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Collection development using interlibrary loan borrowing and acquisitions statistics.

Libraries, especially those supporting the sciences, continually face the problem of selecting appropriate new books for their users. Traditional collection development techniques include the use of librarian or user subject specialists, user recommendations, and approval plans. These methods of selection, however, are most effective in large libraries and do not systemically correlate new book purchases with the actual demands of users served. This paper describes a statistical method for determining subject strengths and weaknesses in a library book collection in relation to user demand. Using interlibrary loan borrowing and book acquisition statistics gathered for one fiscal year from three health sciences libraries, the authors developed a way to graph the broad and narrow subject fields of strength and potential weakness in a book collection. This method has the advantages of simplicity, speed of implementation, and clarity. It can also be used over a period of time to verify the success or failure of a collection development program. Finally, the method has potential as a tool for use by two or more libraries seeking to improve cooperative collection development in a network or consortium.

Interlibrary Loans↗

Monoclonal antibodies for treating cancer.

PURPOSE: To assess the current status of in-vivo use of monoclonal antibodies for treating cancer. DATA IDENTIFICATION: Publications appearing between 1980 and 1988 were identified by computer searches using MEDLINE and CANCERLIT, by reviewing the table of contents of recently published journals, and by searching bibliographies of identified books and articles. STUDY SELECTION: More than 700 articles, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, were identified and selected for analysis. DATA EXTRACTION: The literature was reviewed and 235 articles were selected as relevant and representative of the current issues and future applications for in-vivo monoclonal antibodies for cancer therapy and of the toxicity and efficacy which has been associated with clinical trials. RESULTS OF DATA SYNTHESES: Approaches include using antibody alone (interacting with complement or effector cells or binding directly with certain cell receptors) and immunoconjugates (antibody coupled to radioisotopes, drugs, toxins, or other biologicals). Most experience has been with murine antibodies. Trials of antibody alone and radiolabeled antibodies have confirmed the feasibility of this approach and the in-vivo trafficking of antibodies to tumor cells. However, tumor cell heterogeneity, lack of cytotoxicity, and the development of human antimouse antibodies have limited clinical efficacy. Although the immunoconjugates are very promising, heterogeneity and the antimouse immune response have hampered this approach as has the additional challenge of chemically or genetically coupling antibody to cytotoxic agents. CONCLUSIONS: As a therapeutic modality, monoclonal antibodies are still promising but their general use will be delayed for several years. New approaches using human antibodies and reducing the human antiglobulin response should facilitate treatment.

Animals↗

Autologous bone marrow transplantation. Current status and future directions.

PURPOSE: To assess the current status of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous marrow transplantation in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. DATA IDENTIFICATION: Studies reported between 1978 and May 1988 were identified through computer searches using Medline and Cancerline and through extensive manual searching of bibliographies of identified books and articles. STUDY SELECTION: More than 160 studies that contained adequate response, toxicity, or survival data were selected for analysis, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and proceedings of meetings. The most current or complete references were used for series reported more than once. DATA ANALYSIS: Information abstracted included regimen used, number of patients, response rates, disease-free and overall survival, and toxicities. A meta-analysis of the pooled data was done. RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS: For many tumor types, autologous marrow transplantation offers higher response rates than standard approaches. For leukemias and lymphomas, response rates of 60% to 80% may be achieved with the potential for cure. With solid tumors, response rates range from 30% in gliomas, 50% in melanomas and colon cancer, more than 60% in lung cancer, and 80% in breast cancer. Although responses tend to be short-lived, long-term survival can occasionally be seen. CONCLUSIONS: Results with autologous marrow transplantation can be improved through systematically developed, carefully designed clinical trials that may be facilitated by collaborative research. Studies should focus on disease-directed drug combinations, several courses of high-dose therapy, treatment at a time of lower tumor burden, and reducing toxicity with hematopoietic growth factors.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Three hundred years of family health care: some perspectives.

Many medical texts have been produced in the past to help the ordinary individual and his family care for themselves, without resorting to the services of a physician. Five "home care" books were randomly selected for study from the many hundreds spanning a period of approximately 300 years, up to the early 20th century. It is likely that these books, which dealth with a whole range of problems including morality, religion, and lifestyle, had a significant impact on the attitudes of society, many of which persist to this day. The importance of environment and natural therapies stressed in these books has been reemphasized in recent years.

Books↗

Effects of publishing multiple-choice questions on their subsequent item analysis.

A prospective study was carried out to determine what effects publication within a multiple-choice question (MCQ) book of 63 selected items from a bank had on their performance in subsequent examinations. A closely corresponding group of 63 unpublished questions set both before and after publication of the book was used as control. The specific outcomes studied were those on facility index, r biserial discriminating index and differences in performance between abler (upper 25%) and weaker (lower 25%) candidates. The mean facility index of the published questions increased significantly (P less than 0.01) after publication, while no significant change was observed in the mean facility index of control questions (P greater than 0.05) or in the mean discriminating index of published (P greater than 0.05) and control (P greater than 0.05) questions. Contrary to expectations the mean facility index of published questions increased, after publication, to a greater extent (P less than 0.01) for abler candidates than for weaker candidates. The study supports the hypothesis that publication of questions from a bank makes them easier to answer. The practice of adjusting the cut-off mark for passing according to the proportion of published questions in a given examination, however, is not justified. The findings highlight the need to advise less able candidates to make greater use of the MCQ book in preparing for an examination.

Australia↗

Authors and publishers: the mutual selection process.

Writing a book is a full-time job--a demanding, frustrating, and lonely occupation. Most nurse authors append this task to another full-time job in teaching or practice and, often, to family responsibilities as well. To fulfill all these commitments and emerge physically and mentally healthy requires a special kind of person--one who is organized, disciplined, and tenacious. Yet having written and been published affords a satisfaction unsurpassed by few other experiences. If your careful, informed search for a publisher culminates in a successful book, you will have added an exciting and profitable dimension to your life.

Nurses↗

Lecithin for dementia and cognitive impairment.

BACKGROUND: People with Alzheimer's disease have been found to have a relative lack of the enzyme responsible for converting choline into acetylcholine within the brain. Lecithin is a major dietary source of choline, so extra consumption may assist in the production of acetylcholine and reduce some of the symptoms of dementia. OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy of lecithin in the treatment of dementia or cognitive impairment. SEARCH STRATEGY: The Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Group Register of Clinical Trials has been searched, as have the electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psychlit, ISI and Current Contents. Reference lists and relevant books have been examined. SELECTION CRITERIA: All unconfounded, randomised trials comparing lecithin with placebo in a treatment period longer than one day, in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type, vascular dementia, mixed vascular and Alzheimer's disease, unclassified or other dementia or unclassified cognitive impairment not fulfilling the criteria for dementia are eligible for inclusion. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data are extracted by two independent reviewers and cross checked. Meta-analyses are performed when more than one trial provide data on a comparable outcome on sufficiently similar patients. Random effects analyses are performed whenever heterogeneity between results appears to be present. Standardised mean difference are used due do the use of different scales and periods of treatment. Odds ratios for dichotomous data are pooled using the Mantel-Haenszel or DerSimonian and Laird methods. MAIN RESULTS: Eleven randomised trials have been identified involving patients with Alzheimer's disease (265 patients) and Parkinsonian dementia (21 patients). No trials reported any clear clinical benefit of lecithin. Few trials contributed data to meta-analyses. The only statistically significant result was in favour of placebo for adverse events, based on one trial, which appears likely to be a spurious result. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: Evidence from randomised trials does not support the use of lecithin in the treatment of patients with dementia or cognitive impairment. A moderate effect cannot be ruled out, but results from the small trials to date do not indicate priority for a large randomised trial.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Solution to spectroscopy challenge 6.

The winner of the sixth spectroscopy challenge (published in issue 379/1) is: Xiancui Li, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China The award entitles the winner to select a Springer book from our catalogue up to a value of euro 75.00. Our Congratulations!

Aspirin↗

Understanding the pathogenesis of allergic asthma using mouse models.

OBJECTIVE: This paper reviews the current views of the pathogenesis of airway eosinophilic inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in allergic asthma based on mouse models of the disease. The reader will also encounter new treatment strategies that have arisen as this knowledge is applied in practice. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE searches were conducted with key words asthma, mouse model, and murine. Additional articles were identified from references in articles and book chapters. STUDY SELECTION: Original research papers and review articles from peer-reviewed journals were chosen. RESULTS: Although the mouse model does not replicate human asthma exactly, the lessons learned about the pathogenesis of allergic airway inflammation and AHR are generally applicable in humans. Type 2 T helper lymphocytes (Th2) orchestrate the inflammation and are crucial for the development of AHR. Cells and molecules involved in T cell activation (dendritic cells, T cell receptor, major histocompatibility complex molecule, and costimulatory molecules) are also vital. Besides these, no other cell or molecule could be shown to be indispensable for the establishment of the model under all experimental conditions. There are at least three pathways that lead to AHR. One is dependent on immunoglobulin E and mast cells, one on eosinophils and interleukin-5 (IL-5), and one on IL-13. Eosinophils are probably the most important effector cells of AHR. Radical methods to treat asthma have been tested in the animal model, including modifying the polarity of lymphocyte response and antagonizing IL-5. CONCLUSIONS: AHR, the hallmark of asthma, is attributable to airway inflammation ultimately mediated by helper T cells via three pathways, at least. The mouse model is also a valuable testing ground for new therapies of asthma.

Animals↗

Resources for getting started in modeling.

Modeling is a useful component of scientific investigation in nutrition. Nutrition scientists who would like to incorporate modeling into their studies frequently do not know where or how to begin. This paper describes a selected assortment of books, journals and articles, resource groups and individuals and computer software that may be of help to the beginning modeler and to those more experienced in modeling as well.

Computer Simulation↗

The menopause: health implications and clinical management.

OBJECTIVE: To review the anatomy, physiology, clinical symptoms, long-term health effects, and treatment of the menopause and climacteric syndrome, with a special emphasis on features, such as incontinence, particularly relevant to geriatric medicine. DATA SOURCES: English-language publications on menopause and the climacteric. STUDY SELECTION: Articles and books containing recent information pertinent to the topics covered. Studies in human subjects were given priority, but primate studies that amplify physiologic concepts are included. DATA SYNTHESIS: Due to increased longevity, the average US woman will spend one-third of her life as a postmenopausal individual. Anatomic and physiologic changes associated with the peri- and postmenopausal state include hot flushes, genitourinary atrophy, and bone loss. Possible correlates of the menopausal transition and postmenopause include affective changes and unfavorable alterations in lipoproteins and other cardiac risk factors. Clinical correlates of these changes can include incontinence, sexual dysfunction, increased risk of fracture, dysphoric mood, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Formal indications for estrogen therapy are hot flushes, genital atrophy, and osteoporosis prevention; other common clinical uses are reviewed. Non-contraceptive estrogens can be administered orally, transdermally, vaginally, or by injection. Each route and preparation has some unique features with respect to actions and side effects. Progestins, in adequate doses, protect against the unwanted side effect of endometrial hyperplasia; alternatives to progestin use are presented. Non-hormonal alternatives for some peri- and postmenopausal symptoms are described. CONCLUSIONS: A discussion of the menopause and the benefits and risks of hormone therapy should be part of the routine health care of older women. Since the use of hormone therapy is elective, health care providers must elicit the goals, needs, and preferences of each patient, supply her with relevant information, and serve as a facilitator of her individual decision.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗

Influence of maternal nutrition on outcome of pregnancy: prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relations of maternal diet and smoking during pregnancy to placental and birth weights at term. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: District general hospital in the south of England. PARTICIPANTS: 693 pregnant nulliparous white women with singleton pregnancies who were selected from antenatal booking clinics with stratified random sampling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Birth and placental weights at term. RESULTS: Placental and birth weights were unrelated to the intake of any macronutrient. Early in pregnancy, vitamin C was the only micronutrient independently associated with birth weight after adjustment for maternal height and smoking. Each ln mg increase in vitamin C was associated with a 50.8 g (95% confidence interval 4.6 g to 97.0 g) increase in birth weight. Vitamin C, vitamin E, and folate were each associated with placental weight after adjustment for maternal characteristics. In simultaneous regression, however, vitamin C was the only nutrient predictive of placental weight: each ln mg increase in vitamin C was associated with a 3.2% (0.4 to 6.1) rise in placental weight. No nutrient late in pregnancy was associated with either placental or birth weight. CONCLUSIONS: Concern over the impact of maternal nutrition on the health of the infant has been premature. Maternal nutrition, at least in industrialised populations, seems to have only a small effect on placental and birth weights. Other possible determinants of fetal and placental growth should be investigated.

Birth Weight↗

Lost in translation: a genealogy of the "social capital" concept in public health.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To examine the genealogy of the social capital concept in public health, with attention to the epistemological concerns and academic practices that shaped the way in which this concept was translated into public health. DESIGN: A citation-network path analysis of the public health literature on social capital was used to generate a genealogy of the social capital concept in public health. The analysis identifies the intellectual sources, influential texts, and developments in the conceptualisation of social capital in public health. PARTICIPANTS: The population of 227 texts (articles, books, reports) was selected in two phases. Phase 1 texts were articles in the PubMed database with "social capital" in their title published before 2003 (n = 65). Phase 2 texts are those texts cited more than once by phase 1 articles (n = 165). MAIN RESULTS: The analysis shows how the scholarship of Robert Putnam has been absorbed into public health research, how three seminal texts appearing in 1996 and 1997 helped shape the communitarian form that the social capital concept has assumed in public health, and how both were influenced by the epistemological context of social epidemiology at the time. CONCLUSIONS: Originally viewed in public health research as an ecological level, psychosocial mechanism that might mediate the income inequality-health pathway, the dominance of the communitarian approach to social capital has given disproportionate attention to normative and associational properties of places. Network approaches to social capital were lost in this translation. Recovering them is key to a full translation and conceptualisation of social capital in public health.

Health Services Research↗

Health psychology: status and trends.

This study investigated the present status and suggested trends in health psychology as reported by American Psychological Association Division 38 (Health Psychology) members. A 25-item mail-in survey was developed to obtain these data from a randomly selected sample of 300. Information includes a demographic description of the respondents, their selection of influential books, journals, and individuals, and their opinions regarding the current status and desirable future trends in the field of health psychology.

Attitude to Health↗

Risk stratification after myocardial infarction.

PURPOSE: To review the literature on risk stratification after acute myocardial infarction in the reperfusion era and to propose an algorithm for early and continual risk assessment. DATA SOURCES: A MEDLINE search of the English-language literature on humans was done using the terms myocardial infarction, prospective studies, and prognosis. This search was supplemented by narrowed searches for subheadings (such as cardiogenic shock, thrombolytic therapy, and stress testing) and surveys of references cited in review articles and book chapters. STUDY SELECTION: Literature on prognosis and myocardial infarction published from 1981 to 1996 was considered. From the literature on stress testing methods, studies that enrolled patients before 1980, enrolled patients for indications other than myocardial infarction, tested patients more than 6 weeks after infarction, were missing outcome data, or had inadequate follow-up were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION: Because too few randomized trials were available to allow the cross-comparison of risk-stratification methods, the available observational data were synthesized and supplemented with clinical judgments to produce recommendations. DATA SYNTHESIS: Risk stratification must begin when acute myocardial infarction is diagnosed. High-risk patients (such as those with cardiogenic shock) and candidates for reperfusion therapy must be identified quickly if ideal emergency care is to be given. At specific points during hospitalization, specialized tests may be useful if they add incremental information to the results of clinical evaluations. High-risk patients who have complications after infarction or significant left ventricular dysfunction probably benefit from early angiography; patients without these conditions are at low risk for recurrent events and should have noninvasive stress testing for further risk stratification. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians should continually reappraise risk throughout hospitalization to optimize both patient outcomes and cost containment.

Algorithms↗

Self-study program on HTML browser--application to Clinical Nursing General Remarks Course.

We created a self-study program using HTML browser on the Clinical Nursing General Remarks Course, Eighty-three students each selected a published book on a personal history (written personal reflections from individuals who had undergone medical treatment and hospitalization), read it and submitted reports of their impressions of the histories. Their reports were arranged from a nursing perspective and entered on the home page of our college using HTML browser. We intended that the students would become more interested in reading of the personal histories, and that they would acquire new self-study skills and increase their interest in Internet through use of our program. In addition, we hoped that this program would encourage positive communication and mutual sharing of information. The students were able to easily refer to a personal history according to their interest from a nursing perspective. Therefore this program realized the mutual learning among students and other users.

Computer Communication Networks↗

[Examination for medical officials and its question examples in Qing Dynasty].

Following some of the systemic regulations of the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty set up a complete system for examination and medical education of its own. Successively, the Imperical Medical Academy set up Department of Learning, Bureau of Medicine for teaching and examination and selection of right personnels to be promoted to the positions of medical officials. The compulsory subjects for exam included Su Wen, Herbology, and Pulsolgy. It also includes topics from major texts of relevant disciplines. This paper offers example questions for exams selected from two books of Draft for Examination in Qing Imperial Medical Academy.

China↗

[English medicine in the Tudor times].

In the Tudor times in England medicine was influenced by Renaissance and ideas of humanism. Medical humanists were searching for and discovering genuine ancient manuscripts in the interest of establishing a "pure" classical terminology and achieving an elegant Latin style uncontaminated by Arab intermediaries. The theory of disease, diagnosis and treatment were all dominated by Galen and his theory of humours. Advances in anatomy and physiology did not bring about any change to the status quo. Apart from university-trained doctors, medical skills were offered by surgeons, apothecaries and various quacks, empirics and mountebanks. There was a selection of medical books translated into and written in the vernacular English they could choose from, apart from books written in Latin and translated into it.

England↗