The role of knowledge and beliefs in help seeking behaviour for cancer: a quantitative and qualitative approach.

The study involved quantitative methods to assess the relationship between knowledge about cancer related symptoms and help seeking behaviour and qualitative methods to explore the role of patient's beliefs about cancer in explaining the gap between knowledge and behaviour. Patients (288) (response rate 72%) from one urban general practice completed a questionnaire consisting of 25 symptoms which they rated for whether they were cancer symptoms (knowledge) and whether the symptoms would prompt them to visit the doctor (hypothetical help seeking behaviour). Twenty patients were then selected who represented a range of knowledge levels and help seeking behaviour and interviewed about their beliefs about cancer.

Ageing and wounds. Part 2: Healing in old age.

The second part of this review outlines the physiology of wound healing in old age and how it differs from normal adult healing.

The prevalence of skin disease among school children in rural Ethiopia--a preliminary assessment of dermatologic needs.

It is always assumed that the prevalence of skin diseases in developing countries is very high, and that infestations and skin infections are highly endemic in poor rural communities; however, very few epidemiologic reports verify these assumptions. As part of a continuing study of dermatologic needs in southwestern Ethiopia, and to estimate the prevalence of treatable skin disease in children, a school survey was undertaken in Shebe. In October 1992, 112 children were examined by a team of dermatologists and their conditions were recorded.

Myogenic and flow-mediated responses in isolated mesenteric small arteries from pregnant and nonpregnant rats.

Objectives: Responses to pressure, agonist-induced constriction, endothelium-dependent vasodilators, and shear stress were investigated in resistance-sized mesenteric arteries in vitro from late-pregnant and nonpregnant rats.

Study Design: Myogenic tone was determined in arteries mounted on a pressure myograph by evaluating the response to incremental increases in luminal pressure in resting arteries and arteries preconstricted with norepinephrine (10(-6) mol/L). Flow-mediated dilation was also investigated in the presence and absence of a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, L-N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester.

Viral load as a determinant for transmission of human papillomavirus type 16 from mother to child.

Whilst genital papillomaviruses are commonly believed to be sexually transmitted, transmission of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) from mother to child at delivery has been described previously [Pakarian et al. (in press) British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology]. In order to determine whether viral load in cervical/vaginal cells was an important determinant of transmission 15 pregnant women with HPV-16 infections were studied.

Short-term chorionic villi and amniotic fluid cultures.

Prenatal diagnosis of genetic disorders associated with specific biochemical, chromosomal, or molecular characteristics can be achieved from amniotie fluid (AF) or placenta (chorionic villus: CV) samples. Chorion material is usually obtained by sampling the placenta at the implantation site, during the first trimester (i. e.

Working for which patients and at what cost?

The Government's white-paper Working for Patients proposes introducing a system in which publicly financed resources for hospital and community health services will be distributed to districts and general practitioners with practice budgets for them to choose between competing providers from both the public and private sectors. The NHS Management Board in 1986 observed that such a system would be costly and impractical and would require careful pilot work in situations where its benefits are likely to outweight its costs. This paper shows that there is no reason for changing that judgement.

The release of prostaglandin D2 from human skin in vivo and in vitro during immediate allergic reactions.

1. The release of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) during immediate allergic reactions in human skin was investigated in vivo and in vitro. 2.

'Cialit' as a tissue preservative: a microbiological assessment.

We describe bacterial contamination of a 'Cialit'-preserved cartilage bank which continued after a variety of changes to the harvesting and preservation protocols during a 3-year prospective study. Our results emphasize the importance of adequate tissue bank microbiological screening. Alternative methods of tissue preservation should be considered.

Analysis of antigenic determinants of retinal S-antigen with monoclonal antibodies.

Eight murine monoclonal antibodies to retinal S-antigen were found to recognize three antigenic clusters in competitive binding experiments. Variable patterns of immunohistochemical staining of retinal sections supported the competitive binding studies. Monoclonal antibodies to two of these three antigenic clusters on S-antigen reacted by Western immunoblotting with both intact S-antigen and two cyanogen bromide cleaved peptide fragments of bovine S-antigen.

Persistence of encephalitogenic arboviruses in brain cell culture. Brief report.

Virus recovery from brain cultures of mice infected with either Semliki Forest and/or Langat depended on the time interval between inoculation of either virus. Mixed infections may alter the course of a disease.