The impact of chemotherapy dose intensity and supportive care on the risk of febrile neutropenia in patients with early stage breast cancer: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a major dose-limiting toxicity of cancer chemotherapy resulting in considerable morbidity, mortality, and cost. This study evaluated the time course of neutropenic events and patterns of supportive care interventions in patients receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer treated in oncology community practices.

Methods: A prospective cohort study of adult cancer patients initiating a new chemotherapy regimen was conducted at 115 US sites.

Impact of 100% Fruit Juice Consumption on Diet and Weight Status of Children: An Evidence-based Review.

Consumption of 100% fruit juice remains controversial for its potential adverse impact on weight and displacement of essential foods in the diets of children. A systematic review of the literature published from 1995-2013 was conducted using the PubMed database to evaluate associations between intake of 100% fruit juice and weight/adiposity and nutrient intake/adequacy among children of 1 to 18 years of age. Weight status outcome measures included body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score, ponderal index, obesity, weight gain, adiposity measures, and body composition.

Use of sevelamer to examine the role of intraluminal phosphate in the pathogenesis of secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Aims: Parathyroid hormone (PTH) promotes calcium reabsorption in the cortical distal nephron (CDN). The phosphate concentration ([P]f) rises in that segment in chronic kidney disease (CKD); in theory, high [P]f could reduce availability of calcium for reabsorption and necessitate a compensatory rise in [PTH]. With assumptions, [P]f is proportional to phosphate excreted/volume of filtrate (EP/GFR).

Vitalizing the group--and me.

Emotional liveliness in a psychotherapy group can take various forms. Maintaining this liveliness can be a challenging task in a group, particularly when both the patients and the therapist face deeply rooted inhibitions, including fears about competition, being judged, and being destructive. The author of this paper, a candidate and group member in a postdoctoral group psychotherapy training program, recounts some of her experiences as the leader of a newly formed and developing group, particularly as they relate to her efforts to become and remain a "libidinal" (i.

Responsive interface switchable by logically processed physiological signals: toward "smart" actuators for signal amplification and drug delivery.

Biomarkers characteristic of liver injury, alanine transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase, were processed by an enzyme-based system functioning as a logic AND gate. The NAD+ output signal produced by the system upon its activation in the presence of both biomarkers was then biocatalytically converted to a decrease in pH. The acidic pH value biocatalytically produced by the system as a response to the biomarkers triggered the restructuring of a polymer-modified electrode interface.

Ella Thea Smith and the lost history of American high school biology textbooks.

Two influential articles published in the 1970s suggested that pressure from Christian fundamentalists, subsequent to the Scopes trial of 1925, forced American high school biology textbook authors and publishers to significantly limit discussion of the topic of evolution. The conclusions reached by these studies have become foundational for historians examining the interplay between science and religion in the United States in the twentieth century. However, a reexamination of key twentieth century biology textbooks suggests that the narrative that the treatment of the theory of evolution was held hostage to anti-rational cultural forces is largely a myth, created first as part of a public relations effort by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) to differentiate, defend, and promote its work, and later as part of an attempt by scholars to sound a warning concerning the rise of the religious right.

Media surveillance of elder sexual abuse cases.

Print media is a source of data for sensitive and invisible crimes such as elder sexual abuse. For this study, newspaper reports were searched over 2 years for articles about elder sexual abuse. After 112 cases of elder sexual abuse were identified, the information was used to develop a database for descriptive analysis.

Genetic testing and its implications: human genetics researchers grapple with ethical issues.

To better understand ethical issues involved in the field of human genetics and promote debate within the scientific community, the author surveyed scientists who engage in human genetics research about the pros, cons, and ethical implications of genetic testing. This study contributes systematic data on attitudes of scientific experts. The survey finds respondents are highly supportive of voluntary testing and the right to know one's genetic heritage.

ERP correlates of form and rhyme letter tasks in impaired reading children: a critical evaluation.

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained from 15 electrode sites in six average and six impaired reading children, 12 years of age, during visual letter discrimination tasks. Subjects responded to target letters with an enclosed area in the form task and to letters that rhymed with "e" in the rhyme task. Response accuracy was similar between the groups.

Gene therapy: ethical issues.

To discern the ethical issues involved in current gene therapy research, to explore the problems inherent in possible future gene therapies, and to encourage debate within the scientific community about ethical questions relevant to both, we surveyed American Society of Human Genetics scientists who engage in human genetics research. This study of the opinions of U.S.

Ethical debates in genetic engineering: U.S. scientists' attitudes on patenting, germ-line research, food labeling, and agri-biotech issues.

A 1995 survey of 1,257 scientists working in the field of recombinant DNA research indicates wide areas of agreement as well as some noteworthy divisions when it comes to such thorny questions as patenting, germ-line research, food labeling, and biodiversity. In general, the scientists surveyed approve of patenting living organisms that result from rDNA research, but vary significantly on what should be patentable. They advocate human germ-line therapy, yet have reservations about using it for any but serious diseases.

Interpersonal conflict and sarcasm in the workplace.

Violence and aggression in the workplace are problems that most Americans confront on a daily basis. The present study is an exploration of the predisposition to conflict in a work environment in which personality traits responsible for increased sarcasm and increased anger in response to sarcasm are identified. Participants represented two subdepartments within a city general hospital.

Societal and commercial issues affecting the future of biotechnology in the United States: a survey of researchers' perceptions.

A 1995 survey of 1,257 U.S. recombinant DNA researchers assessed how they view outside factors affecting their work, including public and media attention; regulation; funding; international competition; commercialization of research and university/ industry collaboration; health care reform efforts; and patenting laws and policies.

Late cognitive brain potentials, phonological and semantic classification of spoken words, and reading ability in children.

Event-related potential (ERP), reaction time, and response accuracy measures were obtained during rhyming and semantic classification of spoken words in 10 average (mean age 11.64 years) and 9 impaired reading (mean age 12.10 years) children.

Trends in the spatial dimensions of the long term care delivery system. The case of New York State.

Over the past twenty years, the long term care sector of the health delivery system has sought to shift the delivery of services away from costly (nodalized) facilities to community-based (dispersed) delivery structures. An anti-institutional societal view has influenced the formation of current long term care policy. While home is the preferred site for elderly in need of care, the health services literature suggests that the cost and personal functional benefits expected to result from community-based long term care occur only for a small segment of the dependent elderly.

Light, temperature, and anthocyanin production.

Temperature affects the total amount, the time course, and the red/far-red effectiveness ratio of light-dependent anthocyanin production in Brassica oleracea L. seedlings. Some of the effects of temperature on anthocyanin production in cabbage are in agreement with the predictions of a model proposed by JK Wall and CB Johnson (1983 Planta 159: 387-397) for the effects of temperature on the state of phytochrome and on the expression of phytochrome-mediated high irradiance responses, but others are not.