Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Single Person”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1996

[Questionnaire survey of AIDS examination recipients at government-run public health center regarding AIDS awareness promotion and HIV examinations].

An anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted among persons who had undergone screening for AIDS at public health centers under the auspices of 7 local government bodies (Hokkaido, Metropolitan Tokyo, Aichi Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture, Kobe City, Saga Prefecture, Okinawa Prefecture). There were 1,230 replies, for a response rate of 46.8%. Questions in the survey pertained to general knowledge of AIDS, information desired by the recipients, desired ways to foster awareness, and a desirable examination system. A comparison was made in terms of gender, marriage status (married, single) and age (less than 40 years of age, more than 40 years of age), respectively. The survey results were as follows. 1. Concerning the infection route, accurate response rate was low with regard to the mother-child infection, mosquito transmission, and use of contaminated needles. 2. Desired methods to promote AIDS awareness expressed among replies were given in the following order or frequency: "information via radio and TV," "spread of knowledge through telephone consultation," and "holding an AIDS Week or similar kinds of campaigns." 3. Information sought by respondents frequently included AIDS treatment, pathology, and spread. This trend was most obvious among those under 40 years of age. 4. As for the AIDS examination system, replies most often reflected the hope that the examination site would be the Public Health Center, the charge would be gratis, and that one could be examined at night during the week, and on days off. 5. For those undergoing examination where there was no actual concern of possibility of HIV infection, single persons, accounted for around 80% of the overall. 6. More than half of those who had been examined mentioned having experienced concerns about maintaining confidentiality at the time they were examined.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1999

A population-based survey on the use of artificial tanning devices in the Province of Québec, Canada.

BACKGROUND: The suntanning industry has grown up over the last decade in North America, mainly because tanned skin is socially desirable and artificial tanning is perceived as a "safe tan." However, exposure to UV radiation is known to cause adverse health effects. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of use of tanning equipment in the Province of Québec and to characterize people who reported using these devices. METHODS: In 1996, a telephone survey was carried out among adults from the two most densely populated regions (Montréal, Québec) of the Province of Québec. The final sample included 1003 white persons 18 to 60 years old. Interviewers used a standardized questionnaire to document the characteristics of the participant, skin phototype, and exposure habits to artificial UV radiation sources. RESULTS: During the last 5 years before the survey, 20.2% of the respondents reported they had used, at least once, a tanning device in a commercial tanning salon. The rate of use during the last 12 months before the study was 11.1%. A significantly higher proportion of female, young people (18 to 34 years old) and single persons was found among tanning bed users. Twenty-six percent of users experienced one or more acute adverse health effects from the artificial UV irradiation. Most of these were cases of skin burns. A high proportion (77.5%) of those who used tanning equipment during the last year before the study said they would return to tanning salons. The intention of returning to a tanning salon was not influenced by the occurrence of the acute adverse health effects. The most prevalent reason given for using tanning equipment was "to improve their appearance by a tan." Most people (60.4%) who used a tanning bed during the last 5 years before the study believe that tanning salons are not dangerous. CONCLUSION: This survey indicates that tanning bed use is very prevalent in the Province of Québec, mainly among young women. The high rate of acute adverse health effects related to artificial tanning, particularly skin burns, is of concern. Finally, our results underline the importance of changing attitudes and beliefs in the population regarding artificial tanning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Conservatorship: an involuntary legal status for 'gravely disabled' mentally disordered persons.

Since 1969 in California, conservatorship has been the only form of civil, longterm involuntary psychiatric legal process. It does not require hospital-based treatment. This paper reports a preliminary study of this process through a retrospective analysis of conservatorship records in Sacramento County, California, from 1969 through 1976. There is a steady overall increase in the incidence of conservatorships each year. A dramatic decrease in state hospital admissions preceded this increase. Referrals were predominantly (69 percent) from the private sector. Once the first legal step was taken 87 percent of the patients completed the process and were placed on full conservatorship. Median age was 50; 52 percent were male and 90 percent were white. The relative proportion of single persons was high (45 percent). Diagnoses of schizophrenia and organic brain syndrome accounted for 86 percent of conservatees. About half (52 percent) terminate conservatorship after one year. No data were found which could be related to the character of treatment of conservatees. Future research in this area is urgently needed.

California↗
PubMed1984

Children's and adults' assignment of blame for personal injury.

The present study examined the effect of outcome foreseeability on blame attributions. While most previous studies on assignment of blame for negative outcomes in interpersonal events have focused solely on blame attributed to the perpetrator of the misdeed, the present study examined assignment of blame to the victim as well. Preschoolers (n = 18) were exposed to stories in which an actor with positive or negative motives brought about a foreseeable or unforeseeable injury to another child. Responses to these stories were also obtained from an adult sample (n = 21) to provide a basis for comparison. The analyses of the results indicated, as expected, that children's blame attributions were influenced less by outcome foreseeability than were adults'. Furthermore, children were more likely to assign blame to single, personal sources for unforeseeable outcomes than were adults.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

The Vietnamese version of the Self Reporting Questionnaire 20 (SRQ-20) in detecting mental disorders in rural Vietnam: a validation study.

BACKGROUND: There is a need to develop instruments to measure mental disorders in developing countries because mental disorders are increasingly being recognised as a major public health problem. There has been no previous study in Vietnam validating screening instruments for mental health problems. AIM: To adapt and to validate the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) in the Vietnamese community. METHODS: A Vietnamese version of the SRQ-20 was developed and tested in 52 persons in a district hospital sample and 485 persons in a community sample. The psychiatrists' diagnoses were taken as the validity criterion. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to identify the optimal cut-off value. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the performance of SRQ in different sociodemographic groups. RESULTS: In the district hospital sample, the optimal cut-off score was 5/6 with a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 46% and an AUC of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.59-0.89). In the community sample, it was 6/7 with a sensitivity of 85%, a specificity of 61% and AUC of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81-0.93). In terms of AUC, SRQ performed significantly better in the age group 18-24 years as compared with other ages and with single persons as compared with widowed or divorced people. CONCLUSION: The SRQ-20 was found feasible to use and adapt to the Vietnamese setting. We confirmed the value of this instrument for use in developing countries, but the optimal cut-off limit has to be assessed and determined according to local conditions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Biosynthesis of conjugated linoleic acid in humans.

This paper deals with the reanalysis of serum lipids from previous studies in which deuterated fatty acids were administered to a single person. Samples were reanalyzed to determine if the deuterated fatty acids were converted to deuterium-labeled conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, 9c,11t-18:2) or other CLA isomers. We found 11-trans-octadecenoate (fed as the triglyceride) was converted (delta9 desaturase) to CLA, at a CLA enrichment of ca. 30%. The 11-cis-octadecenoate isomer was also converted to 9c,11c-18:2, but at <10% the concentration of the 11t-18:1 isomer. No evidence (within our limits of detection) for conversion of 10-cis- or 10-trans-octadecenoate to the 10,12-CLA isomers (delta12 desaturase) was found. No evidence for the conversion of 9-cis,12-cis-octadecadienoate to CLA (via isomerase enzyme) was found. Although these data come from four single human subject studies, data from some 30 similar human studies have convinced us that the existence of a metabolic pathway in one subject may be extrapolated to the normal adult population.

Deuterium↗
PubMed2000

A novel mutation in the HEXA gene specific to Tay-Sachs disease carriers of Jewish Iraqi origin.

An increased frequency of carriers of 1:140, as defined by reduced hexosaminidase A (HexA) activity, was observed among Iraqi Jews participating in the Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) carrier detection program. Prior to this finding, TSD among Jews had been restricted to those of Eastern European (Ashkenazi) and Moroccan descent with carrier frequencies of 1:29 and 1:110 for Jews of Ashkenazi and Moroccan extraction, respectively. A general, pan-ethnic frequency of approximately 1:280 has been observed among other Jewish Israeli populations. Analysis of 48 DNA samples from Iraqi Jews suspected, by enzymatic assay, to be carriers revealed a total of five mutations, one of which was novel. In nine carriers (19%), a known mutation typical to either Ashkenazi or Moroccan Jews was identified. DeltaF304/ 305 was detected in four individuals, and + 1278TATC in three. G269S and R170Q each appeared in a single person. The new mutation, G749T, resulting in a substitution of glycine to valine at position 250 has been found in 19 of the DNA samples (40%). This mutation was not detected among 100 non-carrier, Iraqi Jews and 65 Ashkenazi enzymatically determined carriers. Aside from Ashkenazi and Moroccan Jews, a specific mutation in the HEXA gene has now also been identified in Jews of Iraqi descent.

Amino Acid Substitution↗
PubMed1991

Measures of the effects of vaccination in a randomly mixing population.

Vaccine efficacy in the field is often derived from the relative attack rates in the vaccinated and unvaccinated after an outbreak. In this paper, vaccine efficacy is defined in terms of the probability that the infectious agent is transmitted from an infected to a susceptible person, and a method for estimating it from the usual attack rate data is given. We explore two mechanisms of vaccine action defined by Smith et al, but include an underlying dynamic epidemic model of an acute directly transmitted disease. We show analytically that under the model in which the vaccine mechanism reduces the probability of infection given a certain exposure, vaccine efficacy based on the relative attack rates underestimates the protective effect of the vaccine based on the relative transmission probabilities. Under the other model in which the vaccine mechanism offers complete protection to a certain proportion of those vaccinated, and no protection to the other vaccinated proportion, the vaccine efficacy based on the relative attack rates will equal that based on the transmission probabilities. Parameters for the effectiveness of a vaccination programme are defined in terms of the direct and indirect benefit to a single person as well as the total and average benefit to the entire population, and derived from the dynamic model for an outbreak of an acute directly transmitted disease. These effects can also be estimated without an actual separate unvaccinated population, independent of assumptions about the vaccine mechanism. The variation of these measures as functions of the fraction of vaccinated people in the population is explored numerically.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1990

Gross intellectual impairment among non-institutionalized elderly: difficulties in assessment and risk factors.

Quality of life of both the aged person and his relatives depends, to a large extent, on the capacity of the old person to think and to remember. In an attempt to assess the intellectual capabilities (InC) of the elderly and to identify risk factors associated with intellectual impairment (InI), a community study was carried-out. The study population was ethnically heterogeneous and comprised of a high percentage of immigrants and of people who had never attended school. Some methodological issues related to studying InC of a population with these characteristics are discussed. A stratified random sample of non-institutionalized individuals aged 65+ years was home interviewed using a short, portable questionnaire which can be used by non-professional interviewers. The research tool is comprised of 10 questions which check time and place orientation as well as short and long term memory. Although the validity of the questionnaire needs further study, some conclusions can be drawn. Approximately 16% of the subjects failed to answer correctly at least 5 of the 10 questions. People over 75 years old, single persons, those with low education and low environmental stimulation were identified as high risk groups for InI, as defined in our study. Functional limitation, such as immobility, dependence in daily functions and hearing deprivation seem to affect the InC of the aged, especially of the less educated people. Such findings may suggest the need to plan community-oriented prevention programs for the sake of the growing population of the aged in western countries.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1999

[The sick patients of Dr. Tissot (1728-1797)].

Samuel Auguste Tissot (1728-1797) was a Swiss physician from Lausanne, who enjoyed a great reputation in his lifetime, thanks to his publications and professional expertise. His personal records contain many pieces of correspondence and more than a thousand written consultations, which are documents describing the disease of a person, that were sent to a physician in order to solicit advice on diagnosis and treatments. This collection is very interesting in many aspects, notably for giving an insight into the patients' points of view. This perspective, which is often difficult to adopt because of the lack of archival materials, has been presented recently as an essential alternative to the traditional history of medicine. Written consultations allow an original reflection on the perception or expression of sickness and shed new light on the patient-practitioner relationship. They reveal a complex network of mediations, that is, actions undertaken by individuals at any step of the epistolary consultations. This article aims at defining the different kinds or levels of mediations that one can find in the documents in order to understand when and why there are sometimes mediators, and which role they play. Such a study should demonstrate that the experience of sickness is not only the business of a single person, but involves several people. The patient-doctor relationship is not exclusively a binary one, but often includes the active participation of third parties.

Correspondence as Topic↗
PubMed1996

Closing Remarks.

About twenty years ago, the leaders of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) decided to start a new branch in the Clinical Oncology Program of the Division of Cancer Treatment. That new entity was named the Clinical Pharmacology Branch (CPB), and its first leader was a brilliant, young, promising investigator named Bruce A. Chabner. Chabner was educated at Yale and Harvard, and appeared to have an extraordinary grasp of novel concepts that were being developed in the emerging area of cancer chemotherapy. What the NCI leaders did not fully appreciate at the time was that they had just given birth to one of the most extraordinary careers in academic medicine. From the early seventies through the early eighties, Bruce Chabner developed a strong laboratory program that was based on scientific discovery and on the development of new talent. The CPB focused on new drug development, elucidation of drug mechanism(s) of action, and the development of new ways to use drugs that were already available. Concurrent with this laboratory effort was active participation in the development of clinical treatment regimens for Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and other malignancies. Individuals who trained under Chabner are now cancer center directors, department heads, laboratory chiefs, and hold many other high-profile positions. From 1981 to 1995 Bruce Chabner was Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment (DCT) of the NCI. In that capacity he was Scientific Director of the Intramural Program within DCT, and he had oversight responsibility for the direction of extramural studies that were funded through the NCI, which were focused on the development of new treatments for human malignant disease. The NCI has five divisions for which the NCI Director has ultimate responsibility. While working with one NCI Director from 1981 to 1988, and with another from 1988 to 1995, and during the transition year of 1988, Bruce Chabner provided stability for the DCT while many changes were occurring throughout the five divisions of the NCI. How does one assess the impact of a career on a discipline such as cancer treatment? It's not easy! Each of the articles contributed to this tribute were written by a person who trained directly with Bruce Chabner, or was otherwise directly impacted by Bruce's guidance. As can be seen from the list of contributors to these Proceedings, each individual has made major contributions to the area of cancer treatment in his or her own right. However, Bruce's contribution to cancer treatment goes far beyond the individuals he trained. The many thousands of human lives who have benefited from his efforts cannot be accurately estimated, because his contributions have been so wide-ranging, as indicated below. Being "Scientific Director" is similar in a number of ways to being a football quarterback. One of those ways is that when things go well the quarterback may get a little too much credit, and when things go not-so-well the quarterback may get too much blame. However, it is the quarterback who "calls the plays." With that in mind, a partial list of the accomplishments of the Intramural Program of the DCT while Bruce Chabner was "quarterback" includes the following: * The first human retroviruses, HTLV-1 and HTLV-2, were discovered and shown to be directly linked to the development of specific human malignancies. * Adoptive immunotherapy for human cancer was developed, offering exciting new additions to the anticancer armamentarium. * Paclitaxel (Taxol&reg;) was developed, and shown to be the most important new anticancer agent in the past two decades. * The human genes responsible for the development of several specific malignancies were discovered, such as those for kidney cancer. * Development of blood tests to detect HIV-tainted blood. * Treatment strategies for pediatric AIDS were developed. * The AIDS Drug Development Program within the NIH was established. * New drugs for the treatment of AIDS and AIDS-related conditions were developed. * The only three drugs to date that have been specifically approved for the treatment of AIDS-AZT, DDI, and DDC-were developed under the guidance of the DCT, with Bruce Chabner as Scientific Director. * The first clinical trials conducted with each of these agents-AZT, DDI, and DDC-were performed in the Intramural Program of the DCT. * Concurrently, many of the exciting findings reported by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project over the past 10 years (as well as other cooperative groups) were a direct result of the strong support shown by Bruce Chabner during his tenure as Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment. Further, the list above does not include his personal labortory and clinical accomplishments, some of which are: * Development of the principles of use of important antimetabolites, such as methotrexate. * Elucidation of biochemical pathways affected, and the mechanisms of action, of antifols and other antimetabolites. * The conduct of seminal studies in the clinical staging of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, using laparoscopy as a primary tool. * Important contributions to the development of multiagent regimens in the clinical treatment of lymphomas, and of Hodgkin's disease. * Developed and is editor of the textbook which is considered to be the primary reference source for anticancer chemotherapeutic agents [1]. With all of these accomplishments, his career is long from over. Having just become the Medical Director of the Cancer Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Bruce Chabner is uniquely poised to have an even more far-reaching impact on a discipline in which he has played such a strong seminal role. This author was never a postdoctoral fellow in Bruce Chabner's laboratory. However, more than any other single person, he has played a central role in my professional development. I know of many others for whom the same statement would be true. It is a pleasure for me to witness the launching of the second phase of an already tremendous career. From Advances in Cancer Treatment: The Chabner Symposium. Stem Cells 1996;14:64-65.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attitude of kidney patients on the transplant waiting list toward related-living donation. A reason for the scarce development of living donation in Spain.

INTRODUCTION: Most Spanish transplant centers have on-going living kidney transplant programs. However, such transplants are not increasing as a proportion of the total number of kidney transplants. The objective of this study is to analyze the attitude of kidney patients on the kidney transplant waiting list toward living kidney donation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The patients studied were selected from those included on the kidney transplant waiting list from November 2003 until September 2005 (n = 221). Attitude toward living donation was evaluated using a psychosocial questionnaire. It was completed in a direct personal interview with an independent health-care worker from the Transplant Unit. Student's t-test and the chi-squared test were applied. RESULTS: Two hundred and fourteen patients completed the questionnaire (97%), of which 35% would accept a related living kidney if it were offered to them, 60% would prefer to wait on the waiting list and the remaining 5% are undecided. Up to 66% (n = 134) of patients report that a member of their family or a friend have offered them an organ for donation. Eighty-nine percentage believe that there is some risk involved in living kidney donation, although it is not a factor that affects whether an organ would be accepted or not (p = 0.767). The psychosocial variables that affect attitude toward accepting a related living kidney are: (i) age: the youngest are those who are most likely to accept (40 vs. 45-yr-old; p = 0.010); (ii) descendents: patients without descendents are more likely to accept a living organ (56% vs. 27%; p < 0.000); (iii) marital status: a greater percentage of single respondents would be prepared to receive this type of transplant compared to the group of married respondents (55% vs. 30%. p = 0.007); and (iv) level of education: those with a higher level of education are more likely to accept a living organ (43% have secondary or university studies vs. 28% who only have primary education; p = 0.040). CONCLUSION: Patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant do not have a very favorable attitude toward receiving a related-living donor organ, although members of their family have offered them one of their organs. The profile of a patient who would accept a related-living donated kidney is a young, single person, without descendents, and with a high level of education.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Validation of the French Version of the Life Skills Profile with people suffering of schizophrenia].

INTRODUCTION: Since the discovery of neuroleptics and the reintegration of people with schizophrenia in the community, psycho-social reeducation became an essential part of the treatment. The Life Skills Profile is a tool of reference for assessment of the dimensions, which have an impact on the adaptation in community. Each item describes an observable behavior, written in common language, to allow the care-givers and the family to evaluate it without having a specific formation. The long version (39 items) is recommended for therapeutic interventions with a person and the short one (20 items) for large scale studies on outcome in community. AIM OF THE STUDY: In order to dispose of a measure of function and disability in schizophrenia, we have translated the Life Skills Profile (LSP) in French and tested the validity of this translation for the long version (39 items) and the short ones (16 and 20 items). The 4 dimensions of the 16-items version--"withdrawal", "self-care", "compliance" and "antisocial"--were used for people with mental disorders and the 20-items version enhanced with a fifth dimension "bizarre", especially useful for people with schizophrenia. METHOD: 175 people suffering of schizophrenia (DSM IV, codes F20.0 to F20.5) were evaluated by their caregivers in 3 settings: psychiatric hospital, ambulatory care and sheltered homes. Confirmatory factorial analyses were performed to test the dimensional models and their psychometric characteristics were established. RESULTS: The original structure in 5 dimensions of the long version (39 items) is not confirmed. However, the short versions in 16 and 20 items were confirmed, without any modification. The required psychometric qualities of reliability and validity of the 20-items version were fulfilled. The inter-rater reliability ranged from 0.65 to 0.75 for the 5 dimensions; the test-retest reliability ranged from 0.80 to 0.91 and the internal consistency from 0.67 to 0.81. The validity was evaluated by comparison of the LSP scores upon living arrangements (people living in sheltered homes had lesser scores) and pathologies (19 people with severe major depression had higher scores). CONCLUSION: The 39-items version of the Life Skills Profile was not validated in French. However, for clinical practice of social rehabilitation, this tool remains useful for a single person to check specific behaviors, which could hinder his/her integration into the community, to plan specific interventions and to evaluate changes, in addition with other scales. By the validation of the short version of the Life Skills Profile, an instrument is at disposal in French for outcome studies which allow to: 1) quickly assess the social functioning of person suffering of schizophrenia by a caregiver or a family member; 2) to detect insufficient skills in specific domains; and 3) to evaluate therapeutic efficiency.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2006

[Caring for a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: the patient's and the caregiver's experience].

ALS usually affects highly active, working, sportive individuals. The disease has a devastating impact on the patient's personal life and family ties. Indeed, the disease requires constant attention from the carer for its rapidly progressive nature leads the patient to a complete state of isolation without affecting his/her intellect. For the patient days, are numbered, for the carer, time is limited. The carer must cope with a number of medical, administrative and financial difficulties. These include belated diagnosis with its disastrous consequences on medication, lack of response from the decision-making services, home-improvements or car-fitting. All this requires amazing tenacity from the carer. All the more so as the progress of handicap is relentless and the patient is bound to use different forms of support, walking-stick, zimmer, wheel-chair, hoist, speech synthesis, gastrostomy, tracheotomy or palliative care, which turn out to be more or less effective. But mechanical devices are not enough. Assistance by a nurse, a physiotherapist, a speech therapist and/or a nursing auxiliary is necessary. There are not enough of these assistants and the result cannot be guaranteed, but their role is essential in home care. The carer's investment can be terribly consuming. The burden of 24h care wears out the carer whose days and nights are being regulated by the disease. Not to mention lonely patients with no means of support who find themselves confronted with inevitable daunting problems Institutions providing either temporary or permanent care for ALS patients are scarce. As the condition worsens steadily, the patient suffers sheer desperation and guilt feelings and resents being a burden for family yet would rather stay with them. ARS volunteers who collaborate with medical teams can provide much help. The carer's burden should be greatly lightened too by the newly-installed tutorial system: patients' files will be followed up by one single person after the center's social worker has drawn them up. Medical and home volunteers cooperate to give the patient the feeling that far from being abandoned or ostracized by society, he/she is constantly being given care.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

The lifetime history of major depression in women. Reliability of diagnosis and heritability.

BACKGROUND: In epidemiologic samples, the assessment of lifetime history (LTH) of major depression (MD) is not highly reliable. In female twins, we previously found that LTH of MD, as assessed at a single personal interview, was moderately heritable (approximately 40%). In that analysis, errors of measurement could not be discriminated from true environmental effects. METHODS: In 1721 female twins from a population-based register, including both members of 742 pairs, LTH of MD, covering approximately the same time period, was obtained twice, once by self-administered questionnaire and once at personal interview. RESULTS: Reliability of LTH of MD was modest (kappa = +.34, tetrachoric r = +.56) and was predicted by the number of depressive symptoms, treatment seeking, number of episodes, and degree of impairment. Deriving an "index of caseness" from these predictors, the estimated heritability of LTH of MD was greater for more restrictive definitions. Incorporating error of measurement into a structural equation model including both occasions of measurement, the estimated heritability of the liability to LTH of MD increased substantially (approximately 70%). More than half of what was considered environmental effects when LTH of MD was analyzed on the basis of one assessment appeared, when two assessments were used, to reflect measurement error. CONCLUSIONS: Major depression, as assessed over the lifetime, may be a rather highly heritable disorder of moderate reliability rather than a moderately heritable disorder of high reliability.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Echogenicity of liver metastases is an independent prognostic factor after potentially curative treatment.

HYPOTHESIS: Intraoperative echogenic appearance of liver metastases from colorectal cancer is a prognostic factor of outcome after curative treatment. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. SETTING: Department of Surgery at a university hospital. PATIENTS: One hundred forty-three consecutive patients with hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer who underwent liver resection with curative intent between 1992 and 1998. INTERVENTION: Curative treatment was achieved by liver resection alone, liver resection plus edge cryotherapy, or liver resection plus cryotherapy to lesions not amenable to further resection. In patients with more than 2 lesions, a hepatic artery catheter was placed for regional chemotherapy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The echogenic appearance of the liver metastases was assessed by intraoperative ultrasound by a single person throughout the study using a 5-MHz ultrasound probe. The findings were prospectively entered into the database. RESULTS: Fifty-four percent of patients had hyperechoic metastases. This group had significantly longer overall (log rank, P<.001) and recurrence-free survival (log rank, P =.004) compared with patients who had hypoechoic metastases (36%). A significantly higher percentage of mucin-secreting tumors were found in the hypoechoic patient group (chi(2), P =.001). Dukes stage of the primary tumor (P =.02), echogenicity of the liver secondaries (P =.04), and diameter of the largest resected metastasis (P =.01) were independent prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival in the Cox regression model. CONCLUSION: These results support the hypothesis that echogenicity of liver metastases from colorectal cancer is an independent prognostic factor of outcome after curative resection.

Colorectal Neoplasms↗
PubMed1979

[Dietary interview. 2. Comparison of the results obtained with different numbers of daily recalls].

From energy, nutrient and food intake data obtained with 14 24-hours recalls from 43 male and 53 female employees, aged from 30 to 40 years, the authors calculated and compared the single and group means for 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days, respectively. It is tried to deduce from them the lowest number of interviews necessary for reliable statements. As the intra-individual variances were greater than the variances within the groups, the diet of such a group cannot be characterized on the basis of a single interview. Statements regarding the mean intakes of energy, nutrients and high-aggregated food groups could be made for groups of subjects on the basis of 3-5 interviews, with a tolerance of +/- 5%. The stable estimation of the consumption of single foods (with a tolerance of +/- 10%) required at least 7 interviews. 10 interviews were necessary for estimating (with a tolerance of +/- 10%) the mean intakes of energy, nutrients and great food groups of single persons. These results will hold true only when the workdays and weekends are in due proportion.

Adult↗