Influence of fathers' social class on cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men

BACKGROUND: The independent effect of early life circumstances on adult cardiovascular risk is still unresolved. We assessed the associations of father's social class with cardiovascular risk factors and with risk of ischaemic heart disease and stroke in adult life. METHODS: We did a longitudinal study of cardiovascular disease in 5934 men aged 40-59 years at enrollment. A cross-sectional measurement survey was done between 1978 and 1980 and a follow-up questionnaire was completed in 1992. The main endpoints were non-fatal myocardial infarction and stroke based on general practitioners' reports obtained between screening and 1992 and on recall of physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease in the 1992 questionnaire. FINDINGS: Father's social class was strongly associated with social class in adulthood (fathers' occupation was manual for 41.3% of professionals [I] vs 89.1% for unskilled manual workers [V]) and was significantly related to height (non-manual vs manual 175.4 cm [SE 0.2] vs 172.9 cm [0.1], p < 0.0001) and obesity (213 [14.1%] vs 804 [20.1%], p < 0.0001) irrespective of adult social class; no association was found with blood glucose (log, 1.69 [0.005] vs 1.70 [0.003], p = 0.22) or cholesterol (6.34 [0.03] vs 6.29 mmol/L [0.02], p = 0.16. Men whose fathers' social class was manual had significantly higher rates of non-fatal myocardial infarction (342/4006 vs 92/1510) and self-reported physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease (686/4006 vs 192/1510) than men whose fathers' social class was non-manual, even after adjustment for adult social class and other established risk factors (relative odds 1.3 [95% Cl 1.0-1.7], p < 0.05 and 1.3 [1.1-1.6], p < 0.01, respectively). The influence of father's social class on non-fatal myocardial infarction and ischaemic heart disease was only seen in men whose adult social class was non-manual. No association was seen between father's social class and non-fatal stroke. INTERPRETATION: Father's social class is strongly associated with adult social class. The higher risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction and self-reported physician-diagnosed ischaemic heart disease seen in men whose father's social class was manual suggests that socioeconomic status early in life has some persisting influence on ischaemic heart disease risk in adult life.     

Motor proficiency and attentional-task performance by psychotic patients.

Investigated the relation between motor proficiency and performance on the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) among 24 schizophrenic inpatients (mean age 34 yrs) and 24 inpatients with affective disorders (mean age 33.8 yrs). Ss completed the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. A correlational analysis revealed that motor subtest scores were significantly related to CPT performance indexes for all Ss; decreased motor proficiency was related to more CPT errors and longer RTs. Results suggest that CPT performance is related to motoric factors and that deficits on this task may be partially attributable to poor motor abilities. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ionic requirements for the active ileal bile salt transport system

A new system of surface-induced profound hypothermia for infant cardiac operations has been developed in order to overcome problems inherent in the current techniques using crushed ice, water baths, and similar methods. The hypothermic chamber consists of two parts: a lower part, containing a refrigeration unit and a blower fan capable of lowering the air temperature in the chamber to -6 degrees C, and an upper part made of Plexiglas that has a completely detachable end to allow easy access to cannulas, the anesthesia hose, and the infant. A temperature panel recorder to monitor the infant's esophageal and rectal temperatures and the ambient chamber temperature is incorporated into the unit. Following evaluation in the animal laboratory, the hypothermic chamber has been successfully used in 10 infants without any complications attributable to the technique. This method provides a rapid and uniform drop of the body temperature and even skin cooling, eliminates the possibility of contact skin lesions, saves medical and paramedical personnel time in preparation of the infant and equipment, and allows observation of the child during the cooling phase. This hypothermic chamber has facilitated infant hypothermic operations.     

The finite difference and localized Ritz methods

The conventional central finite difference equations for the plane stress extension of flat plates are derived as a localized Ritz process. A dual differential-variational discretization of this type enables common classification of the finite difference and finite element methods. Also, it provides alternative methods of establishing sufficiency conditions and relative rates of convergence for discrete systems derived from a localized Ritz process, and the existence of solution bounds for discrete systems derived using difference procedures.