Effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention to reduce physical restraints in nursing home residents.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention to reduce the use of physical restraints in residents of nursing homes.

Design: Cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Forty-five nursing homes in Germany.

Low red blood cell levels of deglycating enzymes in colorectal cancer patients.

Aim: To investigate Glyoxalase I and fructosamine-3-kinase (FN3K) activity in red blood cells from patients with colorectal adenomas and cancer.

Methods: Thirty three consecutive subjects with one or more histologically confirmed colorectal adenomatous polyps, 16 colorectal cancer patients and a group of 11 control subjects with normal colonoscopy were included in the study. Glyoxalase I and FN3K activities were measured in red blood cells using a spectrophotometric and radiometric assay, respectively.

KRAS genotyping as biomarker in colorectal cancer: a comparison of three commercial kits on histologic material.

Background/aim: The crucial role of KRAS status in new colorectal cancer target therapy raises the issue regarding which testing method to use. This study analysed 112 formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) metastatic tissue samples using three different commercially available kits.

Patients And Methods: A group of 40 KRAS wild-type (wt), 40 codon 12-mutated and 32 codon-13 mutated samples, previously evaluated by real-time PCR (TheraScreen kit), used as reference method, were analysed by Ampli-set-K-RAS and K-RAS StripAssay kit (herein called kit A and B, respectively) based on two different technologies.

Reduced fructosamine-3-kinase activity and its mRNA in human distal colorectal carcinoma.

Fructosamine-3-Kinase (FN3K) is an enzyme phosphorilating fructoselysine (FL) residues on glycated proteins, resulting in the production of protein-bound FL-3-phosphate. The pathological role of the non-enzymatic modification of proteins by reducing sugars has become increasingly evident in various types of disorders, including the cancer. In this study, our aim was to study FN3K enzyme activity, as well as its mRNA in human colorectal cancer (CRC).

The impact of preexisting myocardial remodeling on ventricular function early after tetralogy of Fallot repair.

Background: Twenty-three patients (median age 23 months) who underwent Fallot's tetralogy repair were investigated prospectively to detect a possible association between histopathologic myocardial remodeling and echocardiographic findings of systolic or diastolic ventricular dysfunction.

Methods: Intraoperatively resected infundibular bands and subendocardial biopsy samples from the right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle were obtained for histopathologic evaluation. Tissue Doppler echocardiographic interrogation of the ventricles was performed before surgery and in the postoperative period.

Clinical utility of the Primary Care--PTSD Screen among U.S. veterans who served since September 11, 2001.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent anxiety disorder that is often undetected among primary care patients. The Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented the Primary Care-PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD) to screen for PTSD; however, minimal research has examined its utility. This study was designed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the PC-PTSD among veterans who had served since 9/11/2001, including operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom).

[Amitraz poisoning].

Poisoning due to amitraz together with its solvent xilene, is an unusual condition although may be increasing in rural areas where it is used as insecticide-ectoparasiticide.1-3 At present, there is scare references to orient physicians concerning its handling in childhood. We present the case of a 2-year-old boy who suffered an accidental intake of amitraz and was admitted into our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit requiring mechanical ventilation.

Serum levels of galectin-3 and its ligand 90k/mac-2bp in colorectal cancer patients.

Galectin-3 is an endogenous lectin that binds glycan epitopes of cell membrane and some extracellular glycoproteins such as integrins and laminin. Galectin-3 is involved in several biological activities including regulation of cellular cycle, modulation of adhesion and tumor progression and metastasis. 90K/Mac-2BP glycoprotein is also a serum galectin-3 ligand.

Biventricular repair in unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect.

We present the case of a 2.5 year-old child with unbalanced atrioventricular septal defect due to a small left ventricle (LV) (mitral annulus of 10mm and a 0.4 ratio in relation to the tricuspid annulus, LVDD: 17 mm, LV Vd2: 15 ml/m(2) and LV/RV long-axis ratio of 0.

Prognostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiography with early injection of atropine with versus without chronic beta-blocker therapy in patients with known or suspected coronary heart disease.

Although a new protocol of dobutamine stress echocardiography with the early injection of atropine (EA-DSE) has been demonstrated to be useful in reducing adverse effects and increasing the number of effective tests and to have similar accuracy for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) compared with conventional protocols, no data exist regarding its ability to predict long-term events. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of EA-DSE and the effects of the long-term use of beta blockers on it. A retrospective evaluation of 844 patients who underwent EA-DSE for known or suspected CAD was performed; 309 (37%) were receiving beta blockers.

Relationship among fatty liver, adipose tissue distribution and metabolic profile in moderately obese children: an ultrasonographic study.

We examined the relationship between moderate obesity and glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity and suspected fatty liver in children. We measured body mass index (BMI), z-score BMI, caliper skinfold thickness, waist and hip circumference in 94 participants (mean age 9.7 +/-2.

Community-acquired staphylococcal pneumonia.

Objective: Staphylococcal pneumonia typically presents high rates of morbidity and mortality. It typically occurs in cases of influenza (airborne transmission) or during episodes of bacteremia (blood-borne transmission).

Methods: A retrospective and descriptive study was conducted in patients admitted to our hospital between January of 1992 and December of 2003.

Serum 90K/Mac-2 binding protein (Mac-2BP) as a response predictor to peginterferon and ribavirin combined treatment in HCV chronic patients.

90K/Mac-2BP glycoprotein is involved in the immune defense against a variety of neoplasms and viral infections, modulating the activity of several effectors such as natural killer cells. Quite interestingly, 90K/Mac-2BP is associated to a poor response to interferon (IFN) alpha in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. Here, in 70 consecutive HCV chronic patients, we have evaluated 90K basal levels as a response predictor to combined therapy with Peginterferon and Ribavirin.

Evaluation of serum biomarkers in nutritional disorders: glycated apolipoprotein B, fasting serum glucose, fructosamine, stable and labile glycated hemoglobin in diabetic and non-diabetic subjects.

Glycated apolipoprotein B (ApoB-G), a non enzymatically glycated protein, has recently been associated with myocardial infarction. Our aim is to evaluate, in diabetic and non diabetic subjects, the relationship of ApoB-G with serum fasting glucose, fructosamine, stable and labile fractions of glycated hemoglobin ((S)HbA(1c), (L)HbA(1c), respectively) and insulin. The subjects were recruited from a previous study on ApoB-G and myocardial infarction: 141 of them were studied, 43 with and 98 without diabetes.

A comparison between two robust techniques for segmentation of blood vessels.

Image segmentation plays an important role in image analysis. According to several authors, segmentation terminates when the observer's goal is satisfied. For this reason, a unique method that can be applied to all possible cases does not yet exist.

Experimental investigation on the effect of liquid injection by multiple orifices in the formation of droplets in a Venturi scrubber.

Venturi scrubbers are widely utilized in gas cleaning. The cleansing elements in these scrubbers are droplets formed from the atomization of a liquid into a dust-laden gas. In industrial scrubbers, this liquid is injected through several orifices so that the cloud of droplets can be evenly distributed throughout the duct.

A novel adjustable pulmonary artery banding system for hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Purpose: We describe the first case in which a neonate with hypoplastic left heart syndrome was initially managed using a mini adjustable banding system.

Description: Through a mid-sternotomy, a 5-day-old neonate underwent bilateral pulmonary artery banding using this new system, combined with placement of a main pulmonary artery to the innominate artery shunt.

Evaluation: The patient had an uneventful postoperative course.

Predictors of long survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a population-based study.

Background: Although amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorder, some ALS cases can survive beyond 10 years. However, the predictors of long survival in ALS patients remain uncertain.

Objective: To define clinical predictors of long survival in a cohort of ALS incident cases.

A novel adjustable pulmonary artery banding system for hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Objective: Hypoplastic left heart syndrome remains a challenge for worldwide surgeons. Initial palliation employing bilateral pulmonary artery banding along with ductal stent implantation and atrial septostomy has been proposed as an alternative approach. However, the surgically placed bands are fixed and may become inadequate after sternum closure or with somatic growth of the patient.

Gender differences in chronotropic and hemodynamic responses during dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the influence of gender on chronotropic and hemodynamic response during dobutamine stress echocardiography with early injection of atropine (EA-DSE).

Methods: From January 2000 to June 2003, we retrospectively evaluated patients who underwent EA-DSE for known or suspected coronary artery disease. We studied 494 patients, 243 men and 251 women, who were not under beta-blocker or calcium channel-blocker therapy (Group A) and 326 patients, 157 men and 169 women, using these medications (Group B).

Manganese superoxide dismutase activity and incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis: a 7-year follow-up study.

Aims: To evaluate possible modifications in the manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) activity during neoplastic transformation of a cirrhotic liver and to find out whether its assessment may have predictive value to identify cirrhotic patients at a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Seventy-one consecutive subjects with Child-Pugh class A liver cirrhosis were recruited. At the time of enrolment, HCC was diagnosed in 20 cirrhotic patients.

Analysis of survival and prognostic factors in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a population based study.

Objective: To measure survivorship and predictors of prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods: Incident cases, diagnosed in the 1998-1999 period and classified according to the El Escorial criteria, were enrolled from a prospective population based registry established in Puglia, Southern Italy, with a reference population of 4,025,329. Cases were followed up until death or 30 June 2004.

Evaluation of blood flow reserve in left anterior descending coronary artery territory by quantitative myocardial contrast and Doppler echocardiography.

We sought to compare the feasibility and accuracy of myocardial blood flow reserve (MBFR) measured by quantitative real-time myocardial contrast echocardiography with those of coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) obtained by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography for detecting left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis. We studied 71 patients who underwent adenosine stress contrast echocardiography, transthoracic Doppler echocardiography, and quantitative coronary angiography within 1 month. An index of myocardial blood flow (A x beta) was determined by quantification of peak plateau acoustic intensity (A) and microbubble replenishment velocity (beta) by contrast echocardiography.

ALS multidisciplinary clinic and survival. Results from a population-based study in Southern Italy.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting motorneurons, for which there is no effective cure. Because of the multifactorial nature of impairment and disablity in ALS, multidisciplinary clinics (MDC) have been recently introduced in the management of ALS patients; their effects on survival remain, however, largely debated.

Objective: To compare survival of ALS patients who received their care at MDC with that of patients followed by general neurology clinics.