Assessment of intra-individual variation in prostate-specific antigen levels in a biennial randomized prostate cancer screening program in Sweden.

Background: The degree of variability in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurements is important for interpreting test results in screening programs, and particularly for interpreting the significance of changes between repeated tests. This study aimed to determine the long-term intra-individual variation for PSA in healthy men.

Methods: A randomly selected cohort of men in a biennial prostate cancer screening program (ERSPC) conducted in Sweden from 1995-1996 to 2001-2002.

Psychological distress among AIDS orphans in rural Uganda.

More than 11 million children under 15 years in sub-Saharan Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS. In Uganda, about 2 million children are orphans, with one or both parents dead. The objective of this study was to investigate the psychosocial consequences of AIDS orphanhood in a rural district in Uganda and to identify potential areas for future interventions.

The evolution of the glandular kallikrein locus: identification of orthologs and pseudogenes in the cotton-top tamarin.

Comparisons of the glandular kallikreins loci in human, mouse and rat revealed remarkable differences. For example, the mouse and the rat lack the genes encoding prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2). In contrast, the intergenic region between KLK1 and KLK15 is devoid of genes and spans only 1.

The association between total energy intake and early mortality: data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study.

Objectives: In animal studies, low energy intake (EI) has been associated with a longer lifespan. We examine whether EI is an independent risk factor for prospective all-cause mortality, cardiovascular and cancer mortality in humans.

Design: Population-based, prospective cohort study.

Expression of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2) in ileum and other extraprostatic tissues.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a widely used marker for prostate cancer. In the literature, there are reports of nonprostatic expression of PSA that potentially can affect early diagnosis. However, the results are scattered and inconclusive, which motivated us to conduct a more comprehensive study of the tissue distribution of PSA and the closely related protein human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2).

Prevalence of delusional ideation in a district in southwestern Uganda.

Background: Population-based prevalence studies suggest that psychosis is a continuum distributed in the general population.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of delusional ideation in young healthy individuals in a low-income country setting (Uganda) and to investigate possible relevant background factors.

Method: Interviews were conducted in a district capital and in three rural villages, using the Peters et al.

Psychiatric admissions for psychosis in Malmö during the NATO bombing of Kosovo.

Little is known about the possible mechanisms contributing to increased risk for psychosis found among immigrants. We used the NATO bombing campaign of Kosovo as a naturalistic experiment to explore the role of potentially stressful aspects of minority group status. We examined all patient admissions to the psychiatric clinic in Malmö during the months of the NATO campaign in Kosovo in 1999 and during control months in 1997.

Biology of prostate-specific antigen.

The human kallikrein (hk) family, located on chromosome 19, encodes prostate-specific antigen (PSA [or hK3]), hK2, hK4, and hK15 (prostin), as well as other serine proteases. Although PSA has been used in the detection of prostate cancer for several years, much remains unknown about its function and forms. The regulatory mechanisms of PSA are vital to its understanding.

Fracture of the radial head and neck of Mason types II and III during growth: a 14-25 year follow-up.

Twenty-four individuals, who were 16 years of age or younger when they sustained a fracture of the radial head or neck, were examined at a mean of 19 years (range 14-25 years) after injury. The 12 girls and 12 boys were a mean age of 11 years (range 5-16 years) when the fracture was sustained. Two were excluded due to late resection of the radial head following persisting pain.

From paper electrophoresis to computer-supported interpretation of capillary electrophoresis--clinical plasma protein analysis in Malmö, Sweden.

Protein analyses have been used in Malmö as a routine clinical diagnostic tool since 1953. Most serum samples are submitted for "protein profiles" including capillary zone electrophoresis and rate immune nephelometric quantification of nine proteins (five in urines), although analysis of single proteins may be requested. Standardization between laboratories in our region has been greatly improved by automation, CRM 470 calibration and external quality assurance.

Pregnancy and lactation confer reversible bone loss in humans.

The influence of pregnancy on bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in 73 women (mean age 29 years, range 20-44 years) postpartum. Fifty-five age-matched women served as controls. The influence of lactation was evaluated in 65 of the delivered women who were followed with repeated measurements, a mean of 4.

Obstetric complications and congenital malformation in schizophrenia.

Recent years have witnessed increasingly intense research activity concerning early life somatic trauma and dysmorphogenesis which are associated with the later development of schizophrenia. The two somatic factors that have received the most extensive scientific attention as antecedents of schizophrenia are obstetric complications (OCs) and the congenital malformations termed 'minor physical anomalies' (MPAs). Head circumference (HC) at birth has also been studied as a measure of prenatal cerebral development.

Minor physical anomalies in schizophrenia: cognitive, neurological and other clinical correlates.

Minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are minor congenital malformations which are found with significantly increased frequency among both patients with schizophrenia and their siblings, suggesting the effect of early developmental disturbance in their families. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between these signs of early dysmorphogenesis and cognitive and neurological dysfunction in the patients and their siblings as well as the clinical characteristics of the patients. Sixty patients with schizophrenia, 21 nonpsychotic siblings and 75 normal comparison subjects were studied.

Anomalies and the mental health professional.

Parental attitudes and reactions to the identification of fetal anomalies generally represent well-documented, normally occurring phenomena. The appropriate clinical management of such emotional reactions is an important responsibility of the medical units delivering care and services to the parents. Medical policy decisions about whether and when to screen for offspring anomalies is a considerably more complex and controversial topic.

Metronidazole prophylaxis to prevent infections after total abdominal hysterectomy.

Methods: In a randomized double-blind study, 134 patients were given 500 mg metronidazole as an intravenous infusion immediately before operation for abdominal total hysterectomy and again 8 hours later and 124 patients received placebo.

Results: There was more wound infection, postoperative hospitalization was longer and the sedimentation rate on the sixth postoperative day was significantly higher in the placebo group. There was no difference in postoperative temperature.