Natural helping functions of lay health advisors in breast cancer education

Summary The Save Our Sisters Project builds on the roles of 95 natural helpers to increase mammography screening among older African American women in a NC county. Natural helpers are lay people to whom others naturally turn for advice, emotional support, and tangible aid. Findings from 14 focus group interviews showed that older women seek out these individuals when they have a female-specific concern, rather than or before seeking help from professionals. The characteristics of natural helpers, revealed in the findings, were used to identify and recruit them to become trained lay health advisors in breast cancer education. Through the SOS Project, natural helpers provide a community-based system of care and social support that complements the more specialized role of health professionals; linking them to women through places and ways that no health professional could begin to acquire. The three roles of lay health advisors are: (1) to assist individuals in their social networks with needs that are difficult for professionals to address; (2) to negotiate with professionals for support from the health system; and (3) to mobilize the resources of associations in their community to sustain support from the health system.     

Analysis of the factors influencing the quality of life of patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer

To investigate the factors influencing the quality of life (QOL) of Japanese patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer, a newly developed QOL questionnaire, The QOL Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs (QOL-ACD), was answered by 23 patients, and a multiple regression analysis was performed. The demographic and medical factors relating to the overall QOL score and to the four categories of the QOL-ACD, namely (1) activity, (2) physical condition, (3) psychological condition, and (4) social relationships, were analyzed. The results indicated that skin metastasis, a heavier body weight, and bone metastasis had a strong negative influence on the overall QOL scroe, whereas endocrine therapy, the existence of a primary lesion, and more extensive first surgery had a strong positive influence on it. With regard to the analysis of the four categories, endocrine therapy was found to be positively related to all four categories. The multiple correlation coefficient (R) between the estimated overall QOL score and the observed overall QOL score was about 0.77. The results of this analysis showed that endocrine therapy can improve the QOL of patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer, and that the QOL-ACD questionnaire could prove extremely useful for predicting the QOL of individual patients and for aiding clinicians in deciding on the most appropriate type of therapy for each patient.     

Functionally intact in vitro preparation generating respiratory activity in neonatal and mature mammals

The present report describes a novel rhythmically active brainstem slice preparation that generates respiratory activity spontaneously in both mice and rats of varying maturational states. The brainstems of neonatal (0–4 days) and mature (3–8 weeks) mice and rats were isolated and a 600- to 750-m thick slice cut to include the dorsomedial and the ventrolateral regions of the complete rostro-caudal extent of the medulla. This plane of section we have termed tilted-sagittal. Rhythmically discharging neurones were recorded extracellularly from both the dorsal and ventral regions of the slice. The recording sites of these neurones were found in the hypoglossal motonucleus (XII) and in areas of the ventrolateral medulla that includes the ventral respiratory group (VRG) region. Histological examination revealed the preservation of neuronal structures important for cardiorespiratory regulation and reflex control including the nucleus of the solitary tract as well as the nucleus ambiguus. In addition, pontine structures including the A5 region were also preserved. Rhythmic activity was found only in slices where the ambiguual column was preserved in its entirety. The mean frequency of discharge of XII neurones was 20 and 10 bursts per minute in neonates and mature rodents respectively. In preparations of mature animals we demonstrate that this frequency increased significantly (P<0.05) by either raising temperature from 29°C to 38°C (54%), elevating extracellular potassium concentration from 4 to 7.5 mM (52%), blocking potassium channels (20%) or decreasing pH from 7.4 to 7.0 (18%). The burst duration to frequency ratio of XII and VRG rhythmic neurones was similar and therefore indicative of a common brainstem oscillator. Consistent with this finding was that rhythmic activity in the VRG persisted despite removal of the dorsomedial region of the slice. In contrast, rhythmic XII neurones became tonic following mechanical disconnection of the VRG.     

13年室间质控菌株鉴定工作的实践和体会

为了提高菌株鉴定水平, 我们自1985～1998 年参加了省临检中心细菌室间质控工作, 共鉴定下发菌株142 株,鉴定正确131 株(占92.25% ), 误检11 株(7.75% )。本文总结了鉴定工作的经验, 并对误检原因进行分析。认为理论、实践和学科新进展是提高鉴定水平的关键     

祖国医学与卫生防病

本文通过对祖国医学发展史的回顾,从四个方面阐述了卫生防病思想的具体表现。同时也指出解放后在党的中医政策指引下,运用这一思想在防治肝炎、肿瘤、艾滋病以及器官移植所致排异反应等方面所取得的成果,说明祖国医学在卫生防病方面无论过去、现在或将来都具有很高的价值。     

微量元素Zn,Cu,Fe与高血压关系的病例对照研究

目的探讨原发性高血压的发病因素。方法病例对照研究方法,分析了微量元素Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ、Ｆｅ与高血压的关系。结果Ｃｕ、Ｆｅ、Ｚｎ／Ｃｕ、Ｚｎ／Ｆｅ、Ｆｅ／Ｃｕ与高血压有一定关系,其中以Ｃｕ、Ｆｅ／Ｃｕ与高血压的关系更为密切。同时单相关分析说明Ｆｅ对收缩压和舒张压有正性作用,Ｚｎ／Ｆｅ对收缩压有负性联系。结论Ｚｎ／Ｃｕ、Ｚｎ／Ｆｅ、Ｆｅ／Ｃｕ对血压的作用较独立的Ｚｎ、Ｃｕ、Ｆｅ显著