A retrospective review of 15 years of radical radiotherapy with or without concurrent cisplatin and/or 5-fluorouracil for the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer.

Radiation therapy is the standard of care treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer in the United States. In 1999 the addition of concomitant chemotherapy to radical radiotherapy became standard. The addition of cisplatin (CDDP) with or without 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy to radiation therapy was based on the near simultaneous reporting of five randomized, controlled clinical trials which all showed an improvement in survival with a magnitude of approximately 35%.

Direct thrombin inhibitor use during percutaneous coronary intervention.

Direct thrombin inhibitors (DTI) are emerging as alternative anticoagulants to unfractionated heparin and indirect thrombin inhibitors in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We review the pharmacological properties of these newer antithrombotic agents and evaluate the clinical data demonstrating their use in patients undergoing PCI.

Dendritic BC1 RNA: modulation by kindling-induced afterdischarges.

Local protein synthesis in dendrites is thought to provide a mechanism for long-lasting modifications of synapses in response to physiological activity and behavioral experience. New synthesis of dendritic proteins may be triggered by various paradigms, including induction of epileptiform activity. Prerequisite for such modulated synthesis is a mechanism that limits translation of synaptodendritic mRNAs to times of demand.

New diagnostic modalities in the diagnosis of heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) is the one cardiovascular disease that is increasing in prevalence in the United States. As the population continues to age, the incidence will certainly be amplified. However, some studies have shown that HF is correctly diagnosed initially in only 50% of affected patients.

Targeted inhibition of gene expression of pancreatitis-associated proteins exacerbates the severity of acute pancreatitis in rats.

Background: Pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) is a secretory protein not normally expressed in healthy pancreas but highly induced during acute pancreatitis. While PAP has been shown to be anti-bacterial and anti-apoptotic in vitro, its definitive biological function in vivo is not clear.

Methods: To elucidate the function of PAP, antisense oligodeoxyribonucleotides (AS-PAP) targeting all three isoforms of PAP were administered via intrapancreatic injections (5 mg kg day, 2 days) to rats prior to induction of pancreatitis.

Translational control at the synapse.

The strength of synaptic connections can undergo long-lasting changes, and such long-term plasticity is thought to underlie higher brain functions such as learning and memory. De novo synthesis of proteins is required for such plastic changes. This model is now supported by several lines of experimental data.

Meta-analysis.

Systematic reviews use explicit and reproducible criteria to assemble, appraise, and combine articles with a minimum of bias. Meta-analysis is a form of systematic review that uses statistical techniques to derive quantitative estimates of the magnitude of treatment effects and their associated precision. Valid meta-analyses address focused questions, use appropriate criteria to select articles, assess the quality and combinability of articles, provide graphic and numeric summaries, consider potential biases, and can be generalized to a meaningful target population.

Flashbulb memories of personal events of 9/11 and the day after for a sample of New York City residents.

The present study assessed consistency of recollections of personal circumstances of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack and events of the day before (9/10), and the day after (9/12), in a sample of 100 New York City college students. The day before 9/11 represented an ordinary event. A questionnaire was administered twice, 1 wk.

Prolonged survival in recurrent endometrial carcinoma to the brain.

Background: Recurrence of endometrial cancer in the brain is a rare event generally accompanied by limited life expectancy. We present an unusual case of long-term survival following surgical resection of an intracranial endometrial cancer metastasis.

Case: The present case is a patient with FIGO stage IIB, grade III endometrial cancer which recurred 2 months following completion of primary therapy with an isolated lesion in the brain.

RNA displacement and resolution of the transcription bubble during transcription by T7 RNA polymerase.

Unlike DNA polymerases, RNA polymerases (RNAPs) must displace the nascent product from the template and restore the DNA to duplex form after passage of the transcription complex. To accomplish this, RNAPs establish a locally denatured "bubble" that encloses a short RNA:DNA hybrid. As the polymerase advances along the template, the RNA is displaced at the trailing edge of the bubble and the two DNA strands are reannealed.

Neuronal MAP2 mRNA: species-dependent differential dendritic targeting competence.

Providing the basis for local protein synthesis in dendritic microdomains, RNA transport in dendrites is thought to be underlying long-term neuronal plasticity. Dendritic RNA targeting mechanisms can therefore be expected to confer selective advantages in the evolution of complex neural systems. The question thus arises as to when and how dendritically targeted transcripts first acquired their targeting competence.

Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors and Epileptogenesis.

Activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) often produces long-lasting effects on the excitability of cortical neurons. For example, mGluR stimulation induces long-term potentiation or depression of excitatory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus. Similarly, the effects of mGluRs on cortical epileptiform activities also are enduring.

Oral antidiabetic agents: 2004.

The appropriate management of patients with type 2 diabetes presents many challenges to health care providers. The first several years of type 2 diabetes are likely to be unrecognized and untreated. The pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes dictates that treatment of insulin resistance should be an early and central focus for every therapeutic program.

Islet-derived multipotential cells/progenitor cells.

The pancreatic beta-cell has a pivotal role in the regulation of glucose homeostasis; its death leads to type I diabetes. Neogenesis of beta-cells, the differentiation of beta-cells from non-beta-cells, could be an important mechanism of islet cell repopulation. To examine the ability of the adult pancreas to generate new beta-cells, we characterized the phenotype of beta precursor cells in embryos and then determined that cells expressing embryonic traits appeared in islets of adult mouse pancreas following deletion of preexisting insulin cells by streptozotocin, a specific beta-cell toxin.

Fiber order of the normal and regenerated optic tract of the frog (Rana pipiens).

In the normal frog, axons from the peripheral retina arising at the temporal pole course superficially in the middle stream of the diencephalic optic tract. Axons from the nasal pole course in two streams running in the opposite margins of the tract, dorsonasal axons ventrally, ventronasal axons dorsally. Axons from the dorsal and ventral poles of the retina occupy the intervals between the aforementioned middle and marginal streams.

Postprandial hyperlipidemia after a fat loading test in minority adolescents with type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity.

The continuing increase in the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and obesity in children and adolescents is attributable to excessive caloric intake. Abnormal lipid metabolism in the postprandial state leads to long exposure of the vasculature to hyperlipidemia. Most children and adolescents with DM2 are obese, and many have fasting hypertriglyceridemia.

Follicular thyroid cancer presenting as a sellar mass: case report and review of the literature.

Objective: To describe an uncommon initial manifestation of well-differentiated follicular carcinoma of the thyroid in an unusual metastatic site.

Methods: We present clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings in our patient and review related data from the literature.

Results: A young healthy woman presented with headache and diplopia.

Plasticity mechanisms underlying mGluR-induced epileptogenesis.

Transient application of group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) agonists to hippocampal slices produces ictal-like discharges that persist for hours after the removal of the agonist. This effect of group I mGluR stimulation--converting a 'normal' hippocampal slice into an 'epileptic-like' one--may represent a form of epileptogenesis. Because this epileptogenic process can be induced in vitro and it occurs within hours, it has been possible to examine the cellular and transduction processes underlying the generation and long-term maintenance of ictal-like bursts.

BC200 RNA in invasive and preinvasive breast cancer.

BC200 RNA, a small functional RNA that operates as a translational modulator, has been implicated in the regulation of local synaptodendritic protein synthesis in neurons. Cell type-specific expression of BC200 RNA is tightly controlled such that the RNA is not normally detected in somatic cells other than neurons. However, the neuron-specific control of BC200 expression is deregulated in a number of tumors.

Anticoagulation strategies for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: unfractionated heparin, low-molecular-weight heparins, and direct thrombin inhibitors.

Low-molecular-weight heparins and direct thrombin inhibitors are emerging as alternative anticoagulants to unfractionated heparin in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This paper reviews the pharmacologic properties of these newer antithrombotic agents and evaluates the clinical data demonstrating their use in patients undergoing PCI.

Ablation of the CLP-1 gene leads to down-regulation of the HAND1 gene and abnormality of the left ventricle of the heart and fetal death.

We have recently reported that cardiac lineage protein-1 (CLP-1), a nuclear protein with an acidic region that constitutes a potential protein-protein interaction domain, regulates transcription of the cardiac myosin light chain-2v (MLC-2v) gene promoter in a manner consistent with its being a transcriptional co-activator or regulator. To test the postulate that CLP-1 is a regulator of cardiac genes we ablated the CLP-1 gene in mice. Past embryonic day (E)16.

Paleodermatoses: lessons learned from mummies.

Mummies, the preserved remains of living beings from former times, bear witness across millennia to the maladies plaguing humankind. Disease, older than humanity, is better understood when examined in the context of history. Paleopathology, literally meaning "ancient suffering", is the study of disease through evaluation of ancient remains.