Summary Data from a population-based case-control study conducted (Stanford et al., 1986). Complete absence of overlap between risk factors for the two types of breast cancer would provide evidence against a progression from one to the other, while overlap would suggest either that there is a progression or that they are independent outcomes with overlapping aetiologies. The few case-control studies conducted to date (Hildreth et al., 1983;McTiernan et al., 1986;Hislop et al., 1986Hislop et al., , 1988Stanford et al., 1987) suggest that there is some overlap in risk factors for ER+ and ER-breast cancer. This possibility, and the others outlined above, are investigated further in the population-based case-control study reported here, in which risk of ER+ and ER -breast cancer is examined in association with menstrual and reproductive history, dietary intake and other factors. Materials and methods Study subjectsA detailed description of the study methods has been presented elsewhere (Rohan et al., 1988 of breast cancer, who were also resident in the Adelaide metropolitan area and who were registered on the electoral roll. (In South Australia, 97.2% of persons eligible to vote are registered (Australian Electoral Office, 1983).) For each case, one control, matched as closely as possible to the age of the case at diagnosis, was selected at random from the electoral roll. A total of 648 individuals were approached in order to enrol 451 controls. The total study population therefore comprised 451 case-control pairs. Reasons for nonparticipation were recorded during the recruitment of the first 100 controls, which required attempting to recruit 151 persons. Of the 51 who did not participate, 39 refused, 11 were untraceable and one had died.Data collection procedure Subjects were interviewed in their own homes by trained interviewers whose performance was monitored regularly. Interviewers were assigned randomly to case-control pairs. For cases, the average interval between diagnosis and interview was 4.8 months. Each control was interviewed as soon as possible after her case had been enrolled and in a few instances interview of the control preceded that of her case. Approximately 90% of controls were interviewed within two months of the corresponding case. Matching on date of interview was introduced in an attempt to minimise dietary differences between cases and controls due to seasonal influences.Socio-demographic and medical information was collected by use of an interviewer-administered questionnaire which sought basic biographic information, personal medical history, family history of cancer, gynaecological and reproductive history and history of hormone use.Information on usual dietary intake was collected from the study participants by means of a self-administered quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The questionnaire, which was designed to ascertain total daily intake of energy, several nutrients, alcohol and methylxanthines, has been described in detail elsewhere (Baghurst & Baghurst, 1981;Baghurst an...

With the rapid changes occurring in the role of work in women's lives, this research project was designed to examine the career planning, career decision making, and work history of women in both female-dominated and gender-neutral careers (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.-a). A qualitative analysis of structured interviews identified 6 emerging themes: variations of career/family patterns, career encouragers, career obstacles, personal compromises, career changes, and career decision-making patterns. Insights for strengthening the exploration process and strategies for supporting career management are presented based on the emerging themes. Although the study of gender differences in career behavior was limited in seminal career development theories, Cook, Heppner, and O'Brien (2002) suggested that current career development concepts continue to reflect male worldviews. These basic assumptions include a separation of work and family roles in people's lives; a reverence for individualism and autonomy; the centrality of work in people's lives; a linear, progressive, and rational nature of the career development process; and the structure of opportunity. Many contemporary researchers have called for new theoretical models to be developed to adequately address the uniqueness and complexity of women's career development (Astin, 1984;Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987;Fassinger, 1990). Gottfredson (2005) has provided an alternative view of career development with an emphasis on gender appropriateness and status as critical developmental factors in career decision making. She asserted that young children initially hold positive attitudes toward all occupations. However, as the self-concept and accompanying gender identity develop, children begin to restrict occupational preferences to those identified as appropriate for men or women,

This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study aimed to determine whether oral intake of 200 microg/d of sodium selenite, a dose within the safe and adequate daily intake (50-200 microg/d) recommended by the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board, will abrogate depressed or enhance normal-level immune functions of patients receiving therapy for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Subjects were given one selenium/placebo tablet/d for 8 wk, beginning on the day of their first treatment for the disease (e.g., surgery, radiation, or surgery and radiation) and their immune functions were monitored. Supplementation with selenium (Se) during therapy resulted in a significantly enhanced cell-mediated immunue responsiveness, as reflected in the ability of the patient's lymphocytes to respond to stimulation with mitogen, to generate cytotoxic lymphocytes, and to destroy tumor cells. The enhanced responsiveness was evident during therapy and following conclusion of therapy. In contrast, patients in the placebo arm of the study showed a decline in immune responsiveness during therapy, which was followed, in some patients, by an enhancement, but the responses of the group remained significantly lower than baseline values. The data also show that at baseline, patients entered in the study had significantly lower plasma Se levels than healthy individuals, and patients in stage I or II of disease had significantly higher plasma selenium levels than patients in stage III or IV of disease.

Objective-To assess the effect of physical activity on plasma fibrinogen and factor VII activity and thus on the risk of ischaemic heart disease.Design-Cross sectional survey.

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Activities which allow the learner to explore and discuss behaviour in an emergency situation can effectively increase the learner's propensity to act. First aid education should be expanded to support the learner to develop both the skill and the will to help.

Despite top-down professional body and government agency pressure to increase the research base of clinical practice, there remains a considerable body of evidence which suggests that many ineffective, and even dangerous, health care interventions continue to be practised in areas where there are significant contradictory findings. While numerous explanations have been put forward which implicate the role of structural, organizational and informational barriers to integrating research with practice, less attention has been focused on the individual and psychological contributions. The study reported here forms part of a larger scale project aimed at developing a diagnostic instrument for identifying research training needs, in the widest sense, within primary health care groups. To provide the instrument with content validity, following formal psychometric guidelines, opaque and transparent techniques of data collection were employed at the development stage. This yielded some interesting and unexpected results from the respondents, which suggested that despite overt statements to the contrary, the majority of the primary health care professionals studied perceived research as being unimportant and peripheral to their jobs, and the responsibility of other health care professionals. Moreover, the subjects' understanding of research and its methodologies was discordant both within and across professional groups. The implications of these results from this pilot phase suggest that fundamental and deep-seated attitudes which are resistant to research may be a contributory factor to the persistence of ritualistic, non-evidence-based care.

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