Effects of long-acting testosterone undecanoate on bone mineral density in middle-aged men with late-onset hypogonadism and metabolic syndrome: results from a 36 months controlled study

We evaluated the effects of long-term testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on the bone mineral density (BMD) in obese patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and late-onset hypogonadism (LOH). Sixty men (mean age 57 ± 10) with low serum testosterone (T < 320 ng/dL) and MS regardless the presence of osteoporosis were enrolled. Forty men received intramuscular T-undecanoate (TU) four times/year for 36 months and 20 age-matched hypogonadal men with MS in whom T treatment was contraindicated were used as controls. Hormonal, biochemical markers, vertebral and femoral BMD by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry were measured. At baseline, overall patients had mild osteopenia (lumbar BMD= 0.891 ± 0.097 g/cm(2); femoral BMD= 0.847 ± 0.117 g/cm(2)). TU induced a significant improvement of bone mass after 36 months (lumbar BMD=1.053 ± 0.145 g/cm(2); p < 0.002; femoral BMD=0.989 ± 0.109; p < 0.003 g/cm(2)) with a 5%/year increase and a significant reduction in hs-CRP without changes in body mass index. A direct relationship between serum T and BMD increments at the lumbar (r(2)?= 0.66, p < 0.0001) and femoral (r(2)?=0.52, p < 0.0001) sites was demonstrated. Study adherence was 50% without serious side effects. Long-term TRT in middle-aged men with LOH and MS determines a significant increase in both vertebral and femoral BMD related to increased serum T levels, probably independently from estradiol modifications.     

Distorted Copulas: Constructions and Tail Dependence

Given a copula C, we examine under which conditions on an order isomorphism ψ of [0, 1] the distortion C _ψ: [0, 1]² → [0, 1], C _ψ(x, y) = ψ{C[ψ^?1(x), ψ^?1(y)]} is again a copula. In particular, when the copula C is totally positive of order 2, we give a sufficient condition on ψ that ensures that any distortion of C by means of ψ is again a copula. The presented results allow us to introduce in a more flexible way families of copulas exhibiting different behavior in the tails.     

Structuring a multi-site evaluation for youth mentoring programs to prevent teen alcohol and drug use

Despite mentoring's rapidly increasing popularity as an intervention for the prevention of teen alcohol and drug abuse and associated problems, there is little research consensus on its overall effectiveness or on the core principles and components that define effective mentoring. To advance knowledge concerning this important prevention intervention, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention has designed and funded a multi-site cooperative agreement involving seven mentoring programs. The programs are designed to provide a rigorous outcome evaluation that allows comparisons of differing approaches to organizing and delivering mentoring services to adolescents at high risk for substance abuse. The cooperative agreement guidelines set service parameters and options that focus on issues that are grounded in past research on mentoring prevention interventions. The cooperative agreement includes a quasi-experimental, longitudinal multi-site evaluation that provides evidence-based recommendations to advance the effective use of mentoring as a prevention strategy.     

Contradiction and Change of Performance Expectations*

L'auteur propose deux hypotheses pour justifier le fait que les anticipations de ? performance ? changent lorsqu'elles sont mises en présence de faits objectifs qui les contredisent. On peut prédire que ce changement dans les anticipations evolue en fonction de la variété et du niveau des contradictions. Le cas de celui dont les attentes pour soi sont inferieur aux attentes pour les autres est utilise pour des fins expérimentales de verification des hypothèses. A la fin de l'article l'auteur apporte des suggestions dans le but d'améliorer l'arrière-plan théorique des hypothèses. Two hypotheses are proposed on the way specific performance expectations change when confronted with objective evidence that contradicts them. The change in expectations is predicted to be a function of the number and the degree of the contradictions they receive. The case of initial lower expectations for self than for other is used in an experimental test of the hypotheses, and these are confirmed by the results of the test. Some suggestions for the refinement of the hypotheses' theoretical background are discussed at the end.