Development of the multidimensional index of life quality. A quality of life measure for cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to design a multidimensional measure of health-related quality of life appropriate for patients with cardiovascular disease that was psychometrically sound, brief, and easy to administer. METHODS: Qualitative interviews conducted with healthy subjects and patients with cardiovascular diseases identified nine major quality of life domains. Based on the responses of 129 cardiovascular disease patients recruited from hospitals and clinics, a criterion-based approach was used to select 35 questionnaire items that best tapped these domains. Psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Index of Life Quality (MILQ) were tested with a sample of 348 patients with various cardiovascular diseases. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was 0.76 or higher for eight of the nine MILQ domains. Test-retest reliability coefficients were 0.73 or greater in all but two domains. Individual domain scores as well as a weighted overall quality of life index were correlated highly with self-assessed health and the number of heart-related symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The Multidimensional Index of Life Quality is a psychometrically reliable and valid instrument for measuring quality of life in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The MILQ also may be a suitable measure for other types of chronic diseases.     

Psychosocial, behavioral, and health factors related to menopause symptomatology

California Proposition 65 (Prop65) provides a mechanism by which the manufacturer may perform a quantitative risk assessment to be used in determining the need for cancer warning labels. This paper presents a risk assessment under this regulation for professional and do-it-yourself insulation installers. It determines the level of insulation glass fiber exposure (specifically Owens Corning's R-25 PinkPlus with Miraflex) that, assuming a working lifetime exposure, poses no significant cancer risk under Prop65's regulations. "No significant risk" is defined under Prop65 as a lifetime risk of no more than one additional cancer case per 100,000 exposed persons, and nonsignificant exposure is defined as a working lifetime exposure associated with "no significant risk." This determination can be carried out despite the fact that the relevant underlying studies (i.e., chronic inhalation bioassays) of comparable glass wool fibers do not show tumorigenic activity. Nonsignificant exposures are estimated from (1) the most recent RCC chronic inhalation bioassay of nondurable fiberglass in rats; (2) intraperitoneal fiberglass injection studies in rats; (3) a distributional, decision analysis approach applied to four chronic inhalation rat bioassays of conventional fiberglass; (4) an extrapolation from the RCC chronic rat inhalation bioassay of durable refractory ceramic fibers; and (5) an extrapolation from the IOM chronic rat inhalation bioassay of durable E glass microfibers. When the EPA linear nonthreshold model is used, central estimates of nonsignificant exposure range from 0.36 fibers/cc (for the RCC chronic inhalation bioassay of fiberglass) through 21 fibers/cc (for the i.p. fiberglass injection studies). Lower 95% confidence bounds on these estimates vary from 0.17 fibers/cc through 13 fibers/cc. Estimates derived from the distributional approach or from applying the EPA linear nonthreshold model to chronic bioassays of durable fibers such as refractory ceramic fiber or E glass microfibers are intermediate to the other approaches. Estimates based on the Weibull 1.5-hit nonthreshold and 2-hit threshold models exceed by at least a factor of 10 the corresponding EPA linear nonthreshold estimates. The lowest nonsignificant exposures derived in this assessment are at least a factor of two higher than field exposures measured for professionals installing the R-25 fiberglass insulation product and are orders of magnitude higher than the estimated lifetime exposures for do-it-yourselfers.     

RAVE: the resource‐aware visualization environment

We present the resource‐aware visualization environment (RAVE) project, from its inception and design phases, through implementation choices and final actual use cases. RAVE is a distributed, collaborative Grid‐enabled visualization environment that supports automated resource discovery across heterogeneous machines. RAVE runs as a background process using Web services, enabling us to share resources with other users rather than commandeering an entire machine. RAVE supports a wide range of machines, from hand‐held PDAs to high‐end servers with large‐scale stereoscopic, tracked displays. The local display device may render all, some or none of the data set remotely, depending on its capability and present loading, utilizing remote servers to assist where necessary. This enables scientists and engineers to collaborate from their desks, in the field, or in front of specialized immersive displays. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

他们为何如此"挑剔"?

经济的不景气,使许多美国人都丢了自己原来的"铁饭碗"、"金饭碗".在一家能源公司任职客户经理的Jerry很不幸地成为了这支失业大军的一员.碰上这样的倒霉事情,Jerry只能感叹:原来不测是随时会降临的,自己的命运掌握在老板的手中,想控制和改变也不容易啊.幸好Jerry天生是个乐天派,他并没有被这个厄运打倒,失业的三个月中,他想尽办法找寻新工作,跑了一家又一家的公司,从来没有放弃过任何机会.     

2000年以后丝网印刷的前景

本文为色丽可公司国际销售及技术经理在最近的澳大利亚２０００年丝网印刷研讨会上发言的一部分,表达了作者对２０００年以后丝网印刷前景的一些想法和看法,现在本刊发表,以期给我国的丝网印刷业者和广大的读者以启迪。     

英国家庭理财攻略

家庭的经济情况: 31岁的英国人MarkReece和他29岁的太太Tara Reece居住在英国东南部的罗切斯特.目前家庭的经济状况挺让人羡慕:他们拥有两栋房子,总价值是27万英镑,而房子的按揭贷款大概为8万英镑;两人还建立了一个比较偏重投资收益的投资组合:其中包括价值14200英镑的个人股票、景顺投资公司(Invesco)价值11800英镑的个人参股计划;银行中的储蓄合共19200英镑;另外还有1000英镑的国家储蓄和投资贴息债券,以及两份人寿保单.     

Non-partitionable point sets

Let S be a finite set of n points in d-dimensional space. S is α(n)-partitionable if there exists a set of d mutually intersecting hyperplanes that divide d-space into 2^d open regions, no 2^d ? 1 of which together contain more than α(n) points of S. Willard (1982) has shown that every set in 2-space is $\text{3}\text{4}$n-partitionable. Yao (1983) has shown that every set in 3-space is $\text{23}\text{24}$n-partitionable. It is shown here that there exist sets S of arbitrary cardinality in d-space, d ? 5, for which d² + 1 open regions together contain at least n ? d² points of S, in any partition by d intersecting hyperplanes. Further, at least 2^d ? d² ? 1 open regions contain no points of S. This implies that the powerful balanced quad and oct-trees introduced by the above authors may not be generalized to balanced 2^d-trees in dimension at least 5.     

Computing the volume of the union of spheres

OnO(n ²) exact algorithm is given for computing the volume of a set ofn spheres in space. The algorithm employs the Laguerre Voronoi (power) diagram and a method for computing the volume of the intersection of a simplex and a sphere exactly. We give a new proof of a special case of a conjecture, popularized by Klee, concerning the change in volume as the centres of the spheres become further apart.     

富裕的理发师[7]

我是Cathy,一名普通的加拿大小镇居民,生活平静而安逸.每个月我都会到Roy的理发店去理发.Roy平常看起来就是一个老实、技术娴熟的理发师,可是去他那里理发,跟他海阔天空地聊天却总让我有许许多多意外的收获……