Immunological profile in primary Sjögren syndrome: clinical significance, prognosis and long-term evolution to other auto-immune disease.

Objective: To study evolution of pSS immunological profile, impact on pSS activity and the long-term evolution of patients with atypical auto-antibodies in a bicentric cohort of patients with pSS (n=445, mean age 53.6+/-14years, mean follow-up 76.1+/-51months).

Cancer mortality trends in Spain: 1980-2007.

Introduction: Since the 1990s, there has been a downturn in mortality for specific types of tumour in Spain and other European countries. This article reports on the current situation of cancer mortality in Spain, as well as mortality trends over the period 1980-2007, and provides an overview of cancer mortality trends in Europe in recent years.

Methods: Data were sourced from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística - INE) and the World Health Organization mortality database.

Mortality due to tumours of the digestive system in towns lying in the vicinity of metal production and processing installations.

Background: Releases to the environment of pollutants from industrial metal production and processing installations can pose a health problem to humans, owing to the toxic substances that such emissions contain.

Objectives: To investigate whether there might be excess mortality due to tumours of the digestive system among the population residing near Spanish metal production and processing installations included in the European Pollutant Emission Register.

Methods: Ecological study designed to examine mortality due to malignant tumours of the digestive system (oral cavity and pharynx, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and colon-rectum) at the municipal level, over the period 1994-2003.

[Vasculitis assessment with [18F]FDG positron emission tomography].

[18F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive metabolic imaging modality that is well-suited to the assessment of activity and extent of large vessel vasculitis. PET imaging has demonstrated its usefulness in diagnosing giant cell arteritis (notably in its silent form), Takayasu's arteritis, and unclassified aortitis. PET imaging could be more effective than magnetic resonance imaging in detecting the earliest stages of vascular wall inflammation.

Articular manifestations in primary Sjögren's syndrome: clinical significance and prognosis of 188 patients.

Objectives: Articular manifestations (AMs) occurred in approximately 30-60% of patients with primary SS (pSS). We conducted the current study to describe clinical presentation, specific treatment and to report clinical outcome of pSS patients with AM in a large bicentric French cohort.

Methods: Clinical, biological and immunological features of 419 consecutive patients with pSS were recorded in order to describe the clinical and immunological course of pSS AM and to point out the impact of those rheumatological features on pSS evolution.

Transforming to a computerized system for nursing care: organizational success within Magnet idealism.

In reaching the goal for standardized, quality care, a not-for-profit healthcare system consisting of seven institutional entities is transforming nursing practice guidelines, patient care workflow, and patient documents into electronic, online, real-time modalities for use across departments and all healthcare delivery entities of the system. Organizational structure and a strategic plan were developed for the 2-year Clinical Transformation Project. The Siemens Patient Care Document System was adopted and adapted to the hospitals' documentation and information needs.

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata type 1: report of mutations in 3 children from India.

Rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by stippled epiphyses and rhizomelic shortening of the long bones. We report 3 subjects of rhizomelic chondrodysplasia punctata from India and the PEX7 mutations identified in them. The common PEX7-L292X allele, whose high frequency is due to a founder effect in the northern European Caucasian population, was not identified in these patients.

Nitrate-responsive miR393/AFB3 regulatory module controls root system architecture in Arabidopsis thaliana.

One of the most striking examples of plant developmental plasticity to changing environmental conditions is the modulation of root system architecture (RSA) in response to nitrate supply. Despite the fundamental and applied significance of understanding this process, the molecular mechanisms behind nitrate-regulated changes in developmental programs are still largely unknown. Small RNAs (sRNAs) have emerged as master regulators of gene expression in plants and other organisms.

Rapid chromatographic immunoassay study of brain PrPsc distribution in classical scrapie.

In the current study, a rapid chromatographic immunoassay submitted for registration in Europe was used to analyze PrP(sc) in 13 different areas of brain from 10 confirmed classical scrapie cases. The levels of PrP(sc) in the different areas of brain were plotted to draw a brain PrP(sc) distribution curve. This curve was compared with the brain PrP(sc) distribution curve obtained from immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry tests on the same samples.

[Use of visiting jejunostomy loop for extracting Ascaris lumbricoides in the common bile ducts in patients with Caroli diseases].

Grumbach-Auvert disease represents a type of Obstructive Disease of the Intrahepatic Biliary Tree. We presents a case report of a patient with hepatic abscess caused by Ascaris which ascended into hepatic parenquima through hepaticojejunostomy, resolved by endoscopic extraction of it after the jejunostomy of permanent access was opened.

Familial aggregation in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica: a comprehensive literature review including 4 new families.

Objective: To review personal and published observations of giant cell (temporal) arteritis (GCA) or polymyal-gia rheumatica (PMR) with familial or conjugal aggregation and emphasise on epidemiological, clinical and genetic features of such cases.

Methods: We pooled data obtained from all cases of GCA or PMR with familial aggregation recruited in the department since 1976 and those from reports of familial or conjugal GCA or PMR published in the French-English literature since 1970.

Results: During the study period, we diagnosed 460 patients (128 with isolated PMR, 227 with isolated GCA, 105 with PMR/CGA).

Decline in age at menarche among Spanish women born from 1925 to 1962.

Background: While the timing of reproductive events varies across populations, a downward trend in age at menarche has nevertheless been reported in most of the developed world over the past century. Given the impact of change in age at menarche on health conditions, this study sought to examine secular trends in age at menarche among women living in Navarre (Northern Spain) who participated in a population-based breast cancer screening programme.

Methods: The study was based on 110545 women born from 1925 to 1962.

Diabetic neuropathy: electrophysiological and morphological study of peripheral nerve degeneration and regeneration in transgenic mice that express IFNbeta in beta cells.

Diabetic neuropathy is one of the most frequent complications in diabetes but there are no treatments beyond glucose control, due in part to the lack of an appropriate animal model to assess an effective therapy. This study was undertaken to characterize the degenerative and regenerative responses of peripheral nerves after induced sciatic nerve damage in transgenic rat insulin I promoter / human interferon beta (RIP/IFNbeta) mice made diabetic with a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ) as an animal model of diabetic complications. In vivo, histological and immunohistological studies of cutaneous and sciatic nerves were performed after left sciatic crush.

Recent changes in breast cancer incidence in Spain, 1980-2004.

Background: Since the 1980s, Spain experienced two decades of sharply increasing breast cancer incidence. Declines in breast cancer incidence have recently been reported in many developed countries. We examined whether a similar downturn might have taken place in Spain in recent years.

Gastric cancer mortality trends in Spain, 1976-2005, differences by autonomous region and sex.

Background: Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of oncologic death worldwide. One of the most noteworthy characteristics of this tumor's epidemiology is the marked decline reported in its incidence and mortality in almost every part of the globe in recent decades. This study sought to describe gastric cancer mortality time trends in Spain's regions for both sexes.

Age-specific breast, uterine and ovarian cancer mortality trends in Spain: changes from 1980 to 2006.

Introduction: Cancers of the breast, uterus and ovary are responsible for 30% of the cancer deaths in Spanish women. In recent decades, Spain has experienced important socioeconomic transformations, which may have affected mortality trends. We present the current situation of mortality in Spain due to cancers of the breast, uterus and ovary, as well as trends over 1980-2006.

The striking geographical pattern of gastric cancer mortality in Spain: environmental hypotheses revisited.

Background: Gastric cancer is decreasing in most countries. While socioeconomic development is the main factor to which this decline has been attributed, enormous differences among countries and within regions are still observed, with the main contributing factors remaining elusive. This study describes the geographic distribution of gastric cancer mortality at a municipal level in Spain, from 1994-2003.

The neuraxial effects of intraspinal amitriptyline at low concentrations.

Background: As a result of amitriptyline's vast array of actions, it could potentially be used as an intraspinal adjuvant in neuraxial anesthesia and/or in the treatment of refractory neuropathic pain. None of the previous studies examining the safety profile of intraspinal single doses of amitriptyline found signs of toxicity at concentrations below 15.4 mM/L (0.

Immunohistochemical characterisation of classical scrapie neuropathology in sheep.

Neuroinflammation elicited by PrP(res) (resistant prion protein [PrP]) deposits in the central nervous system (CNS) has been shown to involve cellular and oxidative stress responses in bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) as well as in several murine models of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). Additionally, deregulation of water homeostasis has been suggested to be a further component of the spongiform changes observed in TSEs. The aim of the present study was to characterize the pathogenic events occurring in the CNS of sheep with spontaneously arising classical scrapie.

Direct sample preparation methods for the detection of Plum pox virus by real-time RT-PCR.

Direct systems to process plant materials allowed high-throughput testing of Plum pox virus (PPV) by real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR without nucleic acids purification. Crude plant extracts were diluted in buffer or spotted on membranes to be used as templates. Alternatively, immobilized PPV targets were amplified from fresh sections of plant tissues printed or squashed onto the same supports, without extract preparation.

Mortality due to lung, laryngeal and bladder cancer in towns lying in the vicinity of combustion installations.

Background: Installations that burn fossil fuels to generate power may represent a health problem due to the toxic substances which they release into the environment.

Objectives: To investigate whether there might be excess mortality due to tumors of lung, larynx and bladder in the population residing near Spanish combustion installations included in the European Pollutant Emission Register.

Methods: Ecologic study designed to model sex-specific standardized mortality ratios for the above three tumors in Spanish towns, over the period 1994-2003.

Study of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma mortality associated with industrial pollution in Spain, using Poisson models.

Background: Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) have been linked to proximity to industrial areas, but evidence regarding the health risk posed by residence near pollutant industries is very limited. The European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) is a public register that furnishes valuable information on industries that release pollutants to air and water, along with their geographical location.This study sought to explore the relationship between NHL mortality in small areas in Spain and environmental exposure to pollutant emissions from EPER-registered industries, using three Poisson-regression-based mathematical models.