(c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“The diversity of research methods applied to psychiatric disorders results in a confusing plethora of causal claims. To help make sense of these claims, the interventionist model (IM) of causality has several attractive features. First, it connects causation with the practical interests of psychiatry, defining causation in terms of ‘what would happen JPH203 datasheet under interventions’, a question of key interest to those of us whose interest is ultimately in intervening

to prevent and treat illness. Second, it distinguishes between predictive-correlative and true causal relationships, an essential issue cutting across many areas in psychiatric research. Third, the FM is non-reductive and agnostic to issues of mind-body problem. Fourth, the IM model cleanly separates issues of causation from questions about the underlying mechanism. Clarifying causal influences can usefully structure the search for underlying mechanisms. Fifth, it provides a sorely needed conceptual rigor to multi-level modeling, thereby avoiding a return to uncritical holistic approaches that

‘everything is relevant’ to psychiatric illness. Sixth, the IM provides a clear way to judge both the generality and depth Combretastatin A4 chemical structure of explanations. In conclusion, the IM can provide a single, clear empirical framework for the evaluation of all causal claims of relevance to psychiatry and presents psychiatry with a method of avoiding the sterile metaphysical arguments about mind and brain which have preoccupied our field but yielded little of practical benefit.”
“Objective: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the operation most commonly performed by cardiac surgeons. There are few contemporary data examining evolving patient characteristics and surgical outcomes of isolated CABG. We used the Society of Thoracic Surgeons adult cardiac

surgery database to characterize trends in patient characteristics and outcomes after CABG over the past decade.

Methods: From 2000 to 2009, 1,497,254 patients underwent isolated primary CABG at Society of Thoracic selleck chemicals llc Surgeons participating institutions. Demographics, operative characteristics, and postoperative outcomes were assessed, and risk-adjusted outcomes were calculated.

Results: Compared with the year 2000, patients undergoing isolated primary CABG in 2009 were more likely to have diabetes mellitus (33% vs 40%) and hypertension (71% vs 85%). There were clinically insignificant differences in age, gender, and body surface area. Between 2000 and 2009, there has been a 6.3% and 19.5% increase in the preoperative use of aspirin and beta-blockers, respectively. Between 2004 and 2009, there was a 7.8% increase in the use of angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitors preoperatively. Furthermore, between 2005 and 2009 there was a 3.