Dropout in a longitudinal, cohort study of urologic disease in community men.

Background: Reasons for attrition in studies vary, but may be a major concern in long-term studies if those who drop out differ systematically from those who continue to participate. Factors associated with dropout were evaluated in a twelve-year community-based, prospective cohort study of urologic disease in men.

Methods: During 1989-1991, 2,115 randomly selected Caucasian men, ages 40-79 years from Olmsted County, Minnesota were enrolled and followed with questionnaires biennially; 332 men were added in follow-up.

Hyperbaric oxygen in treatment of neonatal arterial thromboembolism of lower extremities.

Arterial thromboembolism (TE) in the absence of current or recent history of a central catheter is a rare condition in newborn period. We report a case of severe lower extremities arterial TE of unclear etiology in a full-term neonate. By adding hyperbaric oxygenation to thrombolytic and antithrombotic therapy, we achieved improved perfusion of the upper leg tissues, preserving the knee and enabling below-the-knee amputation.

Effects of surgical ventricular restoration on left ventricular function: dynamic MR imaging.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate with dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging the changes in global and regional left ventricular (LV) function after surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) performed in chronic ischemic heart disease patients with large nonaneurysmal or aneurysmal postmyocardial infarction zones.

Materials And Methods: The study was performed with institutional review board approval, and a waiver of individual informed consent was obtained. The study was HIPAA compliant.

Radical prostatectomy for octogenarians: how old is too old?

Objectives: As the population ages, healthy octogenarians are increasingly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Some of these patients will request radical prostatectomy (RP), although outcome data in this population group are lacking. We report our experience with patients undergoing RP during their ninth decade of age.

DNA-PKcs dependence of Artemis endonucleolytic activity, differences between hairpins and 5' or 3' overhangs.

During V(D)J recombination, the RAG proteins create DNA hairpins at the V, D, or J coding ends, and the structure-specific nuclease Artemis is essential to open these hairpins prior to joining. Artemis also is an endonuclease for 5' and 3' overhangs at many DNA double strand breaks caused by ionizing radiation, and Artemis functions as part of the nonhomologous DNA end joining pathway in repairing these. All of these activities require activation of the Artemis protein by interaction with and phosphorylation by the DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit (DNA-PKcs).

Contrast enhancement of coronary atherosclerotic plaque: a high-resolution, multidetector-row computed tomography study of pressure-perfused, human ex-vivo coronary arteries.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of contrast injection on atherosclerotic coronary plaque attenuation measured using multidetector-row computed tomography.

Background: Recent multidetector-row computed tomography studies have described the characterization of coronary atherosclerotic plaque on the basis of Hounsfield unit values. The influence of contrast injection on the attenuation of individual plaque components, however, is unknown.

Protective association between nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug use and measures of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

In 1990-2002, the authors conducted a population-based cohort study of 2,447 Caucasian men in Olmsted County, Minnesota, to determine whether daily users of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were at lower risk than nondaily NSAID users of developing benign prostatic hyperplasia. Participants completed validated questionnaires during a home visit, including information about daily NSAID use. A random subset of 634 men also participated in a clinical evaluation including transrectal ultrasonography and assessment of serum prostate-specific antigen levels.

The polymerases for V(D)J recombination.

DNA transactions of a wide variety generally require three major types of enzymatic activities: nucleases, polymerases, and ligases. V(D)J recombination is no exception. In this issue, Bertocci et al.

Clinical, imaging, and pathological characteristics of left ventricular thrombus: a comparison of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, transthoracic echocardiography, and transesophageal echocardiography with surgical or pathological validation.

Background: Left ventricular (LV) thrombus is a frequent and potentially dangerous complication of ischemic heart disease (IHD). We evaluated the clinical, imaging, and pathology characteristics of confirmed LV thrombus and compared the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for the diagnosis of LV thrombi.

Methods: Between November 1997 and December 2003, 361 patients with IHD had surgical and/or pathological confirmation of presence or absence of LV thrombus.

Detection and structural analysis of R-loops.

R-loops are structures where an RNA strand is base paired with one DNA strand of a DNA duplex, leaving the displaced DNA strand single-stranded. Stable R-loops exist in vivo at prokaryotic origins of replication, the mitochondrial origin of replication, and mammalian immunoglobulin (Ig) class switch regions in activated B lymphocytes. All of these R-loops arise upon generation of a G-rich RNA strand by an RNA polymerase upon transcription of a C-rich DNA template strand.

Analysis of non-B DNA structure at chromosomal sites in the mammalian genome.

Changes at sites of genetic instability ultimately involve DNA repair pathways. Some sites of genetic instability in the mammalian genome appear to be unstable because they adopt a non-B DNA conformation. We describe two structural approaches for determination of whether a genomic region is configured in a non-B DNA conformation.

In vitro nonhomologous DNA end joining system.

The nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway is the major pathway that repairs DNA double strand breaks in multicellular eukaryotic organisms. Unlike homologous recombination, the NHEJ pathway utilizes minimal or no homology between the ends that need to be joined. Although the resulting NHEJ-repaired junctions can be diverse in sequence, they share a few common features, including frequent nucleolytic resection of the ends, near-random junctional additions, and utilization of microhomology.

Roles of nonhomologous DNA end joining, V(D)J recombination, and class switch recombination in chromosomal translocations.

When a single double-strand break arises in the genome, nonhomologous DNA end joining (NHEJ) is a major pathway for its repair. When double-strand breaks arise at two nonhomologous sites in the genome, NHEJ also appears to be a major pathway by which the translocated ends are joined. The mechanism of NHEJ is briefly summarized, and alternative enzymes are also discussed.

Towards an understanding of the role of forces in carcinogenesis: a perspective with therapeutic implications.

Carcinogenesis may aberrantly have as its source an underlying dynamic which likely operates in accord with or is expressive of a universal principle of force. This drive can be seen as a type of necessary completion of force configurations giving forth a force-based, completing guidance or dyneotaxis. This completing guidance is a completing communication.

Exercise-induced QT/R-R-interval hysteresis as a predictor of myocardial ischemia.

Objectives: Exercise-induced QT/RR hysteresis exists when, for a given R-R interval, the QT interval duration is shorter during recovery after exercise than during exercise. We sought to assess the association between QT/RR hysteresis and imaging evidence of myocardial ischemia.

Background: Because ischemia induces cellular disturbances known to decrease membrane action potential duration, we hypothesized a correlation between QT/RR and myocardial ischemia.

Human endothelial cell septins: SEPT11 is an interaction partner of SEPT5.

The septin SEPT11 is a novel member of the highly conserved septin family. Septins are cytoskeletal GTPases, which form heteropolymeric complexes. They are involved in cytokinesis and other cellular processes, such as vesicle trafficking and exocytosis.

Cine delayed-enhancement MR imaging of the heart: initial experience.

This study was performed by using an institutional review board-approved protocol, with waived informed consent and HIPAA compliance. The purpose of this study was to preliminarily evaluate a cine delayed-enhancement (DE) pulse sequence for depiction of wall motion and myocardial scar extent during a single acquisition. The technique is based on inversion-recovery single-shot balanced steady-state free precession magnetic resonance imaging.

DNA structures at chromosomal translocation sites.

It has been unclear why certain defined DNA regions are consistently sites of chromosomal translocations. Some of these are simply sequences of recognition by endogenous recombination enzymes, but most are not. Recent progress indicates that some of the most common fragile sites in human neoplasm assume non-B DNA structures, namely deviations from the Watson-Crick helix.

Association of anthropometric measures with the presence and progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

The authors investigated the association of anthropometric measures with the presence and progression of components of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and a clinical outcome of BPH in a cohort of healthy, Caucasian men aged 40-79 years that was randomly selected from the Olmsted County, Minnesota, population beginning in 1990. Exclusionary criteria included prostate or bladder surgery, urethral surgery or stricture, or medical or other neurologic conditions that could affect normal urinary function. Height, weight, and waist and hip circumferences were measured.

The accuracy of chest radiographs in the detection of congenital heart disease and in the diagnosis of specific congenital cardiac lesions.

Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric patients. Traditional teaching holds that specific types of CHD can be diagnosed on the chest radiograph (CXR) through pattern recognition.

Objective: To determine the accuracy of radiologists in detecting CHD on the CXR.

Downstream boundary of chromosomal R-loops at murine switch regions: implications for the mechanism of class switch recombination.

R-loops form at Sgamma3 and Sgamma2b Ig class switch regions in the chromosomes of stimulated murine primary B cells and are suspected to be a general feature of mammalian class switch regions. The in vivo upstream boundary of the R-loops is known to begin within the switch repeats. To determine how precisely the R-loop structure conforms to the repetitive zone of the murine Sgamma3 and Sgamma2b switch regions, a chemical probing method was used to obtain structural information on the downstream boundary.

Baseline factors as predictors of clinical progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia in men treated with placebo.

Purpose: We analyzed data from the placebo arm of the MTOPS trial to determine clinical predictors of BPH progression.

Materials And Methods: A total of 3,047 patients with LUTS were randomized to either placebo, doxazosin (4 to 8 mg), finasteride (5 mg), or a combination of doxazosin and finasteride. Average length of followup was 4.

PDLIM4 repression by hypermethylation as a potential biomarker for prostate cancer.

Purpose: We analyzed the expression of genes to identify reliable molecular markers in the diagnosis and progression of prostate cancer.

Experimental Design: Gene expression profiling was done using HG-U133 set microarrays in 32 prostate cancer and 8 benign tissues of patients with cancer. Expression levels of 11 genes were selected for quantitative real-time PCR evaluation in 52 prostate cancer and 20 benign tissues.

Tracking of longitudinal changes in measures of benign prostatic hyperplasia in a population based cohort.

Purpose: We characterized how longitudinal changes in PSA, prostate size, maximum urinary flow rates and lower urinary tract symptoms track together over time.

Materials And Methods: In 1990, 2,115 white men, randomly selected from the Olmsted County, Minnesota population, completed validated questionnaires during a home visit by a study assistant. A 25% random subsample underwent clinical evaluation including transrectal ultrasonography, serum PSA and assessment of maximum urinary flow rates.

Correlations between longitudinal changes in transitional zone volume and measures of benign prostatic hyperplasia in a population-based cohort.

Objective: To determine whether measures of transitional zone volume (TZV) are more strongly associated than total prostate volume with longitudinal urologic outcomes.

Methods: In 1990, 2,115 randomly selected Caucasian men from Olmsted County, Minnesota (USA) completed validated questionnaires during a home visit. A 25% subsample underwent clinical evaluation that included transrectal ultrasonography, assessment of serum prostate-specific antigen levels, and maximum urinary flow rates.