Associations between behavioural and emotional problems in adolescence and maladjustment in young adulthood

This study was designed to investigate associations between emotional and behavioural problems in adolescence and psychopathology in young adulthood.Seven hundred and six 11- to 16-year-olds from the Dutch general population were followed across a period of 8 years and 8 months. Subjects were initially assessed using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). At follow-up, a subsample of 131 subjects were assessed for DSM-III-R Axis 1 diagnoses with the SCAN (a semi-structured interview), while the Global Assessment of Functioning scale and the Groningen Social Disabilities Schedule were used to assess functioning in daily life. Scores on the CBCL scales Withdrawn, Anxious/Depressed, Somatic Complaints, Social Problems and Thought Problems in adolescence were associated with DSM-III-R symptomatology or dysfunctioning in young adulthood.     

Radiology: an opportunity waiting to happen

This article discusses the opportunity for cost savings in radiology for the materiel manager who builds a partnership with a strong potential ally in the department--the radiology administrator.     

Work Place Health Promotion

This article deals with the question of whether and how much workplace health promotion measures have infiltrated the working world and which factors determined the results of health promotion programs for the enterprises. To answer this question we conducted a longitudinal study (measuring times: 1997 and 2003) in 150 enterprises in Hessen and Thueringen of the service sector and metal branch. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect the data. One of the results was that the high level of occupational safety and health (OSH) obtained was greatly appreciated by the enterprises interviewed. Many of the enterprises (82.7%) were able to implement at least one workplace health promotion (WHP) measure, mostly assessments of occupational health risks and behavior-oriented offers. The portion of businesses with a very good to sufficient level of workplace health promotion increased clearly from 16.0% in 1997 to 27.4% in 2003. Half of the enterprises interviewed confirmed the need for information and consultation in questions about occupational safety and health issues and workplace health promotion. They expected support particularly from the institutions for statutory occupational accident insurance, health insurance companies, public institutions for labor protection and safety engineering, as well as from the advisory boards of the trade unions. These institutions definitely need to address the consultation requests from the enterprises, as the lack of information and contact persons was one of the reasons why workplace health promotion measures could not be implemented.This study was commissioned by the Hans Boeckler Foundation and the SMBG and translated by Evelyn Jäck     

Phylogenetic reconstruction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within four settings of the Caribbean region: tree comparative analyse and first appraisal on their phylogeography.

In order to compare phylogenetic methods and to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the tubercle bacilli, a set of macro-array-based genotyping data of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates (called spoligotyping for spacer oligonucleotide typing, which assays the variability of the Direct Repeat -DR- locus), was analyzed in four settings of the Caribbean region (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Cuba and Haiti). A set of 47 alleles, split into 26 shared and 21 unique alleles) representative of 321 individual M. tuberculosis clinical isolates from patients residing in the above regions was studied. The following methods (and software in brackets) were investigated: numerical taxonomy distance methods (TAXOTRON), maximum parsimony procedure (PAUP), median-joining networks (NETWORK), and nested clade analysis (GEODIS). Results using these methods were analyzed, compared and discussed. The latter method (GEODIS) was investigated in detail by introducing geographical data together with genetic variability results to detect a link between population structure and population history, and to test the null hypothesis of no association between geography and genotypes. Irrespective of the methods used, our findings demonstrate that a core structure of four families (or clades) of M. tuberculosis strains is highly prevalent within the islands studied, indirectly reflecting passed colonization history of these different settings. Specificity of M. tuberculosis genotypes in each of the islands is discussed in the light of their respective colonial and contemporary histories.     

Ausgedehnter systematisierter Naevus flammeus und Naevus anaemicus mit Bemerkungen zur Pathogenese

Zusammenfassung An Hand eines ausgedehnten systematisierten Naevus flammeus mit Naevus anaemicus wurden besondere pathogenetische Fragestellungen erörtert. Ähnliche Beobachtungen bei pharmakodynamischen Untersuchungen wurden zum Vergleich herangezogen. Die nicht selten zu beobachtenden auffallend anämischen Hautbezirke an Rändern von Hämangiomen sprechen ebenso wie die hyperämischen Randzonen bei den Naevi anaemici in eindeutiger Weise für eine maßgebliche Beteiligung des Nervensystems — speziell der Vasomotoren — bei der Pathogenese der Gefäßnaevi. Durch vasoaktive Pharmaka können ähnliche Veränderungen ausgelöst werden, wie aus dem angeführten Beispiel ersichtlich ist. Analoge Beobachtungen dieses Randzonenphänomens bei den Pigmentnaevi und der Vitiligo machen einen ähnlichen Entstehungsmechanismus wahrscheinlich.Mit 2 Textabbildungen.