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James G Kelly

Publications and source records attributed to James G Kelly.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Community-based interdisciplinary research: introduction to the special issue.

This special issue on community-based interdisciplinary research grew out of the work of the SCRA Interdisciplinary Task Force and an Interdisciplinary Working Conference held at Vanderbilt University in May, 2004. In this introduction to the special issue, the historical context for interdisciplinary underpinnings for community psychology theory, research, action and training is first depicted. This is followed by a brief description of the mission and work of the recent SCRA Interdisciplinary Task Force and the Interdisciplinary Working Conference. The introduction concludes with a brief summary of the papers in the two main sections of the special issue, Prospects and Perspectives (four scholarly papers and three commentaries) and Community-Based Interdisciplinary Action-Research (four interdisciplinary action-research projects).

Congresses as Topic↗

Differential expression of central metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) subtypes in a clinical model of post-surgical pain.

Tissue damage during surgery can induce 'central sensitization' and the development of pain and hyperalgesia post-operatively. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) contribute to nociception, inflammatory pain and hyperalgesia. This study characterized the temporal expression of group I (mGluR(1), mGluR(5)) and II (mGluR(2), mGluR(3)) mGluRs in spinal cord following abdominal surgery. Lumbar spinal cord was recovered from adult sheep euthanased 5 h, 1, 2, 3 and 6 days after undergoing a midline laparotomy, and processed for mGluR mRNA (real-time PCR, in situ hybridization) and protein (Western blotting). mGluR(5) mRNA was up-regulated 5 h and 1 day post-surgery in laminae I-II of the spinal cord dorsal horn. mGluR(5) protein was increased 1 day post-surgery. A delayed induction of mGluR(2) and mGluR(3) mRNAs and mGluR(2/3) protein occurred in spinal cord 3 days after surgery. By 6 days, mGluR(2) mRNA levels had returned to normal, however, mGluR(3) mRNA and mGluR(2/3) protein remained elevated. No change was detected in mGluR(1). These results demonstrate that mGluRs are differentially regulated following surgery and support a link between mGluR-mediated activity and post-surgical pain.

Animals↗

On community leadership: stories about collaboration in action research.

This article provides an account of a 10-year collaborative documentation of community leadership in an African American community on the South side of Chicago. The stories are oriented to several critical incidents in the life course of the collaboration. They are told from the perspectives of one university professor, four graduate students, and one community leader. Together they provide an account of how this research was shaped by the interactions of the research team with members of the community, how research questions emerged, methodologies were developed, ways of gathering data were tried and tested, and interpretations of data unfolded. Special attention is given to the ways in which the process and products of this research contributed to the community's own process of leadership development. The stories also discuss the various roles participants in this collaboration played both in the academic arena and in the community, and how they experienced gender, race, nationality, and social status.

Black or African American↗

Up-regulation of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtypes 3 and 5 in spinal cord in a clinical model of persistent inflammation and hyperalgesia.

Evidence from experimental pain research has revealed that metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) play a pivotal role in nociceptive processing, inflammatory pain and hyperalgesia. The aim of this study was to characterise expression of group I and II mGluRs in spinal cord in a model of naturally occurring persistent inflammation (sheep with unilateral lameness due to inflammation of the digital tissues of the feet, estimated to have been affected by the condition for >2 weeks) and an experimental model of acute inflammation (injection of intradermal carrageenan into lower forelimb in sheep). Animals with unilateral clinical inflammation displayed significant mechanical hyperalgesia on the affected limb. Carrageenan treatment produced significant bilateral limb mechanical hyperalgesia 3 h post-injection. Up-regulation of mGluR(3) and mGluR(5) mRNA was observed in ipsilateral spinal cord recovered from clinically lame animals, restricted to laminae II-V and I-II, respectively. Western blot analyses of protein extracts revealed a bilateral increase in mGluR(2/3) and mGluR(5). No change was detected in spinal cord mGluR(1) or mGluR(2) mRNA. There was no change in mGluR(1,2,3,5) subtype mRNA or proteins in spinal cord recovered from animals 3 h post-carrageenan. These results demonstrate for the first time that mGluR subtypes are differentially expressed in spinal cord dorsal horn in response to persistent inflammation, and suggest that mGluR activity may be involved in mediating altered behaviours associated with clinical inflammatory pain.

Animals↗

Science and community psychology: social norms for pluralistic inquiry.

The concept of "science" linked to the concept of "community psychology" requires adaptation. In the case of community psychology, science is public to citizens as well as to the scientist. The community psychologist, as scientist, works from the expectation that choices of topics, methods, and interpretation of findings are done in concert with representatives of the community. The following remarks offer 7 ways to keep vital the research of the community psychologist while contributing to robust and useful knowledge.

Community Mental Health Services↗

Transient up-regulation of spinal cyclooxygenase-2 and neuronal nitric oxide synthase following surgical inflammation.

BACKGROUND: Surgery induces pain and hyperalgesia postoperatively. The products of cyclooxygenases and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) have been implicated in the development of inflammatory pain and hyperalgesia experimentally, and the use of drugs clinically that modify cyclooxygenase activity has been advocated in the management of perioperative pain. However, regulation of these enzymes following surgery has not been studied. METHODS: Adult female sheep (n = 12) undergoing a midline laparotomy for collection of ova were used in this study. Lumbar and cervical spinal cord tissue was collected from animals euthanized 1 day and 6 or 7 days after surgery and processed for cyclooxygenase (cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2), neuronal NOS mRNA expression using reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and hybridization. Tissues were also processed for NADPH-diaphorase staining and cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 protein expression by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. RESULTS: No alteration in cyclooxygenase-1 or cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA or protein concentrations were detected in spinal cord by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively, at 1 day or 6 or 7 days after surgery. However, using techniques that localize mRNA and protein expression ( hybridization and immunohistochemistry, respectively), increases in cyclooxygenase-2 were identified in lamina V dorsal horn neurons in lumbar spinal cord 1 day after surgery. A significant increase in neuronal NOS mRNA was observed in lumbar spinal cord 1 day after surgery, localized to laminae I-II and lamina V neurons, which returned to baseline concentrations by 6 to 7 days. NADPH-diaphorase staining was significantly increased in laminae I-II in lumbar spinal cord 1 day after surgery but not after 6 to 7 days. CONCLUSIONS: Spinal cyclooxygenase and neuronal NOS pathways are differentially altered following surgical inflammation. The early and transient nature of these changes suggests that these enzymes are implicated in postoperative pain and hypersensitivity.

Animals↗

The spirit of community psychology. 2001 Seymour B. Sarason Award Address.

Community psychology as a field may have lost some of its original spirit; a spirit dominant at the founding of the field. Spirit is a difficult concept to discuss since it is a concept beyond usual discourse in psychology as a denotative, measurable and verifiable concept. Taking the lead from William James, Spirit, however elusive, is most essential to a sense of self. I offer three suggestions to enhance and to make our individual and collective spirit more vital: (1) Continuing education in the history of community psychology; (2) Creating time to share stories about our work; (3) Creating safe settings to enlarge our spirit. These ideas are offered as pragmatic suggestions to enable us to create more coherence between our personal and professional selves.

Anecdotes as Topic↗