Social skills training for withdrawn unpopular children with physical disabilities: A preliminary evaluation.

Examined changes in self-concept, perceptions of support from close friends and classmates, and loneliness in 11 8.6–14.6 yr old withdrawn unpopular children with cerebral palsy or spina bifida who had been involved in a social skills training program. The program targeted 5 basic skills: interpersonal problem solving, verbal and nonverbal communication, initiating interactions with peers, conversational skills, and coping with difficult others. To assess the impact of the program, Ss were evaluated before the intervention, after the 10-wk intervention, and at a 6-mo follow-up. Findings indicate that group social skills training may be effective in decreasing feelings of loneliness and increasing perceptions of social acceptance in children who are withdrawn and unpopular at school. Ss' feelings of loneliness were associated with lower ratings of social acceptance and lower ratings of classmate support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Book reviews

Shelter Is Not Enough: Transforming Multi-Storey Housing. Graham Towers. Policy, Bristol, 2000. ISBN 1861341563. 259 pp. RRP £19.99.

Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Critical Introduction. Christine Cheyne, Mike O'Brien and Michael Belgrave. Oxford University Press, Auckland, 2000. ISBN 0195584422 (paperback). 275 pp.; bibliography and index. RRP NZ$37.95, A$28.95.

Citizenship and Migration: Globalization and the Politics of Belonging. Stephen Castles and Alastair Davidson. Macmillan, London, 2000. ISBN 0333643100. vii + 258 pp.; RRP $47.00.

Queer City: Gay and Lesbian Politics in Sydney. Craig Johnston and Paul van Reyk (eds). Pluto, Sydney, 2001. ISBN 1864031921. 322 pp. RRP $32.95.

Environmental Planning and Management in New Zealand. P. Ali Memon and Harvey C. Perkins (eds). Dunmore, Palmerston North, rev. edn, 2000. ISBN 086469363X (paperback). 401 pp.; bibliography and index. RRP NZ$66.00.

Resetting the Compass: Australia's Journey Towards Sustainability. David Yencken and Debra Wilkinson. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2000. ISBN 0643063854 (paperback). 416 pp.; endnotes and index. RRP $39.95.     

The relationship between symptoms and blood pressure during maintenance hemodialysis

Intradialytic hypotension (IDH) is a detrimental complication of maintenance hemodialysis, but how it is defined and reported varies widely in the literature. European Best Practice Guideline and Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative guidelines require symptoms and a mitigating intervention to fulfill the diagnosis, but morbidity and mortality outcomes are largely based on blood pressure alone. Furthermore, little is known about the incidence of asymptomatic hypotension, which may be an important cause of hypoperfusion injury and impaired outcome. Seventy‐seven patients were studied over 456 dialysis sessions. Blood pressure was measured at 15‐minute intervals throughout the session and compared with post‐dialysis symptom questionnaire results using mixed modeling to adjust for repeated measures in the same patient. The frequency of asymptomatic hypotension was estimated by logistic regression using a variety of commonly cited blood pressure metrics that describe IDH. In 113 sessions (25%) where symptoms were recorded on the questionnaire, these appear not to have been reported to dialysis staff. When symptoms were reported (293 sessions [64%]), an intervention invariably followed. Dizziness and cramp were strongly associated with changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP), but not diastolic blood pressure. Nausea occurred more frequently in younger patients but was not associated with falls in blood pressure. Thresholds that maximized the probability of an intervention rather than a session remaining asymptomatic were SBP <100 mmHg or a 20% reduction in SBP from baseline. The probability of SBP falling to <100 mmHg in an asymptomatic session was 0.23. Symptoms are frequently not reported by patients who are hypotensive during hemodialysis, which leads to an underestimation of IDH if symptom‐based definitions are used. A revised definition of IDH excluding patient‐reported symptoms would be in line with literature reporting morbidity and mortality outcomes and include sessions in which potentially detrimental asymptomatic hypotension occurs.     

Do free-living amoebae in treated drinking water systems present an emerging health risk?

There is an expanding body of evidence that free-living amoebae (FLA) increase both the numbers and virulence of water-based, human-pathogenic, amoeba-resisting microorganisms (ARM). Legionella spp., Mycobacterium spp., and other opportunistic human pathogens are known to be both ARM and also the etiologic agents of potentially fatal human lung infections. However, comparatively little is known about the FLA that may facilitate ARM growth in drinking water. This review examines the available literature on FLA in treated drinking water systems; in total 26 studies from 18 different countries. FLA were reported to breakthrough the water treatment barrier and enter distribution systems, in addition to the expected post-treatment system ingress. Once in the distribution system there is evidence of FLA colonization and regrowth especially in reservoirs and in-premise plumbing storage tanks. At the point of use the average FLA detection rate was 45% but highly variable (n = 16, σ = 31) due to both differences in both assay methods and the type of water systems examined. This review reveals that FLA are consistently detected in treated drinking water systems around the world and present a yet unquantified emerging health risk. However, more research is urgently required before accurate risks assessments can be undertaken to assess the impacts on human health, in households and institutions, due to exposure to FLA facilitated pathogenic ARM.     

Oxidative microbial degradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene via 3-methyl-4,6-dinitrocatechol

A novel pathway for biodegradation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was investigated where TNT was the sole carbon, nitrogen, and energy source. Results showed the ability of microorganismsto metabolize TNT through removal of a nitro-group, oxygenation of the aromatic ring, and production of a metabolite that is typically a precursor to oxygenolytic ring cleavage. Nitrite production was observed in active systems, and TNT degradation activity was repeatable and transferable. The metabolic intermediate, 3-methyl-4,6-dinitrocatechol, was positively identified through stable isotope mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry. Experimentation with 14C-TNT showed >3% 14C-labeled CO2 in active systems after 30 d exposure to microorganisms. An increasing fraction of 14C-labeled material was associated with biomass with time, where 11.41 +/- 2.91% and 17.09 +/- 1.49% of 14C was associated with biomass in active systems after 20 and 30 d, respectively, as compared with 5.68 +/- 1.33% and 6.08 +/- 1.27% in inactive systems. Parallel degradation of TNT and production of organic metabolites and nitrite were observed in shake flasks constructed with soil from historically contaminated sites, indicating that the novel pathway identified herein is disturbed in the environment. Therefore, results presented provide evidence of a previously unreported pathway for oxidative degradation of TNT.     

Real-time PCR detection of the thermostable direct hemolysin and thermolabile hemolysin genes in a Vibrio parahaemolyticus cultured from mussels and mussel homogenate associated with a foodborne outbreak

Molecular methods have become vital epidemiological tools in the detection and characterization of bacteria associated with a foodborne outbreak. We used both culture and real-time PCR to detect a Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolate associated with a foodborne outbreak. The outbreak occurred in July 2002 in Polk County, Florida, and originated at a Chinese buffet, with one person being hospitalized. The hospital isolated V. parahaemolyticus from the patient but destroyed the sample after diagnosis. From an onsite visit of the restaurant, food samples that possibly contributed to the outbreak were collected and sent to the Florida Department of Health, Tampa Branch Laboratory. Crab legs, crabsticks, and mussel samples were homogenized and incubated according to the Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual culture protocol. Three sets of primers and a TaqMan probe were designed to target the tdh, trh, and tlh genes and used for real-time PCR. This study was successful in isolating V. parahaemolyticus from a mussel sample and detecting two of its genes (tdh and tlh) in food and pure culture by real-time PCR.     

Social housing investment: Housing policy and finance in the UK and the Netherlands, 1970–1992

Levels of social housing investment in the UK and the Netherlands are considered for the period 1970–1992. The changing housing policies and the developing structures of social housing finance are analysed. These factors have contributed to the decline in social housing construction in the UK and the Netherlands. In particular, the desire of governments in both countries to cut public capital expenditure on housing and increase the role of private, capital in new construction reduced the output during the 1980s. In the UK, a tight monetarist policy was adopted with the aim of keeping inflation down. This can be seen as a major cause of declining levels of public expenditure on housing production. In the Netherlands, a more significant role, compared to the UK, seems to have been played by developments on the housing market, especially the real estate crisis in 1978–1982. In both countries, the outlook for investment in social housing is gloomy Hugo Priemus hold the chair in housing at Delft Unviersity of Technology, and he is managing director of OTB Research Institute for Policy and Technology Jacqueline Smith is research assistant at the School of the Built Environment, De Montfort University, Leicester, (UK). Both cooperate in the Centre for Comparative Housing Research, a joint venture between the School of the Built Environment and OTB.