Psychometric properties of the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale.

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale (ASHS), a self-report measure assessing sleep practices theoretically important for optimal sleep. Data were collected on a community sample of 514 adolescents (16-19; 17.7 ± 0.

Does colloid shape affect detachment of colloids by a moving air-water interface?

Air-water interfaces interact strongly with colloidal particles by capillary forces. The magnitude of the interaction force depends on, among other things, the particle shape. Here, we investigate the effects of particle shape on colloid detachment by a moving air-water interface.

Effects of pharmacologically induced hypogonadism on mood and behavior in healthy young women.

Objective: The relationship between depression and estrogen withdrawal remains controversial. The authors examined the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist-induced ovarian suppression on mood, sleep, sexual function, and nighttime hot flushes. They focused on whether participating women experienced clinically significant depressive symptoms and whether specific symptoms associated with hypogonadism (nighttime hot flushes and disturbed sleep) increased susceptibility to depression.

Surgical/radiological interventions for cancer pain.

Pain is a major morbidity associated with cancer and up to 20% patients require invasive procedures for pain relief. Ablative techniques can be directed towards the spinal cord and brain to palliate pain or modify its perception. Anterolateral cordotomy, myelotomy, DREZotomy and cingulotomy are useful interventions for the management of refractory cancer pain.

Transport of europium colloids in vadose zone lysimeters at the semiarid Hanford site.

The objective of this study was to quantify transport of Eu colloids in the vadose zone at the semiarid Hanford site. Eu-hydroxy-carbonate colloids, Eu(OH)(CO3), were applied to the surface of field lysimeters, and migration of the colloids through the sediments was monitored using wick samplers. The lysimeters were exposed to natural precipitation (145-231 mm/year) or artificial irrigation (124-348 mm/year).

Thrombin-cleaved fragments of osteopontin are overexpressed in malignant glial tumors and provide a molecular niche with survival advantage.

Osteopontin (OPN), which is highly expressed in malignant glioblastoma (GBM), possesses inflammatory activity modulated by proteolytic cleavage by thrombin and plasma carboxypeptidase B2 (CPB2) at a highly conserved cleavage site. Full-length OPN (OPN-FL) was elevated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from all cancer patients compared with noncancer patients. However, thrombin-cleaved OPN (OPN-R) and thrombin/CPB2-double-cleaved OPN (OPN-L) levels were markedly increased in GBM and non-GBM gliomas compared with systemic cancer and noncancer patients.

Cavity volume dynamics after resection of brain metastases and timing of postresection cavity stereotactic radiosurgery.

Background: An alternative treatment option to whole-brain irradiation after surgical resection of brain metastases is resection cavity stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Objective: To review the dynamics of cavity volume change after surgical resection with the goal of determining the optimal timing for cavity SRS.

Methods: Preresection tumor, postresection/pre-SRS cavity, and post-SRS cavity volumes were measured for 68 cavities in 63 patients treated with surgery and postresection cavity SRS.

Diffusion-weighted MRI: distinction of skull base chordoma from chondrosarcoma.

Background And Purpose: Chordoma and chondrosarcoma of the skull base are rare tumors with overlapping presentations and anatomic imaging features but different prognoses. We hypothesized that these tumors might be distinguished by using diffusion-weighted MR imaging.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 19 patients with pathologically confirmed chordoma or chondrosarcoma who underwent both conventional and diffusion-weighted MR imaging.

Oral health quality-of-life among undergraduate Malaysian dental students.

Aim: To assess the oral health quality of life among Malaysian dental students using the Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) scale.

Material And Method: Malaysian dental students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal campus, Manipal University, Manipal answered a structured questionnaire recording the demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics and eight items of OIDP.

Results: The mean OIDP ADD and OIDP SC scores were respectively, 4.

Diffusive release of uranium from contaminated sediments into capillary fringe pore water.

Despite remediation efforts at the former nuclear weapons facility, leaching of uranium (U) from contaminated sediments to the ground water persists at the Hanford site 300 Area. Flooding of contaminated capillary fringe sediments due to seasonal changes in the Columbia River stage has been identified as a source for U supply to ground water. We investigated U release from Hanford capillary fringe sediments by packing sediments into reservoirs of centrifugal filter devices and saturating them with Columbia River water for 3 to 84days at varying solution-to-solid ratios.

Mucocele formation under pedicled nasoseptal flap.

The pedicled nasoseptal flap has become an indispensible tool for the reconstruction of skull base defects. This flap is easily harvested, provides a large surface area of vascularized tissue, and has few reported complications. We describe the case of a 60-year-old man who underwent endoscopic, endonasal transsphenoidal surgery with septal flap reconstruction who developed a sphenoid sinus mucocele postoperatively.

Field emission study of carbon nanotubes forest and array grown on Si using Fe as catalyst deposited by electro-chemical method.

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes are synthesized by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition (LPCVD) on Si substrate coated with Fe as a catalyst at a pressure of 20 Torr and at a growth temperature of 600 degrees C. The catalyst film is prepared by electro-chemical method which is very unique and a low cost method. Three precursor gases Acetylene (C2H2), Ammonia (NH3) and Hydrogen (H2) at the flow rate of 20 sccm, 100 sccm and 100 sccm respectively are allowed to flow through the Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition reactor for 10 minutes.

Management of intracranial and extracranial chordomas with CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery.

Chordomas are rare, malignant bone tumors of the axial skeleton, occurring particularly at the cranial base or in the sacro-coccygeal region. Although slow growing, chordomas are locally aggressive and challenging to treat. We evaluate the outcomes of skull base and spinal chordomas in 20 patients treated with CyberKnife (CK) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) (Accuray, Sunnyvale, CA, USA) between 1994 and 2010 at Stanford Hospital.

Stereotactic radiosurgery of the postoperative resection cavity for brain metastases: prospective evaluation of target margin on tumor control.

Purpose: Given the neurocognitive toxicity associated with whole-brain irradiation (WBRT), approaches to defer or avoid WBRT after surgical resection of brain metastases are desirable. Our initial experience with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) targeting the resection cavity showed promising results. We examined the outcomes of postoperative resection cavity SRS to determine the effect of adding a 2-mm margin around the resection cavity on local failure (LF) and toxicity.

Photo-induced electrochemical anodization of p-type silicon: achievement and demonstration of long term surface stability.

Surface stability is achieved and demonstrated by porous silicon (PS) fabricated using a wavelength-dependent photo-electrochemical (PEC) anodization technique. During anodization, the photon flux for all wavelengths was kept constant while only the effect of light wavelength on the surface morphology of PS was investigated. PS optical sensors were realized, characterized and tested using a photoluminescence (PL) quenching technique.

Cochlea radiation dose correlates with hearing loss after stereotactic radiosurgery of vestibular schwannoma.

Objective: For multisession radiosurgery, no published data relate the volume and dose of cochlear irradiation to quantified risk of hearing loss. We conducted a retrospective, dosimetric study to evaluate the relationship between hearing loss after stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and the dose-volume of irradiated cochlea.

Methods: Cochlear dose data were retrospectively collected on consecutive patients who underwent SRS (18 Gy in 3 sessions) for vestibular schwannoma between 1999 and 2005 at Stanford University Hospital.

ACTH and cortisol response to Dex/CRH testing in women with and without premenstrual dysphoria during GnRH agonist-induced hypogonadism and ovarian steroid replacement.

Context: During conditions of ovarian suppression, women with premenstrual dysphoria (PMD) experience abnormal behavioral responses to physiological levels of ovarian steroids. Although hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation frequently accompanies depression, and ovarian steroids regulate HPA axis responsivity, the role of HPA axis dysregulation in PMD is not known. We hypothesized that women with PMD would show abnormalities of HPA axis function analogous to those reported in depressive illness, and that ovarian steroids would differentially regulate HPA axis function in women with PMD compared with asymptomatic controls (AC).

The CD47-signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRPa) interaction is a therapeutic target for human solid tumors.

CD47, a "don't eat me" signal for phagocytic cells, is expressed on the surface of all human solid tumor cells. Analysis of patient tumor and matched adjacent normal (nontumor) tissue revealed that CD47 is overexpressed on cancer cells. CD47 mRNA expression levels correlated with a decreased probability of survival for multiple types of cancer.

What is the optimal treatment of large brain metastases? An argument for a multidisciplinary approach.

Purpose: Single-modality treatment of large brain metastases (>2 cm) with whole-brain irradiation, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) alone, or surgery alone is not effective, with local failure (LF) rates of 50% to 90%. Our goal was to improve local control (LC) by using multimodality therapy of surgery and adjuvant SRS targeting the resection cavity.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 97 patients with brain metastases >2 cm in diameter treated with surgery and cavity SRS.

The predictive value of serum myeloperoxidase for vasospasm in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Vasospasm is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), with inflammation playing a key role in its pathophysiology. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), an inflammatory marker, was examined as a potential marker of vasospasm in patients with SAH. Daily serum samples from patients with aneurysmal SAH were assayed for MPO, and transcranial Doppler (TCDs) and neurological exams were assessed to determine vasospasm.

Bevacizumab improves quality of life in patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

Objective. To quantify the benefits in survival and quality of life in patients receiving bevacizumab (BEV) for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM). Methods.

Links among nitrification, nitrifier communities, and edaphic properties in contrasting soils receiving dairy slurry.

Soil biotic and abiotic factors strongly influence nitrogen (N) availability and increases in nitrification rates associated with the application of manure. In this study, we examine the effects of edaphic properties and a dairy (Bos taurus) slurry amendment on N availability, nitrification rates and nitrifier communities. Soils of variable texture and clay mineralogy were collected from six USDA-ARS research sites and incubated for 28 d with and without dairy slurry applied at a rate of ~300 kg N ha(-1).