Phase I/II trial of docetaxel and concurrent radiation therapy in localized high risk prostate cancer (AGUSG 03-10).

Purpose: A Phase I/II trial was conducted to assess the radiosensitizer docetaxel administered weekly (20 mg/m(2)) with concurrent intensity modulated radiation therapy (72 Gy at 1.8 Gy/fraction) in high risk prostate cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with high risk prostate cancer (clinical stage > or = T3; Gleason score 8, 9, or 10; Gleason score 7 and PSA > 10) received IMRT (Clinac 600 CD with 6 MV photons and sliding window technique) and concurrent weekly docetaxel (20 mg/m(2)) as a continuous 30 minute infusion for 8 weeks.

[Advanced symptomatic atrioventricular block as a complication after transcatheter occlusion of secundum atrial septal defect in a 40-year-old woman with prior left bundle branch block].

We report a case of a woman with a left bundle branch block and secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) who underwent transcatheter occlusion using Amplatzer device. The patient was treated with antiarrhythmic drugs because of paroxysmal atrial flutter. One and a half month later the patient developed a second degree atrioventricular block.

Phase I study of a 3-drug regimen of gemcitabine/cisplatin/pemetrexed in patients with metastatic transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelium.

Objectives: Gemcitabine (G) plus cisplatin (C) is standard care for metastatic transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urothelium. Pemetrexed (P), alone or in combination with G, is active in metastatic TCC. However, the safety and efficacy of P combined with GC therapy is unknown.

[Oral contraceptive drugs, hyperhomocysteinaemia and cerebral ischaemic events in a 31-year-old woman--a case report].

We present a case of a 31-year-old female who was admitted to the hospital due to recurrent syncope. Transoesophageal echocardiography revealed the presence of an interventricular septum defect with insignificant left-to-right shunt and excluded intracardiac thrombi. Magnetic resonance of brain showed several ischaemic areas of vascular origin.

Assessment of depressive symptom severity among patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and substance dependence.

Background: We examined a modified version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) among treatment-seeking patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and substance dependence in order to elucidate key features of depression in this specific population of patients.

Methods: Patients with current bipolar disorder and substance dependence who were prescribed mood stabilizers (n=105) completed a 27-item version of the HDRS that was subjected to item and principal components analyses. Preliminary validity analysis consisted of comparing the derived total and component scores to the depressed mood indicators from the Addiction Severity Index (ASI).

Suppressed anger, evaluative threat, and cardiovascular reactivity: a tripartite profile approach.

Despite decades of theory and research implicating suppressed anger in the development of cardiovascular disorders involving cardiovascular reactivity (CVR), to date the theoretical components of low anger expression, guilt feelings over agonistic reactions, and defensive strivings to avoid social disapproval have not been used conjointly to profile suppressed anger for the prediction of CVR. The purpose of this study, then, was to cluster analyze measures of anger expression, hostility guilt, and social defensiveness to create a suppressed anger profile (low anger expression, high hostility guilt, high social defensiveness) and a non-suppressed profile from a sample of college males. Social evaluative threat may be a potent stressor for people who defensively suppress anger expression.

Systematic review of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in severe stable COPD.

The present systematic review examined the effectiveness of bilevel noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV) in the management of chronic respiratory failure (CRF) due to severe stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs (crossover design) of adults with severe stable COPD and CRF receiving bilevel NIPPV via nasal, oronasal or total face mask were identified from electronic databases and manual screening of journals and reference lists. Respiratory function (gas exchange, lung function, ventilatory/breathing pattern, respiratory muscle function and work of breathing) and health-related outcomes (dyspnoea, functional status, exercise tolerance, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), morbidity and mortality) were assessed.

A randomized trial of integrated group therapy versus group drug counseling for patients with bipolar disorder and substance dependence.

Objective: Although bipolar disorder and substance use disorder frequently co-occur, there is little information on the effectiveness of behavioral treatment for this population. Integrated group therapy, which addresses the two disorders simultaneously, was compared with group drug counseling, which focuses on substance use. The authors hypothesized that patients receiving integrated group therapy would have fewer days of substance use and fewer weeks ill with bipolar disorder.

Phase II trial of docetaxel/capecitabine in hormone-refractory prostate cancer.

Background: Docetaxel is the most active single agent in the treatment of hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). Because of the preclinical and clinical evidence of synergy of capecitabine and docetaxel, it was hypothesized that this combination would be active and tolerable in HRPC.

Patients And Methods: Patients received docetaxel 60 mg/m2 intravenously over 60 minutes on day 1 of each 21-day cycle and capecitabine 1000 mg/m2 administered orally twice daily on days 1-14 of each cycle for a maximum of 8 cycles or until disease progression or intolerable toxicity.

Anxiety disorders among patients with co-occurring bipolar and substance use disorders.

Bipolar and substance use disorders are known to co-occur frequently, but limited attention has been paid to anxiety disorders that may accompany this dual diagnosis. Therefore, we examined the prevalence and nature of anxiety disorders among treatment-seeking patients diagnosed with current bipolar and substance use disorders, and investigated the association between anxiety disorders and substance use. Among 90 participants diagnosed with bipolar disorder I (n = 75, 78%) or II (n = 15, 22%), 43 (48%) had a lifetime anxiety disorder, with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurring most frequently (n = 21, 23%).

Argon plasma coagulation (APC) in brain tumor surgery: experimental study and clinical experiences.

Objective: The present study aims to provide preliminary results of the thermal effects on rat brain tissue after argon plasma coagulation (APC). It also presents and discusses the clinical experiences in the treatment of brain tumor using APC.

Materials And Methods: A controlled study of APC in the rat brain was conducted.

Substance use and perceived symptom improvement among patients with bipolar disorder and substance dependence.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BPD) is the Axis I disorder with the highest risk for coexisting substance use disorder. One explanation for this phenomenon is the 'self-medication hypothesis', which states that some patients experience improvement in psychiatric symptoms as a result of substance use. We thus investigated reasons for substance use and perceived substance-induced improvement in BPD symptoms among patients with current BPD and substance dependence.

History of abuse and drinking outcomes following inpatient alcohol treatment: a prospective study.

Little is known about the impact of sexual or physical abuse history on response to alcohol treatment. This prospective study investigated the relationships between sexual and physical abuse histories, participants' characteristics, and response to inpatient alcohol treatment. Forty-one women and 59 men were assessed monthly for 1 year following hospitalization for alcohol dependence.

Utilization of psychosocial treatments by patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and substance dependence.

We investigated psychosocial treatment interventions, mood symptoms, and substance use among 24 patients with bipolar disorder and substance dependence. Patients were assessed for 6 months following hospital discharge. Psychotherapy and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) attendance decreased over time.

In vivo indomethacin treatment causes microglial activation in adult mice.

The current study was undertaken to study the role of prostaglandins in regulating microglial activation. Mice were treated with indomethacin (2 microg/ml) in their drinking water to selectively inhibit cyclooxygenase activity. After 4-8 days, the effect of inhibiting prostaglandin synthesis on microglial activity was evaluated.

Evaluation of Tomudex in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: a Southwest Oncology Group study.

A phase II trial of Tomudex (raltitrexed, ZD 1694), a new thymidylate synthase inhibitor, was performed in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. This trial demonstrated that Tomudex was well tolerated in this patient population. Nausea and vomiting were minimal, and hematologic toxicities were relatively infrequent.

Lipid molecular order in liver mitochondrial outer membranes, and sensitivity of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I to malonyl-CoA.

Mitochondrial outer membranes were prepared from livers of rats that were in the normal fed state, starved for 48 h, or made diabetic by injection of streptozotocin. Membranes were also prepared from starved late-pregnant rats. The latter three conditions have previously been shown to induce varying degrees of desensitization of mitochondrial overt carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT I) to malonyl-CoA inhibition.

Interpersonal contact and acceptance of persons with psychiatric disorders: a research synthesis.

This meta-analytic review predicted and confirmed that interpersonal contact between mental health employees or students and persons diagnosed with psychiatric disorders is associated with improved attitudes toward the latter group. As also predicted, the amount of attitude change was found to be smaller, although still significant, when the evaluative measure described a group of the "mentally ill" rather than specific individuals, and when the respondents were mental health employees rather than students. Contrary to predictions, contact interventions of longer duration were not associated with greater attitude changes.

Elevated blood pressure and personality: a meta-analytic review.

A meta-analysis of 295 relevant effect sizes obtained from 25,469 participants confirmed expectations that elevated blood pressure (BP) and essential hypertension (EH) would be associated with lower affect expression but with more negative affectivity and defensiveness. The strongest associations occurred for defensiveness and measures of anger and affect expression linked to an interpersonal context(s). However, a number of other factors also were found to moderate associations of BP with personality measures, including awareness of BP status, gender, occupation, and diastolic versus systolic BP assessment.

Glanzmann thrombasthenia due to a two amino acid deletion in the fourth calcium-binding domain of alpha IIb: demonstration of the importance of calcium-binding domains in the conformation of alpha IIb beta 3.

The integrin alpha IIb beta 3, a calcium-dependent heterodimer, plays a critical role in platelet aggregation. The alpha IIb subunit of the heterodimer contains four highly conserved putative calcium-binding domains in its extracellular portion. During studies of the molecular basis of Glanzmann thrombasthenia in a child of mixed Caucasian background whose platelets expressed little alpha IIb beta 3 on their surface, we found the patient heterozygous for a two amino acid deletion in the fourth alpha IIb calcium-binding domain.

[Surgery for retinal detachment in the years 1989-1994].

Purpose: Evaluation of early and long-term results of retinal detachments operated in the recent years.

Material And Methods: 99 eyes of 98 patients were examined. The conventional methods of retinal detachment surgery have been applied, mostly (above 75%) encirclement with subretinal fluid drainage.

Evidence against direct involvement of phosphorylation in the activation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase by okadaic acid in rat hepatocytes.

The mechanism of activation of mitochondrial overt carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT I) by treatment of hepatocytes with okadaic acid (OA) was investigated. Activation was observed when cells were permeabilized with digitonin, but not when a total membrane fraction was obtained by sonication. Both cell disruption methods preserved the activation of phosphorylase observed in OA-treated hepatocytes.

Expression of liver carnitine palmitoyltransferase I and II genes during development in the rat.

The enzyme activity and the expression (protein and mRNA concentrations) of genes encoding for hepatic carnitine palmitoyl-transferases (CPT) I and II were studied during neonatal development, in response to nutritional state at weaning and during the fed-starved transition in adult rats. The activity, the protein concentration and the level of mRNA encoding CPT I are low in foetal-rat liver and increase 5-fold during the first day of extra-uterine life. The activity and gene expression of CPT I are high during the entire suckling period, in the liver of 30-day-old rats weaned at 20 days on to a high-fat diet and in the liver of 48 h-starved adult rats.

Mature carnitine palmitoyltransferase I retains the N-terminus of the nascent protein in rat liver.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase I was isolated from octylglucoside extracts of rat liver mitochondrial outer membranes. This native enzyme was digested proteolytically with V8 protease. Five major peptides were obtained all of which were found in the amino acid sequence predicted from the full-length cDNA sequence of the protein.

Determinants of the intracellular fate of truncated forms of the platelet glycoproteins IIb and IIIa.

The platelet glycoproteins GPIIb and GPIIIa are integral membrane proteins and form calcium-dependent heterodimers in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In the absence of heterodimer formation, GPIIb and GPIIIa are retained in the ER and degraded. To produce soluble forms of these proteins, we truncated each at a site just proximal to its transmembrane anchor and expressed the mutants in COS-1 cells.