Age Groups

Purpose -The research study involved an exploration of the thoughts and perspectives of Generation X aerospace engineers regarding strategies, processes, and methods to enhance the transfer of knowledge from baby boomers to Generation X aerospace engineers.

The protein expression profiles of two different age groups of Atlantic cod larvae, at 6 days post hatch (dph) and 24 dph, were compared using 2-dimensional electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis. The life stage of the cod larvae under study covers the first feeding period, generally characterized by high mortality in cod hatcheries. Despite visible morphological and functional changes in larvae from 6 to 24 dph, the pattern of abundant proteins is largely conserved. Interestingly, more than half of the proteins identified in the present study corresponded to different isoforms of the same proteins. The keratins showed the most pronounced developmental stage specific expression pattern. Type II keratins were more dominant in younger larvae and type I keratins in the older larval group. Four isoforms of the fast skeletal muscle α-actin, 3 isoforms of β-2 tubulin and 2 isoforms of α-actin were detected. The different isoforms may be either encoded by different genes or generated by post-translational modifications (PTMs) of the same gene product. The PTMs are largely overlooked by studies based on mRNA detection. Therefore, the proteome approach to understanding the cellular mechanisms underlying fish development is important.

In this research, lexical and morpholexical reading in Italian children ages 8 to 10 years were investigated. Children and control adults were administered two tasks on words and pseudowords: visual lexical decision and naming. Word frequency effects in both lexical decision and naming were found in both children and adults. For all age groups pseudowords made up of roots and derivational suffixes were decided more frequently as possible words and were named more quickly and accurately than matched pseudowords with no morphological constituency. These results show that morpholexical reading is available and efficient in young readers of a shallow orthography, with similar patterns in children and adults.

This article presents empirical evidence from household and firm survey data collected during 2009−2010 on the implementation of the 2008 Labor Contract Law and effects on China’s workers. The Government and local labor bureaus have made substantial efforts to enforce the provisions of the new Law, which has likely contributed to reversing a trend toward increasing informalization of the urban labor market. Enforcement of the Law, however, varies substantially across cities. The article analyzes the determinants of worker satisfaction with the Law’s enforcement, workers’ propensity to have a labor contract, their awareness of the Law’s content and their likelihood of initiating disputes, and finds that all are highly correlated with education level, especially for migrants. Although higher labor costs may have had a negative impact on manufacturing employment growth, this has not led to an overall increase in aggregate unemployment or prevented the rapid growth of real wages. Less p...

Drugs with antihistamine action are among the most commonly prescribed medicines in pediatrics. According to the International Medical Statistics (IMS), almost two million antihistamine units (in solution) for pediatric use were sold in Spain during 2006-at a cost of nearly 6 million euros. Of this amount, 34% corresponded to fi rst-generation (or sedating) antihistamines. The diffi culties inherent to research for drug development increase considerably when the pediatric age range is involved. The use of any medication in this age group must adhere to the strictest safety criteria, and must offer the maximum guarantees of effi cacy. For this reason, detailed knowledge of the best scientifi c evidence available in relation to these aspects is essential for warranting drug use. The fi rst-generation antihistamines have never been adequately studied for pediatric age groups, though they are still widely used in application to such patients. In contrast, studies in children have been made with the second-generation antihistamines, allowing us to know their safety profi le, and such medicines are available at pediatric dosages that have been well documented from the pharmacological perspective. The present review affords an update to our most recent knowledge on antihistamine use in children, based on the best scientifi c evidence available.

In the second modernity the childhood participation is assumed as a fundamental principle to a large extent of the scientific speeches that are produced concerning childhood. The Sociology of Childhood, when considering the children as social actors and as citizens of rights, assumes the question of children's participation as central in the definition of a social statute of childhood and in the characterization of its scientific field. Consider children's participation in the research is a recurrent step in the construction of a discipline of social sciences that looks for listen children's voice, that is, that assumes children as full social actors, competent in the formularization of interpretations on its worlds of life and revealers of the social realities in which they are insert. The participative methodologies with children attribute to the youngest, a statute of knowledge citizens, and not of simple object, instituting collaborative forms of knowledge construction in social sciences, which are articulated with ways of pledged knowing production in the social transformation and in the extension of social rights. The participative research with children rises, however, special epistemological difficulties, related with the alterity of childhood and the diversity of its existence conditions. The perception of children as the "other" of the adult elapses from the recognition of the childhood cultures as a specific way, generationally constructed, of world's interpretation and representation. It is the translation work between the language of social sciences and the language of the children (with its distinct cultural grammars) that the participative methodologies are called to play, with the consequent refusal of the generational ethnocentrism and with the indispensable mobilization of a polyphonic speech, where the voice of the collaborative child-investigators keep up, side by side, with the interpretative work of the sociologists of childhood. The attention to childhood's diversity, elapsing from social categories as gender, religion, ethnics, health and age group, imposes the refusal of standardizing looks, defying the methodological imagination to an acceptance and respect for the differences and the diverse

A model of the multibeam echosounding process was developed. This model has now been used as the basis for the application of a model inversion technique, with the aim of analyzing midwater multibeam echosounder data, for fisheries applications.

Background: Although good prognosis and clinical long-term outcome have been commonly reported in minimally symptomatic adult patients with ASD, this information has been based on studies with a relatively small number of adult patients. We studied unoperated patients aged over 40 years to define the patterns of presentation, anatomical characteristics, outcome and predictive factors for free-event survival of major cardiovascular and pulmonary events. Methods and results: Two-hundred survivors of atrial septal defect aged over 40-yr attended from 1985 to 1998 were reviewed and followed-up from 1.6 to 22 years. Patients were classified in three groups according to age at entry: Group 1, between 40 and 49; Group 2; 50 and 59; and Group 3, z 60 years old. The mean age at presentation was 48.8 F 9.2 years, and the most common clinical presentations were arrhythmia and dyspnea (51.4%). There were 37 (18.5%) events: 7 heart failure-related, 5 sudden death, 13 severe pulmonary infections, 5 embolisms, and 4 strokes. According to Cox's regression analysis, predictors of primary end point included age group at presentation (hazard ratio 1.71, 95% confidence limits 1.16 to 2.54), and either pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary pressure > 35 mmHg; hazard ratio = 0.65 (4.6, confidence limits 2.2 to 9.5) or, arterial oxygen saturation < 80% (hazard ratio 1.71, 95% confidence limits 1.16 to 2.54). Conclusions: This study supports that long term outcome of patients aged >40 years with unoperated ASD is importantly determined by the mPAP (>35 mmHg), SaO2% (_80) and the age at diagnosis. Nevertheless we identified an inverse association between the mPAP level and SaO2% (interaction). The event-free survival expectancy may be estimated using the age at diagnosis and either SaO2% or mPAP. This prognostic stratification based on pathophysiological principles, may help in making decisions for therapeutic interventions. SaO2% should always be measured as a part of the initial clinical approach of those patients with atrial septal defect aged over 40 years. D

Background. Research on the dimensional structure and reliability of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and its relationship with age is scarce. Moreover, its efficacy in determining the presence of depression in different patient groups has been questioned. Methods. Psychometric properties of the HADS were assessed in six different groups of Dutch subjects (N l 6165) : (1) a random sample of younger adults (age 18-65 years) (N l 199) ; (2) a random sample of elderly subjects of 57 to 65 years of age (N l 1901) ; (3) a random sample of elderly subjects of 66 years or older (N l 3293) ; (4) a sample of consecutive general practice patients (N l 112) ; (5) a sample of consecutive general medical outpatients with unexplained somatic symptoms (N l 169) ; and (6) a sample of consecutive psychiatric outpatients (N l 491). Results. Evidence for a two-factor solution corresponding to the original two subscales of the HADS was found, although anxiety and depression subscales were strongly correlated. Homogeneity and test-retest reliability of the total scale and the subscales were good. The dimensional structure and reliability of the HADS was stable across medical settings and age groups. The correlations between HADS scores and age were small. The total HADS scale showed a better balance between sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) in identifying cases of psychiatric disorder as defined by the Present State Examination than the depression subscale in identifying cases of unipolar depression as defined by ICD-8. Conclusions. The moderate PPV suggests that the HADS is best used as a screening questionnaire and not as a ' case-identifier ' for psychiatric disorder or depression.

An estimated 40 % of the population in Benin lives in urban areas. The purpose of the study was to estimate malaria endemicity and the fraction of malaria-attributable fevers in health facilities in Cotonou. A health care system evaluation and a series of school parasitaemia surveys and health facility-based surveys were carried out during the dry season in of 2003, applying standard Rapid Urban Malaria Appraisal (RUMA) methodology. This study was part of a multi-site assessment supported by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. The field work was carried out in February-March 2003. In 2002 and out of 289,342 consultations in the public health facilities of Cotonou there were 100,257 reported simple malaria cases (34.6%) and 12,195 complicated malaria cases (4.2%). In the school parasitaemia surveys, a malaria infection was found in 5.2 % of all samples. The prevalence rates of parasitaemia in the centre, intermediate and periphery zones were 2.6%, 9.0% and 2.5%, respectively. In the h...

Three studies investigated whether young children make accurate causal inferences on the basis of patterns of variation and covariation. Children were presented with a new causal relation by means of a machine called the "blicket detector." Some objects, but not others, made the machine light up and play music. In the first 2 experiments, children were told that "blickets make the machine go" and were then asked to identify which objects were "blickets." Two-, 3-, and 4-year-old children were shown various patterns of variation and covariation between two different objects and the activation of the machine. All 3 age groups took this information into account in their causal judgments about which objects were blickets. In a 3rd experiment, 3-and 4-year-old children used the information when they were asked to make the machine stop. These results are related to Bayes-net causal graphical models of causal learning.

The aim of this study was to enhance the understanding of young girls’ experiences of peer sexual harassment in elementary school and of normalizing processes of school-related sexualized violence. Six focus group interviews with girls in Grade 1 through 6 were carried out in an elementary school in the northern part of Sweden. A content analyses showed that young girls experienced verbal, nonverbal, and sexual assault behaviors at school. Sexual harassment as a concealed phenomenon and manifest within a romantic discourse were themes found in the analysis. A conclusion is that schools have to acknowledge behaviors related to sexual harassment as a potential problem even in young ages and develop methods to approach the subject also for this age group.

This paper empirically examines the impact of minimum wages on educational enrollments in New Zealand. A significant reform to the youth minimum wage since 2000 has resulted in some age groups undergoing a 91% rise in their real minimum wage over the last 10 years. Three panel least squares multivariate models are estimated from a national sample of nine age cohorts each year over 19 years. This allows analysis of the impact of increases in minimum wage over time and of the introduction of the minimum wage for teenagers in 1994. Our findings indicate that in New Zealand, changes to minimum wages appear to have an insignificant impact on the enrollment levels of 16-24 year olds and the subgroup of 20-24 year olds. In both cases, the standard errors are large making these results unclear. For the subgroup of 16-19 year olds, minimum wage rises have a statistically significant negative effect on enrollment levels. However, the introduction of the minimum wage appears to have had a significantly positive impact on teenagers' enrollment levels, a possible indication of the ineffective level the minimum wage was set at, in terms of reservation wages of youth in New Zealand.

Background There are limited data on the epidemiology of adolescent soccer injury across all levels of play. Hypothesis Through implementation and validation of an injury surveillance system in adolescent soccer, risk factors for injury will be identified. Study Design Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods The study population was a random sample of 21 adolescent soccer teams (ages 12-18). A certified athletic therapist completed preseason baseline measurements and did weekly assessments of any identified soccer injury. The injury definition included any injury occurring in soccer that resulted in 1 or more of the following: medical attention, the inability to complete a session, or missing a subsequent session. Results Based on completeness of data in addition to validity of time loss, this method of surveillance has proven to be effective. The overall injury rate during the regular season was 5.59 injuries per 1000 player hours (95% confidence interval, 4.42-6.97). Soccer injury...

Menstruation is a process of utmost importance in the reproductive physiology of females. The present study aims at assessing the understanding of menstruation process among married women and to gain insight into the sources of information and nature of knowledge pertaining to the physiological process under consideration. The sample for the study comprised of 200 married women in the age group of 20-40 years. Equal numbers of women were drawn from two ecological settings (Rural and Urban) of Jammu District, through stratified random sampling technique. The tools for data collection included interview schedules. The results reflected a picture of ignorance and lack of understanding among respondents regarding the physiology and importance of menstrual process particularly among rural respondent (χ2 = 35.24, *Significant at 1%). Their explanation of menstruation reflected incomplete knowledge, unscientific notions and blindfold faith in cultural taboos, myths and social customs perta...

This paper examines the relationship between relative income and mortality. Our research is motivated by recent literature that posits that, holding individual income fixed, those whose income are low relative to the incomes of those in a reference group will have worse health. We develop an empirical model in which an individual's health is a function of his or her own income and the incomes of those who live in the same geographical area. We show how this individual-level model can be estimated using semi-aggregated data on the mortality rates of people categorized by age, race, gender, and place of residence. The model is estimated using mortality data from the 1980 and 1990 Compressed Mortality Files, merged with income data from the 1980 and 1990 5% Public Use samples of the US Census. We find no evidence that having relatively wealthy neighbors, holding own income fixed, is associated with higher mortality. Instead, we find evidence that among some demographic and age groups-in particular working-aged black males-having relatively wealthy neighbors is associated with lower mortality. For example, among younger (aged 25-64) black men, an increase in the income of others is estimated to have a beneficial effect on mortality that is 40% as large as an equivalent increase in own income.

To evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) coronary angiography for the detection of coronary artery anomalies in infants and children by using surgical fi ndings as a reference. Materials and Methods: The data analysis was approved by the institutional review board. One hundred children with congenital heart disease underwent MR coronary angiography while under general anesthesia (mean age 6 standard deviation, 3.9 years 6 3; age range, 0.2-11 years). A navigator-gated, T2-prepared, three-dimensional steady-state free precession whole-heart protocol (isotropic voxel size, 1.0-1.3 mm 3 ; mean imaging time, 4.6 minutes 6 1.2; mean navigator effi ciency, 70%; 3-mm gating window) was used after injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine. The cardiac rest period (end systole or middiastole) and acquisition window were prospectively assessed for each patient. Coronary artery image quality (score of 0 [nondiagnostic] to 4 [excellent]), vessel sharpness, and coronary artery anomalies were assessed by two observers. Surgery was performed in 58 patients, and those fi ndings were used to defi ne accuracy. Variables were assessed between age groups by using either analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: Diagnostic image quality (score, Ն 1 for all coronary artery segments) was obtained in 46 of the 58 patients (79%) who underwent surgery. The origin and course of the coronary artery anatomy depicted with MR imaging was confi rmed at surgery in all 46 patients-including the four (9%) with substantial coronary artery anomalies. Diagnostic-quality images were obtained in 84 of the 100 patients. The rate of success improved signifi cantly when patients were older than 4 months (88% for patients. 4 months vs 17% for patients Յ 4 months, P , .001). Conclusion: Improved whole-heart MR coronary angiography enables accurate detection of abnormal origin and course of the coronary artery system even in very young patients with congenital heart disease.

Safety of the street foods is an important aspect in the field of nutrition security. A study was conducted in the city of Varanasi in India. It was observed that about 42% of the working man and women in the age group of 25-45, and 61% of the students in the age group of 14-21, consume foods from the street

Study was conducted on sixty at risk male heart patients in the age group (30-50 years). Dietary intake was assessed by food frequency questionnaire using 24-Hours-Recall method for three consecutive days. Nutrition education was also imparted for 4 months. Frequency of consumption of unrefined cereals, whole pulses, sprouts, roots and tubers, fruits and vegetables was increased but a frequency of intake of salty fried preparations, Bakery products, meat and poultry, sweets and puddings, Green Leafy Vegetables (GLV) was decreased after nutrition counselling. Significant increase was observed in average intake of proteins, dietary fibre, n-6 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals due to increase in average daily intake of pulses, sprouts, other vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers and less intake of fat and energy dense foods. Percentage contribution of calories by different nutrients were found to be within recommended daily allowances.

Hypertension, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes, important cardiovascular risk factors, are strongly linked to obesity. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are measures of obesity that can be useful in identifying individuals with these risk factors. We assessed which of the two measures is more informative at the population level. The study population included 5,149 consecutive women aged 18 to 74 recruited in an Health Center of Guadeloupe (FWI) in 1999. The areas under the ROC curves of BMI and WC and their 95% CI were computed and compared. Logistic regression analysis of BMI and WC and the areas under the ROC curves in two separate age groups (18-39 years and 40-74 years) showed that age modifies the discriminant ability of these parameters in identifying the CVD risk factors. Sensitivity equalled specificity at levels between 52-70% for BMI and 55-80% for WC. ROC areas for identifying each risk factors by BMI varied from 0.52 to 0.84 and by WC from 0.55 to 0.88. For the identifying of women with at least one CVD risk factor, in the whole population, the areas under the curves for BMI and WC (respectively, 0.71; 95% CI: 0.69-0.73 and 0.76; 95% CI: 0.74-0.78) were both significantly greater than 0.5. The difference between these correlated areas was 0.04, 95% CI [ Ϫ 0.05, Ϫ 0.03]. The lowest values of the areas were noted in detecting women with dyslipidemia and the highest in detecting those with type 2 diabetes. Waist circumference, a practical tool that had a higher discriminant ability than BMI in identifying presence or absence of all these risk factors, appears as the best screening tool in this population.

Candida colonization of the oral cavity increases in the elderly. A major predisposing condition is denture use, which also increases in the elderly. To test whether the increase in colonization is age-related in a fashion independent of denture use, we analyzed the frequency (incidence) of carriage, the intensity of carriage, the multiplicity of species, and the genetic relatedness of strains in the oral cavities of 93 test subjects separated into the three age groups: 60 to 69 yr, 70 to 79 yr, and > 80 yr. Each age group was further subdivided into subjects with and without dentures, and into males and females. The results demonstrate that the frequency of carriage, the intensity of carriage, and multispecies carriage all increase as a function of age and differ according to gender, in both cases independent of denture use, suggesting that the natural suppression of yeast carriage in the oral cavity breaks down in the elderly. In addition, it is demonstrated that Candida glabrata colonizes the oral cavities of elderly individuals without dentures only after 80 yr of age, suggesting that there are age-related compromising conditions other than denture use in this most elderly age group.

Accurate geochronologies are the key for comparison of palaeoclimate records. In order to clarify problems concerning the geochronology of glacier fluctuations we dated palaeosols in moraines in the Kebnekaise mountain region of Swedish Lapland. These palaeosols already have been dated several years ago using bulk samples of the palaeosols and yielded ages of 6180–5790 and 2750–2100 cal yr BP. In an attempt to evaluate the sources of contamination associated with bulk samples these soils were re-dated by using Coleoptera fragments, Cenococcum geophilum spores, humic acids and woody plant tissues. The new dates reveal that the two palaeosols found within the moraines represent much longer periods of time than was previously assumed. Soil formation periods can be distinguished for periods 7800–7580, 6300–4080, 2450–2000 and 1170–740 cal yr BP. These age groups point to differentiated soil formation processes, resedimentation, bioturbation and/or cryoturbation. The results show that dated terrestrial macrofossils from glacial moraines indicate climate changes that are in accordance with other proxy records in northern and central Scandinavia and in certain times off-phase with glacier fluctuations in southern maritime Norway. This throws light on possible changing interaction of forcing factors during the Holocene.

Aims/hypothesis There has been much focus on the potential role of mitochondria in the aetiology of type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome, and many case–control mitochondrial association studies have been undertaken for these conditions. We tested for a potential association between common mitochondrial variants and a number of quantitative traits related to type 2 diabetes in a large sample of >2,000 healthy Australian adolescent twins and their siblings, many of whom were measured on more than one occasion. Methods To the best of our knowledge, this is the first mitochondrial association study of quantitative traits undertaken using family data. The maternal inheritance pattern of mitochondria means established association methodologies are unsuitable for analysis of mitochondrial data in families. We present a methodology, implemented in the freely available program Sib-Pair for performing such an analysis. Results Despite our study having the power to detect variants with modest effects on these phenotypes, only one significant association was found after correction for multiple testing in any of four age groups. This was for mt14365 with triacylglycerol levels (unadjusted p = 0.0006). This association was not replicated in other age groups. Conclusions/interpretation We find little evidence in our sample to suggest that common European mitochondrial variants contribute to variation in quantitative phenotypes related to diabetes. Only one variant showed a significant association in our sample, and this association will need to be replicated in a larger cohort. Such replication studies or future meta-analyses may reveal more subtle effects that could not be detected here because of limitations of sample size.

Threatened abortion is a clinical entity where the process of abortion has started but has not progressed to a state from which recovery is impossible 1 . The prognosis of threatened abortion is very unpredictable whatever method of treatment is employed either in hospital or at home. 100 cases of threatened abortion were studied in RMCH. Over one year of study it was found that abortion cases constituted about 34% of all gyneacological admission. Among them 12% of all abortion related admitted cases had threatened abortion. From the results it was evident that most of the cases were between 20-30 yrs. Age group (58%), 71% were multigravida, 80% were illiterate & low socio economic condition uneventfully & discharged by giving conservative management. In the rest abortion pregnancy was terminated either by inevitable abortion or missed abortion. Follow up data showed that among 46 cases of threatened abortion who readmitted in hospital, 26 cases had normal pregnancy out come, 2 cases developed IUD, 4 cases developed preterm labour, 12 cases had placenta praevia, 2 cases had IUGR & 2 cases had aboruptio placenta. So the conclusion of the study was first trimester vaginal bleeding is an independent risk factor for adverse obstetric out come that is directly proportional to the amount of bleeding. TAJ 2005; 18(2): 76-79

To examine how emotional content affects the amount of visual detail remembered, we had young and older adults study neutral, negative, and positive objects. At retrieval, they distinguished same (identical) from similar (same verbal label, different visual details) and new (nonstudied) objects. A same response to a same item indicated memory for visual details (specific recognition), whereas a same or similar response to a same or similar item signified memory for the general sort of object (general recognition). Both age groups showed enhanced specific recognition for negative (not positive) objects. Young adults' general recognition advantage also was restricted to negative objects, whereas older adults showed enhanced general recognition for positive and negative objects. Negative (not positive) content enhanced the visual specificity of memory in both ages, but positive content conferred a general memory advantage only for older adults.

During the 2002/2003 season, Italian sentinel-based network for surveillance of influenza, coordinated by Inter-university (Genoa-Milan-Trieste) Centre for Influenza Research (CIRI) registered an increasing incidence from week 9/2003 (10.3 cases per 1000). The ...

Several studies have recently reported that social class differences in ill-health during adolescence are almost non-existent or invisible. The aims of this comparative study of two different welfare states are first, to compare whether the relationship between social class and health is similar among young men and women at different age groups in these two welfare states; second, to examine at what age social class differences in self-reported health and illness among young adults emerge in these two countries; and third, to find out whether class of origin (i.e. parental social class) or class of destination (i.e. individual&amp;#39;s achieved social class) have greater explanatory power in studies of health among young adults. We used comparable nationally representative interview surveys from Britain and Finland. The British data is derived from the General Household Survey for 1988 and 1989, and the Finnish data from the 1986 Level of Living Survey. We analysed five year age groups between 16 and 39 years in Britain (N = 16,626) and 15 and 39 years in Finland (N = 5950). Two health indicators (limiting long-standing illness and self-assessed health), and several indicators for social class were compared. The best discriminator of differences in ill-health among young adults both in Finland and Britain was education. Social class differences by own occupation (achieved class) emerged soon after the age of 20 among men and women in both countries and strengthened with increasing age. There was a weaker but consistent association with class of origin in both countries. Housing tenure is strongly associated with young adults&amp;#39; health in Britain but not Finland.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The purpose of this study was to determine prevalence rates of psychiatric morbidity in the elderly, distinguishing different levels of psychiatric caseness as compared to the diagnoses of the DSM-III-R. In a crosssectional population-based study in Berlin (West), Germany, 516 people aged 70 to 95+ were randomly selected from the obligatory city registry (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993) and stratified by age and gender (N = 43 men and N = 43 women in each of six 5-year age groups). Psychiatric and physical examinations were carried out in an extensive standardized assessment. Distinct psychopathological syndromes occurred in 72.7% of the elderly (54.6% of the men, 79.1% of the women). A clinically defined psychiatric disorder was found in 49.4% of the elderly (95% confidence interval 43.9% -54.9%; 36.4% of the men, 54.0% of the women). Excluding insomnia, the overall psychiatric morbidity was 40.4% (30.9% m, 43.8% w). Excluding clinical diagnoses that were not otherwise specified in the DSM-III-R, the overall prevalence of specified DSM-III-R diagnoses was 23.5% (16.3% m, 26.0% w). Excluding dementia, which is known to be age-related, the prevalence was 11.3% (8.5% m, 12.2% w) and no significant effect between the age groups was seen. A considerable proportion of clinically relevant psychiatric morbidity in the elderly does not meet the criteria of specified DSM-III-R diagnoses, although these cases are in need of care. The data show that the threshold and severity of caseness accounts for important differences when overall psychiatric morbidity is assessed.

Poisoning in children is a common accident and poison information services should be aware of the toxic agents responsible for poisoning in the community. A retrospective hospital based study was performed, before-the establishment of the National Poisons Information Centre in Sri Lanka. There were 4,556 admissions of poisoning to the selected hospitals in the Western Province in 1986 and of this, 540 (11.4%) were below 15 years. Males accounted for 66%. Kerosene oil was responsible for 47% of the poisoning cases in less than 5 years age group, while kerosene oil, pesticides and plants/mushrooms were the commonest toxic agents in the 5 to 14 years age group. The case fatality rate was 3.2%.

The objectives of the study were: Wrst, to determine the prevalence of traditional medicine (TM) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use in head and neck cancer patients in Ireland; second, to educate ourselves on the plethora of CAM/TM options available to patients outside the dominion of conventional medicine. The study design consisted of a cross-sectional survey carried out in three head and neck cancer centres. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to 110 head and neck cancer patients attending the three cancer centres and data were collected for statistical analysis. A total of 106 patients completed the questionnaire; 21.7% of the participants used CAM/TM since their diagnosis with head and neck cancer. CAM/TM usage was higher in female (34.3%) than in male patients (16.2%). CAM/TM use was more common in the 41-50-year age group, in patients with higher educational levels and those holding strong religious beliefs, and also in married than single patients. The most common types of CAM/TM used were spiritual and laying on of hands. The most common reasons reported for using CAM/TM were to counteract the ill eVects of treatment and increase the body's ability to Wght cancer. Sources of information on CAM/TM were friends (65%), family (48%) and media (21%). This survey reveals a high prevalence of CAM/TM use in head and neck cancer patients, hence emphasising the need for otolaryngologists to educate themselves on the various therapies available to be able to provide informative advice. There is an urgent need for evidence-based investigation of various CAM/TM therapies currently oVered to patients.

To estimate the prevalence of self medication with antibiotics and antimalarials in Khartoum State, Sudan and evaluate factors associated with self medication. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 600 households, (1750 adult persons), selected from three cities in Khartoum State, Sudan, using a multistage stratified clustered sampling. One thousand two hundred and ninety three (73.9%) of the study population had used antibiotics or antimalarials without a prescription within one month prior to the study. Eight hundred and forty one (48.1%) of the respondents agreed that they have used antibiotics, 43.4% used antimalarials, while 17.5% used both. Self medication with either antibiotics/ antimalarials was found to be significantly associated with age, income, gender and level of education. Overall, self medication with any antibiotics or antimalarials was least common among the &gt; or = 60 years compared to youngest age group (OR: 0.07; 0.04 -0.11) and...

According to the data of the clinico-morphological register of the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism in Ukraine, for the post-Chernobyl period in Ukraine (1986-2000), 472 cases of thyroid cancer have been reported in children who have been operated at the age of up to 15 years, among which, 431 were born before the Chernobyl accident, 11 were ''in utero'' at the time of the accident, and 30 were born after the Chernobyl accident. The largest number of cases (57) has been reported in 1996, which made up 0.57 per 100 000 children aged 0-14, and exceeded by 11.4 times the average pre-Chernobyl incidence rate (0.05) in this age group. The highest incidence rate has been reported in six regions of Ukraine which have been the most contaminated by iodine radionuclides (Kiev, Chernigov, Zhitomir, Rovno, Cherkassy regions, and Kiev City). The additional incidence in these regions was rising with increasing thyroid exposure dose, and this is most evident for a dose over 0.5 Gy. Morphological studies showed that in most of cases, the tumors under study (92.1%) represented papillary carcinoma (with a dominant solid-follicular structure) that were characterized by a high incidence of regional metastastic spreading (62% of cases).

Study Objective: To determine anesthetic drug utilization in different age groups. Design: Retrospective, automated, intraoperative database study. Setting: Tertiary care medical center. Measurements: 30,842 noncardiac general anesthesia case records between January 1991 and July 1997 were studied. We investigated the effect of age on anesthetic requirements for fentanyl (F), midazolam (M), thiopental sodium (T), propofol (P), isoflurane (I), and nitrous oxide (N). Because drugs are not given in isolation we looked at the most common drug combinations, IFNTM, IFNPM, INFT, and PFNM. Regression analyses on log-transformed drug dosages were used to test the significance of age on individual requirements. Results: In each of the above anesthetic drug combinations, reduced doses of fentanyl, propofol, midazolam, thiopental, and isoflurane were used with increasing age. Fentanyl, propofol, thiopental, and isoflurane showed a 10%, 8%, 6%, and 4% reduction in dose per decade of age, respectively, from age of maximum dose to age 80 years. Conclusions: In clinical practice, increasing age results in decreased anesthetic drug administration. The mechanism of this observation needs to be determined.

To evaluate the efficacy of once-monthly darbepoetin alfa in maintaining hemoglobin (Hb) levels between 10 and 12 g/dL in older subjects receiving darbepoetin alfa every 2 weeks. Design: A secondary analysis of a 29-week multicenter, open-label, single-arm study with an initial 2-week screening/baseline period, followed by a 20-week once-monthly darbepoetin alfa dose titration period and an 8-week evaluation period. Setting: Twenty treatment centers in the United States. Participants: Subjects with CKD who were not receiving dialysis and whose hemoglobin levels were Ն10 g/dL with darbepoetin alfa every 2 weeks. Intervention: Darbepoetin alfa administered once monthly and titrated to maintain Hb level between 10 and 12 g/dL, inclusive. Measurements: The proportion of subjects maintaining a mean Hb concentration of 10 to 12 g/dL, inclusive, while receiving once-monthly darbepoetin alfa during the evaluation period (weeks 21 to 29); the mean change in Hb levels and darbepoetin alfa doses between baseline and the evaluation period; and the treatment relationship, frequency, severity, and outcomes of all adverse events. Analyses were stratified by age (Ͻ65, Ն65, and Ն75 years). Results: Seventy-nine percent of subjects aged Ն65 years and 80% of subjects aged Ն75 years maintained their Hb levels within the specified target range, compared with 80% of subjects aged Ͻ65 years who maintained their Hb levels within the specified target range. Hemoglobin levels and darbepoetin alfa doses did not change significantly from baseline to the evaluation period. Darbepoetin alfa administered once monthly was well tolerated in all age groups. Conclusion: Darbepoetin alfa administered once monthly effectively maintained target Hb levels in older subjects with CKD (not receiving dialysis) who were maintained previously with an every 2 weeks darbepoetin alfa regimen.

Various chemical agents have been evaluated over the years with respect to their antimicrobial effects in the oral cavity; however, all are associated with side effects that prohibit regular long-term use. Therefore, the effectiveness of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) leaf extract against plaque formation was assessed in males between the age group of 20-30 years over a period of 6 weeks. Present study includes formulation of mucoadhesive dental gel containing Azadirachta indica leaf extract (25 mg/g). A 6-week clinical study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of neem extract dental gel with commercially available chlorhexidine gluconate (0.2% w/v) mouthwash as positive control. Microbial evaluation of Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli species was carried out to determine the total decrease in the salivary bacterial count over a period of treatment using a semi-quantitative four quadrant streaking method. The results of the study suggested that the dental gel containing neem extract has significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the plaque index and bacterial count than that of the control group.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Malarial parasites and species responsible in Sindh Province of Pakistan. Methodology: It is a cross sectional descriptive study conducted in all Districts of Sindh during January 2002 to December 2006. It was based on surveillance data of Malaria control program Sindh in which blood smears from febrile cases in all age group of male and female were seen by facility microscopist in all districts. Senior microscopist rechecked all positive slides. All slides data of different districts of Sindh was reported on monthly basis to provisional centre at Hyderabad for compiling and analysis. Results: During 2002-2006, out of 5.84 million slides, those with positive malarial parasites were approx. 0.16 million giving an average blood examination rate (BER) 4.46, slide positivity rate (SPR) 2.94, Falciparum ratio(FR) was 41%, annual parasite incidences (API) was 1.36. More cases were seen in post monsoon season. Conclusion: All basic indicators of Malaria disease are higher than optimum level. Estimated burden can be much higher, Roll Back Malaria goals are lagging far behind to reduce the disease burden. As such integrated approach of diagnosis, treatment and prevention is required.

Urban dwellers experience conflicting thoughts and feelings about urban woodlands; valued for their natural qualities, the relief they provide from the stress of modern urban living and the opportunities they afford for children's play and exploration. At the same time the seclusion inherent in this type of urban greenspace seems fraught with risk from crime, vandalism and abuse. Whilst many of these characteristics are well-researched, less is known about the differing perceptions of particular social groups. This study aimed to explore the ways in which age affects urban dwellers' aspirations, values and fears concerning the woods, and woodland accessibility, focusing on the views of elderly people (aged over 65). This pilot study was based in Norfolk Heritage Park, an urban park containing a variety of woodland settings located in Sheffield, UK. The questionnaire survey (participants n ¼ 97) revealed that although walking is the most popular leisure activity, most respondents did not visit urban parks as often as they would like, regardless of age. Whilst many of the meanings associated with urban woodland (were shared amongst age groups, it seemed that the elderly respondents particularly valued the woods for their links with the past, and opportunities for immersion in the natural world. Some respondents from all age groups had fears about their personal security in the woodland, and the concerns of the elderly were heightened by their perceived frailty, reduced mobility and sense of vulnerability; this age group had a corresponding need for particular measures to alleviate these problems. The study provides preliminary evidence for the idea that adults of different ages have differing perceptions and requirements in relation to urban woodlands. Due to the small sample size and other methodological issues, further research is needed to confirm and develop the findings.