Population based survival rates for childhood cancer in Britain, 1980-91.

OBJECTIVES--To investigate the survival of children with cancer diagnosed during 1980-91 in order to assess the impact of developments in medical care on a population basis. DESIGN--Retrospective cohort study. SETTING--Great Britain. SUBJECTS--14973 children with cancer diagnosed during 1980-91 and included in the population based National Registry of Childhood Tumours. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Actuarial survival rates. RESULTS--For all cancers combined, two year survival increased from 66% to 76% between 1980-2 and 1989-91, and five year survival increased from 57% to 65% between 1980-2 and 1986-8. Significant increases in survival rates occurred among children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute nonlymphocytic leukaemia, retinoblastoma, osteosarcoma, Ewing''s sarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, and malignant gonadal germ cell tumours. No trend in survival was seen for children with Hodgkin''s disease, central nervous system tumours, neuroblastoma, or Wilms''s tumour. CONCLUSIONS--Nearly two thirds of children who have cancer diagnosed can now expect to survive at least 10 years.     

Excision biopsy of malignant melanoma by general practitioners in south east Scotland 1982-91.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the management of patients who had a malignant melanoma excised initially by general practitioners in south east Scotland over the past 10 years and to assess the impact of the April 1990 contract on this. DESIGN--A retrospective case-control study. SETTING--South east Scotland. SUBJECTS--All patients in south east Scotland who had malignant melanomas excised by general practitioners in 1982-91. OUTCOME MEASURES--Demographic details of patients; Breslow thickness, clearance of excision. RESULTS--42 patients had malignant melanomas excised by general practitioners in 1982-91: 15 in 1982-9 and 27 in 1990-1. These patients were significantly younger than those who had their tumours excised initially in hospital. Although the longest diameter of melanomas excised by general practitioners was significantly less than of those excised in hospital, the Breslow thicknesses were similar. Completeness of initial excision was doubtful or incomplete in nine (23%) general practitioner excisions compared with 4% of hospital excisions, but the time interval between excision biopsy and wide excision was similar. Pathology requests accompanying excision biopsies mentioned melanoma as a possible diagnosis in 15% (6/40) of general practitioner cases compared with 79% of hospital cases. Thirty nine general practitioners responded to a questionnaire and only 12 had considered melanoma in the differential diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS--General practitioners need to think more often of malignant melanoma when they excise pigmented lesions and when they consider this tumour a possibility should perform an excision biopsy with a lateral clearance of at least 2 mm.     

Human immunodeficiency viruses in patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic in London, 1982-7.

OBJECTIVE--To determine the prevalence of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in all patients attending a London sexually transmitted disease clinic over four weeks at the end of 1987 and to see how it varied from that in similar samples studied between 1982 and 1986. DESIGN--Anonymous testing of serum samples from consecutive heterosexual and homosexual patients having routine serological investigations for syphilis. Testing was for anti-HIV-I, anti-HIV-II, and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and P24 antigen. Age, nationality, sexual orientation, and past sexually transmitted diseases were recorded for each patient. Gonorrhoea rates by quarters were analysed among homosexual and bisexual men and heterosexual men and women from 1981 to 1987. SETTING--Outpatient department of genitourinary medicine. PATIENTS--A total of 1074 patients attending consecutively for syphilis serology. Thirty five homosexual and bisexual men were excluded (these were regular attenders as part of a prospective study of the natural course of HIV infection). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS--The prevalence of anti-HIV-I in homosexual and bisexual men in 1987 was 25.6% (64/250). Results in the same clinic population between 1982 and 1984 had shown a rise in prevalence, which flattened out in 1985-6 and continued at that level. Among heterosexual attenders in 1987 the prevalence of anti-HIV-I was 1% (women 4/412; men 4/377), which contrasted with a prevalence of 0.5% (women 2/395; men 3/757) in January 1986. One homosexual man was seropositive for anti-HIV-II and seronegative for anti-HIV-I. Among homosexual and bisexual men the rate of gonorrhoea had declined by an average of 2.7% a year since 1981, such that by 1987--and for the first time in the clinic--there was no significant difference in the rates between these men and heterosexual men and women. CONCLUSIONS--The appearance of HIV-I infection among heterosexuals indicates a need for more aggressive education programmes and intervention strategies along the lines adopted for homosexual men. Surveillance for HIV-II infection is needed to provide information for future policy in national screening programmes.     

Review of management of incidents involving exposure to blood in a London teaching hospital, 1989-91.

OBJECTIVE--To review management of incidents involving exposure to blood reported to an occupational health unit. DESIGN--Analysis of all reported incidents from January 1989 to June 1991. SETTING--London teaching hospital. SUBJECTS--447 health care workers and students. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Immunisation against hepatitis B virus before exposure, proportion of known source patients tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and HIV antibodies, and reasons for not testing known source patients. RESULTS--447 incidents were reported: 337 sharps injuries and 110 other exposures. 310 staff reporting incidents (205 (82%) nurses) were already immune to hepatitis B virus, nearly always because of immunisation. 345 source patients were identified, 77 of whom had already been tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (28 positive results) and 58 for HIV antibodies (18 positive results). Of those not previously tested, 145 of 266 were subsequently tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (two positive) and 149 of 287 for HIV antibodies (none positive). The main reasons for not testing source patients were that the incident was not considered a risk, that the patient had gone home, and that the clinical team were unwilling to ask the patient. Specific hepatitis B immunoglobulin was given to 18 staff who were not immune and was avoided in 11 cases by a negative result for the patient. Prophylactic zidovudine was discussed but not given to any staff member. CONCLUSIONS--Management of exposure to blood is improved by widespread immunisation against hepatitis B virus and by knowledge of source patients'' hepatitis B virus and HIV status.     

1982-2012年中国植被覆盖时空变化特征

利用GIMMS NDVI、MODIS NDVI和气象数据,辅以趋势分析、分段回归以及相关分析等方法,分析了1982—2012年我国植被NDVI时空变化特征及其驱动因素。结果表明:(1)近30年我国植被NDVI呈缓慢增加趋势,增速为0.2%/10a;植被覆盖变化阶段性特征明显:即1982—1997年和1997—2012年植被覆盖均呈显著增加趋势,增速分别为1.2%/10a和0.6%/10a,均通过显著水平0.05的检验。(2)空间上,我国陕北黄土高原、西藏中西部以及新疆准格尔盆地等地区植被NDVI呈显著增加趋势;而东北地区的大、小兴安岭和长白山、新疆北部的天山和阿尔泰山以及黄河源和秦巴山区等地区植被NDVI呈显著下降趋势,其中东北地区和新疆北部山区下降尤为显著,说明近年来我国中高纬度山区植被活动呈下降趋势。(3)不同区域植被对气温和降水的响应存在差异,我国北方地区植被对气温具有较长的响应持续时间;而除云南外,南方地区植被对降水的响应时间存在1—3个月的响应时间,且随着滞后时间的延长,相关性逐渐增大。(4)我国植被覆盖增加是气候变化和人类活动共同驱动的结果,尤其是1999年之后人类活动影响逐渐加强。而我国东北地区和新疆北部山区植被覆盖的下降可能是由于该区降水减少所致,东南沿海地区植被退化则受城市化影响显著。     

Relation between night visit rates and deprivation measures in one general practice.

OBJECTIVE--To compare night visit rates in different electoral wards of one general practice with the Jarman and Townsend deprivation scores and unemployment rates. DESIGN--Analysis of computerised workload data. SETTING--General practice in centre of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. OUTCOME MEASURE--Visits made in 588 nights to the 11,998 patients on the practice list. RESULTS--Night visit rates in 15 electoral wards varied from 19.6 to 55.3 visits per 1000 patients per year. The rates showed a significant association with the Townsend score (p = 0.004) and the unemployment rate (p = 0.03) but not with the Jarman score (p = 0.3). The Townsend score explained 49% of the variability; unemployment explained 31% and the Jarman score explained 9%. CONCLUSIONS--Even in a general practice not eligible for deprivation payments there was a 2.8-fold variation in night visit rates between wards. In this practice the Townsend score was significantly better at predicting night visit rates than the Jarman score. This method of looking at internal variation in workloads in computerised practices could give more direct data on the relation between deprivation and general practice workload than has previously been available.     

1982—2015年新疆地区植被生长对气温的响应

基于1982-2015年归一化植被指数(NDVI)数据集、植被类型和气象数据,采用滑动偏相关分析、线性趋势分析和GIS空间分析方法,揭示了新疆地区生长季植被对气温响应的变化特征.结果表明:研究期间,在整个生长季,新疆地区植被活动对气温变化的响应强度呈现明显的降低趋势;季节尺度上,这种响应关系的变化趋势在夏、秋两季较为明显,春季植被活动对气温变化响应的变化趋势与之相反.在整个生长季,不同类型植被对气温变化的响应呈现减弱态势;在春季,草地和森林对气温变化的响应呈现显著增强趋势,而灌丛和荒漠对气温变化的响应趋势正好相反;在夏季,4种植被(草地、灌丛、荒漠、森林)对气温变化的响应均呈现显著降低趋势;在秋季,4种植被对气温变化的响应均没有显著的统计学特征.新疆地区生长季气温对植被的影响力减弱具有区域的普遍性特征,这可能与研究区降雨和太阳辐射活动变化的有关.     

Phage-typing of brucella strains collected in Italy during 1982-83

62 strains of Brucella genus, freshly isolated from man and animals in several geographical areas in Italy, were tested for sensitivity to the phages: Tb, Wb, Fi, BK2 and R. The strains from human source, all classified like Br. melitensis biotype II, had three sensitivity patterns to phages. Some of the strains from cattle are Br. abortus biotype I, with the standard sensitivity pattern to the phages, but among cattle strains too, the largest part may be classified as Br. melitensis biotype II, and shows the same phage sensitivity pattern of the human strains. The strains from sheep are Br. melitensis biotype II, with only two phage sensitivity pattern; but it is to emphasize that some strains from goats are Br. abortus for sensitivity to phage Tb. It is also note the strains from buffaloes, which are Br. abortus biotype I with a very high degree of sensitivity to all the testes phages, included the R phage, which is supposed active on rough strains while these are smooth.     

Socioeconomic conditions in childhood and ischaemic heart disease during middle age.

OBJECTIVE--To examine the association between socioeconomic conditions in childhood and ischaemic heart disease in middle aged men, including the role of physiological and behavioural risk factors. DESIGN--Prevalence study with extensive examination and testing and with recall of childhood conditions. SETTING--Population based study in Kuopio, Finland. SUBJECTS--Representative sample of 2679 men aged 42, 48, 54, and 60. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Ischaemic findings on progressive maximal exercise test. RESULTS--Low socioeconomic style in childhood was associated with significantly higher prevalence of findings indicating ischaemias. Compared with those in the highest tertile of childhood socioeconomic conditions, the age adjusted odds ratio for subjects in the lowest tertile was 1.44 and for those in the middle tertile 1.35. Adjustment for years of cigarette smoking times the average number of cigarettes smoked, ratio of high density lipoprotein to low density lipoprotein cholesterol, fibrinogen and serum selenium concentrations, and adult height did not appreciably weaken the association. Adjustment for adult socioeconomic state resulted in a 16% decline in the association. The association was reduced to non-significance by adjustment for measures of prevalent cardiovascular illness. CONCLUSIONS--Socioeconomic state in childhood was significantly associated with ischaemic heart disease in middle aged men. Levels of risk factors measured at middle age did not account for this association, nor did adult height. Because childhood socioeconomic conditions precede the development of ischaemic heart disease the substantial impact of prevalent illness on the observed association suggests that ischaemic heart disease develops earlier in those with lower socioeconomic state during childhood.     

Membrane Biochemistry : by E. Sim Chapman and Hall; London, 1982

Adenine, cytidine and guanosine nucleotides were supplied to cultures of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata under aerobic heterotrophic and phototrophic growth conditions. Aerobic growth is not affected by exogenous nucleotides (up to 10 mM) whereas phototrophic growth is strongly inhibited by adenine but not by guanosine or cytidine nucleotides. During phototrophic growth there is an inverse relationship between the concentration of exogenous adenine nucleotides and photopigment synthesis. There are no statistically significant differences between the inhibitory effect of AMP, ADP and ATP on the growth rate and bacteriochlorophyll synthesis since adenine nucleotides are incorporated into the cell as AMP by means of the phosphoribosyl transferase system.