Epidemiological Panel Studies of Older Adults: New Frontiers in the Research on Human– Animal Interaction

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses epidemiological studies of older adults and human–animal interaction (HAI), and potential relevance to future research on HAI and animal-assisted interventions (AAI) in aging populations. Key issues in epidemiological work are discussed, including target populations, treatment/exposures, follow up, and endpoint measures as they relate to interacting with or owning companion animals. In outlining the limits in our current state of knowledge, we also make recommendations for the design and analysis of epidemiological studies to advance research on HAI and aging.     

低分子肝素对早发型重度子痫前期治疗对母婴结局的影响分析

目的:探讨低分子肝素对早发型重度子痫前期治疗情况,并分析治疗对母婴结局的影响。方法:选择我院2012年1月~12月收治的早发型重度子痫前期患者120例,随机分为观察组和对照组,每组60例。对照组给予常规治疗,观察组在对照组治疗基础上加用低分子肝素。比较两组血压、24 h尿量、尿蛋白定量、尿酸、血常规、凝血功能及孕周延长时间、围产儿结局和产妇并发症。结果:两组患者临床指标无差异(P0.05),治疗后两组血压、24 h尿量、尿蛋白定量均显著改善,观察组红细胞压积、纤维蛋白原降低明显高于对照组,而观察组患者的产妇并发症和围产儿不良结局发生率均低于对照组,且产妇孕周延长时间明显多于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患者的血小板、凝血酶原时间等治疗前后均无明显变化(P0.05)。结论:低分子肝素对早发型重度子痫前期的治疗能有效抑制高凝状态,改善肾功能,延长孕周时间,可有效减少患者并发症的发生,改善母婴预后,值得临床推广应用。     

The Mathematical Basis of Mendelian Genetics

In a climate where increasing numbers of students are encouraged to pursue post-secondary education, the level of preparedness students have for college-level coursework is not far from the minds of all educators, especially high school teachers. Specifically within the biological sciences, introductory biology classes often serve as the gatekeeper or a pre-requisite for subsequent coursework in those fields and pre-professional programmes (eg pre-medicine or pre-veterinarian). Thus, how helpful high school science and mathematics experiences are in preparing students for their introductory biology classes is important and relevant for teachers, science educators and policy makers alike. This quantitative study looked at the association between students' high school science and mathematics experiences with introductory college biology performance. Using a nationally representative sample of US students (n?=?2667) enrolled in 33 introductory college biology courses, a multi-level statistical model was developed to analyse the association between high school educational experiences and the final course grade in introductory biology courses. Advanced high school science and mathematics coursework, an emphasis on a deep conceptual understanding of biology concepts and a prior knowledge of concepts addressed in well-structured laboratory investigations are all positively associated with students' achievement in introductory college biology.     

Assessing treatment effect heterogeneity in clinical trials with blocked binary outcomes

This paper addresses treatment effect heterogeneity (also referred to, more compactly, as 'treatment heterogeneity') in the context of a controlled clinical trial with binary endpoints. Treatment heterogeneity, variation in the true (causal) individual treatment effects, is explored using the concept of the potential outcome. This framework supposes the existance of latent responses for each subject corresponding to each possible treatment. In the context of a binary endpoint, treatment heterogeniety may be represented by the parameter, pi2, the probability that an individual would have a failure on the experimental treatment, if received, and would have a success on control, if received. Previous research derived bounds for pi2 based on matched pairs data. The present research extends this method to the blocked data context. Estimates (and their variances) and confidence intervals for the bounds are derived. We apply the new method to data from a renal disease clinical trial. In this example, bounds based on the blocked data are narrower than the corresponding bounds based only on the marginal success proportions. Some remaining challenges (including the possibility of further reducing bound widths) are discussed.     

孕期规律运动与妊娠期糖代谢异常关系的研究

目的探讨不同方式干预孕期运动与妊娠期糖代谢异常的关系及对妊娠结局的影响。方法将300例孕14周单胎孕妇按阶段分为两组各150例,干预组对孕妇进行评估,建立孕妇档案,孕期通过个体化运动干预,给予孕妇个体化、具体的适度运动处方及给予督导规律运动;对照组采用传统的产前检查及常规护理。观察比较两组孕妇血糖变化、体重增长及妊娠结局。结果干预组空腹,餐后2h血糖值,妊娠末期体重,发生糖代谢异常,早产儿、新生儿窒息、巨大儿以及剖宫产率均低于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论通过个体化护理对孕期运动进行干预,有效控制血糖值,降低母婴并发症的发生。     

The compliance score as a regressor in randomized trials

The compliance score in randomized trials is a measure of the effect of randomization on treatment received. It is in principle a group-level pretreatment variable and so can be used where individual-level measures of treatment received can produce misleading inferences. The interpretation of models with the compliance score as a regressor of interest depends on the link function. Using the identity link can lead to valid inference about the effects of treatment received even in the presence of nonrandom noncompliance; such inference is more problematic for nonlinear links. We illustrate these points with data from two randomized trials.     

The Use of Multiple Outcomes Analysis in Neurotoxicity: An Example from the New Zealand Study of Offspring of Mothers Exposed to Methyl Mercury

Neurotoxicity has become an important area in the study of the risk to children of noncarcinogens. Many of the tests used to evaluate neurotoxic effects in neurotoxic studies are psychometric tests to assess cognitive, motor, and perceptual performance in individuals in order to determine the presence of psychological problems, impaired educational achievement, or neurological abnormalities. The underlying assumption of these procedures are that a test performance deficit is indicative of a neurological disability, and that such disability derives from the prenatal exposure to an offending substance. The usual analytic paradigm for discerning environmental impacts is to analyze the scores of a particular subtest in a battery taken separately as the dependent variable with regression analysis, which adjusts for cultural background, educational level, and socioeconomic status. The impact of this analysis is to determine the correlation of each of the psychometric test results to exposure. We show a statistical method to simultaneously analyze the multiple outcomes of many tests using General Estimating Equations (GEE) to determine if a correlation exists between the global measure of all these tests and exposure adjusted for covariates of interest and the correlation among the dependent psychometric variables. We show the application of this method to the results of children whose mothers were exposed to mercury during pregnancy.     

女性甲状腺癌的病理与预后分析

目的:探讨女性甲状腺癌的病理特点以及预后影响因素。方法:收集2005年1月至2009年8月,齐齐哈尔和平医院收治的女性甲状腺癌患者148例,回顾分析其临床病理特点以及预后影响因素。结果:病理检查显示131例(88.5%)甲状腺乳头状癌(PTC),6例(4.1%)为滤泡状癌(FTC),3例(2.0%)为髓样癌(MTC),6例(4.1%)为未分化癌(ATC);病理分期Ⅰ-Ⅱ期占45.3%,Ⅲ-Ⅳ期占54.7%;27例(18.24%)为周围组织侵犯,9例(6.1%)为远处转移,10例(6.76%)对侧甲状腺转移,56例(37.84%)颈部淋巴结转移;1年、3年、5年生存率依次为97.3%、93.2%、83.8%;年龄、病理床分期、病理类型、淋巴结转移、远处转移以及周围组织侵犯均是影响临床预后的重要因素(P0.05)。结论:女性甲状腺癌存在病理分期晚、病理分型差、淋巴结转移、远处转移及局部侵犯率高等不良预后因素,早期影像学检查对临床治疗具有指导意义。