Health literacy and substance use in young Swiss men.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to describe health literacy and its association with substance use among young men. METHODS: The present study was part of the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors that included 11,930 Swiss males participating in initial screening from August 2010 to July 2011. Self-completed questionnaires covered use of three substances and three components of health literacy. RESULTS: Roughly 22 % reported having searched the Internet for health information and 16 % for information on substances over the past 12 months. At-risk and not at-risk users of alcohol (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.50 and 1.46), tobacco (AOR = 2.51 and 1.79) and cannabis (AOR = 4.86 and 3.53) searched for information about substances significantly more often via the Internet than abstainers. Furthermore, at-risk users reported better knowledge of risks associated with substance use and a marginally better ability to understand health information than abstainers. CONCLUSIONS: Substance users appear to be more informed and knowledgeable about the risks of substance use than non-users. Consequently, interventions that focus only on information provision may be of limited benefit for preventing substance use.

Welfare Maximizing Contest Success Functions when the Planner Cannot Commit

We analyze how a contest organizer chooses optimally the winner when the contestants' efforts are already exerted and commitment to the use of a given contest success function is not possible. We de…ne the notion of rationalizability in mixed-strategies to capture such a situation. Our approach allows to derive different contest success functions depending on the aims and attitudes of the decider. We derive contest success functions which are closely related to commonly used functions providing new support for them. By taking into account social welfare considerations our approach bridges the contest literature and the recent literature on political economy. Keywords: Endogenous Contests, Contest Success Function, Mixed-Strategies. JEL Classi…cation: C72 (Noncooperative Games), D72 (Economic Models of Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Elections), D74 (Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances)

Abrupt decrease in serum testosterone levels after an oral glucose load in men: implications for screening for hypogonadism.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines the physiological impact of a glucose load on serum testosterone (T) levels in men with varying glucose tolerance (GT). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 74 men (19-74 years, mean 51·4 ± 1·4 years) underwent a standard 75-g oral glucose tolerance test with blood sampling at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. Fasting serum glucose, insulin, total T (and calculated free T), LH, SHBG, leptin and cortisol were measured. RESULTS: 57% of the men had normal GT, 30% had impaired GT and 13% had newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Glucose ingestion was associated with a 25% decrease in mean T levels (delta = -4·2 ± 0·3 nm, P < 0·0001). T levels remained suppressed at 120 min compared with baseline (13·7 ± 0·6 vs 16·5 ± 0·7 nm, P < 0·0001) and did not differ across GT or BMI. Of the 66 men with normal T levels at baseline, 10 (15%) had levels that decreased to the hypogonadal range (<9·7 nm) at one or more time points. SHBG, LH and cortisol levels were unchanged. Leptin levels decreased from baseline at all time points (P < 0·0001). CONCLUSIONS: Glucose ingestion induces a significant reduction in total and free T levels in men, which is similar across the spectrum of glucose tolerance. This decrease in T appears to be because of a direct testicular defect, but the absence of compensatory changes in LH suggests an additional central component. Men found to have low nonfasting T levels should be re-evaluated in the fasting state.

International consensus conference on PFAPA syndrome: Evaluation of a new set of diagnostic criteria

The PFAPA syndrome is characterized by periodic fever, associated with pharyngitis, cervical adenitis and/or aphtous stomatitis and belongs to the auto-inflammatory diseases. Diagnostic criteria are based on clinical features and the exclusion of other periodic fever syndromes. An analysis of a large cohort of patients has shown weaknesses for these criteria and there is a lack of international consensus. An International Conference was held in Morges in November 2008 to propose a new set of classification criteria based on a consensus among experts in the field. We aimed to verify the applicability of the new set of classification criteria. 80 patients diagnosed with PFAPA syndrome from 3 centers (Genoa, Lausanne and Geneva) for pediatric rheumatology were included in the study. A detailed description of the clinical and laboratory features was obtained. The new classification criteria and the actual diagnostic criteria were applied to the patients. Only 43/80 patients (53.8%) fulfilled all criteria of the new classification. 31 patients were excluded because they didn't meet one of the 7 diagnostic criteria, 8 because of 2 criteria, and one because of 3 criteria. When we applied the current criteria to the same patients, 11/80 patients (13%) needed to be excluded. 8/80 patients (10%) were excluded from both sets. Exclusion was related only to some of the criteria. Number of patients for each not fulfilled criterion (new set of criteria/actual criteria): age (1/6), symptoms between episodes (2/2), delayed growth (3/3), main symptoms (21/0), periodicity, length of fever, interval between episodes, and length of disease (19/0). The application of some of the new criteria was not easy, as they were both very restrictive and needed precise information from the patients. Our work has shown that the new set of classification criteria can be applied to patients suspected for PFAPA syndrome, but it seems to be more restrictive than the actual diagnostic criteria. A further work of validation needs to be done for this new set of classification criteria in order to determine if these criteria allow a good discrimination between PFAPA patients and other causes of recurrent fever syndromes.

What if there was a stronger pharmaceutical price competition in Spain? When regulation has a similar effect to collusion

This paper examines statins competition in the Spanish pharmaceutical market, where prices are highly regulated, and simulates a situation in which there is unrestricted price competition. A nested logit demand model is estimated with a panel of monthly data for pharmaceuticals prescribed from 1997 to 2005. The simulation indicates that the regulation of prices is similar in its effects to cooperation among producers, since the regulated prices are close to those that would be observed in a scenario of perfect collusion. Freedom to set prices and a regulatory framework with appropriate incentives would result in a general reduction in prices and may make the current veiled competition in the form of discounts to pharmacists become more visible. The decrease in prices would be partially offset by an increase in consumption but the net effect would be an overall decrease in expenditure. The counterfactual set-up would also lead to important changes in the market shares of both manufacturers and active ingredients, and a reversal of generic drugs. Therefore, pro-competitive regulation would be welfare-enhancing but would imply winners and losers.

Differential association of drinking motives with alcohol use on weekdays and weekends.

Drinking motives (DM) reflect the reasons why individuals drink alcohol. Weekdays are mainly dedicated to work, whereas weekends are generally associated with spending time with friends during special events or leisure activities; using alcohol on weekdays and weekends may also be related to different DM. This study examined whether DM were differentially associated with drinking volume (DV) on weekdays and weekends. A representative sample of 5,391 young Swiss men completed a questionnaire assessing weekday and weekend DV, as well as their DM, namely, enhancement, social, coping, and conformity motives. Associations of DM with weekday and weekend DV were examined using structural equation models. Each DM was tested individually in a separate model; all associations were positive and generally stronger (except conformity) for weekend rather than for weekday DV. Further specific patterns of association were found when DM were entered into a single model simultaneously. Associations with weekday and with weekend DV were positive for enhancement and coping motives. However, associations were stronger with weekend rather than with weekday DV for enhancement, and stronger with weekday than with weekend DV for coping motives. Associations of social motives were not significant with weekend DV and negative with weekday DV. Conformity motives were negatively associated with weekend DV and positively related to weekday DV. These results suggest that interventions targeting enhancement motives should be particularly effective at decreasing weekend drinking, whereas interventions targeted at coping motives would be particularly effective at reducing alcohol use on weekdays. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Health impact of sport and exercise in emerging adult men: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: Health benefits of sport and exercise are well documented in children, adolescents and adults, but little is known about emerging adulthood-a period of life characterized by significant demographic and developmental changes. The present study aimed to assess the health impact of changes in sport and exercise levels during that specific period of life. METHODS: The analysis used baseline and 15-month follow-up data (N = 4,846) from the cohort study on substance use risk factors. Associations between baseline exercise levels or changes in exercise levels and health indicators (i.e., health-related quality of life, depression, body mass index, alcohol dependence, nicotine dependence and cannabis use disorder) were measured using chi-squared tests and ANOVA. Direction of effects was tested using cross-lagged analysis. RESULTS: At baseline, all health indicator scores were observed to be better for regular exercisers than for other exercise levels. At follow-up, participants who had maintained regular exercise over time had better scores than those who had remained irregular exercisers or had discontinued, but their scores for health-related quality of life and depression were close to those of participants who had adopted regular exercise after the baseline questionnaire. Cross-lagged analysis indicated that regular exercise at baseline was a significant predictor of health-related quality of life and substance use dependence at follow-up, but was itself predicted only by health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: From a health promotion perspective, this study emphasizes how important it is for emerging adult men to maintain, or adopt, regular sport and exercise.

Sex differences in nuclear receptor-regulated liver metabolic pathways.

Liver metabolism is markedly sex-dimorphic; accordingly, the prevalence of liver diseases is different between sexes. The superfamily of nuclear receptors (NRs) governs the proper expression of key liver metabolism genes by sensing lipid-soluble hormones and dietary lipids. When the expression of those genes is deregulated, disease development is favored. However, we lack a comprehensive picture of the differences between NR actions in males and females. Here, we reviewed explorative studies that assessed NR functions in both sexes, and we propose a first map of sex-dimorphic NR expression in the liver. Our analysis suggested that NRs in the female liver exhibited cross-talk with more liver-protective potential than NRs in male liver. This study provides empirical support to the hypothesis that women are more resilient to some liver diseases than men, based on a more compensative NR network. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Translating nuclear receptors from health to disease.

Phylogenetic Code in the Cloud - Can it Meet the Expectations?

Cloud computing has recently become very popular, and several bioinformatics applications exist already in that domain. The aim of this article is to analyse a current cloud system with respect to usability, benchmark its performance and compare its user friendliness with a conventional cluster job submission system. Given the current hype on the theme, user expectations are rather high, but current results show that neither the price/performance ratio nor the usage model is very satisfactory for large-scale embarrassingly parallel applications. However, for small to medium scale applications that require CPU time at certain peak times the cloud is a suitable alternative.

Evaluation of the 3D symmetry of the knees when walking using na ambulatory inertia system: results 14 months after ACL Plasty.

Purpose of the study: Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) controls laxity but does not enable restoration of strictly normal 3D kinematics. The purpose of this study was to compare the kinematics of the pathological knee with that of the healthy knee after ACL plasty. This study applied a new ambulatory system using miniature captors. Material and method: Five patients with an isolated injury of the ACL participated in this study. The patients were assessed after injury (T1), at five months (T2), and at 14 months (T3) after surgery. The assessment included laxity (KT-1000), the IKDC score and the Lysholm score. The 3D angles of the knees were measured when walking 30 m on flat ground using a system composed of to small inertia units (3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope) and a portable recorder. Functional settings were optimised and validating to ensure easy precise measurement of the 3D angles. Symmetry of the two knees was quantified using a symmetry index (SI) (difference in amplitude normalised in relation to mean amplitude) and the correlation coefficient CC. Results: Clinical indicators improved during the follow-up (IKDC T1: 3C, 2C; T2: 5B; T3: 2A, 3B; subjective IKD: 53-95; Lysholm 67-96). Mean laxity improved from 8.6m to 2.5 mm. The gait analysis showed increased symmetry in terms of amplitude for flexion-extension (SI: −17% at T1, −1% at T2, 1% at T3), and an increase in symmetry in terms of the rotation signature (CC: 0.16 at T1, 0.99 at T2, 0.99 at T3). There was no trend to varus-valgus. Discussion: This study demonstrates the clinical application of the new ambulatory system for measuring 3D angles of the knee joint. Joint symmetry increased after ACL plasty but still showed some perturbation at 14 months. The results observed here are in agreement with the literature. Other patients and other types of gait are being analysed. Conclusion: This portable system allows gait analysis outside the laboratory, before and after ACL injury. It is very useful for follow-up after surgery.

Binge drinking in 19 year old men.

QUESTION UNDER STUDY: To describe alcohol use, binge drinking and drinking consequences in 19 year old men. METHODS: During a one-day army recruitment process mandatory for all Swiss males, a convenience sample of 1,004 men completed the "Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire", assessing demographics, alcohol use, binge drinking, and drinking consequences over the last 12 months. Binge drinking was defined as having 5 or more drinks on a single occasion at least once over the last 12 months. Among the 1,004 subjects, binge drinking could not be defined in 123 (12.3%) due to "don't know" responses, leaving 881 subjects with complete data. RESULTS: Of the 881 subjects, 690 (78.3%) reported binge drinking at least once over the last 12 months, 269 (30.5%) with infrequent binge drinking (< or = 1x/month) and 421 (47.8%) with frequent binge drinking (> or = 2x/month). In addition, 379 (43.0%) of the subjects experienced 3 or more drinking consequences over the last 12 months and the number of these consequences increased as the frequency of binge drinking increased (trend analyses significant for 9 of the 12 consequences evaluated). Among the 687 subjects with moderate average alcohol intake (< 14 drinks per week), 252 (36.7%) reported infrequent binge drinking, of whom 82 (32.5%) experienced 3 or more adverse drinking consequences over the last 12 months, whereas 246 (35.8%) reported frequent binge drinking and 128 (52.0%) of these experienced 3 or more adverse drinking consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Binge drinking in this sample of young men is frequent and is associated with numerous consequences, even among those consuming moderate amounts of alcohol.

Facing the challenge: The impact of the recession and unemployment on men's health in Ireland

The economic recession with its accompanying rise in unemployment rates is linked to extremely adverse effects for men’s mental health. This research report Facing the Challenge – The Impact of the Recession and Unemployment on Men’s Health in Ireland identifies a strong expectation of increased mental health problems for men given the very strong correlation between unemployment and male mental ill health. The report is the result of a research and consultation process carried out, in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, by Nexus Research Co-operative on behalf of IPH. 93% of frontline organisations, North and South, in contact with unemployed men linked health challenges to unemployment and recession and all organisations surveyed noted adverse health challenges for men they work with. In addition to health challenges being higher for unemployed men, they were also very high for men who saw themselves as being threatened with unemployment. The organisations surveyed and the men who were interviewed identified the challenges to health as:•    High levels of stress or anxiety•    Dependency on or over-use of alcohol/other drugs•    Deterioration in physical health•    Development of conflict in family or close personal relationships•    Isolation (including sharing or communicating problems)•    A reluctance to approach services or seek help

Effect of Sodium Loading/Depletion on Renal Oxygenation in Young Normo-and Hypertensive Men Measured with BOLD-MRI

Objective: To measure renal tissue oxygenation in young normo-and hypertensive volunteers under conditions of salt loading and depletion using blood oxygen level dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-MRI). Design and Methods: Ten normotensive (NT) male volunteers (age 26.5_7.4 y) and eight non-treated, hypertensive (HT) male volunteers (age 28.8_5.7 y) were studied after one week on a high salt (HS) regimen (6g of salt/day added to their normal regimen) and again after one week of a low sodium diet (LS). On the 8th day, BOLD-MRI was performed under standard hydration conditions. Four coronal slices were selected in each kidney, and combination sequence was used to acquire T2* weighted images. The mean R2* (1/T2*) was measured to determine cortical and medullar oxygenation. Results: Baseline characteristics and their changes are shown in the table. The mean cortical R2* was not different under conditions of HS or LS (17.8_1.3 vs. 18.2_0.6 respectively in NT group, p_0.27; 17.4_0.6 vs 17.8_0.9 in HT group, p_0.16). However, the mean medullary R2* was significantly lower under LS conditions in both groups (31.3_0.6 vs 28.1_0.8 in NT group, p_0.05; 30.3_0.8 vs 27.9_1.5 in HT group, p_0.05), corresponding to higher medullary oxygenation as compared to HS conditions, without significant changes in hemoglobin or hematocrit values. The salt induced changes in medullary oxygenation were comparable in the two groups (ANOVA, p_0.1). Conclusion: Dietary sodium restriction leads to increased renal medullary oxygenation compared to high sodium intake in normo-and hypertensive subjects. This observation may in part explain the potential renal benefits of a low sodium intake.