ties,Peer Influence,and the Fear of Apprehension: a Study of Adolescent Marijuana Use*

This study examines the relationship between a belief in the certainty of apprehension and self-reported marijuana use; the relative importance of this belief and ties to conventional others as sources of control; and the extent to which involvement with other users is related to the belief examined and use. The findings suggest that both the belief examined and conventional ties, in this case to the family and school. serve as independent sources of control among the high school youth studied. Of particular importance is involvement with other users; use is unlikely given the absence of group supports. This holds both for youth who maintain conventional ties and for those with weak ties. Further, involvement with nonusing peers is related to patterns of use as well as the belief that one will get caught should he try. The effectiveness of the law as a deterrent, then, is questionable given peer involvement and reinforcement for beliefs which effectively discount or support the certainty of apprehension as a viable reason for nonuse.     

Frontotemporal dementia

In this case study, we describe the symptoms, neuropsychological testing, and brain pathology of a man with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). FTD most often presents with either a change in personality or behavior, such as social withdrawal, increased gregariousness, disinhibition, or obsessive behaviors; or with impairment of language function. Memory difficulties are common, but usually are less prominent than these other symptoms in the early stages of the disease. Frequently, psychiatric diagnoses are initially the primary consideration. Cases may be either familial or sporadic. In this familial case, an autopsy was ultimately performed and revealed findings characteristic of FTD, with grossly evident focal brain degeneration in the frontal and temporal regions, microscopic signs of gliosis, and cellular abnormalities of the intracellular microtubule-associated protein tau.     

Mapping Comparative Empirical Studies of European Social Work

Correspondence to Professor Steven M. Shardlow, Director Salford Centre for Social Work Research, School of Community, Heath Sciences and Social Care, The University of Salford, Allerton Building, Frederick Road, Salford, Greater Manchester M6 6PU, UK. E-mail: S.M.Shardlow{at}Salford.ac.uk Summary This paper reviews the scope of currently published materialsabout comparative empirical social work research within Europe,published in English over a two-decade period (1980–2000).To this end, the paper is divided into four sections. First,an account of the scope and methods used to conduct this review.Second, a brief analysis of non-empirical published materials.Third, in the bulk of the paper, identified comparative studiesare discussed in depth, with a particular focus upon methodologicalissues. Finally, by way of a conclusion, comments are made aboutthe state of contemporary empirical studies within Europeansocial work, and the relationship of these studies to the constructionof social work knowledge. In addition, some suggestions of possiblesites for improvement in respect of comparative empirical researchabout social work in Europe are made.     

Improving School Achievement and Inter‐group Relations for Children Placed at Risk: the Roots and Wings program

Roots and Wings is a comprehensive elementary‐school program designed to ensure that all children achieve world class standards in reading, writing and language arts, mathematics, science, history and geography; and can apply their knowledge to solve real‐world problems. Critical to these goals is increasing the achievement of students placed at‐risk as a consequence of poverty, disabilities, language problems, or other factors. Roots and Wings extensively employs cooperative learning to promote student motivation, socialization, appreciation of diversity, and academic achievement. Although cooperative learning offers a variety of potential benefits, it can be challenging to use for teachers and students more accustomed to traditional methods. This paper presents research in inner‐city elementary schools using the Roots and Wings design and identifies several factors that facilitate the change process and quality of cooperative classroom activities.