First clinical experience with the automatic positioning system and Leksell gamma knife Model C. Technical note.

In May of 1999, the first Leksell Model C gamma knife was installed at the Gamma Knife Zentrum in Krefeld, Germany. The authors recount their experience with this latest technical gamma knife development. Until the end of 1999, extensive physical and technical tests were performed and the system's hardware and software were continuously improved and adapted to the user's needs.

"Oxidative stress" response in submerged cultures of a recombinant Aspergillus niger (B1-D).

A recombinant strain of Aspergillus niger (B1-D), engineered to produce the marker protein hen egg white lysozyme, was investigated with regard to its susceptibility to "oxidative stress" in submerged culture in bioreactor systems. The culture response to oxidative stress, produced either by addition of exogenous hydrogen peroxide or by high-dissolved oxygen tensions, was examined in terms of the activities of two key defensive enzymes: catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Batch cultures in the bioreactor were generally found to have maximum specific activities of CAT and SOD (Umg x protein(-1)) in the stationary/early-decline phase.

Tobacco use among Massachusetts youth: is tobacco control working?

Background: This paper examines whether the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program is affecting the rates of smoking and smokeless tobacco use among Massachusetts' youth.

Methods: School survey data from the Massachusetts Prevalence Study were analyzed to estimate differences between 1993 and 1996 rates of youth cigarette and smokeless tobacco use, attitudes toward smoking, and awareness of cigarette ads and promotions of antismoking messages.

Results: Lifetime and Current Smoking rates declined significantly among middle school males, contrasting with stable national trends.

Item bias in indices measuring psychosocial work environment and health.

Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to demonstrate the relevance of testing indices concerning the psychosocial work environment by item bias or differential item functioning (DIF) analysis. Especially when the work environment for different groups is compared, this kind of construct validation is important. As exogenous variables gender, age, and occupational group were selected.

Association study of the tryptophan hydroxylase gene and bipolar affective disorder using family-based internal controls.

The tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) gene encodes for the rate-limiting enzyme of the serotonin metabolism and, therefore, has to be considered a major candidate for association studies in affective disorders. Recently, an association between this gene and bipolar affective disorder has been reported in a French population. We sought to replicate this finding in a German sample.

Feeling-of-knowing judgments and strategy selection in spelling.

Metacognitive processes, such as monitoring one's knowledge and selecting appropriate strategies, may be important in skilled spelling. We hypothesized that skilled spellers have knowledge of which words they know how to spell and also that the accuracy with which people monitor their knowledge should be related to the spelling strategies they select. College students provided Feeling-of-Knowing ratings about the spellings of words and also spelled the same words and indicated whether they sounded out or remembered the spellings.

Reliability of the WAIS-III subtests, indexes, and IQs in individuals with substance abuse disorders.

Reliability of the WAIS-III for 100 male patients with substance abuse disorders was determined. Means for age and education were 46.06 were (SD = 8.

Successful treatment of idiopathic left ventricular outflow tract tachycardia by catheter ablation or minimally invasive surgical cryoablation.

Idiopathic right ventricular outflow tract tachycardia is readily amenable to radiofrequency catheter ablation. However, treatment modalities for left ventricular outflow tract tachycardia are not well defined. Out of 37 patients with idiopathic outflow tract tachycardia referred for catheter ablation, in 3 patients tachycardia originated from the left ventricular outflow tract.

Toothache of cardiac origin.

Pain referred to the orofacial structures can sometimes be a diagnostic challenge for the clinician. In some instances, a patient may complain of tooth pain that is completely unrelated to any dental source. This poses a diagnostic and therapeutic problem for the dentist.

Adrenergic receptors' responsiveness after acute and chronic treatment with haloperidol in the presence of calcium channel blockade.

The effects of acute and chronic (14 days) treatment with haloperidol (0.5 mg/kg ip) given alone or 15 min after nifedipine (5 mg/kg ip) on responsiveness of the alpha1- and beta-adrenergic receptors was investigated ex vivo by measuring of the second messenger responses. The accumulation of inositol phosphate (IP) or cyclic AMP were measured in brain cortical slices challenged with noradrenaline or isoproterenol.

Haloperidol treatment selectively affects expression of Galpha(i)3 subunit mRNA in specific regions of the rat brain.

Relative abundance of GTP binding protein mRNA coding for subunits alpha(i)1, alpha(i)2 and alpha(i)3, and their changes induced with chronic blockade of D2 receptor by haloperidol were compared in the frontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus and cerebellar cortex of the rat using a specific method based on multiplex RT-PCR. Galpha(i) subtype 2 mRNA was the most abundant, followed by subtype 1 and subtype 3. The haloperidol treatment produced an area specific increase in Galpha(i)3 mRNA in the frontal cortex and a decrease of Galpha(i)3 in the striatum.

Can readmission after stroke be prevented? Results of a randomized clinical study: a postdischarge follow-up service for stroke survivors.

Background And Purpose: About 50% of stroke survivors are discharged to their homes with lasting disability. Knowledge, however, of the importance of follow-up services that targets these patients is sparse. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate 2 models of follow-up intervention after discharge.

Prognostic factors in metastatic spinal cord compression: a prospective study using multivariate analysis of variables influencing survival and gait function in 153 patients.

Purpose: Based on a very large patient cohort followed prospectively for at least a year or until death, we analyzed the prognostic significance of various clinical and radiological variables on posttreatment ambulatory function and survival.

Methods And Materials: During a 312-year period we prospectively included 153 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of spinal cord compression due to metastatic disease. The patients were followed with regular neurological examinations by the same neurologist for a minimum period of 11 months or until death.

hSKCa3: no association of the polymorphic CAG repeat with bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

hSKCa3 is a neuronal small conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, which contains a polyglutamine tract, encoded by a polymorphic CAG repeat in the gene. Since an association between longer alleles of this CAG repeat and bipolar disorder or schizophrenia has been reported, we genotyped the polymorphic CAG repeat in 91 German family trios of patients with bipolar disorder I and used the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) to test for association. Applying a dichotomized model (< or = 19 or > 19 CAG triplets), we found no evidence for an association of longer alleles with bipolar disorder (TDT = 0.

Irregularity of the ventricular rhythm during atrial fibrillation: effect of slow atrioventricular nodal pathway ablation.

Background: The contribution of dual atrioventricular (AV) nodal pathway physiology to the irregularity of the ventricular rhythm during atrial fibrillation has not been clarified.

Hypothesis: This study was performed to assess the effects of slow AV nodal pathway ablation on the irregularity of the ventricular rhythm during atrial fibrillation.

Methods: Irregularity of the ventricular rhythm was quantified using analysis of heart rate variability.

Evaluation of linkage of bipolar affective disorder to chromosome 18 in a sample of 57 German families.

Previously reported linkage of bipolar affective disorder to DNA markers on chromosome 18 was reexamined in a large sample of German bipolar families. Twenty-three short tandem repeat markers were investigated in 57 families containing 103 individuals with bipolar I disorder (BPI), 26 with bipolar II disorder (BPII), nine with schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type (SA/BP), and 38 individuals with recurrent unipolar depression (UPR). Evidence for linkage was tested with parametric and non-parametric methods under two definitions of the affected phenotype.

[Service expectations facing Saxony's newly established social psychiatric services. Attitudes of established neurologists, physicians in psychiatric clinics and social psychiatry service staff].

In the wake of the disintegration of the policlinical system which had prevailed in the former German Democratic Republic, far-reaching restructuring has become necessary in the "new" German laender in the field of complementary psychiatric care. Establishment throughout the state of Saxony of a uniform outreach-based ambulatory service ranks as a first component towards building regionalized community psychiatric networks. In light of some twenty years of experience in the old laender, this function is considered a task of the Social Psychiatric Services ("Sozialpsychiatrische Dienste", SPDIs).

Differential item functioning in the Danish translation of the SF-36.

Statistical analyses of Differential Item Functioning (DIF) can be used for rigorous translation evaluations. DIF techniques test whether each item functions in the same way, irrespective of the country, language, or culture of the respondents. For a given level of health, the score on any item should be independent of nationality.

Unusual locations for adenosine-sensitive accessory atrioventricular pathways with decremental conduction.

Introduction: Accessory AV pathways with decremental conduction are uncommon and, in particular, are thought not to occur at the anterior portion of the mitral annulus.

Methods And Results: This report describes successful catheter ablation in three patients with accessory AV pathways that were adenosine sensitive and showed decremental conduction properties. The pathways were located at the anteroseptal, anteroparaseptal, and anterolateral aspects of the mitral annulus.

Malingering assessment in behavioral toxicology: what, why, and how.

Neurobehavioral assessment is frequently made in a forensic context. The cognitive assessment may be biased due to an international manipulation of data by the patient motivated by attainment of compensation, that is, malingering. Although malingering is highly relevant in behavioral toxicology, the issue and its assessment are underrepresented in the literature.

Cerebral thrombosis and oral contraceptives. A case-control study.

To assess the influence of oral contraceptives (OC) on the risk of cerebral thrombosis and transient cerebral ischemic attacks, a 5-year case-control study including all Danish hospitals was conducted. All women 15-44 years old who suffered a cerebral thromboembolic attack (CTA) during the period 1994-95 and 1200 age matched control subjects were included. Of 309 patients and 1200 control subjects questionnaires sent out, 271 patients (87.

Oral contraceptives and venous thromboembolism. A case-control study.

To assess the influence of oral contraceptives (OC) on the risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in young women, a 5-year case-control study including all women 15-44 years old suffering a first deep venous thrombosis or a first pulmonary embolism from all Danish hospitals, along with 1200 control subjects during the period 1994-1995, was conducted. Of 586 patient and 1200 control subject questionnaires sent out, 523 patient (89.2%) and 1074 control (89.

Determining the imaging quality of intraocular lenses.

Purpose: To validate the proposed optical requirements of a draft international standard for intraocular lenses (IOLs).

Setting: Eight optical testing laboratories in the United States, Germany, Japan, and The Netherlands.

Methods: The testing laboratories performed modulation transfer function (MTF) tests on various IOLs using a model eye and visual resolution tests in air.

Atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia in patients with sinus node dysfunction: electrophysiologic characteristics, clinical presentation, and results of slow pathway ablation.

Introduction: Sinus node dysfunction (SND) is frequently associated with impaired AV conduction. This study investigated the electrophysiologic properties of dual AV nodal pathways in patients suffering from both SND and AV nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT).

Methods And Results: Two groups of patients with slow-fast AVNRT underwent invasive electrophysiologic testing and catheter ablation of the slow pathway.