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Biomedical subjects

B Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to B Strauss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

A prospective study of rural drinking water quality and acute gastrointestinal illness.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the relationship between the bacteriological contamination of drinking water from private wells and acute gastrointestinal illness (AGII), using current government standards for safe drinking water. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted using 235 households (647 individuals) randomly selected from four rural hamlets. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire, a self-report diary of symptoms and two drinking water samples. RESULTS: Twenty percent of households sampled, had indicator bacteria (total coliform or Escherichia coli (E. coli)) above the current Canadian and United States standards for safe drinking water. No statistically significant associations between indicator bacteria and AGII were observed. The odds ratio (OR) for individuals exposed to E. coli above the current standards was 1.52 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.33-6.92), compared to individuals with levels below current standards. The odds ratio estimate for individuals exposed to total coliforms above the current standards was 0.39 (95% CI, 0.10-1.50). CONCLUSIONS: This study observed a high prevalence of bacteriological contamination of private wells in the rural hamlets studied. Individual exposure to contaminated water defined by current standards may be associated with an increased risk of AGII.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

[Hairdex: a tool for evaluation of disease-specific quality of life in patients with hair diseases].

Because of a strong reduction of life quality in patients with hair loss, a special questionnaire was developed following the general Skindex questionnaire for dermatoses. The Hairdex was evaluated in 75 female hair patients. The aim of the study was to prove the questionnaire's statistical values, reliability, validity, general acceptance and accuracy. The clinical manifestation of hair loss was categorized as "not visible", slightly visible" and "obviously visible". The hair loss lead to great differences in the life quality of both the patients with obvious hair loss and in patients with non-visible hair loss, especially in the categories "emotions", "self-confidence" and "stigmatization". The convergent and discriminant validity of the questionnaire was satisfactory. The acceptance of the questionnaire was very good with 90%. The hairdex-questionnaire represents a reliable and patient-oriented instrument for evaluation of life quality in hair diseases. The reliability of the questionnaire concerning longitudinal therapeutic effects will need to be investigated in further studies.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[not app].

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Editorial↗
PubMed2001

[Farewell to the dodo-bird: specific versus general psychotherapy from the perspective of psychotherapy research].

Based upon different specificity problems in psychotherapy, it is shown that psychotherapy research consists of two different worlds, the one focussing on disorder specific factors, the other traditionally investigating unspecific or common therapeutic factors. Relating to the Dodobird verdict that has been used to describe the so-called equivalence paradox in psychotherapy, several views of common therapeutic factors are summarized. Recent research shows that psychotherapy research also indicates a specificity paradox that can be resolved by the observation that several psychological disorders develop their own dynamics and that--besides this--general principles are active. In several settings and in relation to specific disorders both aspects have already been integrated successfully.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Guidelines for counselling in infertility: outline version.

The Guidelines for Counselling in Infertility describe the purpose, objectives, typical issues and communication skills involved in providing psychosocial care to individuals using fertility services. The Guidelines are presented in six sections. The first section describes how infertility consultations differ from other medical consultations in obstetrics and gynaecology, whereas the second section addresses fundamental issues in counselling, such as what is counselling in infertility, who should counsel and who is likely to need counselling. Section 3 focuses on how to integrate patient-centred care and counselling into routine medical treatment and section 4 highlights some of the special situations which can provoke the need for counselling (e.g. facing the end of treatment, sexual problems). Section 5 deals exclusively with third party reproduction and the psychosocial implications of gamete donation, surrogacy and adoption for heterosexual and gay couples and single women without partners. The final section of the Guidelines is concerned with psychosocial services that can be used to supplement counselling services in fertility clinics: written psychosocial information, telephone counselling, self-help groups and professionally facilitated group work. This paper summarizes the different sections of the Guidelines and describes how to obtain the complete text of the Guidelines for Counselling in Infertility.

Counseling↗
PubMed2001

Vulvar pain. Psychological profiles and treatment responses.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the psychological and quality of life profiles of women with different subsets of vulvodynia and identify differential response patterns to a combined gynecologic-dermatologic treatment program. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-three women with vulvar dermatoses, dysesthetic vulvodynia and vulvar vestibulitis were recruited from a combined dermatologic and gynecologic vulvar clinic and completed instruments related to quality of life (QoL) and psychologic symptomatology. A repeated measurement design was employed. However, only 33 women could be assessed at the second point of measurement. RESULTS: Women with different subsets of vulvodynia showed (1) distinct quality of life and psychological profiles, and (2) different response patterns to treatment. There were significant differences on most QoL scales, with patients with dysesthetic vulvodynia and with vulvar dermatoses showing greater impairment than patients with vestibulitis. However, patients with vestibulitis displayed a highly specific pattern of psychologic symptomatology. Patients with vulvar dermatoses had an improvement in problems related to intimacy than patients with vulvar pain syndromes. CONCLUSION: Treatment intervention studies seem to be indispensable in order to gain a better understanding of the complex interplay between different subsets of vulvodynia and psychological symptoms concurrently with differential treatment reactions.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Computer-based three-dimensional visualization of developmental gene expression.

A broad understanding of the relationship between gene activation, pattern formation and morphogenesis will require adequate tools for three-dimensional and, perhaps four-dimensional, representation and analysis of molecular developmental processes. We present a novel, computer-based method for the 3D visualization of embryonic gene expression and morphological structures from serial sections. The information from these automatically aligned 3D reconstructions exceeds that from single-section and whole-mount visualizations of in situ hybridizations. In addition, these 3D models of gene-expression patterns can become a central component of a future developmental database designed for the collection and presentation of digitized, morphological and gene-expression data. This work is accompanied by a web site (http://www.univie.ac.at/GeneEMAC).

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional↗
PubMed2000

Best hope or last hope: access to phase III clinical trials of HER-2/neu for advanced stage breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer is a major public health problem, with a 12% incidence among women. The over-expression of the proto-oncogene HER-2/neu is associated with 30% of breast and ovarian cancers that are very aggressive and do not respond to standard therapeutic regimens. Entrance into clinical trials can represent the best hope and even the last hope for these patients. Entrance, however, is based on satisfying eligibility criteria. In examining advanced stage breast cancer patients' access to phase III clinical trials for HER-2/neu, two specific arguments regarding eligibility will be addressed. First, if research is to provide the utilitarian goal of the 'greatest good to the greatest number', delineation of the population receiving the 'good', rather than a homogeneous sub-set of this population, must be addressed, along with patients' values and goals, very relevant to determining a 'good life', how to achieve it, and whether a treatment is a part of that process. Second, the 'good' being generated should involve realistic, practical values of quality ways of living with advanced breast cancer and not just increased survival, or cure. Arguments for relaxing criteria are based on an accurate versus over-simplified interpretation of utilitarian principles and concepts of human flourishing. Only through addressing these issues can the true 'good' of clinical trials and research be given to the greatest number of people.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed2000

[Are the children of fatherless families more frequently emotionally disturbed in adult life?].

It has been the subject of numerous debates recently whether children who grew up without fathers suffer more than others under the long-term consequences of their fatherless childhood. In 1994 we conducted a large-scale population-based investigation over a hundred subjects who had grown up without father to establish standardized norms for various psychometric questionnaires that were also relevant to this issue. This allows us to contribute to the discussion with some concrete data, which correspond without exception with the dominant trend of other research results. Whereas there was evidence to support the view that some children of fatherless families do indeed suffer from increased emotional disturbance in later life, there were also indications that others even profited emotionally from their fatherless childhood. In the area of bodily complaints the results were confounded to a high degree with gender differences, showing that women are more frequently negatively affected, and men more positively.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Stabilization of the intermediate in frameshift mutation.

A mismatch repair, proofreading deficient mutant of Escherichia coli lost a C from a C8 run at a rate 10 times higher than the loss of A from an A8 sequence in the same double mutant. This greater frameshift instability of a homopolymeric run of C's may be due to stabilization of a stacked intermediate. Gain of a (CA) unit in a similarly constructed (CA)15 sequence occurred at a rate about 1/3 that previously reported for a (CA)14 construct losing a (CA) repeat unit.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1999

[Validation of the Inventory for Interpersonal Problems (IIP). Results of a representative study in East and West Germany].

The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) was developed in the USA in the late 1970s and in the mean time has become a well-established instrument applied in numerous clinical studies in German speaking countries under the name "Inventar zur Erfassung interpersonaler Probleme". The test manual was published in German in 1994, but without the corresponding standardisation for a German-speaking population. The present study fills this gap. In a representative study the IIP was completed by 2025 West Germans and 1022 East Germans aged 14-92 years. The representative norms are given and the psychometric dimensions of the questionnaire adjusted for this sample. As a contribution to testing validity the results were also related to the scores of a number of other tests completed by the same sample (Giessen Test--GT; Giessener Beschwerdebogen--GBB; Fragebogen zur Lebenszufriedenheit--FLZ; Angstbewältigungsinventar--ABI and the Fragebogen zum erinnerten elterlichen Erziehungsverhalten [FEE]). The relevant results will be reported.

Adolescent↗