A comparison of general and age-specific factors associated with political behavior

Abstract

Sociological research has focused on relationships between status, participation, efficacy, and political behavior with less attention to the influence of discontinuity in life circumstances on political activity. In contrast, gerontologists have explored the implications of age-specific and life change factors for political orientations but conflicting hypotheses have been derived. On suggests that discontinuity will decrease political activity while the other contends that discontinuity will politicize individuals This study compares the relative contribution of life change and age-specific factors, demographic characteristics, and efficacy to voting and political interest. Data were collected by personal interviews with a random sample of 169 inner and women 65 or over. Voting and political interest had somewhat different antecedents, but participation in multi-age groups and efficacy increased both while age-paded participation decreased political activity. Discontinuity, in general, had less effect on political behavior than empathic characteristics and efficacy.     

Cleft-orthognathic surgery

For the cleft patient presenting in adolescence with a jaw discrepancy and malocclusion, misinformation and limited available surgical and dental expertise often prevents a favorable facial reconstruction and dental rehabilitation. A major advantage of the modified Le Fort I osteotomy is its ability to simultaneously close cleft dental gap(s), resolve oronasal fistulas, manage skeletal defects, stabilize dentoalveolar segments, and correct jaw deformities. When a thoughtful staging of reconstruction is undertaken, individuals born with cleft lip and palate can reach adolescence after undergoing only a limited number of operations and interventions, without negative attention being drawn to their original malformation.     

A triple-blinded randomized trial comparing the hemostatic effects of large-dose 10% hydroxyethyl starch 264/0.45 versus 5% albumin during major reconstructive surgery

In Canada, hydroxyethyl starch 264/0.45 (HES 264/0.45; molar weight 264 kDa, molar substitution 0.45) has largely replaced albumin as the colloidal fluid of choice for perioperative intravascular volume expansion. The maximum recommended dose of HES 264/0.45 is 28 mL/kg; however, there are no clinical data supporting this limit. In this study we compared the hemostatic effects of HES 264/0.45 versus 5% albumin in doses up to 45 mL/kg over 24 h during major reconstructive head and neck surgery. Fifty patients were randomized to receive HES 264/0.45 or 5% human albumin from the induction of anesthesia until 24 h thereafter. Both albumin and HES 264/0.45 effectively maintained physiologic variables in the perioperative and postoperative periods. The partial thromboplastin time and international normalized ratio were significantly increased in the HES 264/0.45 group compared with the albumin group after infusion of 30 mL/kg and 45 mL/kg (P < 0.05). Factor VIII activity and von Willebrand factor level were significantly reduced in the HES 264/0.45 group compared with the albumin group after infusion of 15 mL/kg, 30 mL/kg, and 45 mL/kg (P < 0.05). Significantly more subjects in the HES 264/0.45 group received allogeneic red blood cell transfusions (P < 0.02). We conclude that HES 264/0.45 infusions >30 mL/kg over 24 h impair coagulation to a greater extent than albumin, possibly leading to more allogeneic transfusions.     

Does Intraoperative Cell Salvage Remove Cobalt and Chromium from Reinfused Blood?

In 12 patients undergoing a revision hip arthroplasty after a failed metal-on-metal primary hip arthroplasty, the effectiveness of intraoperative cell salvage (ICS) in removing metal ions was investigated. Samples of blood collected during surgery were filtered using 2 ICS devices. The samples had the concentrations of cobalt (Co) and chromium (Cr) measured before and after filtration. There was an average reduction of 76.3% for Cr concentration and 78.6% for Co concentration after ICS filtering. The Co-to-Cr ratio before and after filtration was similar. At the present time, these salvage systems should be used with caution in the patient undergoing revision of metal-on-metal bearing surfaces.     

Society for the Social History of Medicine: Medicine and the emergence of modern warfare

Medicine and War

War and Public Health Edited by Barry S. Levy and Victor W. Sidel Oxford University Press in co‐operation with the American Public Health Association, 1997, 412 pp., £42.50, ISBN 0–19–510814–0

The Plague Makers: The Secret World of Biological Warfare By Wendy Barnaby Vision Paperbacks, London, 1997, 202 pp., £9.99, ISBN 1–901250–04–0

Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996 World Inventories, Capabilities, and Policies By David Albright, Frans Berkhout, and William Walker SIPRI/Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1997, 502 + xxxii pp., £40.00, ISBN 0–19–828009–2.

Moruroa and Us By Pieter de Vries and Han Seur Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur la Paix et les Conflits, Lyon, 1997, 224pp., Frs 152.05 inc. p&;p, ISBN 2–9508291–5–5, (available from CDRPC, BP 1027, 69201 Lyon, France).

Caring

Agency, Health and Social Survival: The Ecopolitics of Rival Psychologies By Caroline New Taylor and Francis, London, 1996, 184 pp., £39.00, ISBN 0–7484–0246–2 hbk., £12.95, 0–7484–024–0 pbk.

Who Cares? True Stories of the NHS Reforms By Peter Bruggen Jon Carpenter, Cbarlbury, Oxon, 1997, 314 pp., £12.00, ISBN 1–897766–32–7.

Sacred Journeys By Jennifer Westwood with forward by Martin Palmer Gaia Books, London, 1997, 223 pp., £14.99, ISBN 1–85675 ‐004–3.     

Neuroleptic binding sites: specific labeling in mice with [18F]haloperidol, a potential tracer for positron emission tomography

Haloperidol labeled with fluorine-18 (T 1/2 = 110 min, positron emission 97%), prepared yielding .04 Ci/millimole by the Balz-Schiemann reaction, was evaluated in a murine model as a potential radiotracer for noninvasive determination, by positron-emission tomography, of regional concentrations of brain dopamine receptors in patients. As the haloperidol dose in mice was increased from 0.01 to 1000 micrograms/kg, the relative concentration of [18F]haloperidol (microCi per g specimen/microCi per g of body mass), at one hour after injection decreased from 30 to 1.0 in the striatum and from 8.0 to 1.0 in the cerebellum. The striatal radioactivity, plotted as relative concentration against log of dose, decreased sigmoidally, presumably reflecting competition between labeled and unlabeled haloperidol for a single class of accessible binding sites. Because the cerebellum is relatively deficient in dopamine receptors, the observed decrease in cerebellar radioactivity may reflect a saturable component of haloperidol transport into brain. The high brain concentrations and the unexpectedly high striatum-to-cerebellum concentration ratios (greater than 4 at haloperidol doses less than or equal to 1 microgram/kg) suggest that [18F]haloperidol warrants further investigation as a potential radiotracer for dopamine receptors.     

Community reintegration following acquired brain injury

Objective: To evaluate the interventions and strategies used to enable transition from acute care or post-acute rehabilitation to the community following brain injury.

Methods and main outcomes: A systematic review of the literature from 1980-2005 was conducted focusing on ABI rehabilitation. Five major aspects of community reintegration, including: independence and social integration, caregiver burden, satisfaction with quality of life, productivity and return to driving were considered.

Results: With the exception of one, the majority of interventions are supported by only limited evidence, denoting an absence of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in the literature. Of 38 studies evaluated for this review, only one RCT was found. That RCT provided moderate evidence that behavioural management, coupled with caregiver education, did not help to improve caregiver burden. Conclusions: Further research, using an interventional approach, is required to advance the evidence base of reintegration into the community following brain injury.     

Quality of life in women with stress urinary incontinence

The objective of this study was to identify clinical and demographic factors associated with incontinence-related quality of life (QoL) in 655 women with stress urinary incontinence who elected surgical treatment. The following factors were examined for their association with QoL as measured with the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ): number of incontinence (UI) episodes/day; self-reported type of UI symptoms (stress and urge); sexual function as measured by the Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire; symptom bother as measured by the Urogenital Distress Inventory; as well as other clinical and sociodemographic factors. A stepwise least-squares regression analysis was used to identify factors significantly associated with QoL. Lower QoL was related to the greater frequency of stress UI symptoms, increasing severity, greater symptom bother, prior UI surgery or treatment, and sexual dysfunction (if sexually active). Health and sociodemographic factors associated with lower incontinence-related QoL included current tobacco use, younger age, lower socioeconomic status, and Hispanic ethnicity. Supported by cooperative agreements from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, with additional support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health.