A systematic review and economic evaluation of alendronate, etidronate, risedronate, raloxifene and teriparatide for the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Objectives: To establish the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of selective oestrogen receptor modulators, bisphosphonates and parathyroid hormone (subject to licensing) for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and the prevention of osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women.

Data Sources: Electronic databases.

Review Methods: Studies that met the review's entry criteria were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analyses provided that they reported fracture incidence in terms of the number of patients suffering fractures.

Friction force microscopy: towards quantitative analysis of molecular organisation with nanometre spatial resolution.

Friction force microscopy (FFM) is a technique based upon scanning force microscopy that provides information on the properties of molecular materials. Continuum mechanics provides models that may be used to conduct quantitative analyses of data. While there are some important unresolved issues associated with the contact mechanics of the tip-sample interaction, there is a growing body of data that demonstrates the sensitivity of FFM to changes in molecular organisation and surface composition.

Confidence-accuracy calibration in absolute and relative face recognition judgments.

Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups).

Eyewitness identification accuracy and response latency: the unruly 10-12-second rule.

Data are reported from 3,213 research eyewitnesses confirming that accurate eyewitness identifications from lineups are made faster than are inaccurate identifications. However, consistent with predictions from the recognition and search literatures, the authors did not find support for the "10-12-s rule" in which lineup identifications faster than 10-12 s maximally discriminate between accurate and inaccurate identifications (D. Dunning & S.

Rituximab (MabThera) for aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: systematic review and economic evaluation.

Objectives: To determine the clinical and cost-effectiveness of adding rituximab to the CHOP (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) chemotherapy regime for adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

Data Sources: Electronic bibliographic database.

Review Methods: Comparative studies were selected for review if they addressed the clinical or cost-effectiveness of adding rituximab to CHOP in people aged at least 18 years with DLBCL.

Why do people report better health by phone than by mail?

Context: Past research shows that fewer health symptoms are reported by phone than by mail.

Objectives: We sought to examine whether interview mode-dependent differences in health symptom reporting are the result of socially desirable responding or to expending less cognitive effort when formulating responses, a behavior known as satisficing.

Design: Participants were randomly assigned to telephone interview only or to mail interview followed 2 weeks later by telephone interview.

Liquid-based cytology in cervical screening: an updated rapid and systematic review and economic analysis.

Objectives: To update an earlier published report reviewing the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of liquid-based cytology (LBC).

Data Sources: Electronic bibliographic databases, relevant articles, sponsor submissions and various health services research-related resources.

Review Methods: The selected data were reviewed and assessed with respect to the quality of the evidence.

The effects of accountability on bias in physician decision making: going from bad to worse.

Members of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians participated in a survey study in which they were asked to make hypothetical decisions in either high- or low-conflict treatment conditions. In the low-conflict treatment condition the options were a common medication with a referral or a referral only. In the high-conflict treatment condition the same two options were given plus another attractive medication.

Effects of postidentification feedback on eyewitness identification and nonidentification confidence.

Two experiments investigated new dimensions of the effect of confirming feedback on eyewitness identification confidence using target-absent and target-present lineups and (previously unused) unbiased witness instructions (i.e., "offender not present" option highlighted).

Risk perceptions and their relation to risk behavior.

Background: Because risk perceptions can affect protective behavior and protective behavior can affect risk perceptions, the relations between these 2 constructs are complex and incorrect tests often lead to invalid conclusions.

Purpose: To discuss and carry out appropriate tests of 3 easily confused hypotheses: (a). the behavior motivation hypothesis (perceptions of personal risk cause people to take protective action), (b).

Reported exposures, stressors, and life events among Gulf War Registry veterans.

We investigated the association of 15 exposures, 10 stressors, and 18 life events with illness symptoms reported by 978 veterans who believe they suffer from Gulf War-related illnesses. A mail survey was completed by veterans (60% response rate) from the Gulf War Health Registry. Variables most associated with high symptom group membership were reported chemical/biologic warfare (CBW), concerns with infection and faulty equipment, feelings of mistrust in the military, and disability leading to work stoppage within 2 years after the war.

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of new and emerging technologies for early localised prostate cancer: a systematic review.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of new and emerging technologies for early, localised prostate cancer.

Data Sources: Electronic databases, reference lists of relevant articles and various health services research-related resources.

Review Methods: A list of new and emerging technologies was identified and agreed.

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of capecitabine and tegafur with uracil for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer: systematic review and economic evaluation.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of capecitabine and tegafur with uracil (UFT/LV) as first-line treatments for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, as compared with 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (5-FU/FA) regimens.

Data Sources: Electronic databases, reference lists of relevant articles and sponsor submissions were also consulted.

Review Methods: Systematic searches, selection against criteria and quality assessment were performed to obtain data from relevant studies.

The clinical and cost-effectiveness of pulsatile machine perfusion versus cold storage of kidneys for transplantation retrieved from heart-beating and non-heart-beating donors.

Objectives: To evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of machine perfusion (MP) compared to cold storage (CS), as a means of preserving kidneys prior to transplantation. Transplantation of kidneys from both heart-beating donors (HBDs) and non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs) is considered. Finally to review whether the use of MP can allow valid testing of kidney viability prior to transplantation.

The influence of schemas, stimulus ambiguity, and interview schedule on eyewitness memory over time.

The authors examined how a crime schema influenced the types of details witnesses recalled over multiple interviews that varied in delay before the initial interview and between subsequent interviews. Accuracy data showed that, in general, schema-irrelevant traces experienced greater decay than schema-consistent and schema-inconsistent traces after the initial interview and that delaying the initial interview negatively affected recall at the initial interview but led to less decay over subsequent interviews. Ambiguity of the crime stimulus was also manipulated.

Pulsatile machine perfusion vs. cold storage of kidneys for transplantation: a rapid and systematic review.

Objective: To identify and prioritize key areas for further research in kidney preservation systems.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of machine perfusion and cold storage techniques in reducing delayed graft function (DGF) and improving graft survival in recipients of kidneys from beating and non-heart-beating donors. Literature quantifying the link between DGF and graft survival was used to evaluate the potential long-term impact of machine perfusion and cold storage systems.

Contrast effects in judgments of health hazards.

Researchers commonly use 2 models to explain contrast effects (CEs): the standard-of-comparison model and the set-reset model. The 2 models focus on the role of categorization to predict when a CE (instead of an assimilation effect) will happen, while minimizing the role of knowledge accessibility and relevance in determining whether any effect will occur. A 3rd model, the selective-accessibility model (F.

Parental identification of early behavioural abnormalities in children with autistic disorder.

The aim of the study was to identify early behavioural abnormalities in children later diagnosed with autistic disorder. Accurate identification of such deficits has implications for early diagnosis, intervention and prognosis. The parents of 153 children with autistic disorder completed a questionnaire asking them to describe early childhood behaviours of concern and to recall the age of onset.

The effect of judgment type and confidence scale on confidence-accuracy calibration in face recognition.

Confidence-accuracy calibration was examined for both absolute (recognizing single faces as old or new) and relative (selecting which of pairs of faces is old) judgments, using both full- (0%-100%) and half-range (50%-100%) confidence scales. The half-range confidence scale demonstrated superior calibration to the full-range scale, for which a confidence-accuracy association was evident only for the upper half (i.e.

Cholesterol control, medication adherence and illness cognition.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between illness cognitions and two measures of adherence in patients with hypercholesterolaemia, a disease marked by chronically high cholesterol. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Based on the self-regulation model (Leventhal, Diefenbach, & Leventhal, 1992), patients' illness cognitions were predicted to be related to cholesterol control and medication adherence.

Effectiveness of pharmacist care for patients with reactive airways disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Context: It is not known whether patient outcomes are enhanced by effective pharmacist-patient interactions.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of a pharmaceutical care program for patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Randomized controlled trial conducted at 36 community drugstores in Indianapolis, Ind.

Issues in conducting randomized controlled trials of health services research interventions in nonacademic practice settings: the case of retail pharmacies.

Objective: To describe unexpected challenges and strategies to overcome them when conducting randomized controlled trials (RCT) of health services research interventions in retail pharmacies.

Study Setting: Thirty-six retail drug stores in Indianapolis.

Study Design: We conducted an RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention to increase pharmacists' involvement in caring for customers.

The dynamics of threat and challenge appraisals prior to stressful achievement events.

Research on cognitive appraisal of stressful achievement events has emphasized threat appraisals and anxiety. The present research also focused on challenge and positive emotion. Study 1 used hypothetical scenarios of stressful events.

Effects of mood and emotion on juror processing and judgments.

This study explored the influence of mood and emotion on mock-jurors' processing of testimonial inconsistencies, perceptions of witness credibility and offender culpability, and verdicts. Jurors' mood and testimonial consistency were manipulated using a simulated trial with a 2 (mood: sad/neutral) x 2 (testimonial consistency: consistent/inconsistent) between-groups design. Sad mood resulted in more accurate reporting of testimonial inconsistencies, a finding consistent with previous research indicating more substantive processing in association with sad mood.