Congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunt associated with heterotaxy and polysplenia.

Background: Heterotaxy with polysplenia is associated with many cardiovascular anomalies including the occasional occurrence of congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunts (CEPS). Missing this anomaly can lead to inappropriate and ineffective therapy.

Objective: To emphasize the importance and associated anatomy of CEPS in conjunction with heterotaxy with polysplenia.

Does quality of life among breast cancer survivors one year after diagnosis differ depending on urban and non-urban residence? A comparative study.

Background: This study examined the quality of life (QOL), measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) questionnaire, among urban (n = 277) and non-urban (n = 323) breast cancer survivors and women from the general population (n = 1140) in Queensland, Australia.

Methods: Population-based samples of breast cancer survivors aged < 75 years who were 12 months post-diagnosis and similarly-aged women from the general population were recruited between 2002 and 2007.

Results: Age-adjusted QOL among urban and non-urban breast cancer survivors was similar, although QOL related to breast cancer concerns was the weakest domain and was lower among non-urban survivors than their urban counterparts (36.

Family outcomes from a randomized control trial of relapse prevention therapy in first-episode psychosis.

Objective: We have previously reported that our combined individual and family cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) relapse prevention therapy (RPT) was effective in reducing relapse rates compared to treatment as usual (TAU) within a specialist program for young, first-episode psychosis patients who had reached remission on positive symptoms. Here, we report the outcomes for family participants of DSM-IV-diagnosed first-episode psychosis patients recruited between November 2003 and May 2005 over a 2.5-year follow-up period.

Age-related differences in exercise and quality of life among breast cancer survivors.

Purpose: Physical activity has become a focus of cancer recovery research because it has the potential to reduce treatment-related burden and to optimize health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, the potential for physical activity to influence recovery may be age dependent. This article describes physical activity levels and HRQoL among younger and older women after surgery for breast cancer and explores the correlates of physical inactivity.

Self-socialization: a case study of a parachute child.

The theoretical concept of self-socialization suggests that an individual is able to reflect on the self, formulate a vision of a future self, set goals, and take actions that create or alter the developmental trajectory. This case study of a parachute child illustrates how a person constructs her life from a very young age, drawing on a profound capacity for personal agency to overcome obstacles, identify resources, and internalize values to build a life structure. A model of the psychosocial process of self-socialization emerges from this case.

A controlled study of risk factors for enamel hypoplasia in the permanent dentition.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate risk factors for enamel hypoplasia (EH) and enamel opacity (EO) in the permanent teeth of healthy schoolchildren from a nonfluoridated community in Australia.

Methods: Children with EH (N=104) or EO (N=104) were compared with matched controls without enamel defects (N=105). Subjects who previously resided in on optimally fluoridated town provided data on the effects of drinking fluoridated water.

Interleukin-6 and type I interferon-regulated genes and chemokines mark disease activity in dermatomyositis.

Objective: Up-regulation of whole blood type I interferon (IFN)-driven transcripts and chemokines has been described in a number of autoimmune diseases. An IFN gene expression "signature" is a candidate biomarker in patients with dermatomyositis (DM). This study was performed to evaluate the capacity of IFN-dependent peripheral blood gene and chemokine signatures and levels of proinflammatory cytokines to serve as biomarkers for disease activity in adult and juvenile DM.

Predictors of adherence to cognitive-behavioural therapy in first-episode psychosis.

Objective: To investigate predictors of adherence with a cognitive-behavioural intervention in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients.

Method: Predictors of adherence to cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) were longitudinally investigated in the experimental arm of a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a CBT intervention for relapse prevention early in the course of psychosis when compared with treatment as usual within 2 high quality, youth oriented, specialist FEP programs (the EPISODE II trial).

Results: Longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and poorer level of insight predicted poor adherence to CBT.

Clustering of sebaceous gland carcinoma, papillary thyroid carcinoma and breast cancer in a woman as a new cancer susceptibility disorder: a case report.

Introduction: Multiple distinct tumors arising in a single individual or within members of a family raise the suspicion of a genetic susceptibility disorder.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 52-year-old Caucasian woman diagnosed with sebaceous gland carcinoma of the eyelid, followed several years later with subsequent diagnoses of breast cancer and papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Although the patient was also exposed to radiation from a pipe used in the oil field industry, the constellation of neoplasms in this patient suggests the manifestation of a known hereditary susceptibility cancer syndrome.

Withaferin A targets heat shock protein 90 in pancreatic cancer cells.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy and the mechanism of Hsp90 inhibition of Withaferin A (WA), a steroidal lactone occurring in Withania somnifera, in pancreatic cancer in vitro and in vivo. Withaferin A exhibited potent antiproliferative activity against pancreatic cancer cells in vitro (with IC(50)s of 1.24, 2.

Flexible Frames and Control Sampling in Case-Control Studies: Weighters (Survey Statisticians) Versus Anti-Weighters (Epidemiologists).

We propose two innovations in statistical sampling for controls to enable better design of population-based case-control studies. The main innovation leads to novel solutions, without using weights, of the difficult and long-standing problem of selecting a control from persons in a household. Another advance concerns the drawing (at the outset) of the households themselves and involves random-digit dialing with atypical use of list-assisted sampling.

Development and validation of automated 2D-3D bronchial airway matching to track changes in regional bronchial morphology using serial low-dose chest CT scans in children with chronic lung disease.

To address potential concern for cumulative radiation exposure with serial spiral chest computed tomography (CT) scans in children with chronic lung disease, we developed an approach to match bronchial airways on low-dose spiral and low-dose high-resolution CT (HRCT) chest images to allow serial comparisons. An automated algorithm matches the position and orientation of bronchial airways obtained from HRCT slices with those in the spiral CT scan. To validate this algorithm, we compared manual matching vs automatic matching of bronchial airways in three pediatric patients.

Prevalence of previously unknown elevation of glycosylated hemoglobin in spine surgery patients and impact on length of stay and total cost.

Background: Elevated levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) among spine surgery patients may have an impact on length of stay (LOS) and healthcare cost.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 556 spine surgery patients who underwent 1 of 3 types of surgery: lumbar microdiscectomy (LMD), anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF), and lumbar decompression and fusion (LDF). Information was collected about their diabetes mellitus (DM) history and HbA1c levels.

Neurologic abnormalities in HTLV-I- and HTLV-II-infected individuals without overt myelopathy.

Background: Human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV) type I is the causative agent of HTLV-associated myelopathy (HAM)/tropical spastic paraparesis, and a number of HAM cases with HTLV-II infection have also been reported. However, despite some reports, it is unclear whether HTLV-I or -II infection is associated with other neurologic manifestations.

Methods: An analysis of medical histories and screening neurologic examinations from a prospective cohort of 153 HTLV-I, 388 HTLV-II, and 810 HTLV-seronegative individuals followed up for means of 11.

Imaging of the pediatric airway.

Airway compromise can be fixed, dynamic (with varying degrees of collapse during the respiratory cycle), or exhibit both components. The location of the abnormality can be classified as extrinsic (located outside but exerting mass effect on the airway) or intrinsic (intramural and/or intraluminal). The etiologies of airway compromise are categorized as: congenital, infectious, inflammatory, traumatic, vascular, or neoplastic (1).

Tri-locus sequence data reject a "Gondwanan origin hypothesis" for the African/South Pacific crab genus Hymenosoma.

Crabs of the family Hymenosomatidae are common in coastal and shelf regions throughout much of the southern hemisphere. One of the genera in the family, Hymenosoma, is represented in Africa and the South Pacific (Australia and New Zealand). This distribution can be explained either by vicariance (presence of the genus on the Gondwanan supercontinent and divergence following its break-up) or more recent transoceanic dispersal from one region to the other.

A randomized controlled trial of relapse prevention therapy for first-episode psychosis patients.

Objective: Patients with first-episode psychosis are responsive to acute-phase treatments, but relapse rates are high. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychosocial treatment designed to prevent the second episode of psychosis compared with standardized early psychosis care.

Method: In a randomized controlled trial, conducted at the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre and Barwon Health, Australia, a multimodal individual and family cognitive-behavioral therapy for relapse prevention was compared with standardized case management within a specialist early psychosis service.