Change of tumour characteristics and treatment over time in both arms of the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer.

Objective: To evaluate a change in tumour characteristics and applied treatments over time in the control arm of all centres of the European Randomized study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) and to compare this with similar data of the screening arm.

Methods: Between 1993 and 2003, 182,160 men, aged 50-74 years, were randomised to the screening arm (N=82,816) and the control arm (N=99,184). Men in the screening arm were offered Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing every 4 years whilst men in the control arm received usual care.

PSA levels and cancer detection rate by centre in the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer.

Background: To describe the variation in PSA level by age group and screening round in the ERSPC centres and the variation in cancer detection rates in relation to the underlying prostate cancer incidence.

Methods: Individual data on men invited for the first and second screening rounds according to protocol (excluding early recalls and interval cancers) were obtained from the central database of the ERSPC (cut-off date 31st December 2006). Data were compared between and within centres for the core age group (55-69 at entry).

Prognostic significance of VEGF and its receptors in endometrioid endometrial cancer.

Background: Angiogenesis is of crucial importance for endometrial tumor growth and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is the key mediator of angiogenesis.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the prognostic value of VEGF and its receptors in relation to endometrioid endometrial carcinomas.

Material And Methods: In this study we conducted an immunohistochemical evaluation of VEGF and VEGFRs expression in 84 tissue samples obtained from endometrioid endometrial cancer patients undergoing curative surgical treatment.

Identification of a calcitonin-like diuretic hormone that functions as an intrinsic modulator of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, cardiac neuromuscular system.

In insects, a family of peptides with sequence homology to the vertebrate calcitonins has been implicated in the control of diuresis, a process that includes mixing of the hemolymph. Here, we show that a member of the insect calcitonin-like diuretic hormone (CLDH) family is present in the American lobster, Homarus americanus, serving, at least in part, as a powerful modulator of cardiac output. Specifically, during an ongoing EST project, a transcript encoding a putative H.

The effect of study arm on prostate cancer treatment in the large screening trial ERSPC.

Prostate cancer (PC) mortality is the most valid end-point in screening trials, but could be influenced by the choice of initial treatment if treatment has an effect on mortality. In this study, PC treatment was compared between the screening and control arms in a screening trial. Data were collected from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC).

Use of fast multivariant identification of the parameters of adsorption systems to study the impact of activating agent on microporous structure formation during activation.

The possibility of using fast multivariant identification of adsorption system parameters to evaluate the influence of the activation conditions on the microporous structure of carbonaceous adsorbents was examined. The fitted models used in the procedure are based on a unique approach to the modeling of adsorption processes, which is a significant development of the conventional BET approach. This takes into account the occurrence of branched clusters and surface heterogeneity.

Prostate cancer mortality reduction by prostate-specific antigen-based screening adjusted for nonattendance and contamination in the European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC).

Background: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based screening for prostate cancer (PCa) has been shown to reduce prostate specific mortality by 20% in an intention to screen (ITS) analysis in a randomised trial (European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer [ERSPC]). This effect may be diluted by nonattendance in men randomised to the screening arm and contamination in men randomised to the control arm.

Objective: To assess the magnitude of the PCa-specific mortality reduction after adjustment for nonattendance and contamination.

[Therapeutic and diagnostic problems in a patient with a pelvic tumour--case report].

Colorectal cancer has become the commonest form of cancer in gastrointestinal (GI) tract and nowadays it is the second cause of death among all malignant tumours. Bladder cancer is the fourth commonest tumour in males and eighth in females. In the article we present the case of 72-year-old patient with pelvic tumour and accompanied diagnostic and therapeutic problems.

Characterization of the Carcinus maenas neuropeptidome by mass spectrometry and functional genomics.

Carcinus maenas, commonly known as the European green crab, is one of the best-known and most successful marine invasive species. While a variety of natural and anthropogenic mechanisms are responsible for the geographic spread of this crab, its ability to adapt physiologically to a broad range of salinities, temperatures and other environmental factors has enabled its successful establishment in new habitats. To extend our understanding of hormonal control in C.

Screening and prostate-cancer mortality in a randomized European study.

Background: The European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer was initiated in the early 1990s to evaluate the effect of screening with prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) testing on death rates from prostate cancer.

Methods: We identified 182,000 men between the ages of 50 and 74 years through registries in seven European countries for inclusion in our study. The men were randomly assigned to a group that was offered PSA screening at an average of once every 4 years or to a control group that did not receive such screening.

Reproductive parameters of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L) spawners during natural season and out-of-season spawning.

Common carp spawning characteristics were compared between season and out-of-season periods. There were no differences in the percentage of ovulation, spermatozoa motility and embryo survival to the eyed-egg-stage between the spawning periods. Fish spawned during the season produced oocytes of higher total weight than those spawned out-of-season.

Computer analysis of the microporous structure of activated carbon fibres using the fast multivariant identification procedure of adsorption system parameters.

The paper presents the results of the research on possible employment of the new fast multivariant identification procedure of adsorption system parameters as a tool for analysis of the microporous structure of activated carbon fibres. This research should provide information on what significant advantages can be drawn from applying the proposed new method of porous structures description in comparison to the classical approaches, as well as show how the results obtained using this method should be interpreted and what calculation results and additional information will be obtained from analysing the adsorption isotherms using a more sophisticated tool as compared to the classical models. Particularly, in presented method it is possible to easily acquire not only information regarding the values of the obtained structure parameters, but also, more importantly, precise information on the reliability of these parameter calculations.

[Selective application of tumor markers PSA].

Unlabelled: Tumor markers are being used in the early detection of cancer disease, diagnostics, prognosis, therapy and disease follow-up. A lot of clinical studies would not be nowadays possible without tumor markers. As in clinical practice the informative value of results is limited (by limited sensitivity and/or specificity) those markers should be selectively used, i.

Synthesis of four colors fluorescently labelled 3'-O-blocked nucleotides with fluoride cleavable blocking group and linker for array based Sequencing-by-Synthesis applications.

Reversible terminators having a fluoride cleavable 3'-O-blocking group are presented. Each nucleotide triphosphate is labelled by a fluorescent dye cleavable by the same reagent. We present here their synthesis, cleavage experiments and polymerase incorporation tests for a possible use in a process of Sequencing-by-Synthesis.

[Status of care for prostate cancer in 2008].

Prostate cancer as the second most frequent cause of death due to malignancy in men increasingly represents a problem for health care policy that is further intensified by demographic developments."Not every prostate carcinoma identified early must be treated, but those that require therapy must be detected early!" is the current key message in individual screening programs. This means that the measures undertaken for early detection have to be discussed with the patients to inform them about their disease risk, the need for timely initiation of curative treatment, and on possible side effects.

Analysis of elements in wine using near infrared spectroscopy and partial least squares regression.

The use of visible (VIS) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure the concentration of elements in Australian wines was investigated. Both white (n=32) and red (n=94) wine samples representing a wide range of varieties and regions were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the concentrations of calcium (Ca), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), sulphur (S), iron (Fe), boron (B) and manganese (Mn). Samples were scanned in transmittance mode (1mm path length) in a monochromator instrument (400-2500nm).

Mass spectral characterization of peptide transmitters/hormones in the nervous system and neuroendocrine organs of the American lobster Homarus americanus.

The American lobster Homarus americanus is a decapod crustacean with both high economic and scientific importance. To facilitate physiological investigations of peptide transmitter/hormone function in this species, we have used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization Fourier transform mass spectrometry (MALDI-FTMS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-ESI-Q-TOF MS/MS) to elucidate the peptidome present in its nervous system and neuroendocrine organs. In total, 84 peptides were identified, including 27 previously known H.

Computer analyses of new numerical methods for the description of adsorption process and the reliability of identification of microporous structure parameters.

The aim of this work was the computer analysis of numerical properties of the original mathematical method of the description of adsorption process and the reliability of the identification of structure parameters. The method is based on the theory of multilayer adsorption, the derivation and further theoretical discussion of which was presented in the author's earlier works. The following tasks were given special attention in this paper: the influence of the assumed structure parameters, the influence of the high-pressure section of adsorption isotherms and the influence of the number of simultaneously fitted adsorption isotherms on the quality of identification and the errors of microporous structure parameters.

Numerical analysis of nitrogen adsorption isotherms on active carbons by an employment of the new LBET class models.

The reported research concerns properties of the new LBET class models designed to describe the heterogeneous adsorption on microporous carbonaceous materials. In particular, the new adsorption models were used for the analysis of the microporous structure of two active carbons on the basis of nitrogen adsorption isotherms. This paper gives more information on the properties of the proposed identification technique.

The fluoride cleavable 2-(cyanoethoxy)methyl (CEM) group as reversible 3'-O-terminator for DNA sequencing-by-synthesis - synthesis, incorporation, and cleavage.

A new and promising sequencing technology called sequencing-by-synthesis (SBS) enables fast determination of DNA sequences. 2'-Deoxynucleotides containing the (2-cyanoethoxy)methyl (CEM) group at the 3'-O-position are potential reversible terminators for the SBS technology. Herein we describe the synthesis, the incorporation by several polymerases, and the cleavage of this 3'-O-blocking group using 3'-O-CEM-thymidinyl-5'-O-triphosphate 7 as an example.

Computer analysis of microporous structure by employing the LBET class models with various variants of the adsorption energy distribution in comparison to the classical equations.

The paper presents a properties study of the new LBET class models for heterogeneous multilayer adsorption and its applicability to analysis of microporous carbonaceous adsorbents in comparison to the selected classical equations. This paper shows that the LBET formulas give a good insight into the pore size distribution and dominant pore shape. Moreover, they provide more reliable evaluation of material surface area than the popular classical equations.

A feasibility study on the use of visible and short wavelengths in the near-infrared region for the non-destructive measurement of wine composition.

The aim of this study was to explore the capability of spectroscopy in the visible (Vis) and short wavelength near-infrared (NIR) regions for the non-destructive measurement of wine composition in intact bottles. In this study we analysed a wide range of commercial wines obtained in Australia in different types of bottles (e.g.

Synthesis of RNA using 2'-O-DTM protection.

tert-Butyldithiomethyl (DTM), a novel hydroxyl protecting group, cleavable under reductive conditions, was developed and applied for the protection of 2'-OH during solid-phase RNA synthesis. This function is compatible with all standard protecting groups used in oligonucleotide synthesis, and allows for fast and high-yield synthesis of RNA. Oligonucleotides containing the 2'-O-DTM groups can be easily deprotected under the mildest possible aqueous and homogeneous conditions.