The t(8;22) in chronic myeloid leukemia fuses BCR to FGFR1: transforming activity and specific inhibition of FGFR1 fusion proteins.

This report describes 2 patients with a clinical and hematologic diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase who had an acquired t(8;22)(p11;q11). Analysis by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) indicated that both patients were negative for the BCR-ABL fusion, but suggested that the BCR gene was disrupted. Further FISH indicated a breakpoint within fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), the receptor tyrosine kinase that is known to be disrupted in a distinctive myeloproliferative disorder, most commonly by fusion to ZNF198.

Resection of renal cell carcinomas with inferior vena caval extension using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

Renal cell carcinoma with tumour thrombus extension into the inferior vena cava presents a difficult surgical challenge. The conventional surgical approach, which involves isolating the inferior vena cava, incising its wall and removing the thrombus, can have high incidences of perioperative mortality and embolization of the tumour thrombus compounded by severe hemorrhage. Four patients with renal cell carcinomas extending into the inferior vena cava were supported with cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest during tumour excision.

Use of community health needs assessment for regional planning in country South Australia.

This study examined the impact of community health needs assessments used in country South Australian health service planning between 1995 and 1999. Data were collected from regional health planning officers during a Search Conference and a series of Delphi rounds. The needs assessments were found to vary from regionally to locally driven approaches.

The nutrition transition is underway in India.

Nutrition research in India has previously focused on the serious problem of undernutrition related to nutrient deficit and high rates of infection. Recent data from the National Family Health Survey 1998/99 (NFHS 2), however, identified a significant proportion of Indian women as overweight, coexisting with high rates of malnutrition. This paper examines the emerging nutrition transition for women living in rural and urban communities of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Coulomb energy differences in t = 1 mirror rotational bands in (50)Fe and (50)Cr.

Gamma rays from the N = Z-2 nucleus (50)Fe have been observed, establishing the rotational ground state band up to the state J(pi) = 11+ at 6.994 MeV excitation energy. The experimental Coulomb energy differences, obtained by comparison with the isobaric analog states in its mirror (50)Cr, confirm the qualitative interpretation of the backbending patterns in terms of successive alignments of proton and neutron pairs.

Stratum corneum lipids liposomes for the topical delivery of 5-aminolevulinic acid in photodynamic therapy of skin cancer: preparation and in vitro permeation study.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a skin cancer therapy that still has limitations due to the low penetration of this drug into the skin. We have proposed in this work a delivery system for 5-ALA based on liposomes having lipid composition similar to the mammalian stratum corneum (SCLLs) in order to optimize its skin delivery in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) of skin cancers.

Methods: SCLLs were obtained by reverse phase evaporation technique and size distribution of the vesicles was determinated by photon correlation spectroscopy.

Seasonal assessment of environmental tobacco smoke and respirable suspended particle exposures for nonsmokers in Bremen using personal monitoring.

The study was designed to determine seasonal differences in personal exposures to respirable suspended particles (RSP) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) for nonsmokers in Bremen, Germany. The subjects were office workers, either living and working in smoking locations or living and working in nonsmoking locations. One hundred and twenty four randomly selected nonsmoking subjects collected air samples close to their breathing zone by wearing personal monitors for 24 h or, in some cases, for 7-day periods during the winter of 1999.

A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial of the effects of the 5-hydroxytriptamine(4) agonist cisapride on the female urinary bladder.

Objective: Anecdotal reports have proposed the use of the 5-hydroxytriptamine(4) agonist cisapride as a treatment for female voiding dysfunction on the basis of the known prokinetic actions of the medication. The purpose of our study is to assess the effects of this agent on the normal bladder in vivo.

Study Design: In this randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial, patients were randomized to receive either 20 mg cisapride or an identical placebo.

Pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characterization of poly(ethylene glycol) conjugation to met-enkephalin analog [D-Pen2, D-Pen5]-enkephalin (DPDPE).

Poly(ethylene glycol), or PEG, conjugation to proteins and peptides is a growing technology used to enhance efficacy of therapeutics. This investigation assesses pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characteristics of PEG-conjugated [D-Pen2,D-Pen5]-enkephalin (DPDPE), a met-enkephalin analog, in rodent (in vivo, in situ) and bovine (in vitro) systems. PEG-DPDPE showed increased analgesia (i.

Iontophoretic delivery of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA): effect of pH.

Purpose: To examine the iontophoretic delivery of ALA as a function of pH and to determine the principal mechanisms responsible for its electrotransport.

Methods: Anodal iontophoretic transport of ALA was measured as a function of its concentration and pH of the donor solution. Experiments were performed in vitro using skin excised from porcine ears as the membrane.

Home and videotape intervention delays early complementary feeding among adolescent mothers.

Background: The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the World Health Organization recommend that infants receive only breast milk or formula for the first 4 to 6 months of life, followed by the introduction of complementary foods. Despite these recommendations, many infants, particularly those with adolescent mothers, receive solid foods (often cereal mixed with formula in a bottle) and liquids other than formula or breast milk in the first few weeks of life. Decisions on early feeding are often guided by grandmothers and influenced by beliefs that infants need complementary food to counteract signals of hunger, reduce crying, and sleep through the night.

Extended donor ischemic times and recipient outcome after orthotopic cardiac transplantation.

Background: The effect of extended donor ischemic times on mortality following heart transplantation is a matter of considerable debate.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study of the 261 consecutive heart transplantations performed at the centre (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta) between July 1985 and June 1999 was conducted. Patients were divided into the following two groups based on donor ischemic time: 4 h or less and longer than 4 h.

Successful cardiac transplantation with methanol or carbon monoxide-poisoned donors.

Background: Patients succumbing to methanol or carbon monoxide poisoning are usually rejected for heart donation. Increasing demand for donors has lead to the expansion of acceptance criteria and increased use of the marginal donor.

Methods: We transplanted hearts from donors who had had methanol intoxication in three cases and carbon monoxide exposure in two cases.

Photodynamic therapy of skin cancers: sensitizers, clinical studies and future directives.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a new modality of skin cancer treatment. It involves the administration of photosensitizing drugs which, when localized in tumor tissue can produce its destruction by absorbing an adequate dose of light of an appropriate wavelength. A large number of photosensitizing agents have been tested in PDT experiments.

Anomalous right coronary artery originating from the left main coronary artery.

A 54-year-old man with no cardiac history presented with exertional angina. Cardiac catheterization revealed an anomalous right coronary artery originating from the left main coronary artery with external compression during its course between the aorta and the pulmonary artery. He was successfully managed with surgical reimplantation of the right coronary artery into the aorta.

Safety and tolerability of BufferGel, a novel vaginal microbicide, in women in the United States.

BufferGel (ReProtect, LLC) is a vaginal gel with an acidic buffering action that was designed to prevent vaginal neutralization by semen. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of BufferGel (ReProtect, Limited Liability Company) applied vaginally either once or twice daily by 27 women who were at low risk for acquisition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Participants initially used the product once daily for 14 days and then twice daily for 14 days; they underwent colposcopy before and after product exposure.

Potential use of gelcasting hydroxyapatite porous ceramic as an implantable drug delivery system.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramic in a porous configuration is suggested as a drug release system. A new technique for the production of this material, based on the foaming of suspensions and in situ polymerization (gelcasting method), resulted in a material whose characteristics are likely to make it useful as an implantable drug delivery system. Three batches of HA ceramic with different porosities were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Making scents of sex underwater.

Sex and scents have long been associated. Musk, for example, is a sexual scent that has been used for many years in the perfume industry. In humans, the debate on the existence of sex pheromones continues, whereas in insects their role is well known.

Oocyte morphology and early zygote cleavage does not appear to be related to intrafollicular concentrations of inhibin-A or -B.

Purpose: The aim was to investigate the relationship of intrafollicular inhibin dimers A and B with human oocyte morphology and subsequent embryo potential.

Methods: Sixty-eight oocytes were isolated from 31 women undertaking intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, sex hormone-binding globulin, inhibin-A and inhibin-B was assayed in corresponding follicular fluid.

Microcomputed tomography of kidneys following chronic bile duct ligation.

Background: In hepatic cirrhosis, renal sodium and water retention can occur prior to decreases in renal blood flow (RBF). This may be explained in part by redistribution of the intrarenal microcirculation toward the juxtamedullary nephrons. To appreciate this three-dimensional spatial redistribution better, we examined the intrarenal microcirculatory changes using microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) in rats subjected to chronic bile duct ligation (CBDL).

Factors influencing spawning and pairing in the scale worm Harmothoe imbricata (Annelida: Polychaeta).

Endocrine and environmental factors control reproduction of the polynoid scale worm Harmothoe imbricata. We confirmed that the rate of vitellogenesis was greater in winter specimens transferred from ambient regimes of photoperiod and temperature to a light:dark (LD) photoperiod of 16:8 at 10 degrees C and showed that the number of females spawning was significantly greater than for those transferred to LD8:16 at 10 degrees C. The endocrine mediation of this response was investigated using prostomium implantations.

Acceptability of a novel vaginal microbicide during a safety trial among low-risk women.

Context: The increasing recognition that women who are unable or unwilling to discuss or use condoms with their sexual partners need female-controlled methods for preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV, has led to considerable focus on the development of vaginal microbicides. While many such products are being tested for safety and effectiveness, clinical trials generally overlook another key factor in a product's impact on infection rates-its acceptability to users.

Methods: A Phase I clinical trial of a microbicidal gel included an assessment of the product's acceptability among 27 low-risk participants.

Influence of cyclodextrin complexation on the in vitro permeation and skin metabolism of dexamethasone.

The influence of complexation of a model drug, dexamethasone acetate (DMA), with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CyD) and hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CyD) on the in vitro permeation through hairless mouse skin and on skin metabolism have been investigated. Complexation with CyDs increased the amount of DMA permeated in the order of 2.0 and 3.