Coping with depression: a pilot study to assess the efficacy of a self-help audio cassette.

Background: The self-help audio cassette 'Coping with Depression' was produced and widely distributed as part of the national Defeat Depression Campaign. A central aim was to improve public understanding and encourage the use of cognitive-behavioural techniques.

Aim: To formally assess the ability of the audio cassette to change attitudes to depression in primary care and the degree to which patients are motivated to practice its recommended coping strategies.

The factor XIII V34L polymorphism accelerates thrombin activation of factor XIII and affects cross-linked fibrin structure.

Factor XIII on activation by thrombin cross-links fibrin. A common polymorphism Val to Leu at position 34 in the FXIII A subunit is under investigation as a risk determinant of thrombosis. Because Val34Leu is close to the thrombin cleavage site, the hypothesis that it would alter the function of FXIII was tested.

A comparison of the efficacy and safety of leflunomide and methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of leflunomide and methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: In this multicentre, double-blind trial, 999 subjects with active RA were randomized to leflunomide (n = 501; loading dose 100 mg/day for 3 days, maintenance dose 20 mg/day) or methotrexate (n = 498; 10-15 mg/week) for 52 weeks. After 1 yr the subjects could choose to stay for a second year of double-blind treatment.

Effect of non-sucrose sweet tasting solution on neonatal heel prick responses.

A substance commercially described as 'sugar free,' used as a sweetener for paracetamol suspension, was evaluated on measures of neonatal pain. Sixty infants were randomly allocated to receive one of four solutions before heel stab blood sampling: sterile water (placebo); 25 or 50% sucrose (weight/volume); and the commercial sweet-tasting solution. There was a significant reduction in crying time and pain score 3 minutes after the painful stimulus in all groups compared with the controls.

Reduction of pain response in premature infants using intraoral sucrose.

The potential of sucrose to reduce the pain response in a group of healthy premature infants was investigated. Fifteen infants of 32-34 weeks postmenstrual age were tested in a blind crossover manner on two separate occasions no more than two days apart. Either 1 ml of 25% sucrose solution or sterile water was syringed into the baby's mouth 2 minutes before routine heel lancing.

Endocrine disorders.

The effect of thyroxine replacement therapy on bone mass continues to attract attention. Although the advice of the American Thyroid Association to normalize serum thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating hormone concentrations is recommended, even physiologic doses of thyroxine may have an adverse effect on bone mass. The diagnosis and treatment of osteomyelitis in the diabetic foot is aided by magnetic resonance imaging, and long-term review of cases of diabetic femoral neuropathy emphasizes the good prognosis.

Determination of race and sex of the human skull by discriminant function analysis of linear and angular dimensions.

The race and sex of the human skull can be determined by craniometry. In this paper we suggest that a large number of craniometric measurements does not necessarily give the best possible discrimination for race and test the performance of subsets of variables drawn from various skull regions, or extracted mathematically on the basis of their discriminatory power. We also suggest that the best discriminators for race are not necessarily the best for sex, and that skulls of unknown provenance are best tested first for race and then for sex, using different variables for each purpose.