Svanegardner1723

Biomarkers diagnose, predict or assess the risk of disease, and studies of the effects of genetic variation on biomarker phenotypes in the general population complement studies on patients diagnosed with disease. This paper traces the evolution of studies on biomarker genetics over the past 40 years through examples drawn from the work of Professor Martin and his colleagues.Twins, data and emails. Some of the words that first come to mind when I think of Nick. Lots of twins. With lots of data. And short single-finger-typed emails. And great wine. Well, it works, there is no doubt. That's how I ended up in Australia, working on asthma genetics.Professor Nicholas (Nick) Martin spearheaded initial investigations into the genetic basis of political attitudes and behaviors, demonstrating that behaviors that are perceived as socially constructed could have a biological basis. As he showed, the typical mode of inheritance for political attitudes consists of approximately equal proportions of variance from additive genetic, shared environmental and unique environmental sources. This differs from other psychological variables, such as personality traits, which tend to be characterized by genetic and unique environmental sources of variation. By treating political attitudes as a model phenotype, Nick Martin was able to leverage the unique pattern of observed intergenerational transmission for political attitudes to reexamine the quintessential assumptions of the classical twin model. Specifically, by creatively leveraging the nuances of the genetic architecture of political attitudes, he was able to demonstrate the robustness of the equal environments assumption and suggest corrections to account for assortative mating. These advances have had a substantial impact on both the fields of political science, as well as behavioral and quantitative genetics.Objective To test the effectiveness of theoretically driven role model video stories in improving knowledge of palliative care among a diverse sample of older adults. Method We developed three 3-4 min long theoretically driven role model video stories. We then recruited cognitively intact, English-speaking adults aged 50 and older from senior centers, assisted living, and other community-based sites in the greater Los Angeles area. Using a pretest-posttest study design, we surveyed participants using the 13-item Palliative Care Knowledge Scale (PaCKS) and also asked participants about their intentions to enroll in palliative care should the need arise. Participants first completed the pretest, viewed the three videos, then completed the posttest comprised of the same set of questions. Results PaCKS score improved from an average of 4.5 at baseline to 10.0 following video screening (t(126) = 12.0, p less then 0.001). Intentions to enroll oneself or a family member in palliative care rose by 103% (χ2 = 7.8, p less then 0.01) and 110% (χ2 = 7.5, p less then 0.01), respectively. Regression analysis revealed that participants who believed the role models are real people (β = 2.6, SE = 1.2, p less then 0.05) significantly predicted higher change in PaCKS score. Conversely, participants with prior knowledge of, or experience with, palliative care (β = -5.9, SE = 0.8, p less then 0.001), non-whites (β = -3.6, SE = 0.9, p less then 0.001), and widows (β = -2.9, SE = 1.1, p less then 0.01) significantly predicted lower changes in PaCKS score. Significance of results This study suggests that theoretically driven role model video stories may be an effective strategy to improve palliative care knowledge. Role model video stories of diverse palliative care patients provide one way to mitigate health literacy barriers to palliative care knowledge.Background Four Western countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal) with strong Orthodox and Catholic traditions have been associated with the underreporting of death by suicide, and underreported suicides are sometimes found among deaths recorded as 'undetermined' or 'accidental'. Aims This population-based study tests whether there are any significant difference in patterns of suicides, undetermined deaths and accidental deaths between these four Western countries and 21 predominately Islamic countries. Method World Health Organization age-standardised death rates per million population were used to compare suicide rates with combined undetermined death and accidental death (UnD+AccD) rates, from which odds ratios were calculated. Substantial odds ratios (OR > 2.0) were taken as indicative of likely underreporting of suicides. The Islamic countries come from four different historico-cultural regions, described as less-traditional Islamic countries; former USSR countries; Gulf Arab states; and Middle Easly different from Western comparator countries. Conclusions The results indicate underreporting of suicides in Islamic countries. This might inadvertently lead to reduced access to mental health preventive services in both Western and Islamic countries.Abstract. Aims Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an important risk factor for perinatal depression (PND). But IPV's impact on the natural prognosis of PND symptoms is not well understood. We tested two hypotheses (1) pregnant women with IPV experiences will exhibit more severe PND symptoms than women without IPV experience; (2) IPV experience will impede the recovery prognosis of PND. We also explored the contribution of IPV to PND comparing with other risk factors. Method The sample is comprised of 813 pregnant women followed through perinatal period in Hunan, China. Nutlin-3 We assessed IPV experience using items from the Short Form of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2S), and PND symptoms via the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPSD). We conducted Linear Mixed-effects Model to compare the trajectories of PND symptoms between victims and non-victims and a multistage Generalised Estimating Equations Model to explore salient factors on the trajectory of PND symptoms. Results There were 90 participants (11nism to the poorer prognosis of PND symptoms would benefit the prevention and treatment of PND.