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2004 update of dosimetry for the Utah Thyroid Cohort Study.

In the 1980s, individual thyroid doses and uncertainties were estimated for members of a cohort of children identified in 1965 in Utah and Nevada who had potentially been exposed to fallout from the Nevada Test Site. That reconstruction represented the first comprehensive assessment of doses received by the cohort and was the first large effort to assess the uncertainty of dose on an individual person basis. The data on dose and thyroid disease prevalence during different periods were subsequently used in an analysis to determine risks of radiogenic thyroid disease. This cohort has received periodic medical follow-up to observe changes in disease frequency and to reassess the previously reported radiation-related risks, most recently after a Congressional mandate in 1998. In a recent effort to restore the databases and computer codes used to estimate doses in the 1980s, various deficiencies were found in the estimated doses due to improperly operating computer codes, corruption of secondary data files, and lack of quality control procedures. From 2001 through 2004, the dosimetry system was restored and corrected and all doses were recalculated. In addition, two parameter values were updated. While the mean of all doses has not changed significantly, many individual doses have changed by more than an order of magnitude.

Body Burden↗

Associations of maternal age- and parity-related factors with trends in low-birthweight rates: United States, 1980 through 2000.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed the effects of changes in the maternal age-parity distribution and age-and parity-specific low-birthweight rates on low-birthweight trends in the United States. METHODS: We used natality file data from 1980 through 2000 to assess very-low-birthweight and low-birthweight rates among singleton live-born infants. RESULTS: Changes in age-and parity-specific low-birthweight rates were the main contributor to the overall trend in rates. However, changes in the age-parity distribution, primarily delayed childbearing, had a smaller but noticeable impact. The very-low-birthweight rate increased 27% among Black women, and changes in the age-parity distribution were associated with, on average, more than 20% of the increased rate during the 1990s. Among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women, on average, more than 10% of the rate increase observed during the 1990s was associated with changes in the age-parity distribution. CONCLUSIONS: Assuming minimal changes in age-specific rates, delayed childbearing may play an increasingly important role in low-birthweight trends in the United States.

Adolescent↗

An evaluation of the impact of maternity care coordination on Medicaid birth outcomes in North Carolina.

BACKGROUND: Care coordination is an important component of the enhanced prenatal care services provided under the recent expansions of the Medicaid program. The effect of maternity care coordination services on birth outcomes in North Carolina was assessed by comparing women on Medicaid who did and did not receive these services. METHODS: Health program data files, including Medicaid claims paid for maternity care coordination, were linked to 1988 and 1989 live birth certificates. Simple comparisons of percentages and rates were supplemented by a logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Among women on Medicaid who did not receive maternity care coordination services, the low birth weight rate was 21% higher, the very low birth weight rate was 62% higher, and the infant mortality rate was 23% higher than among women on Medicaid who did receive such services. It was estimated that, for each $1.00 spent on maternity care coordination, Medicaid saved $2.02 in medical costs for newborns up to 60 days of age. Among the women who did receive maternity care coordination, those receiving it for 3 or more months had better outcomes than those receiving it for less than 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that maternity care coordination can be effective in reducing low birth weight, infant mortality, and newborn medical care costs among babies born to women in poverty.

Continuity of Patient Care↗

Smoking and pregnancy outcome: trends among black teenage mothers in Missouri.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to analyze the smoking changes that have occurred among pregnant Black teenagers in Missouri. The study also examines changes in Black teenage pregnancy outcomes in relation to smoking behavior changes. METHODS: This analysis used computerized data files from the 1978 to 1990 Missouri birth certificates to acquire information on smoking during pregnancy for 41,544 Black teenagers and 105,170 White teenagers. All Missouri births with smoking history were included in the study. RESULTS: During the study period, the rate for Blacks who smoked during pregnancy decreased from 37% in 1978 to less than 22% in 1990. A large part of this reduction is attributable to Black teenagers, whose smoking-during-pregnancy rate declined from 35.8% to 7.2%. Additionally, the Black teenage-specific low-birthweight rate decreased by 13.6% over the study period, possibly influenced by the decrease in smoking. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that a major norm has changed in smoking status among pregnant Black teenagers. Understanding the reasons behind this change could assist smoking cessation and other health promotion efforts.

Adolescent↗

Targeting the underserved for breast and cervical cancer screening: the utility of ecological analysis using the National Health Interview Survey.

OBJECTIVES: This study tested the utility of ecological variables created from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for strategic targeting of health services for the underserved. METHODS: Ecological variables were created using the 1989-1991 survey years of the NHIS public use data files. Segments, the NHIS secondary sampling units, permit computation of secondary sampling characteristics by percentage Black, percentage Hispanic, percentage below poverty, percentage unemployed, median education, median income, median age, and percentage residing in the United States for 5 years or less. These variables were analyzed with the NHIS Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 1990 supplement reporting mammogram, clinical breast examination, and Pap test use. RESULTS: Median education of areas was inversely related to never having mammograms. Areas with a high proportion (70%-100%) of Hispanic respondents also were more likely not to have mammograms. Women residing in areas with moderate or high proportions of Hispanic respondents were more likely never to have clinical breast examinations and Pap tests, as were those in areas with low income, poverty, and respondents who had resided in the United States 5 years or less. CONCLUSIONS: The new methodology of constructing ecological variables using the NHIS demonstrates an application that may help identify underserved areas or areas with underutilized services. More studies using this methodology are warranted.

Adult↗

Maternal cigarette smoking and invasive meningococcal disease: a cohort study among young children in metropolitan Atlanta, 1989-1996.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the association between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and the risk of invasive meningococcal disease during early childhood. METHODS: Using a retrospective cohort study design, cases from an active surveillance project monitoring all invasive meningococcal disease in the metropolitan Atlanta area from 1989 to 1995 were merged with linked birth and death certificate data files. Children who had not died or acquired meningococcal disease were assumed to be alive and free of the illness. The Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to assess the independent association between maternal smoking and meningococcal disease. RESULTS: The crude rate of meningococcal disease was 5 times higher for children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy than for children whose mothers did not smoke (0.05% vs 0.01%). Multivariate analysis revealed that maternal smoking (risk ratio [RR] = 2.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5, 5.7) and a mother's having fewer than 12 years of education (RR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.0, 4.2) were independently associated with invasive meningococcal disease. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal smoking, a likely surrogate for tobacco smoke exposure following delivery, appears to be a modifiable risk factor for sporadic meningococcal disease in young children.

Adult↗

MarC-V: a spreadsheet-based tool for analysis, normalization, and visualization of single cDNA microarray experiments.

The comprehensive analysis and visualization of data extracted from cDNA microarrays can be a time-consuming and error-prone process that becomes increasingly tedious with increased number of gene elements on a particular microarray. With the increasingly large number of gene elements on today's microarrays, analysis tools must be developed to meet this challenge. Here, we present MarC-V, a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet tool with Visual Basic macros to automate much of the visualization and calculation involved in the analysis process while providing the familiarity and flexibility of Excel. Automated features of this tool include (i) lower-bound thresholding, (ii) data normalization, (iii) generation of ratio frequency distribution plots, (iv) generation of scatter plots color-coded by expression level, (v) ratio scoring based on intensity measurements, (vi) filtering of data based on expression level or specific gene interests, and (vii) exporting data for subsequent multi-array analysis. MarC-V also has an importing function included for GenePix results (GPR) raw data files.

DNA, Complementary↗

High-throughput generation of sequence indexes from T-DNA mutagenized Arabidopsis thaliana lines.

A pipeline has been created for the characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants by generating flanking sequence tags (FSTs) and optimized for economic, high-throughput production. The GABI-Kat collection of T-DNA mutagenized A. thaliana plants was used as a source of independent transgenic lines. The pipeline included robotized extraction of genomic DNA in a 96-well format, an adapter-ligation PCR method for amplification of plant sequences adjacent to T-DNA borders, automated purification and sequencing of PCR products, and computational trimming of the resulting sequence files. Data quality was significantly improved by (i) restriction digestion of the adaptor-ligation products to reduce trivial sequences caused by co-amplification of fragments derived from the free plasmid, and (ii) the design of the adaptor primers for the second amplification step to enhance selective generation of single PCR fragments, even from lines with multiple T-DNA insertions. Gel-purification was avoided by including these steps, the number of amplification reactions per line was reduced from four to three, and the percentage of lines that yielded at least one FST was increased from 66% to 86%. More than 58,000 FSTs have been submitted to GenBank and are available at http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/GABI-Kat/.

Arabidopsis↗

Ageing, serotonin and ketanserin.

In both acute and long term clinical studies, the antihypertensive effects of the S2-serotonergic receptor antagonist ketanserin are more marked in the elderly than in younger patients. The acute effect of ketanserin 10mg intravenously was studied in 57 patients between 25 and 90 years and a significant negative correlation was shown between age and the decrease in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. In longer term studies ketanserin has been compared with metoprolol and hydrochlorothiazide in patients below and above 60 years. Both ketanserin and the diuretic showed greater antihypertensive efficacy in the elderly, whereas the beta-blocker did not. Data from 15 double-blind studies from the ketanserin International Data File confirm the relationship between age and antihypertensive efficacy. With respect to adverse effects of ketanserin, dizziness, somnolence and dryness of the mouth were commoner in younger than older patients. These effects were not the result of smaller dose requirements in the elderly, and there was no obvious pharmacokinetic reason (e.g. alteration in drug clearance) for the difference. Two theoretical possibilities for the differential age effect of ketanserin are advanced. First the smaller effect in the young may be due to activation of homeostatic mechanisms limiting its antihypertensive activity, or second, some selective (undefined) effect operative in the elderly may be responsible. It is known from animal studies that serotonin shows increased vasoconstrictor properties in the presence of extensive atheroma. Antagonism of this effect may account for the greater vasodilator and antihypertensive effect of ketanserin in elderly patients. This, however, is speculative and does not take into account the complex antihypertensive action of ketanserin. The role of serotonin in cardiovascular control is complex. Its effects depend on the species studied, the vascular bed being investigated, the dose used and the experimental conditions employed. Serotonin has central cardiac and peripheral vascular actions relevant to cardiovascular control. In the peripheral vasculature it can produce vasodilatation or vasoconstriction by either direct or indirect mechanisms. If this complexity were not confusing enough, the nomenclature of the receptors on which serotonin acts is under intense current debate, and little uniformity exists as to the terminology to be used. The terms of this review will be very specific.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adult↗

School dropout and injecting drug use in a national sample of white non-Hispanic American adults.

In this study we sought to extend our previous finding of an association between school dropout and injecting drug use (IDU) among African Americans by testing the association in a sample of White non-Hispanic Americans. A nationally representative sample of White non-Hispanic Americans age eighteen years and older was drawn from public use data files of the 1995-1996 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Adults with a self-report history of IDU were identified, and were matched to non-IDU adults in the same neighborhoods of residence. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the association between dropping out of high school and the occurrence of IDU. White non-Hispanic American high school dropouts were more likely than high school graduates to have injected a drug at least once. The findings of this research on non-Hispanic Whites are generally consistent with our earlier evidence on the association between educational status and a history of IDU among African-American adults. School dropout prevention programs may merit attention in an overall strategy of preventing injecting drug use and HIV/AIDS.

Adult↗

A cross-cultural health study of Japanese and Caucasian elders in Hawaii.

A study of 1098 Japanese and 873 Caucasians sixty years of age and over from Hawaii State Department of Health data files revealed that better health was predicted not only by younger age, higher family income, and maintenance of work role, but also by Japanese ethnicity. Standardized partial regression coefficients showed ethnic membership per se to be as important as any of the demographic variables. Canonical correlation yielded the best correlation of the independent variables with a health index made up of number of chronic conditions, number of bed days and number of restricted days, with each of equal weight. Findings suggest the importance of ethno-cultural supports in health maintenance of the elderly, and have theoretical relevance for the role of culture in health.

Aged↗

Predictor variables of clergy pedophiles.

File data on familial traits, past sexual experience as a victim, and other traits identified in the literature as leading toward pedophilia, were summarized for 10 convicted clergy pedophiles to construct a set of variables possibly useful for screening. Further research is underway to identify trauma in early life and those personality-related variables current studies indicate as relevant.

Adolescent↗

Feed intake pattern during lactation and subsequent reproductive performance of sows.

Daily feed intake during lactation was recorded for 20,296 lactating sows on 30 commercial farms in the United States. Each lactation feed record was categorized into one of six patterns: RAPID, rapid increase in feed intake; MAJOR, major drop; MINOR, minor drop; LLL, low feed intake throughout lactation; LHH, low intake during the 1st wk then an increase in feed intake for the remainder of lactation; and GRADUAL, gradual increase. A database containing 24,340 farrowing records and 19,015 subsequent litter records were abstracted from the PigCHAMP data files of the farms enrolled in the study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that ADFI during lactation had nonlinear or linear associations with weaning-to-first service interval (WSI), weaning-to-conception interval (WCI), litter weight at weaning (WWT), and subsequent litter size (SLS). Sows having LLL and LHH had longer (P < .01) WSI and WCI than the other patterns. Sows with MAJOR had a longer WCI (P < .05) than females with RAPID. Further, sows having MAJOR had lighter (P < .01) WWT than those with RAPID, MINOR, and GRADUAL. Sows having MAJOR had a higher (P < .01) proportion of females culled for anestrus relative to RAPID. Furthermore, sows exhibiting a drop in feed intake in either wk 1 or 2 were more likely to be culled for anestrus than sows having no drop. These results suggest that both the amount and pattern of feed intake during lactation influence subsequent reproductive performance.

Anestrus↗

Estimation of genetic effects in the presence of multicollinearity in multibreed beef cattle evaluation.

Breed additive, dominance, and epistatic loss effects are of concern in the genetic evaluation of a multibreed population. Multiple regression equations used for fitting these effects may show a high degree of multicollinearity among predictor variables. Typically, when strong linear relationships exist, the regression coefficients have large SE and are sensitive to changes in the data file and to the addition or deletion of variables in the model. Generalized ridge regression methods were applied to obtain stable estimates of direct and maternal breed additive, dominance, and epistatic loss effects in the presence of multicollinearity among predictor variables. Preweaning weight gains of beef calves in Ontario, Canada, from 1986 to 1999 were analyzed. The genetic model included fixed direct and maternal breed additive, dominance, and epistatic loss effects, fixed environmental effects of age of the calf, contemporary group, and age of the dam x sex of the calf, random additive direct and maternal genetic effects, and random maternal permanent environment effect. The degree and the nature of the multicollinearity were identified and ridge regression methods were used as an alternative to ordinary least squares (LS). Ridge parameters were obtained using two different objective methods: 1) generalized ridge estimator of Hoerl and Kennard (R1); and 2) bootstrap in combination with cross-validation (R2). Both ridge regression methods outperformed the LS estimator with respect to mean squared error of predictions (MSEP) and variance inflation factors (VIF) computed over 100 bootstrap samples. The MSEP of R1 and R2 were similar, and they were 3% less than the MSEP of LS. The average VIF of LS, R1, and R2 were equal to 26.81, 6.10, and 4.18, respectively. Ridge regression methods were particularly effective in decreasing the multicollinearity involving predictor variables of breed additive effects. Because of a high degree of confounding between estimates of maternal dominance and direct epistatic loss effects, it was not possible to compare the relative importance of these effects with a high level of confidence. The inclusion of epistatic loss effects in the additive-dominance model did not cause noticeable reranking of sires, dams, and calves based on across-breed EBV. More precise estimates of breed effects as a result of this study may result in more stable across-breed estimated breeding values over the years.

Animals↗

Coroners' records of rural and non-rural cases of youth suicide in New South Wales.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to compare the frequency of certain putative risk factors for youth suicide in New South Wales (especially use of alcohol, social class, unemployment, and internal migration) in metropolitan and rural settings. METHOD: A review of 137 files for 10-19-year-old subjects judged by the Coroner to have committed suicide in 1988-1990 was carried out. RESULTS: One hundred and fifteen males and 21 females were identified (one subjects sex was unavailable). The male-female ratio was higher in rural (13.0) areas than non-rural (4.9 chi 2 = 12.14, p < 0.01). Of 27 subjects migrating within Australia, most migrated in a rural direction, and most to rural shires. Unemployment was somewhat more common among rural (38.5%) than non-rural (28.9%) subjects (chi 2 = 0.75, p = 0.39). Eleven of 50 non-rural parents of the deceased, but none of the 11 rural parents, were ranked as being in social classes 2 or 3. Alcohol consumption appeared more common in rural shires (44%) than metropolitan areas (32.9%), but this was not statistically significant. Medical services were less utilised prior to death in rural (15%) than non-rural (25%) areas (chi 2 = 1.69, p = 0.19), and a psychiatric diagnosis was recorded more commonly in non-rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: Incomplete coronial file data and relatively small numbers limit this study's conclusions. Male suicides, principally by firearms, predominated in rural areas. Youth firearm access remains highly relevant to rural communities. Possible trends among rural subjects toward rural migration, higher unemployment, lower social class and lower medical attendance may point to resource deprivation among this group; these matters require further investigation.

Adolescent↗

Longitudinal characteristics of hospital use before and after alcoholism treatment.

The frequency of inpatient hospital care for three years before and three years after alcoholism treatment was evaluated for a group of 255 patients of predominantly lower socioeconomic status treated for alcoholism at a rural midwestern medical center in 1983. Subjects were interviewed while in treatment to obtain information regarding alcoholism history and demographics. Hospital care was ascertained from an electronic data file of discharges from 172 acute care hospitals throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. One-third of the sample was never hospitalized for an alcohol-related condition in the years prior to or after alcoholism treatment, and 23% of the sample experienced no hospitalizations at all other than the treatment episode when interviewed. The majority of hospital stays before and after treatment were attributed to alcohol abuse. The frequency and total hospital length of stay for alcohol-related admissions increased yearly before treatment, peaked in the year after treatment, and then declined, but not to earliest pretreatment levels. Subjects experienced significantly more hospitalizations and length of stay after alcoholism treatment than before when comparing both the two three-year periods and the immediate 12 months before and after treatment. More frequent hospital care was also significantly associated with higher levels of daily alcohol consumption and drinking duration but not with sociodemographic indicators.

Adult↗

A finite element analysis of the natural frequencies of vibration of the human tympanic membrane. Part I.

The present work examines the natural frequencies of vibration of the decoupled human tympanic membrane using the finite element method. A model comprising 49 isoparametric semi-loof thin shell elements was built, based on shape measurements of Kirikae (1960) and our own measurements on several local cadaver ears. A range of material data input was used similar to that assessed earlier by Funnell and Laszlo (1978). The present results indicate the natural vibration mode shapes are simple at low frequencies, but become more complex at higher values as found earlier (Tonndorf and Khanna, 1972; Funnell and Laszlo, 1978), but at reduced frequencies. Data input of the real drum thickenesses and dimensions considerably increases the natural frequencies by about 50% above those for a uniformly thick membrane. It is suggested that realistic eardrum natural frequencies may result from the use of a membrane internal stress parameter in the data file in order to simulate the interplay between radial and circular fibres resulting in the observed drum curvature.

Ear, Middle↗

A CAD CAM digitizing adapter for spinal casts.

An adapter was designed to hold a negative cast of a torso in position for mechanical digitization. Once a spinal shape is digitized, the data file can be loaded into a CAD CAM system for modification and manufacturing of a positive model for an orthosis. The adapter currently fits a Seattle Digitizer (M+IND, Seattle, WA); however, the interface unit can be changed to accommodate other commercial digitizers. By using this adapter, current lower limb prosthetic CAD CAM systems can be used to design and manufacture spinal orthoses.

Anthropometry↗