Attitudes of women of childbearing age towards prenatal diagnosis in southeastern France

The objective of this study was to explore women's attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis of trisomy 21 and to examine some of the factors possibly responsible for these attitudes before implementing in real practice serological screening of pregnant women at risk for trisomy 21. We carried out a telephone survey on a representative sample of women who had recently had a normal livebirth delivery in the Marseille district in 1990. The participation rate was 80 per cent and the average age of the mothers was 28.9 years. Among the 514 women interviewed, 78 per cent stated that they would ask for an amniocentesis for a 1 per cent risk of trisomy 21 at their next pregnancy. When adjusting for confounding factors, the decision to have or not to have an amniocentesis was found to depend not only on the women's attitude towards induced abortion, but also on their understanding of the risk involved and on the social context (knowing a handicapped child, discussion with the father). It also depended on the women's age and on what they knew about amniocentesis from the medical point of view. The risk of miscarriage can influence a woman's choice but this objection was not found to affect the women's decisions significantly in our survey. The data showed the existence of a high potential demand for fetal karyotyping.     

Large reference displacement analysis of composite plates. Part II: Computer implementation

This investigation concerns itself with the computer implementation of the dynamic formulation of thin laminated composite plates consisting of layers of orthotropic laminae that undergo large arbitrary rigid body displacements and small elastic deformations. A finite element preprocessor computer program is developed to automatically generate the invariants of the laminae, which may have arbitrary orientations. The laminae invariants are then used to obtain the invariants of the elements and the composite laminated plate. The consistent and lumped mass formulations of the invariants of motion of composite plates are compared and it is concluded that the two methods are comparable, if a fine enough finite element mesh is used. The structure of the dynamic equations of motion, based on the formulation presented in Part I of this paper, is examined. Non-linear centrifugal and Coriolis forces arising as the result of the finite rotations of the laminae are defined, and the solution schemes of the resulting non-linear differential equations of motion are discussed. Numerical examples illustrating the differences between homogeneous isotropic and laminated composite plates are presented. An RSSR (Revolute-Spherical-Spherical-Revolute) mechanism is used in the numerical examples, with the coupler modelled as a laminated plate flexible body. It is found that the inertia of the plate contributed greatly to the transverse deformation. The effects of laminae orientation is also investigated.     

The MiniWiD-Coater. III. Effect of Application Temperature on the Dissolution Profile of Sustained-Release Theophylline Pellets Coated with Eudragit Rs 30 D

Theophylline pellets were coated with Eudragit RS 30 D in a miniature fluid-bed pan coater called MiniWiD developed recently. The dispersions were plasticized with varying amounts of triethyl citrate (TEC), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) and applied at different temperatures ranging from 25 to 45 °C. Theophylline release was tested by dissolution using the USP Apparatus 2 (paddle) in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid under sink conditions over 6 hours.

At a coating level of 4 % (0.7 mg/cm²) sustained-release profiles were obtained from dispersions plasticized with TEC or DBP. By reducing the amount of plasticizer from 20 to 10%, films with higher permeabilities were obtained. This effect was compensated by tempering the pellets at 50 deg;C for 24 hours. The coating temperature had little effect on the dissolution profiles of TEC-plasticized films and no effect on films with DBP.

Coatings plasticized with 20% PEG were applied at temperatures ranging from 25 to 45 °C. These films required a coating level of about 18 % (3.3 mg/cm²) to provide comparable sustained-release properties. In contrast to DBP and TEC, a strong influence of the coating temperature on the release rates was observed in which higher temperatures led to slower release rates. This behavior can be explained by the minimum film-forming temperature (MFT). Since PEG does not lower the MFT of Eudragit RS 30 D, the application of these films below the MFT of 45 °C is associated with a lower degree of film formation.     

Arthroscopic lysis in knee arthrofibrosis

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and toxicity of three patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) morphine regimens. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, pilot study of three PCA morphine regimens: (1) 1 mg with 6-minute lockout (n = 10), (2) 2 mg with 12-minute lockout (n = 12), and (3) 2 mg with 20-minute lockout (n = 12). SETTING: Large teaching institution. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-four patients undergoing cholecystectomy or hysterectomy. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain scores (0 = no pain, 1 = mild pain, 2 = moderate pain, 3 = severe pain), sedation scores, analgesic consumption, and patient attempts (patient activation of PCA device) and injections (doses actually delivered) were evaluated using analysis of covariance. Distribution of pain and sedation scores and adverse effects were assessed using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Data on 24 patients were evaluable. Six patients withdrew for poor pain control (2 in group 1, 1 in group 2, and 3 in group 3). Three other patients withdrew because of adverse effects and 1 withdrew because of pump problems. Mean morphine consumption did not differ significantly among the groups. Distribution of pain and sedation scores and the number of patients with nausea were similar across treatment groups. The mean injection to attempt ratio was significantly smaller in group 3 (0.71 +/- 0.11) compared with groups 1 and 2 (0.9 +/- 0.06 and 0.83 +/- 0.09, respectively; p = 0.001). Adverse events occurred similarly among treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: No significant differences in the efficacy or toxicity of the three morphine PCA regimens were identified.     

Diseases of the intracranial meninges: MR imaging features

Although the meninges are often thought of simplistically as a connective tissue sac that contains the CSF and the contents of the CNS, they are far more complex. Anatomically, they comprise several layers. Pathologically, numerous disease processes may affect the meninges; different processes may even involve different areas of the meninges. These factors all influence the MR imaging characteristics of meningeal lesions. This review briefly discusses the anatomy of the meninges, the MR imaging technique when meningeal disease is suspected, and the appearance of the normal meninges. It then focuses on tumors, infections, cysts, and other lesions that primarily involve the meninges, excluding lesions that secondarily involve the meninges.     

Psychological interventions to prevent HIV infection are urgently needed: New priorities for behavioral research in the second decade of AIDS.

Behavior change remains the only means for primary prevention of HIV disease. Psychology should take a leading role in efforts to curtail the epidemic, but has not contributed to HIV prevention at a level proportionate to the urgency of the crisis. The authors propose an updated agenda for behavioral research on AIDS-HIV prevention implementing accelerated community trials of promising behavior change models, conducting trials of community-level interventions on a large scale and focused on populations most vulnerable to HIV infections, establishing partnerships between HIV research and community service organizations, integrating efforts from across psychology disciplines to advance and refine HIV prevention interventions, and mobilizing interdisciplinary HIV prevention resources and communication mechanisms to rapidly translate research findings to community and public policy arenas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)