Snai1 and Snai2 collaborate on tumor growth and metastasis properties of mouse skin carcinoma cell lines.

Snai1 (Snail) and Snai2 (Slug), the two main members of Snail family factors, are important mediators of epithelial-mesenchymal transitions and involved in tumor progression. We recently reported that Snai1 plays a major role in tumor growth, invasion and metastasis, but the contribution of Snai2 to tumorigenesis is not yet well understood. To approach this question we have silenced Snai2 and/or Snai1 by stable RNA interference in two independent mouse skin carcinoma (HaCa4 and CarB) cell lines.

A threefold dose intensity treatment with ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide for patients with small cell lung cancer: a randomized trial.

Background: The dose intensity of chemotherapy can be increased to the highest possible level by early administration of multiple and sequential high-dose cycles supported by transfusion with peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs). A randomized trial was performed to test the impact of such dose intensification on the long-term survival of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Methods: Patients who had limited or extensive SCLC with no more than two metastatic sites were randomly assigned to high-dose (High, n = 69) or standard-dose (Std, n = 71) chemotherapy with ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide (ICE).

[Long-acting injectable risperidone in treatment resistant borderline personality disorder. A small series report].

Introduction: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is usually treated with a combination of antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drugs although only limited efficacy is obtained in many patients. A major problem in the treatment of BPD is the lack of compliance derived form the pathological impulsivity of BPD patients.

Methods: Twelve severe BPD patients refractory to previous treatment with drug combinations for three months were treated with intramuscular long-acting risperidone for a six-month period.

IL-1beta (+3954C/T) polymorphism could protect human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) against lipodystrophic syndrome.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of acquired and inherited factors on the development of lipodystrophic syndrome in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: Two hundred forty-three human immunodeficiency virus-infected Caucasians on highly active antiretroviral therapy were prospectively followed-up for 3 years. Eleven were naIve and 232 were on antiretrovirals (mean, 93.

C-reactive protein measurements in meat juice of pigs.

A time-resolved immunofluorometric assay was evaluated for measurement of C-reactive protein in meat juice from diaphragmatic muscle collected from slaughtered pigs. Analytical and clinical validation of the method was performed by using meat juice samples, obtained by freezing and thawing muscle pieces. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation ranged from 2.

New nanomaterials for consolidating stone.

A novel sol-gel synthesis, in which a surfactant acts to make the pore size of the gel network more coarse and uniform, is shown to provide an effective alternative for the consolidation of stone. The new mesoporous silica avoids the main inconvenience of current commercial consolidants, which is their tendency to crack inside the pores of the stone. Since the cracking of xerogels is a well-known drawback of the sol-gel process, the synthesis presented here can be extended to other applications.

Methodologies used to estimate tobacco-attributable mortality: a review.

Background: One of the most important measures for ascertaining the impact of tobacco on a population is the estimation of the mortality attributable to its use. To measure this, a number of indirect methods of quantification are available, yet there is no consensus as to which furnishes the best information. This study sought to provide a critical overview of the different methods of attribution of mortality due to tobacco consumption.

Treatment of patients with unresectable squamous head and neck cancer with induction chemotherapy followed by hyperfractionated radiotherapy.

Purpose: The contribution of induction chemotherapy (CT) followed by hyperfractionated radiotherapy (hfRT) in unresectable squamous head and neck cancer has been evaluated in a single institution as an assistencial protocol.

Patients And Methods: From March 1994 to June 2000 all consecutive patients with unresectable disease were treated with four courses of platin plus fluorouracil based CT followed by hfRT. Tumor resectability and response was assessed by a multidisciplinary committee.

Mortality attributable to passive smoking in Spain, 2002.

Objective: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with a variety of health effects, including lung cancer and ischaemic heart disease. The objective of this study was to estimate the number of deaths caused by exposure to ETS among non-smokers in Spain during the year 2002

Methods: Prevalence of ETS exposure among never smokers was gathered from three region based health interview surveys. The relative risks of lung cancer and ischaemic heart diseases were selected from three meta-analyses.

Autoregulation mechanism of human neutrophil apoptosis during bacterial infection.

Neutrophils (PMN), potent phagocytes, are the first line of the host immune defence against microorganisms, especially bacteria. Their half-life is very short and they are eliminated through apoptosis. Delayed neutrophil apoptosis is a characteristic feature of human osteomyelitis arising from Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacterial infection.

Customizing cisplatin based on quantitative excision repair cross-complementing 1 mRNA expression: a phase III trial in non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Although current treatment options for metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) rely on cisplatin-based chemotherapy, individualized approaches to therapy may improve response or reduce unnecessary toxicity. Excision repair cross-complementing 1 (ERCC1) has been associated with cisplatin resistance. We hypothesized that assigning cisplatin based on pretreatment ERCC1 mRNA levels would improve response.

Disposition kinetics and pharmacokinetics--pharmacodynamic integration of difloxacin against Staphylococcus aureus isolates from rabbits.

The pharmacokinetics of difloxacin were studied following intravenous (IV), subcutaneous (SC) and oral administration of 5mg/kg to healthy white New Zealand rabbits (n = 6). Difloxacin concentrations were determined by HPLC assay with fluorescence detection. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) assay of difloxacin against different strains of S.

Nodavirus increases the expression of Mx and inflammatory cytokines in fish brain.

Nodavirus has become a serious pathogen for a wide range of cultured marine fish species. In the present work, the expression of genes related to immune and inflammatory responses of sea bream (Sparus aurata L.), considered as non susceptible species, was studied both in vitro and in vivo.

Bax gene G(-248)A promoter polymorphism is associated with increased lifespan of the neutrophils of patients with osteomyelitis.

Background: Patients with osteomyelitis have a decreased rate of spontaneous apoptosis of their peripheral blood neutrophils. The G(-248)A polymorphism in the promoter region of the bax gene is associated with prolonged peripheral blood neutrophil survival in leukemic patients and may play some role in osteomyelitis.

Methods: Bax G(-248)A promoter polymorphism was detected by DNA amplification using polymerase chain reaction, followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis.

New drug therapies for advanced renal cell carcinoma.

The incidence of renal cell cancer is increasing and surgery is the only curative treatment for patients presenting with localized disease at diagnosis. The treatment of metastatic renal cell cancer is palliative and, until recently, immunotherapy has been the standard treatment approach with response rates between 10 and 20%. An increase in the appreciation of the biology of this disease has resulted in a number of new 'targeted' therapies being developed.

Does induction chemotherapy still have a role in larynx preservation strategies? The experience of Institut Catala d'Oncologia in stage III larynx carcinoma.

Background: Radiotherapy with concurrent cisplatin is the standard alternative to total laryngectomy for patients with locally advanced laryngeal cancer. The value of induction chemotherapy in larynx-preservation therapies remains unknown. Hyperfractionation radiotherapy might improve disease-free survival.

The NOS3 (27-bp repeat, intron 4) polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to osteomyelitis.

Cytokines generate nitric oxide (NO) in osteoblasts and neutrophils through the induction of NO synthase isoforms, endothelial (NOS3) and inducible (NOS2), thereby producing bone loss. In osteomyelitis (OM), a chronic infection of the bone, homozygosity for the NOS3 (27-bp repeat, intron 4 polymorphism) 4 allele was significantly more frequent among the 80 patients than in 300 healthy controls (p=0.044).

25-Hydroxycholesterol has a dual effect on the proliferation of cultured rat astrocytes.

We examined the effects of 25-OH-cholesterol on the growth of cultured rat astrocytes in the presence of lipoprotein-deficient serum (LPDS). 25-OH-cholesterol at 0.5-8 microM induced an increase in DNA synthesis as measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA, staining the cells with crystal violet, or counting the number of cells in different phases of the cell cycle by flow cytometry; however, at higher doses, an inhibition of cell proliferation was produced.

The Toll-like receptor 4 (Asp299Gly) polymorphism is a risk factor for Gram-negative and haematogenous osteomyelitis.

Osteomyelitis is a bone infection caused mostly by Staphylococcus aureus but also by Gram-negative bacteria. Toll-like receptors (TLRs), after recognizing microbial products, induce a signal in neutrophils, leading to NF-kappaB activation and transcription of pro-inflammatory genes. Polymorphisms in TLR2 (Arg753Gln) and TLR4 (Asp299Gly, Thr399Ile) genes are associated with bacterial infections, we therefore studied these polymorphisms in osteomyelitis patients.

The normal electrocardiogram of the unanaesthetized competition "Spanish Pouler" pigeon (Columba livia gutturosa).

This investigation was carried out on 64 healthy adult competition pigeons (Spanish Poulers) to determine reference values of electrocardiographic parameters in standard lead II; a comparative study between males and females was also performed to find changes in the electrocardiographic patterns related to sex. P wave was positive and monophasic; PR segment depression was present in 64% of records; the QRS pattern obtained was in most cases of the rS type, followed by the QS configuration. ST slurring (absence of ST) was observed in 47% of records and the mean electrical axis was in all cases negative.

Health-related quality of life as a predictor of hospital readmission and death among patients with heart failure.

Background: We sought to examine the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQL) and a first emergency rehospitalization and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF) having a wide variation in ventricular ejection fraction and functional status.

Methods: Prospective study conducted with 394 patients admitted for HF-related emergencies at 4 Spanish hospitals. Baseline HRQL was measured with a generic questionnaire, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36), and with an HF-specific instrument, the Minnesota Living With Heart Failure (MLWHF) questionnaire.

[Rats and dogs: important vectors of leptospirosis in agricultural areas in Cuidad Guzmán, Jalisco].

A study was conducted to determine how important rats and dogs are in the dissemination of leptospirosis in farms and stales located in Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco. Thirteen of Leptospira interrograns serovarieties were used in microagglutination test of serogroups (MAT). Three hundred and fifty four rats (Rattus rattus and Rattus norvergicus) trapped in agricultural areas of the place were studied; 22 were positive (6,2%) and 34 suspected of leptospirosis (9,6%).

Do pharmacists' opinions affect their decision to dispense or recommend a visit to a doctor?

Purpose: To assess the relation between the pharmacists' opinions and the decision to dispense drugs without medical prescription and to recommend a visit to a doctor.

Methods: We carried out a cohort study on a sample of 166 pharmacists in North-West Spain. Pharmacists' opinions on prescription practice of the doctors, on pharmacists' qualification to dispense drugs without medical prescription, on their responsibility about dispensed drugs, on clients' qualification for self-medication, and pharmacists' perception of their work were collected through a personal interview.

The normal electrocardiogram of the unanesthetized peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei).

The mean duration and amplitudes of the lead II electrocardiogram were determined in the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus brookei) using 10 birds ranging in age from 1 to 5 yr. Electrocardiograms were performed on unanesthetized falcons in order to avoid the anesthesia effect on the electrocardiogram, by a method which seems to induce a tonic immobility-like reaction. All the falcons had a normal sinus rhythm, with a mean heart rate of 268 beats per minute.