Immunologic events in pigeon breeders'' disease

The immunologic and physiologic status of a group of symptomatic and asymptomatic pigeon breeders was studied in an attempt to define the immunologic events occurring in pigeon breeders' disease. Antibody activity to antigen(s) present in pigeon dropping extract (PDE) and pigeon serum (PS) was detected in the serum of both symptomatic and asymptomatic breeders. Antibody activity, however, tended to be greater in the symptomatic pigeon breeders. When subjects were challenged with PS via aerosol, serum complement activity became depressed only in asymptomatic patients. Cellular hypersensitivity to antigens present in PDE was detected in vitro in peripheral lymphocyte populations of 4 of 5 symptomatic breeders and in none of the asymptomatic breeders; cellular hypersensitivity to antigens in PS was not demonstrated in any of the individuals tested. These findings indicate that cell-mediated hypersensitivity, as well as humoral immunologic processes, may be involved in the pathogenesis of the hypersensitivity pneumonitis found in pigeon breeders.     

Fear of Movement/Injury in the General Population: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of an Adapted Version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia

In recent years, several studies have pointed out the importance of pain-related fear in the development and maintenance of chronic pain. An important instrument for measuring pain-related fear in the context of low back pain is the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK). Recently, a version of this questionnaire has been developed for administration among the general population (TSK-G). To determine the factor structure of the TSK-G, data from a random sample of the Dutch general population were studied separately for people who had had back complaints in the previous year, and people who had been without back complaints. For both groups the TSK-G appeared to consist of one, internally consistent, factor of 12 items. The one-factor TSK-G also appeared valid after comparison with scores on measures of catastrophizing and general health status.     

Genetic variations in five genes involved in the excitement of cardiomyocytes

We provide here 29 genetic variations, including 28 novel ones, in five genes that are potentially involved in the excitement of cardiomyocytes: we found 4 in KCNA10, 2 in KCNK1, 8 in KCNK6, 11 in SLC18A1 (VMAT1), and 4 in SLC6A2 (norepinephrine transporter). We also examined their allelic frequencies in a Japanese population of long QT syndrome-affected and nonaffected individuals. These data would be useful for genetic association studies designed to investigate acquired arrhythmias. Received: May 22, 2001 / Accepted: June 8, 2001     

A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic assay for the determination of N-acetylcysteine in aqueous formulations

A stability-indicating assay is described for the determination of N-acetylcysteine in aqueous pharmaceutical formulations. The sample is diluted to an appropriate concentration with dilute aqueous orthophosphoric acid. An aliquot of the solution, containing added l-tyrosine as an internal standard, is chromatographed using a 10-mum C(18) stationary phase with dilute orthophosphoric acid (pH 2.0) containing 0.5% w/v of sodium perchlorate as the mobile phase. The assay, which has a relative standard deviation of about 0.8%, can also be used as a test for related impurities in N-acetylcysteine. It is also suitable for determining the N-acetylcysteine content of the drug substance.     

Serum digoxin concentrations in a representative digoxin — Consuming adult population

Summary As part of health examination of a representative sample of an adult population (n=8000) serum digoxin concentration was measured in 661 patients on continuous digoxin therapy. The prescribed mean daily dose of digoxin was significantly higher in men (223 µg) than in women (201 µg); the dose significantly decreased with increasing age. The mean serum digoxin concentration was the same in men and women and it differed insignificantly between age groups, although older persons tended to have a higher concentration. The age — adjusted mean steady state digoxin concentration was 1.02 ng/ml in men and 0.98 ng/ml in women; in about 60% the concentration was within the therapeutic range (0.80–2.00 ng/ml). The concentrations were clearly related to daily dose of digoxin. At equal dose levels old persons tended to have higher concentrations than younger persons. The interindividual variation in serum digoxin concentrations was very wide. However, when digoxin measurements in the same subjects were repeated about three months later, a good correlation between the two measurements was found. The interval between the last dose of digoxin and the collection of blood (up to 41 h) had relatively little effect on individual serum digoxin concentrations. Patients on concomitant thiazide or loop diuretic therapy had the same mean serum digoxin concentration as those not-receiving a diuretic. The mean concentration was significantly higher in patients taking a thiazide or loop diuretic combined with triamterene. The difference may have been due to an interaction between triamterene and digoxin.     

Clinical methods in psychiatric genetics. II. The high risk approach

The study of individuals at "high" risk for developing psychiatric disorders is useful in confirming that a biological trait marker identified in patient populations is also present in genetically susceptible individuals who have never been ill, and predicts the future onset of illness. We outline a systematic method for deciding which variables to choose and how many individuals are required in order for a study to have sufficient power. We demonstrate how these decisions depend on the assumptions that can be made with regard to the mode of inheritance of the biological trait, the relationship of the biological trait to illness, and the magnitude of the mean difference observed between patients and controls. We also quantify the increased power of studying offspring of two affected parents rather than offspring of one affected parent.     

Prevalence of mental disorder in an urban population in central Sweden

The principal reason for this epidemiological study was the lack of psychiatric morbidity studies in a predominantly urban population, by psychiatrists in direct interviews. The psychiatric examination, covering 1970-71, included a representative selection of 2,283 persons, 18-65 years old from "former" Stockholm County, and the 12-month prevalence of mental disorders was measured. The total of non-participants was 12%. Forty-seven percent had a psychiatric diagnosis - significantly more women (54%) than men (40%). Excluding the psychosomatic diagnoses, 31% of the population received a psychiatric diagnosis, which agrees closely with other contemporary studies of mental disorder in the Nordic countries. The primary diagnoses were: neuroses 26%, psychosomatic diagnoses 16%, schizophrenic/paranoid conditions or other psychoses 0.6%, affective disorders 0.2%, psychoorganic syndromes 1.2%, psychopathy 0.2%, character neurosis 1%, drug dependence 0.2% (as a primary or a secondary diagnosis 0.6%), alcoholism 1.4% (as a primary or a secondary diagnosis 3.1%) and mental retardation 0.4% (as a primary or a secondary diagnosis 0.8%).     

流行性脑脊髓膜炎的流行趋势变化与其疫苗接种

在过去几十年,随着疫苗的广泛使用,不同国家和区域引起流行性脑脊髓膜炎(简称流脑)病原体的血清群也发生了变迁。本文将脑膜炎球菌疫苗免疫接种、感染人群、不同区域和国家流脑的流行趋势及其内在机制研究进展进行综述,为进一步了解流脑流行趋势变化与其疫苗接种和后续制定免疫策略提供参考。     

流动人口住院费医保报销现状及影响因素分析

目的 了解流动人口住院费医保报销现状及其影响因素,为减轻流动人口医疗经济负担提供参考。方法 利用2018年全国流动人口卫生计生动态监测数据,运用χ2检验和logistic回归分析流动人口住院费医保报销现状及其影响因素。结果 3 364名调查对象中,2 346名（69.7%）流动人口报销住院费,其中有18人重复报销,报销总人次为2 364次。2 346名报销者中,66.5%在流入地报销住院费。从报销总人次来看,不同参保类型的流动人口住院费报销情况不同,参加城镇职工医疗保险的报销率最高,为82.2%;而报销地点上,参加城乡居民医保、城镇居民医保、城镇职工医保的选择在流入地报销分别占76.1%、79.9%和89.8%。多因素结果显示,年龄为35～44岁（OR = 1.474,95%CI:1.083～2.007）、45～54岁（OR = 2.223,95%CI:1.587～3.115）、55～64岁（OR = 2.320,95%CI:1.562～3.446）、65岁及以上（OR = 4.179,95%CI:2.576～6.778）,受教育层次为高中（OR = 1.397,95%CI:1.077～1.811）、大专（OR = 1.887,95%CI:1.390～2.562）、本科及以上（OR = 2.427, 95%CI:1.660～3.548）,流动时间6～10年（OR = 1.282,95%CI:1.058～1.554）、10年以上（OR = 1.264,95%CI:1.018～1.570）,省内流动（OR = 1.483,95%CI:1.234～1.781）、市内流动（OR = 1.883,95%CI:1.502～2.360）,异地养老（OR = 2.305,95%CI:1.052～5.052）,流入西部（OR = 1.283,95%CI:1.061～1.551）是流动人口报销住院费的保护因素;从事商业及服务业 （OR = 0.429,95%CI:0.301～0.611）、生产及运输业（OR = 0.645,95%CI:0.431～0.966）、其他（OR = 0.421,95%CI:0.295～0.600）是流动人口报销住院费的危险因素。结论 流动人口住院费医保报销仍有较大的提升空间。应提高医保区域统筹层次,优化医保报销流程,加强对流动人口医保政策宣传,做好流动人口医保报销工作。     

Development of an EQ-5D Value Set for India Using an Extended Design (DEVINE) Study: The Indian 5-Level Version EQ-5D Value Set

ObjectivesThis study aimed to develop the Indian 5-level version EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) value set, which is a key input in health technology assessment for resource allocation in healthcare.MethodsA cross-sectional survey using the EuroQol Group’s Valuation Technology was undertaken in a representative sample of 3548 adult respondents, selected from 5 different states of India using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The participants were interviewed using a computer-assisted personal interviewing technique. This study adopted a novel extended EuroQol Group’s Valuation Technology design that included 18 blocks of 10 composite time trade-off (c-TTO) tasks, comprising 150 unique health states, and 36 blocks of 7 discrete choice experiment (DCE) tasks, comprising 252 DCE pairs. Different models were explored for their predictive performance. Hybrid modeling approach using both c-TTO and DCE data was used to estimate the value set.ResultsA total of 2409 interviews were included in the analysis. The hybrid heteroscedastic model with censoring at ?1 combining c-TTO and DCE data yielded the most consistent results and was used for the generation of the value set. The predicted values for all 3125 health states ranged from ?0.923 to 1. The preference values were most affected by the pain/discomfort dimension.ConclusionsThis is the largest EQ-5D-5L valuation study conducted so far in the world. The Indian EQ-5D-5L value set will promote the effective conduct of health technology assessment studies in India, thereby generating credible evidence for efficient resource use in healthcare.