How does gender influence the recognition of cardiovascular risk and adherence to self-care recommendations? : a study in polish primary care

Background: Studies have shown a correlation between gender and an ability to change lifestyle to reduce the risk of disease. However, the results of these studies are ambiguous, especially where a healthy lifestyle is concerned. Additionally, health behaviors are strongly modified by culture and the environment. Psychological factors also substantially affect engagement with disease-related lifestyle interventions. This study aimed to examine whether there are differences between men and women in the frequency of health care behavior for the purpose of reducing cardiovascular risk (CVR), as well as cognitive appraisal of this type of risk. We also aimed to identify the psychological predictors of engaging in recommended behavior for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease after providing information about this risk in men and women. Methods: A total of 134 consecutive eligible patients in a family practice entered a longitudinal study. At initial consultation, the individual’s CVR and associated health burden was examined, and preventive measures were recommended by the physician. Self-care behavior, cognitive appraisal of risk, and coping styles were then assessed using psychological questionnaires. Six months after the initial data collection, the frequency of subjects’ self-care behavior was examined. Results: We found an increase in health care behavior after providing information regarding the rate of CVR in both sexes; this increase was greater for women than for men. Women followed self-care guidelines more often than men, particularly for preventive measures and dietary advice. Women were more inclined to recognize their CVR as a challenge. Coping style, cognitive appraisal, age, level of health behaviors at baseline and CVR values accounted for 48% of the variance in adherence to self-care guidelines in women and it was 52% in men. In women, total risk of CVD values were most important, while in men, cognitive appraisal of harm/loss was most important. Conclusions: Different predictors of acquisition of health behavior are encountered in men and women. Our results suggest that gender-adjusted motivation models influencing the recognition process need to be considered to optimize compliance in patients with CVR

Postgraduate education for Chinese medicine practitioners: a Hong Kong perspective

<b>Background</b> Despite Hong Kong government's official commitment to the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) over the last ten years, there appears to have been limited progress in public sector initiated career development and postgraduate training (PGT) for public university trained TCM practitioners. Instead, the private TCM sector is expected to play a major role in nurturing the next generation of TCM practitioners. In the present study we evaluated TCM graduates' perspectives on their career prospects and their views regarding PGT.<p></p> <b>Method</b> Three focus group discussions with 19 local TCM graduates who had worked full time in a clinical setting for fewer than 5 years. <p></p> <b>Results</b> Graduates were generally uncertain about how to develop their career pathways in Hong Kong with few postgraduate development opportunities; because of this some were planning to leave the profession altogether. Despite their expressed needs, they were dissatisfied with the current quality of local PGT and suggested various ways for improvement including supervised practice-based learning, competency-based training, and accreditation of training with trainee involvement in design and evaluation. In addition they identified educational needs beyond TCM, in particular a better understanding of western medicine and team working so that primary care provision might be more integrated in the future. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> TCM graduates in Hong Kong feel let down by the lack of public PGT opportunities which is hindering career development. To develop a new generation of TCM practitioners with the capacity to provide quality and comprehensive care, a stronger role for the government, including sufficient public funding, in promoting TCM graduates' careers and training development is suggested. Recent British and Australian experiences in prevocational western medicine training reform may serve as a source of references when relevant program for TCM graduates is planned in the futur

Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activity of Anatase TiO2 Nanoparticles-coated Carbon Nanotubes

A simple and straightforward approach to prepare TiO2-coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is presented. Anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) with the average size ~8 nm were coated on CNTs from peroxo titanic acid (PTA) precursor even at low temperature of 100 °C. We demonstrate the effects of CNTs/TiO2 molar ratio on the adsorption capability and photocatalytic efficiency under UV–visible irradiation. The samples showed not only good optical absorption in visible range, but also great adsorption capacity for methyl orange (MO) dye molecules. These properties facilitated the great enhancement of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 NPs-coated CNTs photocatalysts. The TiO2 NPs-coated CNTs exhibited 2.45 times higher photocatalytic activity for MO degradation than that of pure TiO2

The response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current to recent climate change

Observations show a significant intensification of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies, the prevailing winds between the latitudes of 30° and 60° S, over the past decades. A continuation of this intensification trend is projected by climate scenarios for the twenty-first century. The response of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the carbon sink in the Southern Ocean to changes in wind stress and surface buoyancy fluxes is under debate. Here we analyse the Argo network of profiling floats and historical oceanographic data to detect coherent hemispheric-scale warming and freshening trends that extend to depths of more than 1,000 m. The warming and freshening is partly related to changes in the properties of the water masses that make up the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which are consistent with the anthropogenic changes in heat and freshwater fluxes suggested by climate models. However, we detect no increase in the tilt of the surfaces of equal density across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, in contrast to coarse-resolution model studies. Our results imply that the transport in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and meridional overturning in the Southern Ocean are insensitive to decadal changes in wind stress

Ethical Issues in Engineering Models: An Operations Researcher’s Reflections

This article starts with an overview of the author’s personal involvement—as an Operations Research consultant—in several engineering case-studies that may raise ethical questions; e.g., case-studies on nuclear waste, water management, sustainable ecology, military tactics, and animal welfare. All these case studies employ computer simulation models. In general, models are meant to solve practical problems, which may have ethical implications for the various stakeholders; namely, the modelers, the clients, and the public at large. The article further presents an overview of codes of ethics in a variety of disciples. It discusses the role of mathematical models, focusing on the validation of these models’ assumptions. Documentation of these model assumptions needs special attention. Some ethical norms and values may be quantified through the model’s multiple performance measures, which might be optimized. The uncertainty about the validity of the model leads to risk or uncertainty analysis and to a search for robust models. Ethical questions may be pressing in military models, including war games. However, computer games and the related experimental economics may also provide a special tool to study ethical issues. Finally, the article briefly discusses whistleblowing. Its many references to publications and websites enable further study of ethical issues in modeling

Birth weight and cognitive performance in older women: the Rancho Bernardo study

Low birth weight is associated with poorer cognitive function from infancy through early adulthood, but little is known about low birth weight and cognitive performance in the elderly. This study examines the association of birth weight with cognitive function in community-dwelling older women. Participants were 292 community-dwelling women aged 55–89 (median = 71 years) who attended a 1988–91 clinic visit when cognitive function was assessed, and responded to a 1991 mailed questionnaire assessing birth weight. All analyses were adjusted for age and education. Birth weight ranged from 2 to 12 pounds (lbs; mean = 7.4 ± 1.9). When birth weight was categorized into tertiles (2–6.9 lbs, 7–8 lbs, and 8.1–12.4 lbs), women in the lowest tertile had significantly lower (“poorer”) scores on Serial 7’s, a test of concentration and calculation (p < 0.05). Other birth weight categorizations (lowest quartile or quintile, or birth weight <5.5 lbs vs. 5.6–8.9 lbs and ≥9 lbs) did not improve the prediction of poor performance on Serial 7’s. Birth weight as a continuous variable was significantly and positively associated with Serial 7’s test scores (p = 0.04). Results suggest that small decrements in cognitive function tasks involving calculation may persist throughout life in women who were of relatively low birth weight. Although this association could be spurious, it deserves further evaluation

Early life factors and being overweight at 4 years of age among children in Malmö, Sweden

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rising rates of obesity and overweight is an increasing public health problem all over the world. Recent research has shown the importance of early life factors in the development of child overweight. However, to the best of our knowledge there are no studies investigating the potential synergistic effect of early life factors and presence of parental overweight on the development of child overweight.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was population-based and cross-sectional. The study population consisted of children who visited the Child Health Care (CHC) centers in Malmö for their 4-year health check during 2003-2008 and whose parents answered a self-administered questionnaire (n = 9009 children).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that having overweight/obese parents was strongly associated with the child being overweight or obese. Furthermore, there was an association between unfavorable early life factors (i.e., mother smoking during pregnancy, presence of secondhand tobacco smoke early in life, high birth weight) and the development of child overweight/obesity at four years of age, while breastfeeding seemed to have a protective role. For example, maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.47 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.76) for overweight and 2.31 (95% CI: 1.68, 3.17) for obesity. The results further showed synergistic effects between parental overweight and exposure to unfavourable early life factors in the development of child overweight.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The present study shows the importance of early life factors in the development of child overweight and obesity, and thus puts focus on the importance of early targeted interventions.</p

Health Policy and Systems Research in Twelve Eastern Mediterranean Countries: a stocktaking of production and gaps (2000-2008)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objectives of this study are to: (1) profile the production of Health Policy and Systems Research (HPSR) published between 2000 and 2008 in 12 countries in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR): Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen; (2) identify gaps; and (3) assess the extent to which existing HPSR produced in the region addresses regional priorities pertaining to Health Financing, Human Resources for Health and the Role of the Non-State Sector. This is the first stocktaking paper of HPSR production and gaps in the EMR.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Articles indexed on Medline between years 2000 and 2008 for the 12 study countries were selected. A MeSH term based search was conducted using country names. Articles were assessed using a coding sheet adapted for the region which included themes on: Governance Arrangements, Financial Arrangements, Delivery Arrangements, and Implementation Strategies. Identified articles were matched against regional research priorities to assess the extent to which research production aligns with priorities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1,487 articles (11.94%) fit the criteria in the coding sheet. Results showed an increase in HPSR production which peaked after 2005. Most identified articles focused on Delivery Arrangements (68.1%), and Implementation Strategies (24.4%). Most HPSR addressed priorities in Human Resources for Health (39%<b>)</b>, and some articles focused on Health Financing (12%) and Role of the Non-State Sector (6.1%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite global calls for producing and translating HPSR into policy, there are still significant gaps in the EMR. More efforts are needed to produce HPSR and align production and translation with the demand for evidence by policymakers. Findings can help inform and direct future plans and activities for the Evidence Informed Policy Network- EMR, World Health Organization- EMR, and the Middle East and North Africa Health Policy Forum, in addition to being useful for countries that host or are planning to host KT platforms in the region.</p

Deficient NRG1-ERBB signaling alters social approach: relevance to genetic mouse models of schizophrenia

Growth factor Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) plays an essential role in development and organization of the cerebral cortex. NRG1 and its receptors, ERBB3 and ERBB4, have been implicated in genetic susceptibility for schizophrenia. Disease symptoms include asociality and altered social interaction. To investigate the role of NRG1-ERBB signaling in social behavior, mice heterozygous for an Nrg1 null allele (Nrg1+/−), and mice with conditional ablation of Erbb3 or Erbb4 in the central nervous system, were evaluated for sociability and social novelty preference in a three-chambered choice task. Results showed that deficiencies in NRG1 or ERBB3 significantly enhanced sociability. All of the mutant groups demonstrated a lack of social novelty preference, in contrast to their respective wild-type controls. Effects of NRG1, ERBB3, or ERBB4 deficiency on social behavior could not be attributed to general changes in anxiety-like behavior, activity, or loss of olfactory ability. Nrg1+/− pups did not exhibit changes in isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations, a measure of emotional reactivity. Overall, these findings provide evidence that social behavior is mediated by NRG1-ERBB signaling