Impact of islet size on pancreatic islet transplantation and potential interventions to improve outcome.

Better results have been recently reported in clinical pancreatic islet transplantation (ITX) due mostly to improved isolation techniques and immunosuppression; however, some limitations still exist. It is known that following transplantation, 30% to 60% of the islets are lost. In our study, we have investigated 1) the role of size as a factor affecting islet engraftment and 2) potential procedural manipulations to increase the number of smaller functional islets that can be transplanted.

Management practices of hepatitis C virus infected alcoholic hepatitis patients: A survey of physicians.

Aim: To survey gastroenterologists and hepatologists regarding their current views on treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected alcoholic hepatitis (AH) patients.

Methods: A sixteen item questionnaire was electronically mailed to gastroenterologists and hepatologists. A reminder was sent after 2 mo to increase the response rate.

Low-dose hydroxychloroquine is as effective as phlebotomy in treatment of patients with porphyria cutanea tarda.

Background & Aims: Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is an iron-related disorder caused by reduced activity of hepatic uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase; it can be treated by phlebotomy or low doses of hydroxychloroquine. We performed a prospective pilot study to compare the efficacy and safety of these therapies.

Methods: We analyzed data from 48 consecutive patients with well-documented PCT to characterize susceptibility factors; patients were treated with phlebotomy (450 mL, every 2 weeks until they had serum ferritin levels of 20 ng/mL) or low-dose hydroxychloroquine (100 mg orally, twice weekly, until at least 1 month after they had normal plasma levels of porphyrin).

Prefrontal dopaminergic and enkephalinergic synaptic accommodation in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and encephalitis.

Unlabelled: Changes in synapse structure occur in frontal neocortex with HIV encephalitis (HIVE) and may contribute to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). A postmortem survey was conducted to determine if mRNAs involved in synaptic transmission are perturbed in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in subjects with HIVE or HAND. Expression of the opioid neurotransmitter preproenkephalin mRNA (PENK) was significantly decreased in a sampling of 446 brain specimens from HIV-1 infected people compared to 67 HIV negative subjects.

Teen dating violence and substance use following a natural disaster: does evacuation status matter?

Objectives: In September 2008, the Texas coast was directly hit by Hurricane Ike. Galveston Island was flooded by 4.25 m of storm surge, affecting most of the island's housing and infrastructure.

Implementation of health information technology to maximize efficiency of resource utilization in a geographically dispersed prenatal care delivery system.

This study investigated the utilization of health information technology (HIT) to enhance resource utilization in a geographically dispersed tertiary care system with extensive outpatient and delivery services. It was initiated as a result of a systems change implemented after Hurricane Ike devastated southeast Texas. A retrospective database and electronic medical record review was performed, which included data collection from all patients evaluated 18 months prior (epoch I) and 18 months following (epoch II) the landfall of Hurricane Ike.

Dating violence and substance use among ethnically diverse adolescents.

Teen dating violence is a serious public health concern with numerous and long-lasting consequences. Although alcohol and drug use have been associated with dating violence, little is known about the role of specific substances, especially the use of club drugs and the nonmedical use of prescription drugs. Thus, the authors examined the association between dating violence victimization and the use of a variety of licit and illicit substances among 1,565 ethnically diverse and economically disadvantaged high school students in southeast Texas.

Prognostic significance of peritumoral lymphatic vessel density and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 in invasive squamous cell cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer is known to metastasize primarily by the lymphatic system. Dissemination through lymphatic vessels represents an early step in regional tumor progression, and the presence of lymphatic metastasis is associated with a poor prognosis. In patients who have undergone a radical hysterectomy, lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI), assessed on hematoxylin and eosin-stained slides, is a major factor for adjuvant therapy in patients with cervical cancer.

Smokeless tobacco use among military flight personnel: a survey of 543 aviators.

Introduction: Although there has been a steady decline in smoking rates among adults in the United States in recent years, the consumption of smokeless tobacco (ST) continues to increase. Moreover, ST use in the U.S.

Social Factors Associated with History of Sexual Assault Among Ethnically Diverse Adolescents.

We examine the association of adolescents' self-reported sexual assault victimization with their living arrangements, parent's education, and plans for college. Participants included 1,634 ethnically-diverse and economically-disadvantaged high school students in southeast Texas. Lifetime history of forced sexual assault was reported by 8.

Correlates of bacterial pneumonia hospitalizations in elders, Texas border.

Background: Immunization preventable bacterial pneumonia is an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) prevention quality indicator of health care. This study explored associations of individual and county correlates with bacterial pneumonia hospitalization rates for elders residing in 32 Texas counties bordering Mexico.

Methods: We estimated baseline rates from Texas Health Care Information Collection's hospital discharge data for 1999-2001, and population counts from the 2000 U.

Reducing the effects of lead-time bias, length bias and over-detection in evaluating screening mammography: a censored bivariate data approach.

Measuring the benefit of screening mammography is difficult due to lead-time bias, length bias and over-detection. We evaluated the benefit of screening mammography in reducing breast cancer mortality using observational data from the SEER-Medicare linked database. The conceptual model divided the disease duration into two phases: preclinical (T(0)) and symptomatic (T(1)) breast cancer.

Mammography use among older Mexican-American women: correcting for over-reports of breast cancer screening.

Objectives: To determine the accuracy of self-reported mammography use and generate a correction factor that adjusts for reporting errors among Mexican-American women.

Design: Self-reported mammography use was compared with a medical chart review.

Participants: A random sample of 199 Mexican-American women aged 50-74 in southeast Texas.

Evaluating health care performance: strengths and limitations of multilevel analysis.

An increasing number of health services researchers are using multilevel analysis for evaluating health care performance. This method has the distinct advantage of accounting for within-provider correlation among patients. Alternatively, in a similar manner, estimators based on cluster sampling can also adjust for within-provider correlation.

Variation in false-positive rates of mammography reading among 1067 radiologists: a population-based assessment.

Background: The accuracy of mammography reading varies among radiologists. We conducted a population-based assessment on radiologist variation in false- positive rates of screening mammography and its associated radiologist characteristics.

Methods: About 27,394 screening mammograms interpreted by 1067 radiologists were identified from a 5% non-cancer sample of Medicare claims during 1998-1999.

Correlation of different 5-FU regimens and time to surgery with pathological complete response in locally advanced rectal cancer patients treated by pre-operative chemo-radiation.

The best pre-operative chemo-radiation regimen has still to be defined for patients with rectal cancer. We retrospectively performed a study comprised of 26 patients with T3/4 adenocarcinoma of the rectum. Eleven patients received concurrent protracted venous 5-FU infusion (PVI), 11 had bolus, 1 had 4-day infusions, and 3 did not receive concurrent chemotherapy.

Diagnostic utility of cell cycle and apoptosis regulatory proteins in verrucous squamous carcinoma.

A major problem in the diagnosis of verrucous squamous cell carcinoma is the lack of readily reproducible objective criteria for distinguishing this malignant lesion from reactive epithelial hyperplasia. Both lesions are characterized by thickened (well-differentiated) squamous epithelium without cellular atypia and subjacent stroma densely infiltrated by lymphocytes and plasma cells. This study was carried out to evaluate the use of cell cycle and apoptosis-related regulatory proteins in the diagnosis of verrucous carcinoma.

Age at death, season, and day of death as indicators of the effect of the back to sleep program on sudden infant death syndrome in the United States, 1992-1999.

Background: In June 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Infant Positioning and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) made its first recommendation concerning placing infants in a supine position. Since the publication of this recommendation, SIDS rates in the United States have declined 44%. Before this recommendation, SIDS had a marked seasonal pattern and was noted to occur more frequently on weekends.

What was the cause of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's paralytic illness?

In 1921, when he was 39 years of age, Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted an illness characterized by: fever; protracted symmetric, ascending paralysis; facial paralysis; bladder and bowel dysfunction; numbness; and dysaesthesia. The symptoms gradually resolved except for paralysis of the lower extremities. The diagnosis at the onset of the illness and thereafter was paralytic poliomyelitis.

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the effect of antihistamine or corticosteroid treatment in acute otitis media.

Objectives: To determine whether the adjunctive drugs antihistamine and corticosteroid improve immediate and long-term outcomes of acute otitis media (AOM).

Study Design: Children with AOM (3 mos-6 y) were enrolled in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. All 179 children received one dose of intramuscular ceftriaxone and were assigned to receive either chlorpheniramine maleate (0.

Measuring the performance of screening mammography in community practice with Medicare claims data.

Background: Few studies have examined the outcomes of screening mammography in community practice, particularly the extent of false positive exams among older asymptomatic women.

Research Design: Subjects were female Medicare beneficiaries, age 67 or older, residing in one of eleven SEER areas, with no evidence of breast cancer. Medicare claims data were used to identify their screening mammograms over two time periods, 1993-1995 and 1996-1998, and to measure their use of follow-up diagnostic testing (diagnostic mammography, breast ultrasound and breast biopsy) within three months of the screening mammogram.

Pap smear use in a population of older Mexican-American women.

Background: Hispanic women and older women (age > or = 50 years) in general have been identified as populations of women who often underutilize Papanicolaou (Pap) smears.

Objective: To report the rates of cervical cancer screening in a group of older Mexican American women and to identify the correlates of having a Pap smear in the past three years.

Data Source: The Mammography Use by Older Mexican-American Women Survey, a stratified area probability sample of 452 women ages 50-74 from three southeast Texas counties.