512 research outputs found
The role of intention and self-efficacy on the association between breastfeeding of first and second child, a Danish cohort study
Abstract Background The impact of parity on breastfeeding duration may be explained by physiological as well as psychosocial factors. The aim in the present study was to investigate the mediating influence of intention and self-efficacy on the association between the breastfeeding duration of the first and the following child. Methods A 5-year Danish cohort study with data from online questionnaires was used. Data came from 1162 women, who participated in the “Ready for child” trial in 2006–7 and gave birth to their second child within 5 years in 2011–3. Analysis included multiple regression models with exclusive/any breastfeeding duration of first child as the exposure variables, intention and self-efficacy measured as mediators, and exclusive/any breastfeeding duration of the second child as the outcome variables. Results Duration of exclusive breastfeeding of the first child was significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding duration of the second child (p <  0.001) and with the self-reported intention and self-efficacy in the ability to breastfeed the second child (p <  0.001). The exclusive breastfeeding period was slightly longer for the second child. Self-efficacy and intention mediated the association between breastfeeding duration in the first and second child. Together the two factors explained 48% of the association in exclusive breastfeeding and 27% of the association in any breastfeeding between the first and second child. Conclusion Due to a reinforcing effect of intention and self-efficacy, breastfeeding support should focus on helping the first time mothers to succeed as well as to identify the second time mother with low self-efficacy and additional need for support
The impact of population-based faecal occult blood test screening on colorectal cancer mortality:a matched cohort study
BACKGROUND: Randomised trials show reduced colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality with faecal occult blood testing (FOBT). This outcome is now examined in a routine, population-based, screening programme. METHODS: Three biennial rounds of the UK CRC screening pilot were completed in Scotland (2000–2007) before the roll out of a national programme. All residents (50–69 years) in the three pilot Health Boards were invited for screening. They received a FOBT test by post to complete at home and return for analysis. Positive tests were followed up with colonoscopy. Controls, selected from non-pilot Health Boards, were matched by age, gender, and deprivation and assigned the invitation date of matched invitee. Follow-up was from invitation date to 31 December 2009 or date of death if earlier. RESULTS: There were 379 655 people in each group (median age 55.6 years, 51.6% male). Participation was 60.6%. There were 961 (0.25%) CRC deaths in invitees, 1056 (0.28%) in controls, rate ratio (RR) 0.90 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.83–0.99) overall and 0.73 (95% CI 0.65–0.82) for participants. Non-participants had increased CRC mortality compared with controls, RR 1.21 (95% CI 1.06–1.38). CONCLUSION: There was a 10% relative reduction in CRC mortality in a routine screening programme, rising to 27% in participants
The Supernova Legacy Survey 3-year sample: Type Ia Supernovae photometric distances and cosmological constraints
We present photometric properties and distance measurements of 252 high
redshift Type Ia supernovae (0.15 < z < 1.1) discovered during the first three
years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS). These events were detected and
their multi-colour light curves measured using the MegaPrime/MegaCam instrument
at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), by repeatedly imaging four
one-square degree fields in four bands. Follow-up spectroscopy was performed at
the VLT, Gemini and Keck telescopes to confirm the nature of the supernovae and
to measure their redshifts. Systematic uncertainties arising from light curve
modeling are studied, making use of two techniques to derive the peak
magnitude, shape and colour of the supernovae, and taking advantage of a
precise calibration of the SNLS fields. A flat LambdaCDM cosmological fit to
231 SNLS high redshift Type Ia supernovae alone gives Omega_M = 0.211 +/-
0.034(stat) +/- 0.069(sys). The dominant systematic uncertainty comes from
uncertainties in the photometric calibration. Systematic uncertainties from
light curve fitters come next with a total contribution of +/- 0.026 on
Omega_M. No clear evidence is found for a possible evolution of the slope
(beta) of the colour-luminosity relation with redshift.Comment: (The SNLS Collaboration) 40 pages, 32 figures, Accepted in A&
Temporal trends in mode, site and stage of presentation with the introduction of colorectal cancer screening: a decade of experience from the West of Scotland
background:Â Â Population colorectal cancer screening programmes have been introduced to reduce cancer-specific mortality through the detection of early-stage disease. The present study aimed to examine the impact of screening introduction in the West of Scotland.
methods:Â Â Data on all patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer between January 2003 and December 2012 were extracted from a prospectively maintained regional audit database. Changes in mode, site and stage of presentation before, during and after screening introduction were examined.
results:  In a population of 2.4 million, over a 10-year period, 14 487 incident cases of colorectal cancer were noted. Of these, 7827 (54%) were males and 7727 (53%) were socioeconomically deprived. In the postscreening era, 18% were diagnosed via the screening programme. There was a reduction in both emergency presentation (20% prescreening vs 13% postscreening, P0.001) and the proportion of rectal cancers (34% prescreening vs 31% pos-screening, P0.001) over the timeframe. Within non-metastatic disease, an increase in the proportion of stage I tumours at diagnosis was noted (17% prescreening vs 28% postscreening, P0.001).
conclusions:Â Â Within non-metastatic disease, a shift towards earlier stage at diagnosis has accompanied the introduction of a national screening programme. Such a change should lead to improved outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer
Mesorectal radiotherapy for early stage rectal cancer: A novel target volume
With the introduction of population-based bowel cancer screening, rectal cancer is diagnosed at earlier stages, yet standard treatment still requires the same extensive surgery that is used for more advanced stages. Organ preserving treatment is rapidly developing and is subject of investigation in numerous clinical trials. The STAR-TREC trial is an international, multi-centre randomised trial investigating organ preservation using (chemo)radiotherapy. Patients with small mrT1-3bN0V0M0 tumours are randomized between three arms: standard TME, organ preservation with SCRT or with CRT. In this trial, the clinical target volume has been tailored to the early staged disease of the included patients. This mesorectal irradiation volume includes the mesorectum and pre-sacral lymph nodes at the level of the tumour, two centimetres below and cranially up to the S2-3 interspace level. In contrast to conventional irradiation volumes, the lateral lymph nodes and the nodes along the superior rectal artery are excluded. As a result, the dose to the bowel, bladder, anal sphincter and the neurovascular plexus in the lower pelvis is substantially decreased, especially when combined with modern irradiation techniques, such as dynamic arc therapy. These lower doses are expected to lead to decreasing acute and late toxicity and beneficial functional outcomes. The implementation of this novel target volume will be accompanied by an extensive quality assurance program in the STAR-TREC trial. We describe the rationale behind the novel, mesorectal only radiotherapy treatment used in the STAR-TREC trial specifically tailored for early stage disease, with the goal of organ preservation
An ongoing case-control study to evaluate the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme
© 2014 Massat et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated
Characteristics of patients receiving allergy vaccination: to which extent do socio-economic factors play a role?
Background: Little is known about characteristics of patients receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy. Identifying obstacles to appropriate treatment according to guidelines may facilitate the development of strategies aiming at improved treatment of patients with allergic respiratory diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate differences in disease severity, demographic and socioeconomic status between allergic rhinitis patients receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy and allergic rhinitis patients not receiving allergen-specific immunotherapy. Methods: A total of 366 patients were studied of whom 210 were going to receive subcutaneously administrated immunotherapy (SIT) against grass pollen and/or house dust mite allergy. The severity of rhino-conjunctivitis (hay fever) and/or asthma was classified according to international guidelines. The questionnaires included an EQ-5D visual analogue scale instrument and some socio-economic questions. Results: Severity of disease, young age, high level of education as well as greater perceived impairment of health-related quality of life due to allergic symptoms were significantly associated with use of SIT. Somewhat unexpectedly, household income was not associated with use of SIT. Conclusion: Use of SIT was associated with both disease severity measures and educational level, but not income level. These results suggest social inequality as reflected by lower use of SIT among patients with lower educational level may represent an obstacle to treatment with SIT
Constraining dark matter halo properties using lensed SNLS supernovae
This paper exploits the gravitational magnification of SNe Ia to measure
properties of dark matter haloes. The magnification of individual SNe Ia can be
computed using observed properties of foreground galaxies and dark matter halo
models. We model the dark matter haloes of the galaxies as truncated singular
isothermal spheres with velocity dispersion and truncation radius obeying
luminosity dependent scaling laws. A homogeneously selected sample of 175 SNe
Ia from the first 3-years of the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) in the redshift
range 0.2 < z < 1 is used to constrain models of the dark matter haloes
associated with foreground galaxies. The best-fitting velocity dispersion
scaling law agrees well with galaxy-galaxy lensing measurements. We further
find that the normalisation of the velocity dispersion of passive and star
forming galaxies are consistent with empirical Faber-Jackson and Tully-Fisher
relations, respectively. If we make no assumption on the normalisation of these
relations, we find that the data prefer gravitational lensing at the 92 per
cent confidence level. Using recent models of dust extinction we deduce that
the impact of this effect on our results is very small. We also investigate the
brightness scatter of SNe Ia due to gravitational lensing. The gravitational
lensing scatter is approximately proportional to the SN Ia redshift. We find
the constant of proportionality to be B = 0.055 +0.039 -0.041 mag (B < 0.12 mag
at the 95 per cent confidence level). If this model is correct, the
contribution from lensing to the intrinsic brightness scatter of SNe Ia is
small for the SNLS sample.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
SNLS3: Constraints on Dark Energy Combining the Supernova Legacy Survey Three Year Data with Other Probes
We present observational constraints on the nature of dark energy using the
Supernova Legacy Survey three year sample (SNLS3) of Guy et al. (2010) and
Conley et al. (2011). We use the 472 SNe Ia in this sample, accounting for
recently discovered correlations between SN Ia luminosity and host galaxy
properties, and include the effects of all identified systematic uncertainties
directly in the cosmological fits. Combining the SNLS3 data with the full WMAP7
power spectrum, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey luminous red galaxy power
spectrum, and a prior on the Hubble constant H0 from SHOES, in a flat universe
we find omega_m=0.269+/-0.015 and w=-1.061+0.069-0.068 -- a 6.5% measure of the
dark energy equation-of-state parameter w. The statistical and systematic
uncertainties are approximately equal, with the systematic uncertainties
dominated by the photometric calibration of the SN Ia fluxes -- without these
calibration effects, systematics contribute only a ~2% error in w. When
relaxing the assumption of flatness, we find omega_m=0.271+/-0.015,
omega_k=-0.002+/-0.006, and w=-1.069+0.091-0.092. Parameterizing the time
evolution of w as w(a)=w_0+w_a(1-a), gives w_0=-0.905+/-0.196,
w_a=-0.984+1.094-1.097 in a flat universe. All of our results are consistent
with a flat, w=-1 universe. The size of the SNLS3 sample allows various tests
to be performed with the SNe segregated according to their light curve and host
galaxy properties. We find that the cosmological constraints derived from these
different sub-samples are consistent. There is evidence that the coefficient,
beta, relating SN Ia luminosity and color, varies with host parameters at
>4sigma significance (in addition to the known SN luminosity--host relation);
however this has only a small effect on the cosmological results and is
currently a sub-dominant systematic.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Data available from
https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/snl
Supernova Legacy Survey: Using Spectral Signatures To Improve Type Ia Supernovae As Distance Indicators
GMOS optical long-slit spectroscopy at the Gemini-North telescope was used to
classify targets from the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) from July 2005 and May
2006 - May 2008. During this time, 95 objects were observed. Where possible the
objects' redshifts (z) were measured from narrow emission or absorption
features in the host galaxy spectrum, otherwise they were measured from the
broader supernova features. We present spectra of 68 confirmed or probable SNe
Ia from SNLS with redshifts in the range 0.17 \leq z \leq 1.02. In combination
with earlier SNLS Gemini and VLT spectra, we used these new observations to
measure pseudo-equivalent widths (EWs) of three spectral features - CaII H&K,
SiII and MgII - in 144 objects and compared them to the EWs of low-redshift SNe
Ia from a sample drawn from the literature. No signs of changes with z are seen
for the CaII H&K and MgII features. Systematically lower EW SiII is seen at
high redshift, but this can be explained by a change in demographics of the SNe
Ia population within a two-component model combined with an observed
correlation between EW SiII and photometric lightcurve stretch.Comment: 49 pages including 2 online-only appendices, accepted for publication
in MNRA
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