Psychosocial distress among oncology patients in the safety net.

Objective: Psychosocial distress among cancer patients leads to poor health outcomes and lower satisfaction. However, little is known about psychosocial distress among disadvantaged populations. We examined the prevalence, predictors, and follow-up experience of psychosocial distress among cancer patients within a diverse, urban, and multi-lingual safety-net setting.

Evaluation of factors influencing the development of late Marek's disease virus-induced immunosuppression: virus pathotype and host sex.

Marek's disease virus (MDV) is a herpesvirus that induces lymphoma and immunosuppression in chickens. MDV-induced immunosuppression (MDV-IS) is complex and can be divided into two phases: early-MDV-IS associated with cytolytic infection in the lymphoid organs in chickens lacking maternal antibodies against MDV (MAbs) and late-MDV-IS that appears later in the pathogenesis and occurs even in chickens bearing MAbs. We have recently developed a model to reproduce late-MDV-IS under laboratory conditions.

Quality of abstracts in the context of a systematic review on parenting of children with chronic health conditions and disabilities.

In this study the authors address the quality of abstracts reviewed during a systematic review. Their objective was to describe the proportion of abstracts that could not be coded and to explore factors associated with that outcome. Using an exploratory design, a database of titles uploaded for analysis was examined for clarity, type and year of publication, and abstract format.

Efficacy of a synthetic lytic peptide in the treatment of prostate cancer.

In the last several years, significant effort has been applied to identifying novel agents with effectiveness against prostate cancer. These studies were designed to determine the efficacy of one of these novel compounds, D2A21, in the treatment of an animal model of prostate cancer. Using the Mat-Ly-Lu(MLL) line of the Dunning R-3327 rat prostate adenocarcinoma model, the optimal dose, schedule and route of administration of D2A21 were established.

[Histologic forms of chronic hepatitis and response to interferon treatment. Clinical effectiveness of interferon alpha and beta treatment compared with chronic active viral hepatitis of various histologic grades].

The authors evaluated the clinical response to treatment with interferons in relation to chronic virulent hepatitis, different on histological level. All the interferons until now commercially available have been employed following a casual standard of choice. The results underlined a certain therapeutic success in 70% with a clinical answer in course of therapeutic preservation; and a failure rate of 30%.

[Treatment of chronic hepatitis with interferon-beta].

Thirty-five patients suffering from chronic viral hepatitis were treated with beta-IFN during two periods: 22 during 1991 and 13 in 1992. Patients in the first group were treated with a dose of 3 MUI beta-IFN three times a week for six months with a follow-up of 1 year; those patients treated during 1992 received the same dose but over a period of 12 months. The results confirm a satisfactory response (33%) and a good drug tolerability in patients enrolled in 1991.

[Clinical course of HIV infection in a cohort of 100 drug addicts in prison from 1984 to 1988].

A population of 100 drug addicts, two of whom were homosexual, all of them jailed has been considered. Patients were admitted on more than one occasion to a specially equipped ward for jailed patients at the "Amedeo di Savoia" of USL 4 of Turin. The clinical course of the condition brought on by HIV infection was compared with a similar sample of non-imprisoned subjects.

[Risk of HIV infection in health personnel involved in tasks of assistance, diagnosis and treatment. Description of 2 cases: one, of ascertained infection, the other under observation].

Having examined the literature on the subject, the risk of medical assistants contracting HIV infection accidentally while working in wards where seropositive patients are systematically or occasionally admitted for this viral infection is discussed.

[Cephalosporins and enzymuria].

Urinary enzyme excretion was studied in 56 patients treated with cephalosporins in order to evaluate their potential nephrotoxicity. Only in 4 out of 56 patients (7%) was increased NAG, gamma-GT, AlP excretion seen. A rapid return to normal values was observed just after the end of the therapy.

[Cefoperazone: microbiological, kinetic and clinical studies].

In vitro cefoperazone proved more active against the tested gram-negative bacteria than either piperacillin or mezlocillin. When administered in 1 g venous bolus the antibiotic achieved high plasmatic concentrations that were still adequate after 8 hours. 33.

[Pathological changes in serum bile acids in acute and chronic hepatitis].

In view of the current interest in changes in serum bile acids during diseases of the liver, an assessment was made of their prognostic significance, following their determination with standard hospital laboratory equipment. Increases over normal values were found to be related to the degree of liver cell damage, i.e.

[A case of the Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (herpes zoster of the geniculate ganglion) with concomitant C2 and C3 nerve involvement].

A case of Ramsay-Hunt syndrome (herpes zoster of the genicular ganglion with paresis of the facial nerve) presenting concomitant involvement of the sensitive nerve roots C2 and C3 is reported. The main aetiopathogenetic hypotheses as reported in the literature are presented and an attempt made to formulate a standard aetiopathogenetic theory comprising lesions to the motor nerve fibres and those of the sensitive nerve fibres.