Thesis (Ph.D. in Biostatistics, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics) -- University of Colorado Denver, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-93). Free to UCD affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Thesis (M.S.)--Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy).

A autora se propõe a fazer uma avaliação qualitativa dos trabalhos publicados de 1998 a 2002, nas Revistas The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) e Revista Brasileira de Ortopedia (RBO). Após o levantamento da literatura foram classificados os trabalhos por qualidade metodológica e foram listados por ordem cronológica. Os trabalhos foram lidos e classificados nas duas revistas, checados por mais um avaliador além da autora e classificados segundo os níveis previstos no projeto diretrizes AMB/CFM. Como resultado observou-se, pela avaliação das tabelas com análise estatística que, nos primeiros anos predominavam os artigos de nível C e D na RBO, enquanto no JBJS os artigos eram distribuídos eqüitativamente entre todos os níveis. No ano de 2002, ambas as revistas aumentaram o percentual de artigos de nível A. Os resultados foram comentados face à literatura consultada. A autora concluiu que a RBO e o JBJS mostraram perfis diferentes de publicação no período analisado, apresentando, no entanto tendência a melhora metodológica em ambas as publicações, e que os resultados indicam a necessidade da divulgação dos critérios de excelência metodológica entre autores e profissionais da saúde em nosso meio. Em anexos foram identificados termos que são usualmente empregados em epidemiologia e metodologia científica, bem como definidos os níveis de evidência considerados nos quais foram distribuídos os trabalhos analisados. / The authors proposes to do a qualitative valuation for published articles from 1998 to 2002, in magazines The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Am and Brazilian Orthopaedic Magazine. After searching in literature, the articles were classified according to methodological quality and they were organized by chronological order. The articles of two magazines were read, classified and checked by the authoress and another valuator due to the levels in Directive Project. As result, by valuation of tables with statistical analysis, in first years the articles of level C and D were predominant in Brazilian Orthopaedic Magazine, in JBJS the articles were separeted equitably among all levels. In 2002, both magazines increased the percentual of level A articles. The authoress concluded that two magazines presented different aspects of publication in that period of time, however both publications have showed methodological improvement. The results also showed that the standards of methodological excellence must be known among authors and health profissionals. Terms which are frequently used in epidemiology and scientific methodology were identified in annexed and the levels of evidence of analysed articles were defined.

Abstract The potential health effects of employee control over working times are poorly known in the field of work stress research. In this study, worktime control was hypothesized to buffer against stress by promoting successful combination of a full-time job with non-work demands and by enabling the work to be done at times of optimal resources. The participants were from the 10-Town Study, an ongoing longitudinal cohort study exploring employee health in ten Finnish towns. The survey responses on worktime control and health (baseline survey in 1997: n = 6442, 67%; follow-up survey in 2000–01: n = 32299, 67%) were linked to registered sickness absences from the employers' records. Employee worktime control covered the perceived possibilities to influence the starting and ending times of a workday, the breaks, handling private matters during the workday, the scheduling of shifts, vacations and days off, and the taking of unpaid leaves, each of which was rated on a 1–5 scale. In the follow-up survey, influence on the length of the workday was also assessed. After a factor analysis, the subdimensions of control over daily working hours and control over days off were focused. It turned out that low worktime control predicted poor subjective health, psychological distress, and medically certified sickness absences for women. For men, low worktime control was not associated with subjective health, but predicted medically certified sickness absences for those with dependent children or employed in manual occupations. With respect to work stress, the men and women suffering from job strain or effort-reward imbalance had less medically certified sickness absences if they at least had control over their working times. The men and women with long domestic and total working hours and long commuting hours gained most from high worktime control in that their medically certified sickness absences were reduced. Vulnerability to long domestic and total working hours in terms of such absences was seen among both men and women, but there were few men working long domestic hours. Long paid working hours as such were not associated with sickness absences. In sum, high worktime control appeared to buffer against health problems and to promote a successful integration of domestic responsibilities with a full-time job. The findings expand the focus of work stress research and emphasize the importance of taking conditions at home into account when analysing employee health. / Tiivistelmä Työaikojen hallinnan merkitys terveydelle tunnetaan työstressitutkimuksen alalla huonosti. Tässä väitöskirjatyössä oletettiin, että työaikojen hallinta voisi vähentää stressiä ja edistää terveyttä helpottamalla kokopäivätyön ja kotona tehtävän työn yhteensovittamista sekä mahdollistamalla työn tekemisen parhaiden voimavarojen vallitessa. Tutkimus toteutui osana Työterveyslaitoksen Kunta10 -tutkimusta, joka seuraa kymmenen suomalaisen kaupungin henkilöstön työolojen ja terveyden kehittymistä. Koettua työaikojen hallintaa ja terveyttä koskevat kyselyvastaukset (alkukysely v. 1997: n = 6442, 67 %; seurantakysely vv. 2000–01: n = 32299, 67 %) linkitettiin palkanmaksurekistereistä saatuihin sairauspoissaolotietoihin. Työaikojen hallinnan mittari sisälsi alkukyselyssä 5-luokkaisella asteikolla vastaajien kokemat vaikutusmahdollisuudet työpäivän alkamis- ja päättymisajankohtiin, taukoihin, yksityisasioiden hoitamiseen työpäivän kuluessa, työvuoroihin, lomien ja vapaapäivien ajankohtiin sekä palkattomien vapaiden pitämiseen. Seurantakyselyssä kartoitettiin myös vaikutusmahdollisuudet työpäivän pituuteen. Summamuuttujan faktorianalyysin jälkeen arvioitiin erikseen päivittäisten työaikojen hallintaa sekä loma-aikojen hallintaa. Tuloksissa huono työaikojen hallinta ennusti naisilla huonoksi koettua terveyttä, psyykkistä rasittuneisuutta sekä lääkärintodistusta vaativia yli kolmen päivän mittaisia sairauspoissaoloja. Miehillä huono työaikojen hallinta ei vaikuttanut itsearvioituun terveyteen, mutta ennusti lääkärintodistusta vaativia sairauspoissaoloja, jos heillä oli lapsia kotona tai jos he tekivät ruumiillista työtä. Hyvä työaikojen hallinta vähensi työstressiin liittyviä sairauspoissaoloja. Stressiä kuvattiin työn kovien vaatimusten ja huonon hallinnan yhdistelmällä sekä koettujen ponnistelujen ja palkkioiden epäsuhdalla. Eri elämänalueilla tehtyihin työtunteihin suhteutettuna hyvä työaikojen hallinta vähensi sairauspoissaoloja erityisesti niillä naisilla ja miehillä, joilla oli paljon kotityötunteja, työmatkatunteja tai totaalityötunteja. Sairauspoissaoloilla mitattuna naiset ja miehet olivat yhtä haavoittuvia pitkille kotityö- työmatka- ja totaalityötunneille, mutta miehillä pitkät kotityötunnit olivat harvinaisia. Pitkät palkkatyötunnit sinänsä eivät lisänneet sairauslomia. Tutkimus tuo työstressikirjallisuuteen vallitsevia malleja täydentävää tietoa työn ulkopuolisten tekijöiden merkityksestä työntekijöiden terveydelle. Tulokset kannustavat edistämään työntekijöiden mahdollisuuksia työaikojensa hallintaan sekä terveyden edistämisen että kokopäivätyön ja muun elämän menestyksellisen yhdistämisen näkökulmista.

Os objetivos do estudo foram avaliar as características clínicas das embolias arteriais sistêmicas no curso da endocardite infecciosa, a distribuição temporal, os fatores de risco de embolia e a influência prognóstica da embolia no curso da doença. Foram estudados 629 episódios de endocardite infecciosa. A idade dos pacientes variou de 2 meses a 83 anos (média 37,9 anos; desvio padrão 17,3). Ocorreram 396 (63%) episódios em homens e 233 (47%) em mulheres. Em 538 (85%) episódios, os pacientes eram portadores de doença cardíaca prévia, 272 (43%) com valvopatia, 224 (36%) portadores de prótese valvar cardíaca, 29 (5%) com doença cardíaca congênita, 13 (2%) com outras cardiopatias e 91 (14%) pacientes não apresentavam evidência de cardiopatia prévia. Os agentes etiológicos foram os estreptococos em 297 (47%) pacientes, os enterococos em 51 (8%), os Staphylococcus aureus em 77 (12,6%), os Staphylococcus epidermidis em 56 (9%), as bactérias gram-negativas em 33 (5%), os fungos em nove (1,4%), e outros microorganismos em 27 (4%). Em 79 (13%) pacientes as hemoculturas foram negativas. Os pacientes receberam tratamento clínico em 376 (60%) episódios e cirúrgico em 253 (40%). Para a análise estatística foram utilizados além da estatística descritiva, o método de Kaplan-Meier para avaliar a sobrevida livre de embolia e o prognóstico, comparadas com os testes de Log-rank e Breslow. Em seguida para a estimativa de riscos, foi ajustado o modelo de riscos proporcionais de Cox. As embolias arteriais ocorreram em 133 (21%) pacientes, cerebrais em 63 (47%), extracerebrais em 57 (43%) e cerebrais a extracerebrais em 13 (10%) pacientes. A distribuição temporal das embolias foi decrescente após o início dos sintomas. O risco de embolia não revelou diferença significativa quanto a idade, a sexo, o estado cardíaco, presença e número de vegetações identificadas no ecocardiograma e a modalidade de tratamento clínico ou cirúrgico. Os pacientes com endocardite causada por Staphylococcus aureus apresentaram risco de ocorrência de embolia 2,9 vezes maior do que os pacientes com endocardite causada por outros agentes etiológicos. Nos pacientes com endocardite infecciosa em prótese mitral e aórtica com vegetação identificada no ecocardiograma, o risco de embolia foi respectivamente 2,4 e 3,3 vezes maior relação aos pacientes com endocardite em valva natural ou em prótese sem vegetação. O risco de embolia foi menor a medida que o tempo decorrido entre o início dos sintomas e o tratamento aumentou. O risco de óbito nos pacientes que sofreram embolia duplicou em relação aos pacientes que não sofreram embolia. / The objectives of the study were to evaluate the clinical characteristics of systemic arterial embolism at infective endocarditis courses, the time related distribution of emboli, risk predictors and prognostic influence of emboli during active disease. So far, we studied 629 episodes of left-sided endocarditis. The patients were aged 37.9 ± 17.3 years; 396 (63%) episodes occurred in men; 233 (47%) in women; 538 (85%) episodes occurred in patients with heart disease: 272 (43%) had valvular heart disease, 224 (36%) had prosthetic heart valves, 29 (5%) had congenital heart disease, 13 (2%) had others cardiac diseases and 91 (14%) had no known heart disease. The causative microorganisms were streptococci in 297 (47%) patients, enterococci in 51 (8%), Staphylococcus aureus in 77 (1 2.6%), Sfaphylococcus epidermidis in 56 (9%), gram-negative bacteria in 33 (5%), fungi in nine (1.4%), and other microorganisms in 27 (4%); 79 (13%) patients had negative blood cultures. The treatment was medical in 376 (60%) and surgical in 253 (40%) episodes. Statistical analysis was pet-formed with descriptive analysis, with Kaplan-Meier methods to evaluate survival free of emboli and prognosis, and Cox proportional hazards model for risk analysis; 133 (21%) patients had an embolic event; 63 (47%) were cerebral emboli and 57 (43%) were extracerebral emboli and 13 (10%) were cerebral and extracerebral. The time-related distribution showed decrease in the incidence after beginning of symptoms. The risk for emboli was not significantly different relative to age, sex, cardiac status, presence or number of vegetations at echocardiogram, and medical or surgical treatment. The risk of emboli was 2.97 times higher in patients with Staphylacoccus aureus endocarditis. The risk of embolism in patients with infective endocarditis in mitral and aortic prosthetic valve with vegetations were 2.4 and 3.3 times higher. The risk of embolism decrease as the time elapsed between beginning of symptoms and treatment increased, suggesting a lower risk in less acute disease. Risk of death was 2.01 times higher in patients with embolism.

<p>UVOD: Egzekutivne funkcije predstavljaju integrisanu grupu mentalnih sposobnosti, uključenih u proizvodnju, monitoring i kontrolu pona&scaron;anja orijentisanih ka određenom cilju i prevashodno su zadužene za snalaženje u novim situacijama, sme&scaron;tenim izvan domena automatskih psihičkih procesa. Zloupotreba heroina tokom dužeg vremenskog perioda rezultira o&scaron;tećenjem egzekutivnih funkcija, &scaron;to se može značajno reflektovati na lično, profesionalno i socijalno funkcionisanje zavisnika. CILJ ISTRAŽIVANJA: Cilj ovog istraživanja je ispitivanje uticaja zloupotrebe opijata na egzekutivne kontrolne procese, ispitivanje postojanja specifičnog odnosa eventualnih deficita egzekutivne performance opijatskih zavisnika sa dužinom ekspozicije heroinu, kao i definisanje prediktora o&scaron;tećenja egzekutivnih funkcija kod opijatskih zavisnika. MATERIJAL I METODOLOGIJA: Istraživanje je izvr&scaron;eno po tipu studije preseka, a njime je obuhvaćeno 200 ispitanika, podeljenih u dve grupe. <em>Eksperimentalnu grupu</em> činilo je 150 zavisnika od heroina, starosti 18-35 godina, koji su u apstienenciji najmanje 3 nedelje. U<em> kontrolnu grupu</em> uvr&scaron;teno je 50 zdravih subjekata, ujednačenih po polu, obrazovanju i starosti sa ispitanicima eksperimentalne grupe. Za prikupljanje podataka kori&scaron;ćeni su sledeći instrumenti: <em>op&scaron;ti strukturisani upitnik</em> posebno konstruisan za potrebe ovog istraživanja, zasnovan na samoproceni, koji se odnosi na osnovne sociodemografske karakteristike ispitanika i adiktolo&scaron;ka obeležja;<em> test za procenu psihopatije</em>, za procenu (kontrolu) eventualnog uticaja structure ličnosti zavisnika na postignuće na testovima kojima se procenjuju egzekutivne funkcije; za procenu stanja egzekutivnih funkcija:<em> test verbalne fluentnosti - segment fonemska fluentnost, Vekslerov individualni test inteligencije, test praćenja-markiranja traga, Baretova skala za procenu impulsivnosti, Viskonsin test sortiranja karata, Iowa Gambling Task</em>. REZULTATI: Kod heroinskih zavisnika beleže se signifikantni deficiti u egzekutivnim domenima: ažuriranje i monitoring sadržaja radne memorije, inhibitorna kontrola, izmena mentalnog seta i dono&scaron;enje odluka. Faktori na osnovu kojih se može predvideti o&scaron;tećenje egzekutivnih funkcija su: ukupno trajanje konzumiranja heroina, prosečna dnevna doza heroina, broj apstinencija u odnosu na ukupno trajanje heroina i uzrast pri prvom kontaktu sa psihoaktivnim supstancama. ZAKLJUČAK: Konzumiranje heroina dovodi se u vezu sa značajnim o&scaron;tećenjem sistema egzekutivnih funkcija, &scaron;to rezultira te&scaron;koćama zavisnika da prevazilaze habitualne odgovore i prilagođavaju pona&scaron;anje zahtevima koje nudi nova situacija, kao i sklono&scaron;ću da donose visoko rizične odluke, koje rezultiraju trenutnom dobiti, bez obzira na neminovne kasnije negativne posledice.</p> / <p>INTRODUCTION: Executive functions represent an integrated set of mental abilities involved in the production, monitoring and controlling of the goal-oriented behavior. Primarily, they are responsible for managing new situations which are placed outside the domain of automatic mental processes. Heroin abuse over a longer period of time results in the damage of the executive functions which significantly reflects on personal, professional and social functioning of an addict. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of this study is investigating the impact of substance abuse on executive control processes, testing the existence of a specific relationship between possible deficits of executive performance of opiate addicts and heroin exposure length, as well as defining the damage predictors of executive functions in opiate addicts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted by the cross-sectional study and included 200 examinees divided into two groups. <em>The experimental group </em>consisted of 150 heroin addicts, aged from 18 to 35 years, who were abstinent for at least 3 weeks. <em>The control group </em>included 50 healthy examinees of the same sex, age and educational background as the examinees in the experimental group. To collect the data, the following instruments were used: <em>a general structured questionnaire</em> &ndash; specifically designed for the purposes of this study, based on self-assessment, which refers to the basic socio-demographic characteristics and addictological features of examinees; <em>Psychopathy Assessment Questionnaire</em> for evaluation (control) of the possible impact of personality structure of addicts on achievement on tests used to assess executive functions; for the assessment of condition of executive functions: Verbal Fluency Task - phonemic fluency, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Trail Making Test, Barratt impulsiveness Scale, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Iowa Gambling Task Iowa Gambling Task. RESULTS: In heroin addicts significant deficits in executive domains were recorded: updating, inhibition, shiffring and decision making. The damage of executive functions can be predicted on the basis of the following factors: total length of heroin abuse, the average daily dose of heroin, number of&nbsp; abstinence compared to the total duration of heroin abuse and age of addicts at their first contact with psychoactive substances. CONCLUSION: The consumption of heroin is associated with significant impairment of the system of executive functions. This results in addicts having difficulties to overcome habitual responses and adjust behavior to the requirements imposed by new situations, as well as in the tendency to make high-risk decisions that result in current gain, regardless of inevitable later negative consequences.</p>

Neonatal quinpirole treatment to rats produces long-term increases in D(2) receptor sensitivity that persists throughout the animal's lifetime, a phenomenon referred to as D(2) priming. Male and female Sprague-dawley rats were administered quinpirole (1 mg kg(-1)) or saline from postnatal days (P)1-11. At P60, all animals were given an injection of quinpirole (100 microg kg(-1)), and results showed that rats neonatally treated with quinpirole demonstrated enhanced yawning in response to quinprole, verifying D(2) receptor priming because yawning is a D(2) receptor mediated event. Beginning 1-3 days later, locomotor sensitization was tested through administration of d-amphetamine (1 mg kg(-1)) or saline every other day over 14 days, and horizontal activity and turning behavior were analyzed. Findings indicated that D(2)-priming enhanced horizontal activity in response to amphetamine in females compared to males at Days 1 and 4 of locomotor sensitization testing, and D(2)-priming enhanced turning in response to amphetamine. Seven to ten days after sensitization was complete, microdialysis of the NAcc core was performed using a cumulative dosing regimen of amphetamine (0.1-3.0 mg kg(-1)). D(2)-primed rats administered amphetamine demonstrated a 500% increase in accumbal DA overflow compared to control rats administered amphetamine. Additionally, amphetamine produced a significant increase in NE overflow compared to controls, but this was unaffected by D(2) priming. These results indicate that D(2) receptor priming as is produced by neonatal quinpirole treatment robustly enhances behavioral activation and accumbal DA overflow in response to amphetamine, which may underlie increases in psychostimulant use and abuse within the psychotic population where increased D(2) receptor sensitivity is a hallmark.

Neonatal quinpirole treatment in rats produces increased sensitivity of dopamine D2-like receptors throughout the animal's lifetime, referred to D2 priming. There is little information on the effects of nicotine in adolescent rats, especially in a model that has clinical relevance to psychosis where increased D2 receptor sensitivity is common. Male and female rats were treated with quinpirole (1 mg/kg) or saline from postnatal (P) day P21, given nicotine (0.5 mg/kg) or saline from P33 through P49, and placed into a locomotor arena for behavioral testing. Nicotine or saline treatment was preceded by the D2-like receptor antagonist eticlopride, D3 antagonist nafadotride, or saline. Conditioned hyperactivity was analyzed on P50 in the same context in a drug-free test. In females, D2 priming increased the locomotor response to acute nicotine, but did not affect subsequent nicotine sensitization, and only non–D2-primed females demonstrated conditioned hyperactivity. Eticlopride and nafadotride blocked behavioral sensitization, although nafadotride was more effective at blocking nicotine-conditioned hyperactivity in females. In males, D₂ priming enhanced sensitization to nicotine and produced conditioned hyperactivity, which were blocked by eticlopride and nafadotride. These results have implications for psychosis and comorbidity of nicotine abuse in adolescence.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Potential problems of one-step adhesives have been identified, including water uptake and subsequent plasticization, water-and enzyme-induced nanoleakage, and the presence of voids due to phase-separation or osmosis. Clinically, adhesive failures due to marginal degradation present as retention loss, marginal discoloration, and secondary caries. However, the mechanisms of adhesive interface degradation of self-etching and self-bonding resin luting agents are not fully understood. The objective of the study was to investigate adhesive layer degradation by using a nanoleakage technique with five different resin luting agents. Materials and Methods: Five different resin luting systems, Variolink II, Panavia F2.0, RelyX Unicem, RelyX Unicem2, and Maxcem Elite were evaluated in this study. The 25 dentin specimens were randomly divided into five resin luting agent groups. Flat dentin surfaces were created mid-coronally and were luted with luting agents. Then, each tooth was sectioned occluso-gingivally. The first half of each tooth was used as a control group and the other half was used as the experimental group. The control group was immersed in artificial saliva at 37°C and SEM examination with chemical analysis was performed within 48 hours. In the tested group, all specimens were immersed in artificial saliva at 37°C for 10 days and thermocycled. For the SEM examination, the specimens were immersed in a 50-percent ammoniacal silver nitrate solution for 24 hours.22 SEM was used for observation of silver penetration of the specimens. Three scan lines were selected. For elemental analysis, natural apatite, olivine minerals, and pure silver metal were chosen as standards for Ca, Si and Ag. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with a 5-percent significance level. Results: At the bottom of the hybrid layer, there was no significant difference in silver uptake within the adhesive interface between luting agents (p > 0.05) and there was no significant change in silver uptake within the adhesive interface after thermocycling (aging) (p > 0.05). Conclusion: All resin luting agents exhibited nanoleakage after both 24-hour storage and 10-day storage with thermocycling.