Tubal sterilization or vasectomy: how do married couples make the choice?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relative importance of husband, wife, and couple factors as determinants of sterilization method choice. DESIGN: Married couples seeking sterilization interviewed before surgery and again 1 year later. SETTING: Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program subscribers seeking care at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, Santa Clara, California. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred married women seeking a tubal sterilization and their husbands and 200 married men seeking a vasectomy and their wives. INTERVENTIONS: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sterilization method chosen. RESULTS: In a logistic regression model, nine predictor variables correctly classified 94.9% of 395 couples (P less than 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The choice of a sterilization method is achieved primarily through processes that involve both spouses. The motivations of both husband and wife, their mutual influence and communication, their present pattern of contraceptive use, and what they know about the satisfactions or dissatisfactions of other people who have had sterilizations are all factors that should be taken into account when the clinician helps a patient make the method-choice decision.     

Mononucleosis syndrome and coincidental human herpesvirus-7 and Epstein-Barr virus infection

Two girls (a 5 year old and a 21 month old) experiencing mononucleosis syndrome with coincidental human herpesvirus (HHV)-7 and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections are described. One patient had primary HHV-7 infection and reactivated EBV infection. The other had primary HHV-7 and EBV infections. These cases indicated that HHV-7 is capable of inducing infectious mononucleosis-like illness. Multiple herpesvirus infection in one of the patients also suggests that interaction among herpesviruses can occur in vivo. The consequence of this interaction may have clinical implications.     

Rural Mexican-American Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior

CONTEXT: There is a need for community-based, culturally sensitive, cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce sexual risk behavior among minority adolescents. Studies of adolescent risk and protective behaviors have focused on identifying modifiable psychosocial variables that predict differential outcomes for subsequent intervention efforts. Research has been scarce in studies of rural minority adolescent women. PURPOSE: To examine the protective and risk behaviors of these rural Mexican-American adolescent women and their relationship to physical or sexual abuse. METHODS: Mexican-American adolescent women aged 14-19 years were recruited through a rural health clinic and administered a self-report assessment for protective and risk behavior and sexual, physical, and psychological abuse. FINDINGS: Rural minority adolescent women endured high levels of psychological distress and many risk behaviors yet experienced few protective behaviors. Barriers to health care included access and confidentiality. Physically or sexually abused adolescents endured relatively greater risk and fewer protective behaviors than nonabused. CONCLUSIONS: Rural Mexican-American adolescent women may benefit from confidential identification and assessment of abuse history and risk and protective behaviors so that appropriate psychological treatment can accompany accessible medical treatment. The prevalence of risk behaviors and abuse among these women presents a need for development of behavioral interventions for risk reduction and promotion of health protective behaviors.     

The Third World Integrative Medicine Congress Abstracts (Excerption)

The 3rd World Integrative Medicine Congress (3rd WIMCO) was held on September 22-24, 2007 in Guangzhou, China. The Congress has showed the academic achievements of integrative medicine in the recent five years covering a wide range of fields, such as basic and experimental research; clinical research; theory, education and management research; new drug research and development; and application of evidence-based medicine.     

Variations in Staff Characteristics, Programmes and Recruitment Practices among Halfway Houses for Problem Drinkers

In a sample of halfway houses for problem drinkers those with staff oriented to Alcoholics Anonymous tended to recruit residents less involved in skid-row than houses whose staff were not oriented to A.A. In general, however, staff ideologies and house programmes were not clearly related to the characteristics of the residents recruited. Overall retention was unrelated to staff ideology or the intensity of the in-house programme. Residents less involved in skid-row, however, tended to slay longer in houses with well articulated, structured programmes.     

Ultrafast resorbing polymers for use as carriers for cortical neural probes

We have identified a polymeric system based on a novel tyrosine-derived terpolymer that offers desirable insertion capability for flexible neural prosthetic devices. To test this concept, flexible films were coated with this terpolymer and their suitability for peranchyma insertion was visualized. The effect of the polymer on neural recording was evaluated using coated microwire probes. The stiff but readily resorbable polymer rapidly degrades (molecular weight half-life of 170 min) while turning into a soft gel, followed by complete resorption within 240 min. This polymeric platform maintains sufficient stiffness to facilitate pial penetration with a dry elastic modulus of 393±44 MPa but loses its strength within 30 min once immersed in saline. In vitro, the polymer's ability to locally deliver dexamethasone has been confirmed through a first order release profile over a 360 min period. In vitro, coated microwire probes regained their original impedance values of 0.5 KΩ within 20 min of wetting via water absorption and polymer resorption. In vivo, the retention of electrical recording capability was also demonstrated through multiple waveform detection in live animals. The ultrafast resorbing polymer as a platform to facilitate the implantation of micronized flexible probes can be utilized in future designs of chronic neural devices.     

Batrachotoxin blocks saltatory organelle movement in electrically excitable neuroblastoma cells

Batrachotoxin has been reported to inhibit fast axonal transport. We have examined the effect of batrachotoxin on saltatory organelle movements in N115 neuroblastoma cells (a model of fast axonal transport) using time-lapse video intensification microscopy. Batrachotoxin (0.1–1.0 μM) inhibits saltatory organelle movement. Contrary to previously published hypotheses, this inhibition of intra-axonal movement depends upon the action of batrachotoxin on action potential Na⁺ channels. Evidence for this conclusion is: (1) the range of concentrations of batrachotoxin which inhibit saltatory organelle movement is consistent with the dose-response curve for the activation of action potential Na⁺ channels by batrachotoxin in N18 neuroblastoma cells¹⁰; (2) tetrodotoxin, which blocks action potential Na⁺ channels, prevents the inhibition of organelle movements by batrachotoxin; (3) batrachotoxin has no effect on saltatory movement in cells, including some neuroblastoma cell lines, which lack action potential Na⁺ channels; and (4) in Na⁺-free or low Na⁺ media, batrachotoxin does not block organelle movement. We suggest that changes in internal ion concentrations which follow the influx of Na⁺ are responsible for the inhibition of fast axonal transport by batrachotoxin.