Abstract This chapter discusses the implications of research for the general understanding of the nature of marriage and cohabitation in the United States today. Although the primary interest concerns the decisions young people make about entrance into marriage and cohabitation, the transformation of cohabitations into marriages, and the intergenerational forces producing these processes, it also considers more generally the place of marriage and cohabitation in American society. The chapter considers marriage and family life in Western Europe during the 1700s, with the confidence that the candle of history can help illuminate understanding of current social relationships, and then moves on to a picture of marriage, family, and social life in the United States today.
The cover image is based on the Original Article A minimally invasive method for titanium mesh fixation with resorbable sutures in guided bone regeneration: A retrospective study by Songhang Li DDS et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/cid.13147 . image
Objective: We determined, in stable ambulatory heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) subjects and matched controls, the capability of a novel blood based cardiac-specific cBIN1 Score (CS) to diagnose heart failure and prognosticate future hospitalization. Background: Heart failure (HF) poses a costly health care burden worldwide with rising prevalence. Abnormal calcium signaling is intrinsic to HF pathophysiology and correlates with reduced expression of a cardiac membrane scaffolding protein, cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1). We hypothesize that CS, a numerical score derived from plasma cBIN1 concentration, is a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of HF. Methods: Plasma cBIN1 is quantified by an ELISA test, and CS is calculated as the natural log of the normalized reciprocal of plasma cBIN1 concentration. We determined CS among 52 clinically stable individuals with HFpEF (LVEF ≥ 50%) (mean age 57 ± 15 years old, 63% men) and 104 age and sex matched volunteers with no known history of HF. We obtained plasma concentrations of NT-proBNP, a marker of volume status, as comparison. Baseline co-morbidities and one year longitudinal clinical information were obtained through electronic medical records. Results: Median CS is 0 (IQR -0.4 – 0.6) in the control cohort and is increased to 1.8 in the HFpEF cohort (IQR 1.5 – 2.3, p < 0.0001). For HFpEF diagnosis, CS has a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) of 0.94 (95% CI 0.95 – 0.99) and NT-proBNP of 0.89 (95% CI 0.83 – 0.95). Kaplan-Meier analysis of one year cardiovascular hospitalizations reveals that HFpEF patients with CS ≥ 1.8 have a hazard ratio (HR) of 4.0 (95% CI 1.4 – 11.2, p=0.009). Combining CS ≥ 1.8 with NT-proBNP ≥ 300 pg/mL, increases HR to 21.4 (95% CI 2.7 – 171.6, p=0.004). Conclusions: In a cohort of stable ambulatory HF patients with cardiomyopathies of multiple etiologies and preserved ejection fraction, a positive CS correlates with worsening myocardial health and predicts future hospitalization. CS, a marker of cardiac muscle health, provides a novel index to informing the management of stable ambulatory HF patients.
In the past century, China has undergone rapid and dramatic social and economic changes. This article describes trends in educational assortative marriages of cohorts born in 1906–1995 in China. We measure educational attainment relatively as an individual’s percentile position in the education distribution of a 10-year birth cohort and study trends using comparable, easy-to-interpret couple rank-rank correlations. We analyze microdata samples from the 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010 China censuses and the 2015 1% intercensus survey and nationally representative surveys between 1996 and 2018. We find a large and steady increase in educational assortative marriage over the past century, except among those born in 1945–1965, whose schooling and marriage were impacted by the Cultural Revolution. Our study highlights the critical roles of social, political, and economic contexts in shaping trends in educational assortative marriage.
Objective To investigate sonography feature of ABS and increase the accurate rate of diagnosis. Methods 5 case of ABS were examined by ultrasound and the results were compared with pathology. Results The diagnosis of ABS must include both amniotic sheets or bands and fetal deformities. Conclusion The ultrasonography is reliable methods for the diagnosis of ABS.