Behavior-associated self-report items in patient charts as predictors of dental appointment avoidance.

Dentally anxious patients with long-term avoidance behavior may experience treatment complications and induce stress in the dentist. Since dental anxiety scales are seldom used clinically, it is valuable to investigate the strength of behavior-associated items in the current patient chart in predicting canceled or missed appointments. Charts from a sample of patients (N=357) who visited the UCLA Dental Center January 2006 to June 2006 were examined for self-reports of depression, moodiness, nervousness, and anxiety.

Spike-time reliability of layered neural oscillator networks.

We study the reliability of layered networks of coupled "type I" neural oscillators in response to fluctuating input signals. Reliability means that a signal elicits essentially identical responses upon repeated presentations, regardless of the network's initial condition. We study reliability on two distinct scales: neuronal reliability, which concerns the repeatability of spike times of individual neurons embedded within a network, and pooled-response reliability, which concerns the repeatability of total synaptic outputs from a subpopulation of the neurons in a network.

Have hair follicle stem cells shed their tranquil image?

In a recent issue of Nature Genetics, Jaks et al. (2008) demonstrate that hair follicle cells expressing the intestinal stem cell marker Lgr5 are hair follicle epithelial stem cells. In contrast to the established bulge stem cell population, Lrg5(+) cells are actively cycling and reside in part outside the bulge.

A comparison of the fat composition and prices of margarines between 2002 and 2006, when new Canadian labelling regulations came into effect.

Objective: To examine the effect of the new Canadian labelling regulations on the fat composition and prices of margarines.

Study Design: A survey of all margarines sold in major supermarkets in the Greater Toronto area was conducted in 2006, and results were compared with those of a similar survey conducted in 2002. Average fat composition, proportion of 'trans fat-free' margarines and average prices of margarines were compared.

Is a short-interval postradiation mammogram necessary after conservative surgery and radiation in breast cancer?

Purpose: To examine, in a retrospective study, whether the initial posttreatment mammogram offers any benefit to patients.

Methods And Materials: Patients were selected who had radiation after breast-conservation therapy from 1995 through 2005 and had follow-up mammography at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) within 1 year of completing radiotherapy. Results of the initial follow-up mammogram were analyzed to determine the yield of this initial mammogram.

The rap GTPases regulate B cell morphology, immune-synapse formation, and signaling by particulate B cell receptor ligands.

B lymphocytes spread and extend membrane processes when searching for antigens and form immune synapses upon contacting cells that display antigens on their surface. Although these dynamic morphological changes facilitate B cell activation, the signaling pathways underlying these processes are not fully understood. We found that activation of the Rap GTPases was essential for these changes in B cell morphology.

Co-factors of LIM domains (Clims/Ldb/Nli) regulate corneal homeostasis and maintenance of hair follicle stem cells.

The homeostasis of both cornea and hair follicles depends on a constant supply of progeny cells produced by populations of keratin (K) 14-expressing stem cells localized in specific niches. To investigate the potential role of Co-factors of LIM domains (Clims) in epithelial tissues, we generated transgenic mice expressing a dominant-negative Clim molecule (DN-Clim) under the control of the K14 promoter. As expected, the K14 promoter directed high level expression of the transgene to the basal cells of cornea and epidermis, as well as the outer root sheath of hair follicles.

Including probe-level uncertainty in model-based gene expression clustering.

Background: Clustering is an important analysis performed on microarray gene expression data since it groups genes which have similar expression patterns and enables the exploration of unknown gene functions. Microarray experiments are associated with many sources of experimental and biological variation and the resulting gene expression data are therefore very noisy. Many heuristic and model-based clustering approaches have been developed to cluster this noisy data.

Improvements in prostate brachytherapy dosimetry due to seed stranding.

Purpose: Prostate brachytherapy with suture embedded seeds has emerged as a popular technique to reduce seed migration and to improve dosimetry. Various trials have shown improved dosimetry with seed fixity, whereas others have shown no benefit and possible detriment to suture embedded seeds. In order to contribute to the understanding of whether seed stranding improves dosimetry, we present retrospective data from our institution.

The Grainyhead-like epithelial transactivator Get-1/Grhl3 regulates epidermal terminal differentiation and interacts functionally with LMO4.

Defective permeability barrier is an important feature of many skin diseases and causes mortality in premature infants. To investigate the control of barrier formation, we characterized the epidermally expressed Grainyhead-like epithelial transactivator (Get-1)/Grhl3, a conserved mammalian homologue of Grainyhead, which plays important roles in cuticle development in Drosophila. Get-1 interacts with the LIM-only protein LMO4, which is co-expressed in the developing mammalian epidermis.

Diagnostic laparoscopy and laparoscopic repair of a left paraduodenal hernia can shorten hospital stay.

Paraduodenal hernias are the most common forms of intraabdominal hernias, accounting for 53% of all internal hernias. However, these account for only 0.2% to 0.

Early nodal response as a predictor for necessity of functional neck dissection after chemoradiation.

Purpose: Chemoradiation is increasingly becoming the standard of care for node-positive squamous cell cancer of the head and neck. Response to chemoradiation for clinically node-positive disease in the neck is often difficult to ascertain because clinical response may or may not be predictive of pathological response. This often leads to uncertainty about the necessity of a functional neck dissection after chemoradiation.

Identification of hair cycle-associated genes from time-course gene expression profile data by using replicate variance.

The hair-growth cycle is an example of a cyclic process that is well characterized morphologically but understood incompletely at the molecular level. As an initial step in discovering regulators in hair-follicle morphogenesis and cycling, we used DNA microarrays to profile mRNA expression in mouse back skin from eight representative time points. We developed a statistical algorithm to identify the set of genes expressed within skin that are associated specifically with the hair-growth cycle.

Intradermal radioisotope is superior to peritumoral blue dye or radioisotope in identifying breast cancer sentinel nodes.

Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping and biopsy have emerged as the technique of choice for axillary staging of breast cancer. Several methods have been developed to identify SLNs, including peritumoral or intradermal injection of isosulfan blue dye or technetium sulfur colloid (TSC). We hypothesize that intradermal TSC is the optimal mapping technique and can be used alone to identify SLNs.

Biodegradable polyphosphoester micelles for gene delivery.

A new biodegradable polyphosphoester, poly[[(cholesteryl oxocarbonylamido ethyl) methyl bis(ethylene) ammonium iodide] ethyl phosphate] (PCEP) was synthesized and investigated for gene delivery. Carrying a positive charge in its backbone and a lipophilic cholesterol structure in the side chain, PCEP self-assembled into micelles in aqueous buffer at room temperature with an average size of 60-100 nm. It could bind and protect plasmid DNA from nuclease digestion.

Household dust metal levels in the Sydney metropolitan area.

Household dust was collected from 82 residential homes within the Sydney metropolitan area. The geometric mean concentrations of metals in the household dust were Cd, 1.9 microg/g; Cr, 64.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer: preventive management.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is the most common form of hereditary colorectal cancer. Inherited mutations in the mismatch repair genes associated with this syndrome have an approximate 80% lifetime risk of colorectal cancer. Since there are no premonitory signs of susceptibility to HNPCC, family history is the initial method for identifying those at increased risk.

Activation of the Rap GTPases in B lymphocytes modulates B cell antigen receptor-induced activation of Akt but has no effect on MAPK activation.

Signaling by the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) activates the Rap1 and Rap2 GTPases, putative antagonists of Ras-mediated signaling. Because Ras can activate the Raf-1/ERK pathway and the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt pathway, we asked whether Rap activation limits the ability of the BCR to signal via these pathways. To do this, we blocked the activation of endogenous Rap1 and Rap2 by expressing the Rap-specific GTPase-activating protein RapGAPII.

The sentinel node in colorectal carcinoma. Mapping technique, pathologic assessment, and clinical relevance.

One of the most important prognostic factors in colorectal cancer is the presence or absence of regional lymph node metastases. In many instances, micrometastatic disease may not be found on routine pathologic analysis using hematoxylin and eosin staining, but may be discovered only with immunohistochemical methods or polymerase chain reaction assay. Lymphoscintigraphy with biopsy of the sentinel nodes, defined as the first nodal basin in the drainage pathway of a tumor, was developed to provide accurate staging without the morbidity associated with the classic lymph node dissections performed for melanoma or breast cancer.

Artifactual synchrony via capacitance coupling in multi-electrode recording from cat striate cortex.

Elucidation of neural connectivity patterns in the brain are thought to give us a mechanistic understanding of how the brain works. Functional connectivity is best studied by simultaneous recording of single-unit activity from many neurons. Accordingly, various types of multiple-microelectrode systems have been developed.