Gastric cancer, cytotoxin-associated gene A-positive Helicobacter pylori, and serum pepsinogens: an international study. The Eurogst Study Group.

Background & Aims: CagA-positive Helicobacter pylori infection has been more closely associated with gastric disease than CagA-negative infection. This study evaluated whether geographic variation in the prevalence of CagA could explain variation in gastric cancer rates.

Methods: The Eurogast study was conducted in 17 centers in 13 countries.

Peroxisomes are involved in the swift increase in alcohol metabolism.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether catalase-dependent alcohol metabolism is activated by alcohol (i.e., swift increase in alcohol metabolism).

Helicobacter pylori: a true carcinogen?

Is Helicobacter pylori a true carcinogen? Most carcinogens are physical, chemical or viral agents which give rise to the development of neoplasia by inducing alterations in cellular DNA. Evidence for the carcinogenic potency of such agents is usually based on dose-response curves and animal models and there is often a direct association with (epi-) genetic events. Despite the absence of such data, H.

Evaluating the use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors for older nursing home residents with chronic heart failure.

Background: Despite their well noted therapeutic benefits for heart failure (HF), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors may be underprescribed and underdosed among older nursing home patients.

Objectives: To assess the use of ACE inhibitor therapy in older (> or =70 years) nursing home residents with systolic heart failure (HF).

Design: A cross-sectional, retrospective analysis.

Persistent or recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome following prior endoscopic carpal tunnel release.

A retrospective review of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) identified 20 patients (26 wrists) who had persistent or recurrent CTS after having undergone endoscopic carpal tunnel release (ECTR). Seven wrists never had relief of the original CTS symptoms; for the remaining 19 wrists, the average time to recurrence of CTS following ECTR was 4.8 months.

Children's emerging regulation of conduct: restraint, compliance, and internalization from infancy to the second year.

We examined emergent regulation of conduct from infancy to the second year. Multiple observational measures at home and in the laboratory assessed, at 8-10 months, the child's restraint and attention (N = 112), and at 13-15 months, compliance to mother, internalization of her prohibition, and quality of motivation in the mother-child teaching context (N = 108). We replicated the findings previously reported for older children that supported our view of compliance and noncompliance as heterogeneous: Committed compliance was higher to maternal "don'ts" than "dos," with the reverse true for situational compliance; girls surpassed boys in committed compliance; and committed, but not situational, compliance related positively, and passive noncompliance negatively, to children's internalization of maternal prohibition.

Experience with reduction mammaplasty following breast conservation surgery and radiation therapy.

Little is known about the outcome of breast reduction in the previously radiated breast. With the increased popularity of breast conservation in the management of breast cancer, it is inevitable that more women with breast cancer who have had a breast radiated will be seeking breast reduction. Although it would be expected that reduction of the radiated breast would be more challenging and would yield less-pleasing results, it has been unclear whether reduction in the radiated breast could be safely performed without interfering with mammography and cancer surveillance.

Effect of smoking cessation on exercise performance in female smokers participating in exercise training.

We evaluated in a randomized prospective trial the possible effect of smoking cessation on exercise performance in middle-aged female smokers who underwent vigorous exercise training as an adjunct to a cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation treatment program. A total of 109 subjects met the criteria for this substudy; of these, 51 were in the contact control (nonexercising) group and 58 were in the exercise training group. Both groups had a graded maximal exercise stress test performed on a bicycle ergometer before and after 12 weeks of treatment.

The role of gut-derived bacterial toxins and free radicals in alcohol-induced liver injury.

Previous research from this laboratory using a continuous enteral ethanol (EtOH) administration model demonstrated that Kupffer cells are pivotal in the development of EtOH-induced liver injury. When Kupffer cells were destroyed using gadolinium chloride (GdCl3) or the gut was sterilized with polymyxin B and neomycin, early inflammation due to EtOH was blocked. Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha antibody markedly decreased EtOH-induced liver injury and increased TNF-mRNA.

The role of gut-derived bacterial toxins and free radicals in alcohol-induced liver injury.

Previous research from this laboratory using a continuous enteral ethanol (EtOH) administration model demonstrated that Kupffer cells are pivotal in the development of EtOH-induced liver injury. When Kupffer cells were destroyed using gadolinium chloride (GdCl ) or the gut was sterilized with polymyxin B and neomycin, early inflammation due to EtOH was blocked. Anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α antibody markedly decreased EtOH-induced liver injury and increased TNF-mRNA.

Review article: Is there significant variation in the risk of gastric cancer associated with Helicobacter pylori infection?

Helicobacter pylori infection is a risk factor for gastric cancer and most epidemiological studies have estimated a relative risk associated with infection in the order of two to four-fold. There is interest in the extent to which this risk estimate might vary between different populations especially as several populations have been identified with low rates of gastric cancer despite a high infection prevalence. Methodological differences between studies make it difficult to compare the results of retrospective case-control studies to quantify the variation in risk, but prospective studies indicate that there may be a six-fold variation in risk between different populations.

Helicobacter pylori infection and cancer.

This paper will briefly review the evidence for the role of Helicobacter pylori infection in the aetiology of gastric cancer and consider the implications of this relationship. The critical issue of whether H. pylori eradication may play a part in a strategy for the prevention of gastric cancer will then be discussed.

Nitrate in drinking water and the incidence of gastric, esophageal, and brain cancer in Yorkshire, England.

Objectives: This small-area ecologic study in Yorkshire, northern England, examines the hypothesis that exposure to higher levels of nitrate in drinking water increases the risk of stomach, esophageal, or brain cancer in adults.

Methods: Nitrate levels over the period 1990-95 and numbers of incident cancers from 1975-94 were available for 148 water supply zones, geographically defined areas each supplying water of homogeneous chemical composition to an average population of around 20,000.

Results: No relationship was found between nitrate concentrations and the incidence of stomach or esophageal cancers.

Estrogen increases sensitivity of hepatic Kupffer cells to endotoxin.

The relationship among gender, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and liver disease is complex. Accordingly, the effect of estrogen on activation of Kupffer cells by endotoxin was studied. All rats given estrogen intraperitoneally 24 h before an injection of a sublethal dose of LPS (5 mg/kg) died within 24 h, whereas none of the control rats died.

Free radial artery grafts: surgical technique and results.

In the search for alternative conduits, the use of radial artery (RA) grafts has found renewed interest. This study sought to evaluate prospectively the perioperative morbidity, including the postoperative complications in the donor forearm, and mortality in the routine use of RA grafts in coronary artery bypass surgery. Data were obtained prospectively on 200 consecutive patients who underwent coronary revascularization using at least one RA graft from January 1995 to April 1997.

Breast reconstruction in previously irradiated patients using tissue expanders and implants: a potentially unfavorable result.

There exists a paucity of definitive information on the suitability of implant reconstructions in previously irradiated breast cancer patients. This controversial topic prompted a review of our prosthetic reconstructions in this select group of patients. A retrospective study of patients treated between 1976 and 1993 with lumpectomy and radiation therapy for early breast cancer revealed 67 patients with local recurrences.

Hazard screening of chemical releases and environmental equity analysis of populations proximate to toxic release inventory facilities in Oregon.

A comprehensive approach using hazard screening, demographic analysis, and a geographic information system (GIS) for mapping is employed to address environmental equity issues in Oregon. A media-specific chronic toxicity index [or chronic index (CI)] was used to compare environmental chemical releases reported in the EPA's Toxic Chemical Release Inventory (TRI) database. In 1992, 254 facilities reportedly released more than 40 million pounds of toxic chemicals directly into the environment on-site or transferred them to sewage treatment plants or other off-site facilities for disposal and recycling.

The meaning of spirituality: a literature review.

This paper presents a literature review in relation to the meaning of spirituality. It is proposed that meeting the spiritual needs of patients is a fundamental part of providing holistic nursing care, but that the assessment and meeting of those needs is impeded by inadequate definitions and conceptual frameworks. It should not be assumed that spirituality is either synonymous, or coterminous, with religion, and it is suggested that to adopt this restrictive view is unhelpful in the provision of individualized care.

Cardiac morphology and function in senescent rats: gender-related differences.

Objectives: We sought to better understand the effects of aging and gender on left ventricular (LV) structure and function.

Background: Cardiovascular disease in older persons is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The influence of gender on age-related cardiac changes is incompletely characterized.

Gastric cancer, gastritis and plasma vitamin C: results from an international correlation and cross-sectional study. The Eurogast Study Group.

Low intake of foods rich in vitamin C is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer, and geographic variation in average vitamin C intake, therefore, could explain some of the wide international variation in gastric cancer rates. This multicentre study investigated the relationships between plasma levels of vitamin C, as an indicator of vitamin C intake, and gastric cancer rates, markers of gastritis and other socio-demographic variables. Fasting plasma samples from about 1,400 individuals from 9 centres in 7 countries worldwide were assayed for total vitamin C using a fluorometric assay.

Selection of radioimmunoconjugates for the therapy of well-established or micrometastatic colon carcinoma.

In order to optimize radioimmunotherapy (RAIT) as a cancer-treatment modality, it is necessary to select the appropriate radionuclide and antibody carrier. We evaluated the therapeutic potential of a single cycle of Mu-9 anti-CSAp monoclonal antibody (MAb) labeled with 3 different radionuclides, 131I, 90Y and 188Re. Intact antibodies and bivalent fragments with different blood clearance kinetics, normal organ distribution and varying tumor accretion and retention are also evaluated.

Emergency department use of aspirin in patients with possible acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Efforts have been made to improve the suboptimal use of aspirin after hospitalization.

Objective: To assess the frequency and timing of aspirin administration in emergency department patients with possible myocardial infarction.

Design: Retrospective record review.

Current treatment of post-traumatic deformities. Residual orbital, adnexal, and soft-tissue abnormalities.

Evaluation and treatment of residual post-traumatic deformities of the periorbital region are approached best by systematically dividing the area into zones and assessing the deformities and needs of that particular region before addressing restoration of both function and cosmesis. These zones can be extended three dimensionally, and all abnormalities can be addressed appropriately. Bone malpositioning must be addressed first, and once repositioned, many soft tissue abnormalities may not require treatment.

Release of amino acids from fatty livers during organ harvest for transplantation.

Shortage of organ donors presents a perplexing problem in liver transplantation, and improved methods for evaluating the viability of organs prior to implantation are urgently needed. In the present study, the hypothesis was evaluated that grafts from fatty livers release more amino acids than non-fatty controls during organ harvest. Amino acids in graft rinse effluents at the time of harvest and after cold storage were measured by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography and compared with plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and recipient survival.