Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Wendy Wood

Publications and source records attributed to Wendy Wood.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Evidence for a colorectal cancer susceptibility locus on chromosome 3q21-q24 from a high-density SNP genome-wide linkage scan.

To identify a novel susceptibility gene for colorectal cancer (CRC), we conducted a genome-wide linkage analysis of 69 pedigrees segregating colorectal neoplasia in which involvement of known loci had been excluded, using a high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array containing 10,204 markers. Multipoint linkage analyses were undertaken using both non-parametric (model-free) and parametric (model-based) methods. After the removal of SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium, we obtained a maximum non-parametric linkage statistic of 3.40 (P=0.0003) at chromosomal region 3q21-q24. The same genomic position also yielded the highest multipoint heterogeneity LOD (HLOD) score under a dominant model (HLOD=3.10, genome-wide P=0.038) with 62% of families linked to the locus. We provide evidence for a novel CRC susceptibility gene. Further studies are needed to confirm this localization and to evaluate the contribution of this locus to disease incidence.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed2006

Evidence of linkage to chromosome 9q22.33 in colorectal cancer kindreds from the United Kingdom.

About 30% of all colorectal cancers are thought to have a genetic basis and the known predisposing genes can only account for a small fraction of cases. A previous report suggested that a colorectal cancer candidate gene, explaining at least 20% of colorectal cancer cases with family history, was located within a 25 cM region on chromosome 9q22.2-q31.3. We typed 16 polymorphic markers encompassing the region of putative linkage in 57 colorectal tumor families from the United Kingdom. Known Mendelian syndromes had been excluded. We found suggestive evidence of linkage, as positive parametric (HLOD = 1.23) and nonparametric (NPL = 1.21, P = 0.11) LOD scores were obtained by analysis of the whole family set. Enrichment for cases with a priori genetic etiology by analyzing families with at least one person affected at <45 years of age (n = 39 families) gave a maximum multipoint NPL score of 2.65 (P = 0.007). In this group, significant NPL scores >1.67 (P < 0.05) were found in a 6.5 cM region between D9S1851 and D9S277. With a more stringent threshold (NPL>2.4, P < 0.01), the linked region was 1.7 cM between D9S971 and D9S272/D9S173. Exclusion from the analysis of kindreds with a phenotype of multiple polyposis also found evidence of linkage in the same region (NPL = 2.47 at close to D9S277, P = 0.009). The type I transforming growth factor-beta receptor, a prime candidate gene, was excluded as a cause of disease. The results presented here further support the existence of a colorectal cancer susceptibility gene on chromosome 9q and refine its likely location.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive dissonance in groups: the consequences of disagreement.

As L. Festinger (1957) argued, the social group is a source of cognitive dissonance as well as a vehicle for reducing it. That is, disagreement from others in a group generates dissonance, and subsequent movement toward group consensus reduces this negative tension. The authors conducted 3 studies to demonstrate group-induced dissonance. In the first, students in a group with others who ostensibly disagreed with them experienced greater dissonance discomfort than those in a group with others who agreed. Study 2 demonstrated that standard moderators of dissonance in past research--lack of choice and opportunity to self-affirm, similarly reduced dissonance discomfort generated by group disagreement. In Study 3, the dissonance induced by group disagreement was reduced through a variety of interpersonal strategies to achieve consensus, including persuading others, changing one's own position, and joining an attitudinally congenial group.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2005

Changing circumstances, disrupting habits.

The present research investigated the mechanisms guiding habitual behavior, specifically, the stimulus cues that trigger habit performance. When usual contexts for performance change, habits cannot be cued by recurring stimuli, and performance should be disrupted. Thus, the exercising, newspaper reading, and TV watching habits of students transferring to a new university were found to survive the transfer only when aspects of the performance context did not change (e.g., participants continued to read the paper with others). In some cases, the disruption in habits also placed behavior under intentional control so that participants acted on their current intentions. Changes in circumstances also affected the favorability of intentions, but changes in intentions alone could not explain the disruption of habits. Furthermore, regardless of whether contexts changed, nonhabitual behavior was guided by intentions.

Cues↗
PubMed2004

Social norms and identity relevance: a motivational approach to normative behavior.

Two studies demonstrated that greater identification with a group was associated with more positive emotions for members who conformed with versus violated the group's norms. These effects were found with injunctive norms, which specify what members should do or what they ideally would do, but emerged less consistently with descriptive norms, which specify what members typically do. Descriptive norms affected emotional responses when they acquired identity-relevance by differentiating an important ingroup from a rival outgroup. For these descriptive norms, much like injunctive norms, greater identification yielded more positive emotions following conformity than violation. The authors suggest that positive emotions and self-evaluations underlie conformity with the norms of self-defining groups.

Affect↗
PubMed2003

Forewarned and forearmed? Two meta-analytic syntheses of forewarnings of influence appeals.

Two research syntheses evaluate the effects on attitudes of forewarning of an influence appeal. In general, warnings appeared to threaten people's attitudes or their self-images, and warning impact depended on which aspect of the self was threatened. When the topic of the appeal was involving and concerned immediate outcomes or when the appeal was actually delivered, recipients appeared to focus on the potential threat to their attitudes, and they responded defensively by cognitively bolstering their own views and resisting the appeal. However, warnings of appeals on less involving topics generated agreement before the appeal was delivered, presumably because these warnings alerted people to the self-image threat of being gullible and preemptive agreement reduced this threat.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: implications for the origins of sex differences.

This article evaluates theories of the origins of sex differences in human behavior. It reviews the cross-cultural evidence on the behavior of women and men in nonindustrial societies, especially the activities that contribute to the sex-typed division of labor and patriarchy. To explain the cross-cultural findings, the authors consider social constructionism, evolutionary psychology, and their own biosocial theory. Supporting the biosocial analysis, sex differences derive from the interaction between the physical specialization of the sexes, especially female reproductive capacity, and the economic and social structural aspects of societies. This biosocial approach treats the psychological attributes of women and men as emergent given the evolved characteristics of the sexes, their developmental experiences, and their situated activity in society.

Cross-Cultural Comparison↗
PubMed2002

Habits in everyday life: thought, emotion, and action.

To illustrate the differing thoughts and emotions involved in guiding habitual and nonhabitual behavior, 2 diary studies were conducted in which participants provided hourly reports of their ongoing experiences. When participants were engaged in habitual behavior, defined as behavior that had been performed almost daily in stable contexts, they were likely to think about issues unrelated to their behavior, presumably because they did not have to consciously guide their actions. When engaged in nonhabitual behavior, or actions performed less often or in shifting contexts, participants' thoughts tended to correspond to their behavior, suggesting that thought was necessary to guide action. Furthermore, the self-regulatory benefits of habits were apparent in the lesser feelings of stress associated with habitual than nonhabitual behavior.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2000

An Integrative Review of Patient Medication Compliance from 1990-1998.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the integrated review was to summarize studies about medication compliance and identify their implications for research and practice. Thirty research studies exploring patient medication compliance were reviewed. Study variables related to patients included characteristics that affect compliance, common medication errors, and strategies used by patients to remember to take their medication. Other studies evaluated methods for measuring compliance and interventions for improving compliance. CONCLUSIONS: There has not been a "gold standard" identified for measuring compliance, therefore it is difficult to compare results due to differences in operational definitions. Dosage frequency, patient's confidence in their provider, belief in the efficacy of a drug along with acceptance of illness have been shown to have a positive effect on compliance. IMPLICATIONS: Nurses and other health care providers can promote medication compliance by developing a collaborative relationship with the patient. Education and reminders are especially important at the beginning of treatment. Further research is needed to assess the efficacy of nursing interventions to promote compliance.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Activity situations on an Alzheimer's disease special care unit and resident environmental interactions, time use, and affect.

Routine activity situations on an Alzheimer's disease (AD) special care unit were examined with respect to residents' social and physical environmental interactions, time use, and apparent affect. Using a computer-assisted observational tool, observers recorded prevailing activity situations and corresponding behaviors and affects of seven residents every 10 minutes, from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, across four days. Although meals/snacks and some activity groups were positively associated with use of physical objects and engagement in activities, residents were predominantly environmentally disengaged, inactive, or without positive affects during the most prevalent activity situations of background media, downtime, and television. Findings suggest that routine activity situations may act as potent environmental influences on the quality of life (QOL) of people with AD and mediate the effectiveness of other environmental interventions undertaken on their behalf.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pragmatism and structuralism in occupational therapy: the long conversation.

The history of occupational therapy may be understood as a continual transaction between two cultural discourses: pragmatism and structuralism. Pragmatism is a way of thinking that presupposes humans are agentic by nature and knowledge is tentative and created within particular contexts. Structuralism is a way of thinking that assumes humans are composites of recurring general frameworks and that knowledge is objective and can be generalized to multiple contexts. Early in the field's history, both pragmatist and structuralist assumptions about the human and knowledge produced different readings, or interpretations, of what constituted the appropriate tools, methods, and outcomes for occupational therapy. Consequently, occupational therapy adopted an interesting mix of pragmatist language regarding the human and structuralist approaches to knowledge, resulting in professional identity problems still experienced today. However, recent developments offer an opportunity for occupational therapists to correct old identity problems through critically evaluating incompatible assumptions and carefully reading the prevailing cultural ethos.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ecological synergies in two groups of zoo chimpanzees: divergent patterns of time use.

This study investigated how two groups of zoo chimpanzees, one that lived in a small and mostly barren physical habitat yet had a successful social history and the other that lived in a larger and more enriched physical habitat yet had a turbulent social history, invested time occupationally. Different ecological synergies were found to emerge from these respective conditions and to influence time use in highly particularistic ways. As related to considerations of adaptedness, the limits of enriched physical environs when coupled with a dearth of social facilitation were revealed, as were the limits of social facilitation within impoverished physical spaces. Findings suggest that occupational therapists' expertise in activity analysis could be enlarged to encompass analysis of naturally socially embedded ways of doing things across multiple contexts. To advance the ethic of occupational justice, functional assessments of individuals could also be expanded into functional assessments of the occupational aliveness of proximate life environments.

Adaptation, Psychological↗