1,722 research outputs found
Estimating prevalence of overweight and obesity at the neighborhood level: the value of maternal height and weight data available on birth certificate records
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To determine the value of maternal height and weight data on birth certificate records when estimating prevalence of overweight and obese adults at the neighborhood level.</p> <p>Research Design and Methods</p> <p>Regression analysis was used to determine how much variation in the percentage of the adult population with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 25 (based on survey data) could be accounted for by the percentage of mothers with BMI ≥ 25 (based on birth certificate data) -- alone and in combination with other sociodemographic characteristics of census tracts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Alone, the percentage of mothers with BMI ≥ 25 explained more than half (R<sup>2 </sup>= .52) of the variation in the percentage of all residents in census tracts with BMI ≥ 25; in combination with several measures of the sociodemographic characteristics of the census tracts, 75% ( R<sup>2 </sup>= 75.2) of the variation is explained.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Maternal height and weight data available from birth certificate records may be useful for identifying neighborhoods with relatively high or low prevalence of adult residents who are overweight or obese. This is especially true if used in combination with readily available census data.</p
Need for enforcement of ethicolegal education – an analysis of the survey of postgraduate clinical trainees
BACKGROUND: The number of medical lawsuits in Japan was between 14 and 21 each year before 1998, but increased to 24 to 35 per year after 1999. There were 210 lawsuits during this 10-year period. There is a need for skills and knowledge related to ethics, which is as fundamental to the practice of medicine as basic sciences or clinical skills. in Japan education in ethics is relatively rare and its importance is not yet recognized. Establishing ethics education using legal precedents, which has already been achieved in Western countries, will be a very important issue in Japan. In the present study, a questionnaire survey was conducted among graduate intern doctors, in order to investigate whether ethics education using precedents might have a positive effect in Japan. METHODS: In 2002, a questionnaire survey entitled Physicians' Clinical Ethics was carried out in a compulsory orientation lecture given to trainees before they started clinical practice in our hospital. The attendees at this lecture were trainees who came from colleges in various districts of Japan. During the lecture, 102 questionnaires were distributed, completed by attendees and collected. The recovery rate was 100%. The questionnaire consisted of 22 questions (in three categories), of which 20 were answered by multiple choices, and the other two were answered by description. The time required to complete the questionnaire was about 10 minutes. RESULTS: The recovered questionnaires were analyzed using statistical analysis software (SPSS for Windows, Release 10.07J-1/June/2000), in addition to simple statistical analysis. answers using multiple choices for the 20 questions in the questionnaire were input into SPSS. The principal component analysis was performed for each question. As a result, the item that came to the fore was "legal precedent". Since many intern doctors were interested in understanding laws and precedents, learning about ethical considerations through education using precedents might better meet with their needs and interests. CONCLUSION: We applied a new method in which the results of principal component analysis and frequencies of answers to other questions were combined. From this we deduced that the precedent education used in Western countries was useful to help doctors acquire ethical sensitivity and was not against their will. A relationship was found between reading precedents and the influence of lawsuits, and it was thought that student participation-type precedent education would be useful for doctors in order to acquire ethical sensitivity
Teste de Morisky-Green e Brief Medication Questionnaire para avaliar adesão a medicamentos
OBJETIVO: Analisar a confiabilidade e o desempenho da versão em português de instrumentos de avaliação da adesão ao tratamento anti-hipertensivo. MÉTODOS: Pacientes hipertensos atendidos de janeiro a setembro de 2010 em uma unidade de atenção primária em Porto Alegre, RS, foram selecionados aleatoriamente (n = 206). Na avaliação da adesão foram utilizadas versões em português do Teste de Morisky-Green (TMG) e do Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ). Foram analisados consistência interna, estabilidade temporal e desempenho com relação a três padrões-ouro: controle inadequado da pressão arterial (> 140/90 mmHg); taxa insuficiente de retirada de medicação na farmácia da Unidade Básica de Saúde (< 80%); e a combinação de ambos. RESULTADOS: Dos pacientes avaliados, 97 utilizavam medicamentos dispensados somente pela farmácia da Unidade Básica de Saúde. Os testes apresentaram boa consistência interna: BMQ α de Cronbach de 0,66 (IC95% 0,60;0,73) e o TMG 0,73 (IC95% 0,67;0,79). O desempenho do BMQ no domínio regime apresentou sensibilidade de 77%, especificidade de 58% e área sob a curva ROC de 0,70 (IC95% 0,55;0,86), e o TMG sensibilidade de 61%, especificidade de 36% e área sob a curva ROC de 0,46 (IC95% 0,30;0,62). A correlação entre o BMQ e o TMG foi de r = 0,28, p > 0,001. A baixa adesão ao BMQ está associada a maiores níveis tensionais quando comparada com pacientes aderentes (148,4 [dp 20,1] vs 128,8 [dp 17,8], p < 0,001), mas não para o TMG. CONCLUSÕES: O BMQ apresentou melhor desempenho que o TMG, com maiores sensibilidade e especificidade. A avaliação da adesão pode auxiliar o clinico na discriminação entre uso inadequado da medicação e esquema terapêutico insuficiente.OBJETIVO: Analizar la confiabilidad y el desempeño de la versión en portugués de instrumentos de evaluación de la adherencia al tratamiento antihipertensivo. MÉTODOS: Pacientes hipertensos atendidos de enero a septiembre de 2010 en una unidad de atención primaria en Porto Alegre, Sur de Brasil, fueron seleccionados aleatoriamente (n=206). En la evaluación de la adherencia fueron utilizadas versiones en portugués de la Prueba de Morisky-Green (TMG) y del Brief Medication Questionnarie (BMQ). Se analizaron consistencia interna, estabilidad temporal y desempeño con relación a tres patrones-oro: control inadecuado de la presión arterial (> 140/90 mmHg); tasa insuficiente de retirada de medicación en la farmacia de la Unidad Básica de Salud (< 80%) y la combinación de ambos. RESULTADOS: De los pacientes evaluados, 97 utilizaban medicamentos dispensados solamente por la farmacia de la Unidad Básica de Salud. Las pruebas presentaron buena consistencia interna: BMQ α de Cronbach de 0,66 (IC95% 0,60;0,73) y el TMG 0,73 (IC95% 0,67;0,79). El desempeño del BMQ en el dominio régimen presentó sensibilidad de 77%, especificidad de 58%, y área bajo la curva ROC de 0,70 (IC95% 0,55;0,86) y el TMG sensibilidad de 61%, especificidad de 36% y área bajo la curva ROC de 0,46 (IC95% 0,30;0,62). La correlación entre el BMQ y el TMG fue de r=0,28, p>0,001. La baja adherencia al BMQ está asociada a mayores niveles tensionales al compararlo con pacientes adherentes 148,4 [de 0,1] vs 128,8 [de 17,8], pOBJECTIVE: To analyze the reliability and performance of the Portuguese version of questionnaires used to evaluate adherence to hypertensive treatment. METHODS: Hypertensive patients attending a primary healthcare unit in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, from January to September 2010, were randomly selected (n = 206). To evaluate adherence, Portuguese versions of the Morisky-Green test (MGT) and the Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ) were used. The analysis considered internal consistency, temporal stability and performance compared to three gold standards, which are: inadequate control of blood pressure (BP > 140/90 mmHg); insufficient rate of medication acquisition at the institution's pharmacy
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS
has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions
at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection
criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined.
For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a
muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the
whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4,
while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The
efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than
90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall
momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The
transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity
for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be
better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions
of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources
We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the
bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival
Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit
of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30
kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler
et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS
observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray
binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for
both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the
GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for
elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected
X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at
fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a
faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent
findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other
hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field
LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101
sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be
interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows
the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic
AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray
surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high
in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is
present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres
Azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles at high transverse momenta in PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV
The azimuthal anisotropy of charged particles in PbPb collisions at
nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV is measured with the CMS
detector at the LHC over an extended transverse momentum (pt) range up to
approximately 60 GeV. The data cover both the low-pt region associated with
hydrodynamic flow phenomena and the high-pt region where the anisotropies may
reflect the path-length dependence of parton energy loss in the created medium.
The anisotropy parameter (v2) of the particles is extracted by correlating
charged tracks with respect to the event-plane reconstructed by using the
energy deposited in forward-angle calorimeters. For the six bins of collision
centrality studied, spanning the range of 0-60% most-central events, the
observed v2 values are found to first increase with pt, reaching a maximum
around pt = 3 GeV, and then to gradually decrease to almost zero, with the
decline persisting up to at least pt = 40 GeV over the full centrality range
measured.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of the Forward-Backward Asymmetry in the B -> K(*) mu+ mu- Decay and First Observation of the Bs -> phi mu+ mu- Decay
We reconstruct the rare decays , , and in a data sample
corresponding to collected in collisions at
by the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider. Using and decays we report the branching ratios. In addition, we report
the measurement of the differential branching ratio and the muon
forward-backward asymmetry in the and decay modes, and the
longitudinal polarization in the decay mode with respect to the squared
dimuon mass. These are consistent with the theoretical prediction from the
standard model, and most recent determinations from other experiments and of
comparable accuracy. We also report the first observation of the {\mathcal{B}}(B^0_s \to
\phi\mu^+\mu^-) = [1.44 \pm 0.33 \pm 0.46] \times 10^{-6}27 \pm 6B^0_s$ decay observed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy
A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated
leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The
analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of
4.98 inverse femtobarns produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of
7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of
140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The
observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence
for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on
possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To
facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics
scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and
efficiencies is provided.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter
Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state
A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a
Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are
sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield
collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets.
The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing
suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a
data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV,
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits
in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and
branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for
a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any
enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for
t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version
includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu
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