The quality of life of spouse dementia caregivers: changes associated with yielding to formal care and widowhood

The focus of the study was the effect on spouse dementia caregivers of relinquishing care. The study used a longitudinal design, in which a group of 150 dementia caregivers were interviewed 2 years apart (designated Time 1 and Time 2), with data collected from both continuing caregivers and those who had relinquished care. The aims were to determine the extent to which changes over time in quality of life differed between continuing caregivers, those who had yielded to formal care, and those who had been widowed; and to examine whether change in quality of life variables was associated with time since yielding to formal care and time since death of the spouse. Quality of life was defined in terms of health status, psychological well-being, and activity participation. All participants were interviewed in their own homes. Three groups of participants were identified at Time 2: those who continued to provide care for their spouses (n=60); those who had yielded their caregiver role by admitting their spouses to permanent residential care (n=53); and those who had admitted their spouses to permanent institutional care, but whose spouse had then died (n=37). Different patterns of quality of life changes were observed between the three groups, with both positives and negatives associated with disengagement from the caregiving role. Positive changes were particularly evident in psychological well-being and activity participation. These findings were discussed in terms of their relevance for a life transitions approach to the relinquishment of caregiving.     

中国农村合作医疗发展模式的制度分析

针对目前我国农村合作医疗发展过程中面临的问题,该文试图以制度分析为基础,综合运用经济学和社会学的研究方法,从一个新的视角对中国农村合作医疗模式建立的制度基础和制度条件进行透视和剖析,目的是探讨中国农村合作医疗可持续发展机制及模式选择的社会经济条件和制度根源,为完善合作医疗制度及选择与中国农村社会经济结构相适应的合作医疗模式提供理论基础和政策依据。     

Evaluation of HbA1c on the Roche COBAS Integra 800 closed tube system

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate a new whole blood (WB) HbA1c immunoassay and system with closed tube sampling (CTS) capability. DESIGN AND METHODS: Compare the Tina-quant Haemoglobin A1c Gen.2 (A1C-2) application on the COBAS INTEGRA 800 (I800) and new I800 dedicated system with CTS capability to current Integra applications and a HbA1c method accurate with common haemoglobin (Hb) variants. RESULTS: CVs were < or =1.7%. Mean bias against National Glycohaemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) samples was 0.3 HbA1c %. Compared to the Hitachi Tina-quant(R) [a] HbA1c II (HbA1c II) assay (accurate with common Hb variants), mean bias was 0.04% and 0.21% HbA1c at 6% and 9%, respectively, with Hb AS variants; and -0.01% and 0.26% HbA1c at 6% and 9%, respectively, with Hb AC variants. CONCLUSIONS: The Integra A1C-2 application is precise, accurate against NGSP-assigned samples and the Hb variants tested; and, the I800 dedicated system with CTS capability offers increased throughput and reduced sample handling.     

Human food choices: an examination of the factors underlying acceptance/rejection of novel and familiar animal and nonanimal foods

Two studies, aimed at increasing our knowledge of the factors that contribute to acceptance of novel foods were conducted. In Study 1, male and female participants were presented with familiar and novel animal and nonanimal foods and were asked to rate these foods on a variety of measures including: beliefs about the foods, feelings to the thought of ingesting the foods, and willingness to try the foods. Results demonstrated that willingness to try familiar nonanimal foods was predicted by beliefs about the negative sensory properties of the foods and joy elicited by the thought of eating them. Willingness to try familiar animal foods was predicted by beliefs about the sensory properties of the foods and beliefs about the anticipated negative consequences of eating them. Conversely, willingness to try novel foods, of both animal and nonanimal origin was predicted by beliefs about the disgusting properties of these foods and the interest evoked at the thought of consuming them. Study 2 used a qualitatively different sample from that used in Study 1 and perfectly replicated the previous results pertaining to the novel foods. Implications for our understanding of food-related disgust rejections are considered.     

Policy incongruence and public health professionals' dissonance: the case of immigrants and welfare policy

The steady increase in immigrants to the United States has fueled a critical analysis of the process of allocation of health and social benefits to these newcomers. The myriad of interests and values surrounding this issue precipitated the formulation and adoption of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity (Welfare Reform) Act of 1996. This dramatic welfare reform impacts federal, state, and local agencies that are required to determine the eligibility of benefits and manage the attendant consequences to the public as well as members of this vulnerable group. Especially challenging are the decisions confronting public health professionals who struggle to reconcile the resulting policy, programmatic mandates, and compliance imperatives with prevailing public health principles and practice norms. This paper proposes a framework for understanding the incongruence between the provisions of the law as it pertains to legal and illegal immigrants and public health values. The impact of policy incongruence and professionals' dissonance on public health practice norms is explored with an explicit focus on public health outcomes and legal implications. The examination of tuberculosis as a health example reveals the policy conflicts and public health dilemmas. Finally, the paper elicits a range of options available to public professionals for responding to these legal mandates.     

Assessment of the risk/benefit ratio of phase II cancer clinical trials by Institutional Review Board (IRB) members.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the assessment of risk/benefit ratios for phase II cancer clinical trials by Institutional Review Board (IRB) members. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 IRB members from six research hospitals and specialized cancer centers in The Netherlands. RESULTS: While the toxicity and side-effects of treatment were most often identified as risks associated with participating in a phase II trial, approximately two-thirds of IRB members also cited psychosocial and/or quality-of-life risks. Conversely, 68% of the respondents identified psychosocial benefits of trial participation, while 25% cited treatment effectiveness as a possible benefit. Between one-quarter and two-thirds of respondents indicated that trial protocols provide insufficient information regarding the likelihood, magnitude and duration of both risks and benefits. Between 15% and 34% of IRB members reported feeling less than fully competent at evaluating various aspects of phase II protocols (e.g. originality and feasibility of the study, adequacy of the methods and analysis procedures, etc.). This was particularly the case for non-physician IRB members. Few IRB members reported weighing risks and benefits in a systematic manner, but rather relied on global impressions or preferred to leave such matters to the IRB as a whole or to their patients. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial minority of IRB members believes that trial protocols provide too little information relevant to evaluating various cost/benefit and scientific issues, and feels less than fully competent in carrying out such evaluations. IRB members are more likely to identify psychosocial benefits than physical health benefits that may accrue to patients participating in phase II trials.     

Persistent skewing of the T-cell profile in adolescents adopted internationally from institutional care

The developing immune system is an adaptive system, primed by antigens, responsive to infectious pathogens, and can be affected by other aspects of the early rearing environment, including deviations from the normal provision of parental care. We investigated whether early rearing in an institutional setting, even when followed by years living in supportive and well-resourced families, would be associated with a persistent shift in T cell profiles. Immunophenotyping was used to enumerate CD4+ CD57+ and CD8+ CD57+ subsets, with gating strategies employed to differentiate naïve, central-memory, effector-memory, and terminally differentiated EM cells expressing CD45RA (TEMRA). Blood samples were collected from 96 adolescents, and PBMC isolated via Ficol gradient, followed by an optimized immunophenotypic characterization. CMV antibody titers were determined via ELISA. Adopted adolescents had lower CD4/CD8 ratios than did the control adolescents. Early rearing had a significant effect on the T cells, especially the CD8+ CD57+ CM, EM, and TEMRA cells and the CD4+ CD57+ EM cells. Adolescents who had spent their infancy in institutions before adoption were more likely to be seropositive for CMV, with higher antibody titers. CMV antibody titers were significantly correlated with the percentages of all CD8+ CD57+ cell subsets. In the statistical modeling, CMV antibody titer also completely mediated the relationship between institutional exposure and the ratio of CD4-to-CD8 cells, as well as the percentages of CD4+ CD57+ and CD8+ CD57+ subsets. These findings demonstrate that persistent immune differences are still evident even years after adoption by supportive American families. The shift in the T cells was associated with being a latent carrier of CMV and may reflect the role of specific T cell subsets in Herpes virus containment. In older adults, sustained CMV antigen persistence and immunoregulatory containment ultimately contributes to an accumulation of differentiated T cells with a decreased proliferative capacity and to immune senescence.     

Cross-species comparison of in vivo PK/PD relationships for second-generation antisense oligonucleotides targeting apolipoprotein B-100

The in vivo pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of 2′-O-(2-methoxyethyl) (2′-MOE) modified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), targeting apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100), were characterized in multiple species. The species-specific apoB antisense inhibitors demonstrated target apoB mRNA reduction in a drug concentration and time-dependent fashion in mice, monkeys, and humans. Consistent with the concentration-dependent decreases in liver apoB mRNA, reductions in serum apoB, and LDL-C, and total cholesterol were concurrently observed in animal models and humans. Additionally, the long duration of effect after cessation of dosing correlated well with the elimination half-life of 2′-MOE modified apoB ASOs studied in mice (t_1/2 ≅ 20 days) and humans (t_1/2 ≅ 30 days) following parental administrations. The plasma concentrations of ISIS 301012, observed in the terminal elimination phase of both mice and monkeys were in equilibrium with liver. The partition ratios between liver and plasma were similar, approximately 6000:1, across species, and thus provide a surrogate for tissue exposure in humans. Using an inhibitory E_max model, the ASO liver EC_50s were 101 ± 32, 119 ± 15, and 300 ± 191 μg/g of ASO in high-fat-fed (HF) mice, transgenic mice containing the human apoB transgene, and monkeys, respectively. The estimated liver EC₅₀ in man, extrapolated from trough plasma exposure, was 81 ± 122 μg/g. Therefore, extraordinary consistency of the exposure-response relationship for the apoB antisense inhibitor was observed across species, including human. The cross-species PK/PD relationships provide confidence in the use of pharmacology animal models to predict human dosing for second-generation ASOs targeting the liver.     

对我国伦理审查现状的思考

我国伦理审查能力相对薄弱的现状已难以完全满足医疗技术迅速发展及公众知情权的需求,伦理审查存在着伦理委员会的独立性无法得到有效保障、缺乏标准操作规程、持续监管缺失、缺乏信息反馈及伦理审查内容不规范等问题。反思我国伦理审查的现状,应从以下几个方面着手改进伦理审查监管体系：建立独立的伦理委员会、完善伦理审查法律法规体系、加强伦理审查委员会的跟踪审查、增强受试者的监督意识、加强伦理委员会成员的培训及规范伦理审查内容。     

基于价值流程图的动脉瘤性蛛网膜下腔出血患者急诊术前院内流程现状分析

目的　通过对动脉瘤性蛛网膜下腔出血（aSAH）患者急诊术前院内流程的调查,分析出血性脑卒中患者院内流程现状,为流程优化提供直接依据。方法　采用目的抽样法,选取2017年10月—2018年2月在首都医科大学宣武医院经急诊入院治疗的aSAH 32例患者为研究对象。从患者到达急诊分诊台开始计时,直至进入手术室或介入中心终止,小组成员跟踪全过程,记录各环节时间。依据价值流程图的通用图标及记录的时间数据绘制患者急诊术前院内流程的价值流程图。结果　aSAH患者急诊术前院内工作时间为9~104 min,等待时间为6~3 658 min,总流程时间为15~3 762 min,入手术室或介入中心、家属参与决策、术前准备、办理入院、抽血送检的等待时间较长。结论　aSAH患者急诊术前院内流程存在较大改进空间,加强多学科合作、精细化管理、人性化服务、启动绿色通道等是优化aSAH患者急诊术前院内流程的关键措施。