Avoidable mortality across Canada from 1975 to 1999

BACKGROUND: The concept of 'avoidable' mortality (AM) has been proposed as a performance measure of health care systems. In this study we examined mortality in five geographic regions of Canada from 1975 to 1999 for previously defined avoidable disease groups that are amenable to medical care and public health. These trends were compared to mortality from other causes. METHODS: National and regional age-standardized mortality rates for ages less than 65 years were estimated for avoidable and other causes of death for consecutive periods (1975–1979, 1980–1985, 1985–1989, 1990–1994, and 1995–1999). The proportion of all-cause mortality attributable to avoidable causes was also determined. RESULTS: From 1975–1979 to 1995–1999, the AM decrease (46.9%) was more pronounced compared to mortality from other causes (24.9%). There were persistent regional AM differences, with consistently lower AM in Ontario and British Columbia compared to the Atlantic, Quebec, and Prairies regions. This trend was not apparent when mortality from other causes was examined. Injuries, ischaemic heart disease, and lung cancer strongly influenced the overall AM trends. CONCLUSION: The regional differences in mortality for ages less than 65 years was attributable to causes of death amenable to medical care and public health, especially from causes responsive to public health

Immunolocalization of steroidogenic enzymes in the vaginal mucous of Galea spixii during the estrous cycle

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud The synthesis of sex steroids is controlled by several enzymes such as17α-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 (P450c17) catalyzing androgen synthesis and aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) catalyzing estrogen synthesis, both of which must complex with the redox partner NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CPR) for activity. Previous studies have identified expression of steroidogenic enzymes in vaginal tissue, suggesting local sex steroid synthesis. The current studies investigate P450c17, P450aromatase and CPR expression in vaginal mucosa of Galea spixii (Spix cavy) by immuno-histochemical and western immunoblot analyses.\ud \ud \ud Methods\ud Stages of estrous cyclicity were monitored by vaginal exfoliative cytology. After euthanasia, vaginal tissues were retrieved, fixed and frozen at diestrus, proestrus, estrus and metestrus. The ovaries and testis were used as positive control tissues for immunohistochemistry.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud Data from cytological study allowed identification of different estrous cycle phases. Immunohistochemical analysis showed different sites of expression of steroidogenic enzymes along with tissue response throughout different phases of the estrous cycle. However, further studies are needed to characterize the derived hormones synthesized by, and the enzymes activities associated with, vaginal tissues.\ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud Current results not only support the expression of enzymes involved in sex steroid synthesis in the wall of the vagina, they also indicate that expression changes with the stage of the cycle, both the levels and types of cells exhibiting expression. Thus, changes in proliferation of vaginal epithelial cells and the differentiation of the mucosa may be influenced by local steroid synthesis as well as circulating androgens and estrogens.This work was supported by grants from São Paulo Research Foundation/\ud FAPESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Process Number: 2011/03655-2) and the National\ud Council of Scientific Researches/CNPq (Process Number: 402220/2010-2)

Do Domain Knowledge and Retrieval Practice Predict Students’ Study Order Decisions?

Learning complex concepts is necessary for student success, but it is often challenging. Learning such concepts can be influenced by students’ study order choices during learning to switch to a new category (interleaved study order) or stay within the same category (blocked study order). Students often prefer stay decisions during learning and make relatively few switch decisions; however, an open question is whether students’ switch decisions are related to their level of prior knowledge in the domain and the learning strategy they use (retrieval practice versus study). To examine these relationships, we recruited undergraduate students from an introductory geology course. Prior to the course modules on rock classification, students self-rated their knowledge, took a prior knowledge test, classified rock exemplars by completing study or retrieval practice trials, and made study order choices. Students then completed assignments and attended lectures in their geology course on igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Next, students self-rated their knowledge, took a new prior knowledge test, completed study or retrieval practice trials, made study order decisions, took final classification tests, and self-reported beliefs about study order choices. Even though students’ knowledge increased after course modules on rock identification, and most students believed that domain knowledge impacts study decisions, prior knowledge did not predict students’ switch decisions. In contrast, students who completed retrieval practice trials made substantially more switch decisions (i.e., interleaved study) than did students who completed study trials

Synaesthesia: The prevalence of atypical cross-modal experiences

Sensory and cognitive mechanisms allow stimuli to be perceived with properties relating to sight, sound, touch, etc, and ensure, for example, that visual properties are perceived as visual experiences, rather than sounds, tastes, smells, etc. Theories of normal development can be informed by cases where this modularity breaks down, in a condition known as synaesthesia. Conventional wisdom has held that this occurs extremely rarely (0.05% of births) and affects women more than men. Here we present the first test of synaesthesia prevalence with sampling that does not rely on self-referral, and which uses objective tests to establish genuineness. We show that (a) the prevalence of synaesthesia is 88 times higher than previously assumed, (b) the most common variant is coloured days, (c) the most studied variant (grapheme-colour synaesthesia)-previously believed most common-is prevalent at 1%, and (d) there is no strong asymmetry in the distribution of synaesthesia across the sexes. Hence, we suggest that female biases reported earlier likely arose from (or were exaggerated by) sex differences in self-disclosure