Home blood pressure monitor use in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) is recommended in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and hypertension (HTN). However, little is known about the use and pattern of HBPM in CKD patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in an out-patient nephrology clinic. A total of 285 patients participated in the study. Of all patients, 66% reported using HBPM. Self-reported compliance with BP medications (93.9% vs. 85.1%, p 0.03), exercise >3 days/week (45.9 vs. 26.3%, p <0.001) and dietary sodium restriction (85.6% vs. 71.6%, p < 0.001) were more common in HBPM users vs. non-HBPM users. Most patients with HBPM used upper arm cuff (82.3%), reported receiving education on correct use of HBPM (82.5%), had perception that home BP was controlled (75.4%) and believed that HBPM is helpful in managing hypertension (85.4%). Most common reason for not using HBPM was lack of advice by a physician (43.4%). HBPM use is common in patients with CKD and HTN. HBPM users are more likely to follow life-style and dietary modifications for blood pressure control.

Sputter deposition of PZT piezoelectric films on thin glass substrates for adjustable x-ray optics.

Piezoelectric PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O(3) (PZT) thin films deposited on thin glass substrates have been proposed for adjustable optics in future x-ray telescopes. The light weight of these x-ray optics enables large collecting areas, while the capability to correct mirror figure errors with the PZT thin film will allow much higher imaging resolution than possible with conventional lightweight optics. However, the low strain temperature and flexible nature of the thin glass complicate the use of chemical-solution deposition due to warping of the substrate at typical crystallization temperatures for the PZT. RF magnetron sputtering enabled preparation of PZT films with thicknesses up to 3 µm on Schott D263 glass substrates with much less deformation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the films crystallized with the perovskite phase and showed no indication of secondary phases. Films with 1 cm(2) electrodes exhibited relative permittivity values near 1100 and loss tangents below 0.05. In addition, the remanent polarization was 26 µC/cm(2) with coercive fields of 33 kV/cm. The transverse piezoelectric coefficient was as high as -6.1±0.6 C/m(2). To assess influence functions for the x-ray optics application, the piezoelectrically induced deflection of individual cells was measured and compared with finite-element-analysis calculations. The good agreement between the results suggests that actuation of PZT thin films can control mirror figure errors to a precision of about 5 nm, allowing sub-arcsecond imaging.

Characteristics of middle-aged women in inpatient treatment for eating disorders.

The current study examined descriptive characteristics of women 35 years and older seeking inpatient treatment for an eating disorder. A second purpose was to compare characteristics and treatment experiences of midlife patients to young adult patients. Participants were 193 women admitted for treatment to a residential eating disorders facility. All of the women received the standard inpatient treatment package offered by the treatment facility. Participants completed measures of eating attitudes, depression, anxiety, body image, and media influence at admission and discharge and a program assessment measure at discharge. Results revealed comparable scores on measures of eating attitudes, anxiety, and depression at admission, although younger patients scored significantly higher on measures of body image and media influence at admission. With regard to treatment experience, midlife patients experienced greater change with regard to depression and body image dissatisfaction and described family therapy and grief and loss group therapy as being significantly more helpful than young adult patients. There appears to be a number of similarities across age cohorts in terms of clinical presentation, but underlying causal factors may differ between age groups. In general, midlife patients and young patients describe the standard treatment package as equally helpful, although midlife patients might also benefit from groups addressing grief and loss.

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3): reliability and normative comparisons of eating disordered patients.

The Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3) is a measure of one's endorsement of societal appearance ideals. The measure has received extensive evaluation in normative samples, but only minimal evaluation in clinical groups. In this study, 440 patients with eating disorders completed the SATAQ-3. Internal consistencies were excellent for the four SATAQ-3 subscales. Groups did not differ by diagnosis on the Information subscale, however, individuals with bulimia nervosa scored higher than individuals with both subtypes of anorexia nervosa (restricting and binge eating/purging) on levels of Internalization-General and Internalization-Athlete. The findings provide informative normative data, along with preliminary results indicative of the potentially greater role of media messages and images in the formation and/or maintenance of bulimia nervosa than anorexia nervosa.

Inpatient treatment for eating disorders: outcome at discharge and 3-month follow-up.

There have been few studies of inpatient treatment for eating disorders. Existing studies have mostly examined small samples of either anorexic or bulimic patients. The current study evaluated large samples of anorexic and bulimic inpatients at intake, discharge, and a 3-month follow-up. At discharge, patients in both groups showed substantial and statistically significant improvements on self-report measures of depression and eating disorder symptomatology. Treatment gains were largely maintained at follow-up. Correlational analyses found consistent inverse relationships between degree of change experienced during and after hospitalization. More favorable outcome during treatment was associated with less favorable outcome after treatment. Implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of eating disorders are discussed.