Cannabis uses in young New Zealanders.
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Adolescent↗
Biomedical subjects
J E Wells
Publications and source records attributed to J E Wells.
The cross-national epidemiology of panic disorder.
BACKGROUND: Epidemiological data on panic disorder from community studies from 10 countries around the world are presented to determine the consistency of findings across diverse cultures. METHOD: Data from independently conducted community surveys from 10 countries (the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, France, West Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Taiwan, Korea, and New Zealand), using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and DSM-III criteria and including over 40,000 subjects, were analyzed with appropriate standardization for age and sex differences among subjects from different countries. RESULTS: The lifetime prevalence rates for panic disorder ranged from 1.4 per 100 in Edmonton, Alberta, to 2.9 per 100 in Florence, Italy, with the exception of that in Taiwan, 0.4 per 100, where rates for most psychiatric disorders are low. Mean age at first onset was usually in early to middle adulthood. The rates were higher in female than male subjects in all countries. Panic disorder was associated with an increased risk of agoraphobia and major depression in all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Panic disorder is relatively consistent, with a few exceptions, in rates and patterns across different countries. It is unclear why the rates of panic and other psychiatric disorders are lower in Taiwan.
Adolescent↗
Breast cancer screening: the effect of self selection for screening on comparisons of randomised controlled trials.
In randomised controlled trials of breast cancer screening women are randomly allocated to an intervention group that is offered screening, or a control group that receives the usual medical care. Not all women in the intervention group accept screening; the women who do so may differ from other women in their underlying risk of breast cancer. This self selection for screening can result in either women at high risk or at low risk being overrepresented in the screened group. When comparisons between trials are made it is important to take self selection for screening into account, as a trial with self selection of women at high risk has the potential to have greater efficacy than a trial with self selection of women at low risk. A method of adjusting for self selection when comparing randomised controlled trials of breast cancer screening is described.
Breast Neoplasms↗
Family history of depression in clinic and community samples.
Because most published family studies of depression ascertained subjects from treatment settings, the reported familial aggregation of depression could be an artifact if a family history of depression increased the likelihood of seeking treatment. To investigate this possibility, we compared the family history of depression in three groups of probands aged 18-44; 54 women randomly selected from the community with depression in the prior year, 41 women who entered a clinical trial for depression and 37 women randomly selected from the community who had not been depressed in the prior year. The presence of depression in the parents and siblings of the probands was assessed by the family history method and quantified via family history scores which took the age, gender and number of relatives into account. Depressed probands ascertained from clinical sources had markedly higher family history scores of depression than other two groups (P < 0.00005 in each instance). In the absence of direct interviews with relatives, we cannot exclude the impact of differential reporting. A family history of depression might be associated with an increased probability of treatment or the differential reporting of family history. It is thus possible that the familial aggregation of depression observed in probands from treatment settings is an artifact.
Adolescent↗
The effect of socioeconomic status on bone density in a male Caucasian population.
We have examined the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on bone density (BMD) in 201 males, aged 20-60 years. Males of lower SES (groups 4-6 vs. 1-3) from the total sample had significantly higher BMD (p < 0.05) at L2-4 and femoral neck. The difference was small but was not explained by differences in age, weight, calcium intake, family history, activity, or smoking. 45% of SES 4-6 males were involved in manual labor compared with 11% of those in SES 1-3, however, this also did not appear to account for the difference.
Adult↗
The effect of growth and starvation on the lysis of the ruminal cellulolytic bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes.
Growing cultures of Fibrobacter succinogenes assimilated more ammonia than could be accounted for by cellular protein, RNA, or DNA and released large amounts of nonammonia nitrogen. The difference between net and true growth was most dramatic at low dilution rates, but mathematical derivations indicated that the lysis rate was a growth rate-independent function. The lysis rate was sevenfold greater than the true maintenance rate (0.07 h-1 versus 0.01 h-1). Because slowly growing cells had as much proton motive force and ATP as fast-growing cells, lysis was not a starvation response per se. Stationary-phase cells had a lysis rate that was 10-fold less than that of growing cells. Rapidly growing cells were not susceptible to phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, but phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride increased the lysis rate of the cultures when they reached the stationary phase. This latter result indicated that autolysins of stationary-phase cells were being inactivated by a serine proteinase. When growing cells were treated with the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetate, the proteinase-dependent transition to the stationary phase was circumvented, and the rate of lysis could be increased by as much as 50-fold.
Ammonia↗
Impulsivity in disordered eating, affective disorder and substance use disorder.
BACKGROUND: Failure to control impulsive behaviour has been postulated as an underlying mechanism common to substance use disorder, sociopathy and to a substantial subgroup of women with bulimia nervosa. METHOD: Three hundred and one women recruited to a general population study were selected either at random or because they had lifetime substance use disorder, affective disorder or symptoms of bulimia. A subsequent interview determined the existence of problems with impulsivity. Behaviour that is an integral part of a DSM-III axis 1 disorder was excluded from the impulsivity measure. RESULTS: Similar rates of impulsivity were found in all three of these types of disorder, and this was little different from the rate found in the women selected randomly from the general population. However, among those with comorbid disorder there was more impulsivity, and the more comorbid disorders found, the higher the proportion with problems of impulsivity. CONCLUSIONS: Because those in treatment facilities are more likely to have other comorbid disorders (Berkson's bias), findings derived from observations of women with bulimia who are in treatment may be compromised by selection bias and may have limited applicability to those with the disorder who are not in treatment.
Adolescent↗
Why do many ruminal bacteria die and lyse so quickly?
Studies using 15N have indicated that as much as 50% of the microbial mass turns over before N passes to the lower gut, and this N recycling significantly decreases the availability of microbial protein. Protozoa digest bacteria and smaller protozoa, but bacterial protein can turn over even if protozoa are not present. Fibrobacter succinogenes cultures lyse even when they are growing, and the lysis rate is independent of growth rate. When extracellular sugar is depleted, F. succinogenes secretes an extracellular proteinase that inactivates the autolysins. This method of autolytic regulation decreases the turnover of stationary cells. Bacteriophage and anaeroplasma can cause lysogeny, but, as yet, there is little proof that these processes are important determinants of bacterial turnover in vivo. Dietary manipulations (e.g., salt feeding and particle size reduction) that increase liquid and solid dilution rates can increase bacterial flow by decreasing bacterial residence time and turnover. Some dead ruminal bacteria are able to maintain their cellular integrity, and the ratio of dead to live cells in ruminal fluid may be as great as 10:1. Bacterial survival appears to be at least partially explained by the method of sugar transport. When bacteria rely solely on mechanisms of ion-coupled sugar symport, an energized membrane is necessary for the reinitiation of growth. If group translocation (phosphotransferase system) is the mechanisms of transport, uptake can be driven by phosphoenolpyruvate, and an energized membrane and the storage of intracellular reserve materials are not an absolute criteria for survival. In some cases, N deprivation accelerates death. When Prevotella ruminicola was limited for N under conditions of excess energy, methylglyoxal production caused a rapid decrease in viability. The impact of bacterial death in the rumen is not clear-cut. If the rate of fermentation is zero-order with respect to cell concentration (substrate-limited), cell death would have little impact on digestion.
Animals↗
Telephone support for pregnant women: outcome in late pregnancy.
AIM: The aim of the study was to test the psychosocial benefits of a telephone support program for pregnant women. METHOD: Randomised controlled trial. The study sample were women recruited from an antenatal clinic and general practice surgeries who were less than 20 weeks gestation and either single or in a relationship where the partner was unemployed. Women in the intervention group received weekly telephone calls throughout their pregnancy. All women were interviewed initially and at 34 weeks gestation. There were 66 women in the control group and 65 women in the intervention group. RESULTS: The intervention and control groups did not differ significantly on the psychosocial measures at baseline. Comparisons at 34 weeks were made by analysis of covariance using the baseline scores. The intervention group at 34 weeks had lower stress scores than the control group (means 16.5 vs 18.4, p = 0.02), lower trait anxiety (means 35.2 vs 39.4, p = 0.04) and less depressed mood (means 6.6 vs 8.1, p = 0.02). Self esteem was higher for the intervention group (means 34.9 vs 32.5, p = 0.008). The intervention failed to alter smoking but the intervention women did report more use of community resources (p = 0.02) and were less likely to skip meals (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: A low cost health promotion program of telephone support during pregnancy can significantly improve a woman's psychosocial status during pregnancy.
Adult↗
Adverse parenting and other childhood experience as risk factors for depression in women aged 18-44 years.
65 women who had experienced a recent major depressive disorder, and 81 women who had never been depressed, were recruited from a community probability sample. The two groups of women were compared with regard to a number of childhood experiences, including parenting style, which was assessed with the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). When all the childhood factors were considered simultaneously in a logistic regression analysis, only low maternal care was significantly associated with recent depressive episodes. Low maternal care increased the risk of recent major depression approximately 4-fold and the estimate of the population attributable risk was 35%. These findings give further weight to the contention that adverse parenting in childhood, particularly a maternal parenting style typified by low care, is a significant risk factor for adult depression.
Adolescent↗
The effect of carbohydrates on the expression of the Prevotella ruminicola 1,4-beta-D-endoglucanase.
The beta-1,4-endoglucanase of the ruminal bacterium, Prevotella ruminicola B14, hydrolysed carboxymethylcellulose and barley glucan but not xylan or mannan. Endoglucanase activity was present in 88- and 82-kDa proteins, and there was at least a 20-fold variation in endoglucanase activity when P. ruminicola B14 was grown on different sugars. The highest activities were observed with mannose, cellobiose or xylose and little activity was observed with sucrose, arabinose or rhamnose, P. ruminicola B14 also had significant xylanase and mannanase activities, but these activities were present in proteins that had lower molecular masses than the endoglucanase and these proteins did not cross-react with antibody made against the endoglucanase. Mannanase activity has a similar pattern of expression to the endoglucanase, while the xylanase was not induced or repressed by the same sugars or combinations of sugars. The xylanase activity was greatest when xylan was the energy source for growth, but xylose was a very poor inducer of xylanase activity.
Animals↗
The acute effects of oral ethanol on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in normal human subjects.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the acute effects of oral ethanol on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in normal human subjects and, in particular, to examine the effect of background alcohol intake and gastrointestinal side-effects on this response. DESIGN: Plasma ethanol, cortisol, ACTH, corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and AVP were measured half-hourly for 4 hours following 1.1 ml/kg of 95% ethanol or placebo in a cross-over study. At least one week elapsed between each procedure. SUBJECTS: Twelve healthy non-alcoholic volunteers with a wide range of background alcohol intakes. MEASUREMENTS: Peptide hormones were measured by radioimmunoassay, cortisol by ELISA and blood ethanol by headspace gas chromatography. Results are expressed as mean +/- SEM. RESULTS: Blood ethanol levels peaked at one hour post ethanol ingestion. Three subjects developed significant gastrointestinal (GI) side-effects, with two vomiting and one experiencing moderate to severe nausea. There was no difference between peak blood ethanol levels in the groups with and without GI side-effects (34.5 +/- 2.4 mmol/l vs 34.3 +/- 1.7 mmol/l respectively). ACTH and cortisol rose in those subjects who experienced GI side-effects (P < 0.0001 for each). The remaining subjects had a tendency for ACTH and cortisol to be higher on the placebo day. The group with GI side-effects following ethanol administration had a significant rise in AVP (P < 0.02) that was synchronous with ACTH and cortisol. No consistent alcohol related changes were seen in peripheral CRH levels, although there was a significant increase over time on both active and placebo days (P < 0.0001). In the group with no GI side-effects, AVP did not significantly fall in the first half hour following ethanol, while a significant fall did occur following placebo (P < 0.05). Plasma renin activity was, however, increased by ethanol (P < 0.05). The background alcohol intake of the group with GI side-effects was significantly lower than the group without (18 +/- 7 vs 235 +/- 51 g/week, P < 0.05), but no hormonal response was seen in two subjects with a relatively low alcohol intake (< 100 g/week) who did not experience GI side-effects. CONCLUSION: Intoxicating levels of ethanol per se do not result in activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in humans. However, gastrointestinal side-effects induced by the ethanol do result in such activation, which appears to be mediated by AVP as the dominant ACTH secretagogue. One of the factors which influences the blood ethanol level at which GI side-effects occur appears to be background alcohol intake.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗
Adoption as a risk factor for mental disorders.
Although adoption has been viewed as a risk factor for mental disorders in children and adolescents, few studies have investigated this association in adults. To address this question, we analyzed data from a random community sample of adults where the presence of adoption in the first year of life was systematically noted and where the presence of lifetime mental disorders was determined by structured interview. In comparison to individuals raised by both biological parents, adoption was strongly associated with a history of childhood conduct disorder, antisocial personality and drug abuse or dependence. Adoption may thus be a risk factor for these mental disorders.
Adolescent↗
Cellodextrin efflux by the cellulolytic ruminal bacterium Fibrobacter succinogenes and its potential role in the growth of nonadherent bacteria.
When glucose or cellobiose was provided as an energy source for Fibrobacter succinogenes, there was a transient accumulation (as much as 0.4 mM hexose equivalent) of cellobiose or cellotriose, respectively, in the growth medium. Nongrowing cell suspensions converted cellobiose to cellotriose and longer-chain cellodextrins, and in this case the total cellodextrin concentration was as much as 20 mM (hexose equivalent). Because cell extracts of glucose- or cellobiose-grown cells cleaved cellobioise and cellotriose by phosphate-dependent reactions and glucose 1-phosphate was an end product, it appeared that cellodextrins were being produced by a reversible phosphorylase reaction. This conclusion was supported by the observation that the ratio of cellodextrins to cellodextrins with one greater hexose [n/(n + 1)] was approximately 4, a value similar to the equilibrium constant (Keq) of cellobiose phosphorylase (J. K. Alexander, J. Bacteriol. 81:903-910, 1961). When F. succinogenes was grown in a cellobiose-limited chemostat, cellobiose and cellotriose could both be detected, and the ratio of cellotriose to cellobiose was approximately 1 to 4. On the basis of these results, cellodextrin production is an equilibrium (mass action) function and not just an artifact of energy-rich cultural conditions. Cellodextrins could not be detected in low-dilution-rate, cellulose-limited continuous cultures, but these cultures had a large number of nonadherent cells. Because the nonadherent cells had a large reserve of polysaccharide and were observed at all stages of cell division, it appeared that they were utilizing cellodextrins as an energy source for growth.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Animals↗
The cellular location of Prevotella ruminicola beta-1,4-D-endoglucanase and its occurrence in other strains of ruminal bacteria.
Prevotella ruminicola B(1)4, TC1-1, TF1-3, and TS1-5 all produced immunologically cross-reacting 88- and 82-kDa carboxymethyl cellulases (CMCases). P. ruminicola 23, 118B, 20-63, and 20-78 had much lower CMCase activities, and Western blots (immunoblots) showed no cross-reaction with the B(1)4 CMCase antiserum. Fibrobacter succinogenes S85 and Selenomonas ruminantium HD4 and D produced CMCase, but these enzymes were smaller and did not cross-react with the B(1)4 CMCase antiserum. The B(1)4 CMCase antiserum inhibited the B(1)4, TC1-1, TF1-3, and TS1-5 CMCase activities and agglutinated these cells, but it had no effect on the other strains or species. On the basis of these results, the B(1)4 CMCase is a strain-specific enzyme that is located on the outside surface of the cells. P. ruminicola B(1)4 cultures, grown on sucrose, did not have significant CMCase activity, but these cells could bind purified 88- and 82-kDa CMCase but not 40.5-kDa CMCase. Because the 40.5-kDa CMCase is a fully active, truncated form of the CMCase, it appears that the N-terminal domain of the 88-kDa B(1)4 CMCase anchors the CMCase to the cells. Cells grown on cellobiose produced at least 10-fold more CMCase than the sucrose-grown cells, and the cellobiose-grown cells could only bind 15% as much CMCase as sucrose-grown cells. Virtually all of the CMCase activity of exponentially growing cultures was cell associated, but CMCase activity was eventually detected in the culture supernatant. On the basis of the observation that the 88-kDa CMCase was gradually converted to the 82-kDa CMCase when cultures reached the stationary phase without a change in specific activity, it appears that the 82-kDa protein is probably a proteolytic degradation product of the 88-kDa CMCase.
Animals↗
Detection of obstructive uropathy in the fetus: predictive value of sonographic measurements of renal pelvic diameter at various gestational ages.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of our study was to analyze the fetal renal pelvic diameters measured sonographically at several gestational intervals in live-born neonates subsequently found to have either obstructive uropathy or normal kidneys. This information will improve the efficacy of sonography in the diagnosis of obstructive uropathy. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: From an ongoing prospective study assessing the significance of fetal renal pelvic diameters of 4 mm or more at obstetric sonography, the findings in 29 obstructed kidneys in 24 babies were compared with the findings in 380 kidneys from 233 infants who had no obstruction. Twenty-three infants had unilateral obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction, two had unilateral renal obstruction at the ureterovesical junction, one had posterior urethral valves and in addition had both kidneys obstructed because of obstruction at the ureterovesical junction, one kidney was obstructed because of megaloureter, and one kidney was obstructed because of obstruction in a duplex collecting system. Obstruction was identified on nephrostograms, excretory urograms, or radionuclide renograms. The sonographic findings were compared at three gestational age ranges: 16-23 weeks' gestation, 24-30 weeks' gestation, and 31-40 weeks' gestation. The progression of pelvic dilatation in both groups (12 obstructed and 86 unobstructed) was analyzed for the subset of kidneys examined in all three time periods. RESULTS: At 16-23 weeks' gestation, the difference in mean pelvic diameter between obstructed and unobstructed kidneys was not statistically significant, but the difference between obstructed and unobstructed groups at 24-30 weeks' and 31-40 weeks' gestation was significant (p < .001). Renal pelvic diameter showed a much greater rise in diameter through pregnancy in the obstructed group than in the unobstructed group (p < .0003). The sensitivity of the cutoff point of 4-mm renal pelvic diameter for detecting obstruction was 76% before 23 weeks' gestation, including kidneys with a marked decrease in function postnatally; the sensitivity of a 10-mm cutoff point at 16-23 weeks' gestation was 12%. The likelihood that a fetus had renal obstruction increased with increasing diameter of the fetal renal pelvis in all three time periods. CONCLUSION: Kidneys with significant obstruction postnatally may have no dilatation of the renal pelvis before 23 weeks' gestation. Most obstructed kidneys had pelvic diameters of less than 10 mm before 23 weeks' gestation. During pregnancy, renal pelvic diameter increases at a greater rate in kidneys that later are shown to be obstructed than in those that are not obstructed.
Female↗
Disruptions in childhood parental care as risk factors for major depression in adult women.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of different types of disruptions in childhood parental care before the age of 15 years as risk factors for major depression in women aged 18 to 44 years. The types of disruptions studied were parental death, parental separation or divorce, other types of loss (i.e. adoption, foster-care, etc.), and prolonged separation from both parents. Potential confounding factors were also examined. METHOD: The data were obtained from a community probability sample. Caseness was determined by the use of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) and both the current (one month) and lifetime prevalence periods were considered. Logistic regression was used to model the influence of each factor, singly and adjusted for the influence of other factors, on the risk for major depression. RESULTS: It was found that in this population 17% had experienced some type of parental loss (parental death 4%, separations/divorce 10% and other types of loss 3%) and 11% had experienced prolonged separation from both parents. Parental loss was significantly associated with lifetime depression, but this effect was no longer significant when adjusted for other factors. However, prolonged separation from both parents was associated with an increased risk of current and lifetime depressive episodes of approximately three to fourfold, even when the risk was adjusted for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that prolonged separation from both parents has a stronger association with current or lifetime depression in women than do parental death, separation/divorce and other types of loss. Prolonged separation may be a marker for other risk factors and may not be a risk factor on its own.
Adolescent↗
Long term follow up of patients with IgA nephropathy.
AIM: To assess the long term outcome of patients with IgA nephropathy. METHOD: The outcome of 151 patients (120 male; mean age 32.5, median age 29.6, SD 15.4 years; 146 Caucasian) with biopsy-proven IgA nephropathy. The patients were enrolled between 30 April 1973 and 21 August 1992. RESULTS: Ninety-five (63%) of the patients presented with microscopic haematuria, with or without proteinuria and/or renal insufficiency. At presentation renal insufficiency was present in 34% and hypertension in 48% of patients. During a mean follow up period of 63.3 months (range 0-233 months) 12 patients have reached end stage renal failure, five have died of a nonrenal cause and 25 were lost to follow up. The actuarial renal survival rate was 92.6% at five years and 91.1% at both 10 and 15 years. A significantly poorer renal survival rate was seen in those patients with a plasma creatinine > or = 0.12 mmol/L, hypertension, a serum albumin of < 35 g/L, or a 24 hour urinary albumin excretion > or = 1.0 g at presentation, and this became apparent within the first few years of follow up. CONCLUSIONS: The long term outcome of IgA nephropathy is better than previously reported. Those patients with a poor prognosis can be identified with considerable certainty at presentation.
Actuarial Analysis↗