Feasibility of monitoring peripheral blood to detect emerging clones in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia†

Relapse‐enriched somatic variants drive drug resistance in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We used digital droplet‐based polymerase chain reaction to establish whether relapse‐enriched mutations in emerging subclones could be detected in peripheral blood samples before frank relapse. Although limitations in sensitivity for some probes hindered detection of certain variants, we successfully detected variants in NT5C2 and PRPS1 at a fractional abundance of 0.005% to 0.3%, 41 to 116 days before relapse. As mutations in both these genes confer resistance to thiopurines, early detection protocols using peripheral blood could be implemented to preemptively alter maintenance therapy to extinguish resistant clones before overt relapse.     

Utility of the Brief Symptom Inventory in the Assessment of Psychological Distress

Introduction People with intellectual disabilities are now acknowledged to be susceptible to the full range of mental health disorders. This acknowledgement has resulted in the need to develop and evaluate instruments for the assessment and detection of mental health problems. This research evaluates the use of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) with 200 people with mild intellectual disabilities representing community, clinical and forensic populations. Results and conclusions Results illustrate the reliability of the BSI for each of the groups and demonstrates how the Positive Symptom Total (PST) index effectively discriminates between study groups. Case rates for each group are provided. The study illustrates that the BSI could be employed as a brief multitrait assessment instrument and as a treatment outcome measure with people with an intellectual disability.     

A prolonged outbreak of ornithosis in duck processors.

In 1985 an outbreak of ornithosis affected 13 of 80 (16%) workers in a duck-processing plant. New employees were three times more likely to become cases than established employees. The highest attack rate was in those on the production line. Following the outbreak, an occupational health scheme was set up to monitor the health of new recruits to the company. Serological evidence of recent infection was demonstrated in 18 of 37 (49%) new employees tested in the first 3 months of employment. Five (14%) also had clinical evidence of ornithosis. Veterinary investigation of the ducks demonstrated a high proportion with asymptomatic chlamydial infection. It is suggested that ornithosis may be more common in duck processors than is currently supposed. Strategies to reduce occupational risks are discussed.     

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本刊的审稿专家可使用同一个用户名作为审稿人进行稿件审理和作者投稿。(3)作者投稿请直接登录中华医学会业务巾心下信息管理平台的稿件远程管理系统，点击“作者在线投稿”。投稿成功后，系统自动发送回执邮件。作者可随时点击“在线查稿”，获知该稿件的审稿情况、处理进展、审稿意见、终审结论等；有关稿件处理的相关结果编辑部不再另行纸质通知。     

用健康信念模式设计健康教育项目

根据健康信念模式,有4个关键因素会影响人们的行为改变.在设计健康教育项目时我们应该考虑每一个因素.无论一个人是采取预防行为还是开始一个治疗过程,他/她都会根据他们对每一个因素的认知来决定他们未来的行为.这4个因素分别是：易感性、严重性、益处和障碍.