Cause-specific and total mortality in the Canterbury (New Zealand) insulin-treated Diabetic Registry population: a 15-year follow-up study.

AIMS: To establish all-cause and cause-specific death rates, and risk factors for mortality in insulin-treated diabetic individuals living in the province of Canterbury, New Zealand. METHODS: Insulin-treated diabetic subjects (n = 995) on the Canterbury Diabetes Registry were followed up over 15 years and vital status determined. Death rates were standardized and hazard regression was used to model the effects of demographic covariates on relative survival time. RESULTS: There were 419 deaths in 11 226.3 person-years of follow-up with a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 2.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8-2.2). Relative mortality was greatest for the group aged 0-29 years (SMR 3.0 (95% CI 2.4-3.7)). After controlling for diabetes duration and gender, a 10-year increment in age of onset was associated with a 33% decrease in relative hazard (95% CI 29-36%), indicating that excess mortality due to diabetes declines with rising age of onset. After controlling for age of onset and gender, each 10-year increment in duration of diabetes is associated with a 26% decrease in relative hazard (95% CI 24-29%), indicating that with longer survival the mortality hazard approaches the general population hazard. Relative mortalities were increased for cardiovascular, renal and respiratory disease, but not malignancy. Relative mortality from acute metabolic complications was increased in the subgroup with age of onset of diabetes < 30 years and requiring insulin within 1 year of diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality rates are high for insulin-treated diabetic individuals relative to the general population.     

Repeated testing attenuates conditioned place preference with cocaine

Cocaine-treated rats acquired a preference for cocaine-associated contextual stimuli (CS) relative to saline-injected control rats. However, when animals were given repeated tests for conditioned place preference intermittent between conditioning trials, they displayed an attenuation in strength of conditioning. This attenuation was not due to pharmacologic tolerance (Experiment 1), but rather reflected a disruption in learning due to exposure to the CS alone (Experiment 2). Like other examples of classical conditioning, the strength of the conditioned response (CR) as assessed by the conditioned place preference model may be influenced by partial reinforcement.     

State and output feedback design for robust tracking of linear systems with rate limited actuators

A design technique (Control of Uncertain Systems with Bounded Inputs, Tarbouriech S, Garcia G, (Eds), Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, vol. 227 , Springer: Berlin, 1997; 173–186) recently proposed for stabilization of a linear system with rate‐limited actuators is utilized to design feedback laws that cause the system output to track a desired command signal. This design technique combines two design techniques recently developed for linear systems with position limited actuators, piecewise‐linear LQ control (Automatica, 1994; 30 : 403–416) and low‐and‐high gain feedback (IEEE Trans. Automat. Control, 1996; 41 : 368–378), and hence takes advantage of both design techniques, while avoiding their disadvantages. In the case that only the output is available for feedback, the performance of the state feedback law is preserved by the use of a fast observer. An open‐loop exponentially unstable fighter aircraft is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control design method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling Germline Mosaicism and Different New Mutation Rates Simultaneously for Appropriate Risk Calculations in Families with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

For several genetic diseases two biological phenomena have been recognised as important: germline mosaicism; and different new mutation rates in males and females depending on mutation type. Both principles have been investigated separately and their influence on risk estimation in families has been exemplified in the literature. The aim of this paper is to present a general model that includes mosaicism and different new mutation rates. Mosaicism is introduced by defining additional alleles at the disease locus in combination with adapted segregation rules. Taking Duchenne muscular dystrophy as an example, we derive the conditions which have to be fulfilled for a population in mutation selection equilibrium. Our approach describes the model at the population level and not in individual subjects. This has the advantage of being able to use well known algorithms for the calculation of likelihoods in pedigrees, and to include additional diagnostic information such as marker genotypes and carrier deletion test results. We demonstrate the impact of the new model on a typical pedigree. In families where the patient is not available, the distinction between point mutations and deletions is important, since often molecular diagnostic tests for females can only screen for deletions. Negative deletion test results can now be included in the risk calculations.     

Enhancing Nurse Assessment of Alcohol and Drug Dependency: A Preliminary Study

The purpose of this project was to prepare nurses to provide brief interventions for clients with alcohol or other drug (AOD) dependency in order to reduce hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality. The project was a collaborative process between a major medical center and a school of nursing. Nurses were surveyed for understanding of alcohol and other drug assessment, and a day long training was provided to teach techniques of brief interventions. The short-term results included increased knowledge of nurses about AOD assessment. Long-term results indicated that 95% of patients referred to the AOD team were confirmed to have AOD problems (Dunn & Ries, 1997). This project documents the need for nurses to have more knowledge about AOD problems and brief intervention techniques.     

第一产程胎心监护异常226例的相关因素分析

目的探讨第一产程胎心监护异常的相关因素，提示处理措施。方法2004年1月1日。12月31日对我院226例第一产程胎心监护异常的相关因素进行回顾性分析。结果第一产程胎心监护异常为综合因素所致，胎儿高危因素为91.59％，母体高危因素为65．49％，产程处理因素为42．92％。结论第一产程胎心监护异常主要与胎儿因素、母体因素有关，提高产前检查质量、加强产程监护、正确选择分娩方式极为重要。     

稳定性核素测定大鼠小肠蛋白质合成

目的：建立稳定性核素（[L-^15N]亮氨酸）测定大鼠小肠蛋白质合成率的方法。方法：分别测定静脉注射相同剂量[L-^15N]亮氨酸不同时相的大鼠小肠^15N丰度及不同剂量[L-^15N]亮氨酸同一时相的大鼠小肠^15N丰度。结果：大鼠小肠游离氨基酸池中^15N核素丰度在注射后0．5h内呈线性上升并达高峰，维持4h后缓慢下降，小肠蛋白质中的^15N丰度0．5h至12h基本维持不变；随着注射剂量的增加，大鼠小肠蛋白质分数合成率（FSR）亦增加，当[L-^15N]亮氨酸剂量在1．0mmol／kg以上，FSR并不随施加[L15N]亮氨酸剂量的加大而增加。结论：在进行大鼠小肠蛋白质合成率测定时，一次性静脉注射的测量最佳时限为0．5h，剂量为1．0mmol／kg。