UNLABELLED: Measures identified in research as being predictive of later worry following a cancer diagnosis may be too time consuming for routine clinical screening purposes. In practice, therefore, clinicians may use factors such as disease severity to anticipate likely distress. In this study we evaluated alternative predictors based on simple ratings that we had found useful with other patient groups. METHODS: Women attending a breast clinic were briefly interviewed on three occasions about their worries: in the clinic immediately before diagnosis and twice after diagnosis, two and four months later. Severity of disease was established using the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI). RESULTS: Severity as assessed by the NPI was not highly correlated with post-diagnostic health worries. The factor found to be most highly correlated with subsequent worry about cancer was patients' ratings of the frequency of thinking about the initial clinic visit during the preceding week. CONCLUSION: Given the relative ease of asking about level of pre-diagnostic intrusive thoughts, we conclude that this index would provide a useful and practical method for clinicians to identify in advance those patients likely to worry excessively following a diagnosis of cancer.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

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Morals and money.

The authors review the implication of the term "professional," especially those dealing with the need for an ethic of trustworthiness and those dealing with the expectation of being paid for services. The erosive potential generated by these foci is explored, and circumstances which magnify or might ameliorate the potential described. The article concludes with a consideration of the relationship between professional ethics and world-view.

Ethics, Professional↗

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Cognitive-behavior therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder in private practice: an effectiveness study.

A controversy exists over whether or not the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are generalizable to routine clinical practice. The present study examines the effectiveness of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a private practice setting. Twenty-six consecutive clients referred to a private anxiety disorders specialty clinic began treatment for OCD. Of the 19 (73%) clients who completed treatment, 84% were treatment responders. Clients, treatment, and outcome of the present study are compared with those of representative RCTs, and it is concluded that there are more similarities than differences. It is concluded that CBT can be effectively delivered in routine clinical practice.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Transepidermal water loss dynamics of human vulvar and thigh skin.

Refinement in procedures to assess skin surface water loss (SSWL) dynamics of the vulvar skin on a large sample of subjects (60) is described and compared to another semi-occluded skin site, the inner thigh. Vulvar SSWL significantly decreased over a 30-min period from 46.2 +/- 2.6 (SE) to 24.7 +/- 1.6 g m(-2) h (p < 0.001). The inner thigh, another semi-occluded region, showed no similar pattern for SSWL (6.2 +/- 0.3 to 6.6 +/- 0.5 g m(-2) h), and the values were significantly less than those for vulvar skin. There was no significant effect of age, body mass index or atopic status on vulvar SSWL.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Hip and groin injuries in athletes.

Although athletic injuries about the hip and groin occur less commonly than injuries in the extremities, they can result in extensive rehabilitation time. Thus, an accurate diagnosis and well-organized treatment plan are critical. Because loads of up to eight times body weight have been demonstrated in the hip joint during jogging, presumably even greater loads can occur during vigorous athletic competition. The available imaging modalities are effective diagnostic tools when selected on the basis of a thorough history and physical examination. Considerable controversy exists as to the cause and optimal treatment of groin pain in athletes, or the so-called "sports hernia." There has also been significant recent attention focused on intraarticular lesions that may be amenable to hip arthroscopy. This article briefly reviews several common hip and groin conditions affecting athletic patients and highlights some newer topics.

Acetabulum↗

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The anterior drawer sign: what is it?

1. The anterior drawer is a test of anterior cruciate ligament integrity. 2. The anterior cruciate ligament is composed of two parts: the anteromedial band and the posterolater bulk. 3. The anteromedial band is the primary check against anterior drawer. 4. Other structures may contribute to the resistance of anterior drawer only if the anteromedial band has been injuried. 5. The posterior cruciate ligament is a check against posterior drawer. 6. In long term follow-up, the presence of anterior drawer is associated with poor overall results.

Femur Head↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Multistage integration model for human egomotion perception.

Human computational vision models that attempt to account for the dynamic perception of egomotion and relative depth typically assume a common three-stage process: first, compute the optical flow field based on the dynamically changing image; second, estimate the egomotion states based on the flow; and third, estimate the relative depth/shape based on the egomotion states and possibly on a model of the viewed surface. We propose a model more in line with recent work in human vision, employing multistage integration. Here the dynamic image is first processed to generate spatial and temporal image gradients that drive a mutually interconnected state estimator and depth/shape estimator. The state estimator uses the image gradient information in combination with a depth/shape estimate of the viewed surface and an assumed model of the viewer's dynamics to generate current state estimates; in tandem, the depth/shape estimator uses the image gradient information in combination with the viewer's state estimate and assumed shape model to generate current depth/shape estimates. In this paper, we describe the model and compare model predictions with empirical data.

Aircraft↗

PubMedDate not supplied