Cross-Cultural Comparison of Rural Healthy Adults: Russian and American Groups.

Objective: The Russian-speaking population is among the largest European-born in the U.S., yet Russian-American cross-cultural research is scarce.

[Efficacy and safety of botulinum toxin type A (IncobotulinumtoxinA) in the treatment of patients with cerebral palsy].

Aim: To assess the safety and clinical and neurophysiological efficacy of xeomin in children with spastic equinus and equinovarus foot deformity in cerebral palsy.

Material And Methods: Sixty-four patients with spastic forms of cerebral palsy (levels I-IV on the GMFCS) were enrolled into this multi-center open-label comparative randomized trial. The patients were administered xeomin or botox once, each drug being administered to 32 patients.

Template-based Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy: A Cost-effective Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Planning Procedure for Prostate Cancer.

Introduction: Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has been widely accepted for the treatment of prostate cancer. In comparison with traditional three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), it improves local control while minimizing side effects. However, IMRT comes at a significantly higher cost.

Viral proteome size and CD8+ T cell epitope density are correlated: the effect of complexity on selection.

The relation between the complexity of organisms and proteins and their evolution rates has been discussed in the context of multiple generic models. The main robust claim from most such models is the negative relation between complexity and the accumulation rate of mutations. Viruses accumulate escape mutations in their epitopes to avoid detection and destruction of their host cell by CD8+ T cells.

Diffusion rate determines balance between extinction and proliferation in birth-death processes.

We here study spatially extended catalyst induced growth processes. This type of process exists in multiple domains of biology, ranging from ecology (nutrients and growth), through immunology (antigens and lymphocytes) to molecular biology (signaling molecules initiating signaling cascades). Such systems often exhibit an extinction-proliferation transition, where varying some parameters can lead to either extinction or survival of the reactants.

Impaired emotion processing from vocal and facial cues in frontotemporal dementia compared to right hemisphere stroke.

To advance our understanding about the emotional and cognitive deficits of patients with frontotemporal dementia with behavioral variant (bvFTD), the current study examined comprehension and expression of emotions from prosodic and facial cues in a 66-year-old woman. The patient diagnosed with bvFTD is compared to six patients with acute right hemisphere stroke. Recognition of emotion from prosodic cues was assessed using an identification task in four conditions with decreasing verbal demands (neutral sentences, language-like pseudo sentences, monosyllables, and asyllabic vowel sounds).

Poster - Thur Eve - 57: Craniospinal irradiation with jagged-junction IMRT approach without beam edge matching for field junctions.

Purpose: Craniospinal irradiation were traditionally treated the central nervous system using two or three adjacent field sets. A intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plan (Jagged-Junction IMRT) which overcomes problems associated with field junctions and beam edge matching, improves planning and treatment setup efficiencies with homogenous target dose distribution was developed.

Methods And Materials: Jagged-Junction IMRT was retrospectively planned on three patients with prescription of 36 Gy in 20 fractions and compared to conventional treatment plans.

Predator-prey dynamics in a uniform medium lead to directed percolation and wave-train propagation.

The dynamics of birth-death processes with extinction points that are unstable in the deterministic average description has been extensively studied, mainly in the context of the stochastic transition from the mean-field attracting fixed point to the absorbing state. Here we study the opposite case of a small perturbation from the zero-population absorbing state. We show that such perturbations can grow beyond the mean-field attracting fixed point and then can collapse back into the absorbing state.

A three-isocenter jagged-junction IMRT approach for craniospinal irradiation without beam edge matching for field junctions.

Purpose: Traditionally craniospinal irradiation treats the central nervous system using two or three adjacent field sets. We propose a technique using a three-isocenter intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plan (jagged-junction IMRT) which overcomes problems associated with field junctions and beam edge matching and improves planning and treatment setup efficiencies with homogenous target dose distribution.

Methods And Materials: Treatments for 3 patients with a prescription of 36 Gy in 20 fractions were retrospectively planned with jagged-junction IMRT and compared to conventional treatment plans.

Optimal viral immune surveillance evasion strategies.

Following cell entry, viruses can be detected by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. These cytotoxic T lymphocytes can induce host cell apoptosis and prevent the propagation of the virus. Viruses with fewer epitopes have a higher survival probability, and are selected through evolution.

The culture of time in neuropsychological assessment: exploring the effects of culture-specific time attitudes on timed test performance in Russian and American samples.

Cultural differences in time attitudes and their effect on timed neuropsychological test performance were examined in matched non-clinical samples of 100 Russian and American adult volunteers using 8 tests that were previously reported to be relatively free of cultural bias: Color Trails Test (CTT); Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT); Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT); and Tower of London-Drexel Edition (ToL(Dx)). A measure of time attitudes, the Culture of Time Inventory (COTI-33) was used to assess time attitudes potentially affecting time-limited testing. Americans significantly outscored Russians on CTT, SDMT, and ToL(Dx) (p,.

Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP) modeling of late rectal bleeding following external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer: A Test of the QUANTEC-recommended NTCP model.

Purpose/background: Validating a predictive model for late rectal bleeding following external beam treatment for prostate cancer would enable safer treatments or dose escalation. We tested the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model recommended in the recent QUANTEC review (quantitative analysis of normal tissue effects in the clinic).

Material And Methods: One hundred and sixty one prostate cancer patients were treated with 3D conformal radiotherapy for prostate cancer at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in a prospective protocol.

Sequence variant discovery in DNA repair genes from radiosensitive and radiotolerant prostate brachytherapy patients.

Purpose: The presence of intrinsic radiosensitivity within prostate cancer patients may be an important factor contributing to development of radiation toxicity. We investigated whether variants in genes responsible for detecting and repairing DNA damage independently contribute to toxicity following prostate brachytherapy.

Experimental Design: Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples of 41 prostate brachytherapy patients, 21 with high and 20 with low late toxicity scores.

Population-based study of biochemical and survival outcomes after permanent 125I brachytherapy for low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Objectives: To analyze the biochemical and survival outcomes after permanent low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy in a large, consecutive, population-based cohort of patients.

Methods: A total of 1006 consecutive implants were performed from July 20, 1998 to October 23, 2003 for men with low-risk and "low-tier" intermediate-risk prostate cancer. The prescribed minimal peripheral dose was 144 Gy, using 0.

Predictive factors for acute and late urinary toxicity after permanent prostate brachytherapy: long-term outcome in 712 consecutive patients.

Purpose: To describe the frequency of acute and late Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) urinary toxicity, associated predictive factors, and resolution of International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) in 712 consecutive prostate brachytherapy patients.

Methods And Materials: Patients underwent implantation between 1998 and 2003 (median follow-up, 57 months). The IPSS and RTOG toxicity data were prospectively collected.

Evaluation of dosimetric parameters and disease response after 125 iodine transperineal brachytherapy for low- and intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

Purpose: To analyze dosimetric outcomes after permanent brachytherapy for men with low-risk and "low-tier" intermediate-risk prostate cancer and explore the relationship between the traditional dosimetric values, V100 (volume of prostate receiving 100% of the prescribed dose) and D90 (minimum dose to 90% of the prostate), and risk of biochemical failure.

Methods And Materials: A total of 1,006 consecutive patients underwent implantation between July 20, 1998, and Oct 23, 2003. Most (58%) had low-risk disease; the remaining 42% comprised a selected low-tier subgroup of intermediate-risk patients.

Long-term survivorship of esophageal cancer patients treated with radical intent.

To investigate the recent trends in definitive management of esophageal cancer, the records of 138 consecutive patients treated with radical intent in a single institution between 1995 and 2003 were reviewed and analyzed. The median follow-up period was 5.7 years (range 1.

Do Russian and American normal adults perform similarly on neuropsychological tests? Preliminary findings on the relationship between culture and test performance.

To learn how culture may affect neuropsychological performance, eight tests were administered to non-brain damaged adult volunteers in the United States and Russia. The tests included Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT), Color Trails Test (CTT), Digit Span Forward and Backward, and Category Fluency Test. Verbal and Visual Memory measures and Blind Clock Test were selected from Luria's (1980) battery.

Hemoglobin levels do not predict biochemical outcome for localized prostate cancer treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy and external-beam radiotherapy.

Purpose: To investigate whether hemoglobin (Hb) levels affect outcome in men with localized prostate adenocarcinoma (LPA) treated with neoadjuvant androgen-suppression therapy (NAST) and external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Methods And Materials: A total of 563 men with LPA treated with NAST (median: 5.3 months) and EBRT who had Hb levels during treatment were retrospectively reviewed.

Decline in urinary retention incidence in 805 patients after prostate brachytherapy: the effect of learning curve?

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence and factors predictive of acute urinary retention (AUR) in 805 consecutive patients treated with prostate brachytherapy monotherapy and to examine the possible effect of a learning curve.

Methods And Materials: Between July 1998 and November 2002, 805 patients were treated with prostate brachytherapy. Low-risk patients (Gleason Score (GS) < or = 6; prostate specific antigen (PSA) < or = 10, and < or = T2b [UICC 1997]) received implant alone.

Catalyst-induced growth with limited catalyst lifespan and competition.

Spatially extended catalyst-induced growth processes are studied. This type of processes exists in all domains of biology, ranging from ecology (nutrients and growth), through immunology (antigens and lymphocytes) to molecular biology (signaling molecules initiating signaling cascades). The extinction-proliferation transition is considered for a system containing discrete catalysts (A) that induces the proliferation of a discrete reactant (B).

Urinary incontinence in prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: To describe the incidence of urinary incontinence among prostate cancer patients treated with external beam radiotherapy (RT) and to investigate associated risk factors.

Patients And Methods: One thousand and hundred ninety-two patients with >or=24 months follow-up were the subjects of this series. All patients received between 50 and 72 Gy in 20-37 fractions (median 66 Gy/33#).

PSA failure and the risk of death in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure and cause-specific and overall survival in prostate cancer patients treated with radical radiotherapy.

Methods And Materials: Patients with and without PSA failure were compared with respect to overall survival and cause-specific survival in a cohort of 1786 patients. The relationship between PSA failure and survival was further investigated among six subgroups defined by three tumor risk groups (high, intermediate, and low risk based on T stage, Gleason score, and presenting PSA) and two age groups (<75 years and >/=75 years).