Should sluggish cognitive tempo symptoms be included in the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder?

Objective: To determine the impact of including sluggish cognitive tempo items on the factor and latent class structure of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subtypes in boys and girls.

Method: Parent report of two sluggish cognitive tempo items on a population-based sample of 1430 female twins and 1414 male twins were analyzed along with parent report of the 18 DSM-IV ADHD items using principal components analysis and latent class analysis.

Results: The inclusion of the two sluggish cognitive tempo items resulted in distinct factor structures for boys and girls.

Familial clustering of latent class and DSM-IV defined attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) subtypes.

Background: Findings from family and twin-based studies of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have indicated that inattentive and combined subtypes cluster together among sibling pairs who both express ADHD symptoms. The current report examines the familial clustering of ADHD subtypes, defined according to latent class and DSM-IV criteria, in a general population sample of 2,848 Australian twins, 1,013 of their non-twin siblings and 4,036 female twins from Missouri, USA. Significant clustering of DSM-IV inattentive and combined subtypes, and significant clustering of the same latent classes among siblings was predicted.

Interstitial lung disease, a common manifestation of newly diagnosed polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and predictors of interstitial lung disease in newly diagnosed polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Methods: A prospective study in which consecutive patients with newly diagnosed poly- and dermatomyositis, regardless of clinical symptoms of pulmonary disease, were investigated with chest x ray, high resolution computed tomography (HRCT), pulmonary function tests, and biochemical and autoantibody analysis. Patients with inclusion body myositis, malignancy, other defined inflammatory connective tissue diseases (CTDs), or antibody profile indicating other CTDs were excluded.

The role of the Wnt-signaling antagonist DKK1 in the development of osteolytic lesions in multiple myeloma.

Background: Myeloma cells may secrete factors that affect the function of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, or both.

Methods: We subjected purified plasma cells from the bone marrow of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma and control subjects to oligonucleotide microarray profiling and biochemical and immunohistochemical analyses to identify molecular determinants of osteolytic lesions.

Results: We studied 45 control subjects, 36 patients with multiple myeloma in whom focal lesions of bone could not be detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 137 patients in whom MRI detected such lesions.

Lung perfusion scintigraphy prior to lung volume reduction surgery.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lung perfusion scintigraphy (LPS) contributes to the preoperative classification of emphysema heterogeneity in patients undergoing LVRS (lung volume reduction surgery) compared to classification based only on computed tomography (CT).

Material And Methods: Forty-five potential candidates for LVRS were examined with CT and LPS. The distribution of emphysema within the lungs was visually classified into three categories: markedly heterogeneous, intermediately heterogeneous, or homogeneous.

A comparison of spiral computed tomography and latex agglutination D-dimer assay in acute pulmonary embolism using pulmonary arteriography as gold standard.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of contrast medium enhanced spiral computed tomography of the pulmonary arteries (s-CTPA) and a latex agglutination D-dimer assay in patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism (PE) by using pulmonary arteriography (PA) and clinical follow-up as reference method.

Design: Ninety hemodynamically stable patients with symptoms of acute pulmonary embolism were prospectively evaluated with s-CTPA and pulmonary arteriography (PA) within 24 h from admission. Plasma D-dimer levels on admittance were analyzed using a rapid latex agglutination D-dimer assay.

Determination of cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis by magnetic resonance imaging and Doppler echocardiography.

Objectives: To elucidate whether cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be useful in disclosing structural changes in the myocardium in sarcoidosis patients and to relate echo-Doppler derived indices of left ventricular function to electrocardiogram (ECG) findings.

Design: The MRI was performed in 18 consecutive patients with sarcoidosis. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), i.

Replication of the latent class structure of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) subtypes in a sample of Australian twins.

Background: Previous efforts to subtype Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) using latent class analysis (LCA) applied to DSM-IV symptom profiles of adolescent female twins from Missouri (USA) have identified distinct classes within the domains of inattention, hyperactivity-impulsivity and combined-type problems. The objective of the current report is to determine if the latent class structure of ADHD subtypes can be replicated in a culturally distinct sample of female and male Australian twins.

Method: LCA was applied to parent-report DSM-IV ADHD symptom profiles of N=2,848 child and adolescent Australian twins and compared to North American findings.

Sequencing strategy of mitochondrial HV1 and HV2 DNA with length heteroplasmy.

We describe a method to obtain reliable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences downstream of the homopolymeric stretches with length heteroplasmy in the sequencing direction. The method is based on the use of junction primers that bind to a part of the homopolymeric stretch and the first 2-4 bases downstream of the homopolymeric region. This junction primer method gave clear and unambiguous results using samples from 21 individuals with length heteroplasmy in the hypervariable regions HV1, HV2 or both.

African elephant sesquiterpenes. II. Identification and synthesis of new derivatives of 2,3-dihydrofarnesol.

A search for potential semiochemicals revealed nerolidol (6), albicanol (7), and the new 2,3-dihydrofarnesol derivatives 8-10 in the temporal gland secretions of African elephants. A novel synthesis from (E,E)-farnesol (1) provided compounds 8-10 for GC-MS comparison to the natural products. This study confirms the farnesol family as frequently occurring secondary metabolites in African elephant temporal gland secretions.

Invader technology for DNA and RNA analysis: principles and applications.

Concomitant advances made by the Human Genome Project and in the development of nucleic acid screening technologies are driving the expansion of pharmacogenomic research and molecular diagnostics. However, most current technologies are restrictive due to their complexity and/or cost, limiting the potential of personalized medicine. The invader assay, which can be used for genotyping as well as for gene expression monitoring without the need for intervening target amplification steps, presents an immediate solution that is accurate, simple to use, scaleable and cost-effective.

Comparison of male adolescent-report of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms across two cultures using latent class and principal components analysis.

Background: The goal of this study is to gauge the consistency of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) latent class models that are generated by different informants such as adolescents and parents. The consistency of adolescent-derived latent classes from two different samples was assessed and these results were then compared to the class structure generated by parent-report ADHD information.

Methods: Self-reported DSM-IV Criterion A ADHD symptoms of 497 adolescent males from a population-based twin study in the state of Missouri (USA) were subjected to principal components and latent class analysis, and findings were compared to previous results obtained from identical analyses using an adolescent sample from Porto Alegre, Brazil (N = 483).

Visual classification of emphysema heterogeneity compared with objective measurements: HRCT vs spiral CT in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether spiral CT is superior to high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in evaluating the radiological morphology of emphysema, and whether the combination of both CT techniques improves the evaluation in patients undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). The material consisted of HRCT (with 2-mm slice thickness) and spiral CT (with 10-mm slice thickness) of 94 candidates for LVRS. Selected image pairs from these examinations were evaluated.

Visual grading of emphysema severity in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery. Comparison between HRCT, spiral CT and "density-masked" images.

Purpose: To investigate which of three types of CT imaging yielded the best results in estimating the degree of emphysema in patients undergoing evaluation for lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), whether there was any difference in this regard between the cranial and caudal part of the lung, and whether the degree of emphysema had an impact on the estimation.

Material And Methods: Four radiologists visually classified different degrees of emphysema on three different types of CT images into four groups. The degree of emphysema was calculated by a computer.

Toxicity testing and chemical analyses of recycled fibre-based paper for food contact.

Food-contact materials, including paper, have to comply with a basic set of criteria concerning safety. This means that paper for food contact should not give rise to migration of components, which can endanger human health. The objectives of this pilot study were, first, to compare paper of different qualities as food-contact materials and to perform a preliminary evaluation of their suitability, from a safety point of view, and, second, to evaluate the use of different in vitro toxicity tests for screening of paper and board.

Percutaneous retrieval of the Tulip vena cava filter: feasibility, short- and long-term changes--an experimental study in dogs.

Purpose: To evaluate experimentally the retrievability of the Tulip inferior vena cava (IVC) filter in an in vivo study. Changes which accompany venous healing after filter retrieval were investigated.

Methods: In 12 dogs, 23 filters were inserted percutaneously into the lumbar and intrahepatic segments of the IVC.

A clustering approach for localizing disease susceptibility loci.

Latent class (LCA) and cluster analysis (CLA) were utilized to identify trait loci for the Genetic Analysis Workshop 12 simulated disease. These techniques create non-overlapping subsets of concordant and discordant affected relative pairs based upon identity-by-descent (IBD) allele sharing at sequences of markers. Subgroups with a large proportion of affected pairs are used to identify markers in proximity to disease susceptibility loci.

Fluorescent SSCP of overlapping fragments (FSSCP-OF): a highly sensitive method for the screening of mitochondrial DNA variation.

The mtDNA analysis (mtDNA) is increasingly being demanded for forensic purposes due to the fact that many times the use of standard nuclear marker fails to analyze degraded samples (such as bones) and specially for the analysis of hair shafts (a common sample in the crime scene). However, analysis of mtDNA sequencing implies a great lab effort when a high number of samples must be analyzed. The present work introduces a novel and reliable method for the screening of mtDNA variation in the first and second hypervariables (HV1 and HV2) regions which we have denominated fluorescent single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) of overlapping fragments (FSSCP-OF).

Familiality and heritability of subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in a population sample of adolescent female twins.

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable but clinically heterogeneous syndrome. The study examined the familiality and heritability of ADHD subtypes as defined by DSM-IV and by latent-class analysis in a population sample of adolescent female twins.

Method: To determine which elements of ADHD cluster together, latent-class analysis was applied to data obtained from parents on the 18 DSM-IV ADHD symptoms in 4,036 female twins age 13-23 years in a population sample identified from the registry of all births in Missouri for the years 1968-1996.

Factor and latent class analysis of DSM-IVADHD symptoms in a school sample of Brazilian adolescents.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of the multidimensional construct proposed by DSM-IV for the diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a school sample of young Brazilian adolescents.

Method: An instrument including all 18 DSM-IVADHD symptoms was administered to 1,013 students aged 12 to 14 years at 64 state schools by trained research assistants. Each symptom was rated on a Likert scale with five levels of severity (never, almost never, sometimes, frequently, and always).

Telehealth and communication technologies in health: summary and action plan.

Introduction: Rapid innovations and improvements in communication technologies have opened many new channels for health education and delivery, as well as disaster management. Theme 2 examined the role and applicability of these technologies to Disaster Medicine and Management and the various issues involved in their use.

Methods: Details of the methods used are provided in the introductory paper.

Thin-section CT vs spiral CT in candidates for lung volume reduction surgery: a comparison based on radiologists' subjective preferences.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether high-resolution (HRCT) or spiral CT was preferred in evaluating severe emphysema in patients undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), whether there is any difference in this regard between the cranial and caudal part of the lung, and whether the degree of emphysema has an impact on the radiologists' preference. The study was performed by letting four radiologists compare images obtained with the two techniques (film pairs) and decide which technique they preferred or if the techniques were considered as equal in evaluating emphysema. In evaluation of 188 film pairs, the HRCT images were preferred in 56 %, spiral CT in 19 % and the techniques considered as equal in 25 %.

Developmental exposure to methylmercury alters behavioral sensitivity to D-amphetamine and pentobarbital in adult rats.

Female rats were exposed to 0, 0.5, or 6.4 ppm methylmercury in their drinking water before mating, and throughout gestation and lactation.