bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Men's experiences of having lower urinary tract symptoms: factors relating to bother
Authors: Glover Lesley , Gannon Kenneth , McLoughlin Joanne , Emberton Mark 
Published: August 2004

OBJECTIVETo gain an understanding of men's experiences of having lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and of bother, a principle determinant of whether a patient has an intervention for LUTS.PATIENTS AND METHODSData were collected on 75 patients with LUTS presenting to a urology outpatient clinic. Men completed a questionnaire asking about their symptoms, bother, mood and perceptions about LUTS.RESULTSMost participants scored within the normal range for anxiety and depression, and expressed a moderate level of distress. They were to some extent bothered by their symptoms. Most men perceived LUTS as a long‐term problem but felt unable to control their symptoms. The results suggest that bother reflects men's overall distress with having LUTS. Bother appears to be related to symptom severity, self perception, social limitation and the impact of LUTS. Embarrassment and social anxiety relate strongly to bother.CONCLUSIONSeveral psychological factors relate to bother; it may be possible to reduce bother using a brief psychological intervention.
Panax ginseng improves survival and sperm quality in guinea pigs exposed to 2,3,7,8‐tetrachlorodibenzo‐ p‐dioxin
Authors: Hwang Seock‐Yeon , Kim Wun‐Jae , Wee Jae‐Joon , Choi Jong‐Soon , Kim Si‐Kwan 
Published: August 2004

OBJECTIVESTo further assess the effect of Panax ginseng on survival and sperm quality of guinea pigs exposed to 2,3,7,8‐tetrachlorodibenzo‐p‐dioxin (TCDD).MATERIALS AND METHODSEighty male guinea pigs were divided into eight equal groups. The normal control (NC) group received vehicle and saline; one dose of 1 µg/kg body weight TCDD was injected intraperitoneally into the single TCDD‐treated (TT) and test groups (P100, P200, C100, C200); G and NC groups received vehicle instead of TCDD. P. ginseng water extract (PG‐WE) was injected intraperitoneally at daily doses of 100 (G100, P100, C100) or 200 mg/kg body weight (G200, P200, C200). The PG‐WE was administered to the P and G groups for 12 weeks from 1 week before TCDD exposure, and to the C groups for 10 weeks from 1 week after TCDD exposure. After a 4‐week discontinuation of PG‐WE treatment after the 13th week the surviving males were then tested for fertility by mating them with females. The litter size, death rate, male/female birth ratio and physical abnormalities of the progeny were investigated. After confirming delivery of the offspring, the parent males were killed at 40 weeks, their testes weighed and sperm quality assessed.RESULTSAll TT animals died within 18 days after TCDD exposure, but 40–70% of the PG‐WE‐treated groups, depending on the group, survived until death at 40 weeks. All the surviving males were fertile regardless of TCDD exposure; there was no difference in litter size between the NC and test groups. Notably the death rate of progeny born to PG‐WE‐treated groups was lower than that of progeny born to the NC group. The progeny born to TCDD‐exposed groups (P200 and C groups) had a preponderance of females. G Group animals had higher sperm quality than that of NCs even long after discontinuing PG‐WE.CONCLUSION P. ginseng improves the survival rate and sperm quality in guinea pigs exposed to TCDD.
Does body‐coil magnetic‐resonance imaging have a role in the preoperative staging of patients with clinically localized prostate cancer?
Authors: Allen Darrell J. , Hindley Richard , Clovis Sharon , O'Donnell Patrick , Cahill Declan , Rottenberg Giles , Popert Rick 
Published: August 2004

OBJECTIVETo investigate the accuracy and use of body‐coil magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the local staging of prostate cancer before radical prostatectomy (RP).PATIENTS AND METHODSFifty‐six patients undergoing RP were staged before surgery using body‐coil MRI; none was denied surgery on the basis of their scan results. All scans were reported before RP by one of three consultant radiologists and afterward by a colleague with a special interest in prostate MRI, unaware of the patients’ clinical details.RESULTSThe overall sensitivity of MRI at detecting extracapsular extension was 50% on general reporting and 72% when reported by the specialist radiologist; the respective specificities were 84% and 86%. Of the 55 patients included in the study, 18 (33%) had extracapsular disease on histological analysis. MRI was most accurate in the 17 patients at high‐risk (prostate‐specific antigen, PSA, >10 ng/mL and Gleason score ≥ 8) and eight at intermediate risk (PSA < 10 ng/mL and Gleason score 7). In the former group with specialist analysis, the sensitivity was 100%, although this decreased to 67% with general reporting. Both gave a specificity of 82%. Intermediate risk disease gave a sensitivity and specificity of 75%, irrespective of reporting method. The ability of MRI to detect extraprostatic tumour in the 30 low‐risk patients (PSA < 10 ng/mL and Gleason score 2–6) was poor; the sensitivity was 25% with general and 50% on specialist review, although both methods gave a specificity of >90%.CONCLUSIONBody‐coil MRI is sensitive and specific for identifying extracapsular extension of prostate cancer in patients with high‐ or intermediate‐risk disease. Patients at low risk frequently have microscopic extension which is not detected. Opinion from a radiologist with a special interest in prostate MRI can increase the reporting accuracy even when unaware of the patients’ clinical details.
The reliability and validity of tasks measuring perception of rapid sequences in children with dyslexia
Authors: Heath Steve M. , Hogben John H. 
Published: August 2004

Background:  Claims that children with reading and oral language deficits have impaired perception of sequential sounds are usually based on psychophysical measures of auditory temporal processing (ATP) designed to characterise group performance. If we are to use these measures (e.g., the Tallal, 1980, Repetition Test) as the basis for intervention in language and literacy deficits, we need to demonstrate that they can effectively quantify individual differences. Therefore, questions of standardisation, reliability and construct validity can no longer be ignored.Method:  We explored these issues in three studies: (i) 52 Dyslexics and Good Readers aged 8 to 11 years performed a task requiring perception of rapid sequences (PRS) based on the Tallal Repetition Test; (ii) a subgroup of the initial sample was retested on the task three to four months later, and after extended practice; (iii) a further subgroup then completed a rate of auditory processing task using a backward recognition masking paradigm.Results:  With a standardised methodology, we were able to replicate previous results with the PRS task, and demonstrate moderate reliability of measurement across time and practice. However, there were large effects of exposure and practice, and the task did not seem useful for identifying absolute and continuing deficits in given individuals.Conclusions:  Our results call into question the use of this type of task as an individual measure of ATP. Neither is it certain that it is capturing what is currently understood as ATP.
Maternal personality and infants’ neural and visual responsivity to facial expressions of emotion
Authors: De Haan Michelle , Belsky Jay , Reid Vincent , Volein Agnes , Johnson Mark H. 
Published: August 2004

Background:  Recent investigations suggest that experience plays an important role in the development of face processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of experience in the development of the ability to process facial expressions of emotion.Method:  We examined the potential role of experience indirectly by investigating the relationship between the emotional environment provided by mothers (as indexed by affective measures of their personality) and 7‐month‐olds’ processing of emotional expressions (as indexed by visual attention and event‐related potentials [ERPs]).Results:  Forpositive emotion, infants with highly positive mothers looked longer at fearful than happy expressions, and a subset of these infants who themselves also scored highly on positive temperament showed a larger negative central (Nc) component in the ERP to fearful than happy faces. For negative emotion, there were no detectable influences of maternal personality, although very fearful infants showed a larger Nc to fearful than happy expressions over the right hemisphere.Conclusion:  To the extent that these variations in maternal disposition reflect variations in their expression of positive facial expressions, these results suggest that the emotional environment experienced by infants contributes to the development of their responses to facial expressions.
Exploring the Williams syndrome face‐processing debate: the importance of building developmental trajectories
Authors: Karmiloff‐Smith Annette , Thomas Michael , Annaz Dagmara , Humphreys Kate , Ewing Sandra , Brace Nicola , Van Duuren Mike , Pike Graham , Grice Sarah , Campbell Ruth 
Published: August 2004

Background: Face processing in Williams syndrome (WS) has been a topic of heated debate over the past decade. Initial claims about a normally developing (‘intact’) face‐processing module were challenged by data suggesting that individuals with WS used a different balance of cognitive processes from controls, even when their behavioural scores fell within the normal range. Measurement of evoked brain potentials also point to atypical processes. However, two recent studies have claimed that people with WS process faces exactly like normal controls.Method: In this paper, we examine the details of this continuing debate on the basis of three new face‐processing experiments. In particular, for two of our experiments we built task‐specific full developmental trajectories from childhood to adolescence/adulthood and plotted the WS data on these trajectories.Results: The first experiment used photos of real faces. While it revealed broadly equivalent accuracy across groups, the WS participants were worse at configural processing when faces were upright and less sensitive than controls to face inversion. In Experiment 2, measuring face processing in a storybook context, the face inversion effect emerged clearly in controls but only weakly in the WS developmental trajectory. Unlike the controls, the Benton Face Recognition Test and the Pattern Construction results were not correlated in WS, highlighting the different developmental patterns in the two groups. Again in contrast to the controls, Experiment 3 with schematic faces and non‐face stimuli revealed a configural‐processing deficit in WS both with respect to their chronological age (CA) and to their level of performance on the Benton.Conclusion: These findings point to both delay and deviance in WS face processing and illustrate how vital it is to build developmental trajectories for each specific task.
Posterior Hypothalamic and Brainstem Activation in Hemicrania Continua
Authors: Matharu Manjit S. , Cohen Anna S. , McGonigle David J. , Ward Nick , Frackowiak Richard S. , Goadsby Peter J. 
Published: August 2004

Objective.—To determine the brain structures involved in mediating the pain of hemicrania continua using positron emission tomography.Background.—Hemicrania continua is a strictly unilateral, continuous headache of moderate intensity, with superimposed exacerbations of severe intensity that are accompanied by trigeminal autonomic features and migrainous symptoms. The syndrome is exquisitely responsive to indomethacin. Its clinical phenotype overlaps with that of the trigeminal autonomic headaches and migraine in which the hypothalamus and the brainstem, respectively, have been postulated to play central pathophysiologic roles. We hypothesized, based on the clinical phenotype, that hemicrania continua may involve activations in the hypothalamus, or dorsal rostral pons, or both.Methods.—Seven patients with hemicrania continua were studied in two sessions each. In one session, the patients were scanned during baseline pain and when rendered completely pain free after being administered indomethacin 100 mg intramuscularly. In the other session, the patients were scanned during baseline pain and when still in pain after being administered placebo intramuscularly. Seven age‐ and sex‐matched nonheadache subjects acted as the control group. The scan images were processed and analyzed using SPM99.Results.—There was a significant activation of the contralateral posterior hypothalamus and ipsilateral dorsal rostral pons in association with the headache of hemicrania continua. In addition, there was activation of the ipsilateral ventrolateral midbrain, which extended over the red nucleus and the substantia nigra, and bilateral pontomedullary junction. No intracranial vessel dilatation was obvious.Conclusions.—This study demonstrated activations of various subcortical structures, in particular the posterior hypothalamus and the dorsal rostral pons. If posterior hypothalamic and brainstem activation are considered as markers of trigeminal autonomic headaches and migrainous syndromes, respectively, then the activation pattern demonstrated in hemicrania continua mirrors the clinical phenotype, with its overlap with trigeminal autonomic headaches and migraine.
Open Trial of Bupropion SR in Adolescent Major Depression
Authors: Glod Carol A. , Lynch Arlene , Flynn Elizabeth , Berkowitz Cynthia , Baldessarini Ross J. 
Published: August 2004

PROBLEM There are few studies of sustained‐release bupropion in adolescents with major depression.METHODS Twenty‐one adolescents with DSM‐IV major depression were recruited through advertisement and self‐referral; 11 began study medication and were rated weekly with an expanded Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (SIGH‐SAD), as well as Clinical Global Impression‐Improvement (CGI‐I).RESULTS Of 11 subjects enrolled, 8 completed an8‐week trial of bupropion SR. Mean baseline SIGH‐SAD scores of 31–3 decreased significantly by 74% to mean endpoint score of 8–2. Improvement on CGI‐I that agreed closely between raters and patients was found in 8 of 11 subjects (72.3%). The mean daily dose of bupropion SR was 362 mg ± 52 mg and was well tolerated; insomnia and weight loss were experienced by 55%; other adverse effects of dry mouth, headache, agitation, light‐headedness, diarrhea, or rash were noted in a minority of subjects.CONCLUSIONS In this preliminary, small open study, depressed adolescents showed a marked response to bupropion SR.
Supervised automated microscopy increases sensitivity and efficiency of detection of sentinel node micrometastases in patients with breast cancer
Authors: Mesker W E , Torrenga H , Sloos W C R , Vrolijk H , Tollenaar R A E M , de Bruin P C , van Diest P J , Tanke H J 
Published: August 2004

Aims:To investigate the practicality and sensitivity of supervised automated microscopy (AM) for the detection of micrometastasis in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) from patients with breast carcinoma.Methods:In total, 440 SLN slides (immunohistochemically stained for cytokeratin) from 86 patients were obtained from two hospitals. Samples were selected on the basis of: (1) a pathology report mentioning micrometastases or isolated tumour cells (ITCs) and (2) reported as negative nodes (N0).Results:From a test set of 29 slides (12 SLN positive patients, including positive and negative nodes), 18 slides were scored positive by supervised AM and 11 were negative. Routine examination revealed 17 positive slides and 12 negative. Subsequently, automated reanalysis of 187 slides (34 patients; institute I) and 216 slides (40 patients; institute II) from reported node negative (N0) patients showed that two and seven slides (from two and five patients, respectively) contained ITCs, respectively, all confirmed by the pathologists, corresponding to 5.9% and 12.5% missed patients. In four of the seven missed cases from institute II, AM also detected clusters of four to 30 cells, but all with a size ⩽ 0.2 mm.Conclusions:Supervised AM is a more sensitive method for detecting immunohistochemically stained micrometastasis and ITCs in SLNs than routine pathology. However, the clinical relevance of detecting cytokeratin positive cells in SLNs of patients with breast cancer is still an unresolved issue and is at the moment being validated in larger clinical trials.
The predictive value of total serum IgE for a positive allergen specific IgE result
Authors: Sinclair D , Peters S A 
Published: August 2004

Background:Measurement of total serum IgE and allergen specific IgE is often requested to assess possible allergy. As public awareness increases, so do requests for allergy assessment; unless there is a clear “allergen suspect” in the history, several allergen specific IgE requests may be made. This increases the likelihood of detecting borderline increases in allergen specific IgE of uncertain relevance, and has important cost implications for the service.Aims:To provide an evidence base for this observation.Methods:In this retrospective observational study, results from 301 patients under 16 years of age from whom blood was taken for “allergy testing” from March 2001 to February 2003 were studied.Results:Allergen specific IgE testing in children with low total serum IgE concentrations (<10 IU/litre) yielded very few positive results (three of 73 children), except in those being investigated for an acute reaction to a single food; when IgE was 11–20 kU/litre, 13 of 73 children had positive allergen specific IgE; in the 21–40 kU/litre IgE group, 16 of 74 children had positive allergen specific IgE and in the 41–80 kU/litre group, 22 of 81 had positive allergen specific IgE.Conclusions:Allergen specific IgE testing in children with low IgE concentrations (<10 kU/litre) produces few positive results in patients with non-specific symptoms. Laboratories should perform allergy testing for specific allergens regardless of total IgE concentration only when there are convincing clinical reasons to do so, and should not proceed with this if the total IgE is <10 kU/litre and the presenting symptoms are non-specific.
Serrated adenomas of the appendix
Authors: Rubio C A 
Published: August 2004

Aims:A review of the literature indicated that only one case of serrated adenoma of the appendix has been recorded. The aim was to explore the possible occurrence of serrated adenomas of the appendix at the department of pathology, Karolinska Institute and University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.Methods:Between January 1993 and December 2003, 38 non-carcinoid, non-neoplastic, or neoplastic polyps or tumours of the appendix were surgically removed at this hospital. All filed histological sections (haematoxylin and eosin stained) were reviewed.Results:Of the 38 lesions, four were hyperplastic polyps, 10 serrated adenomas, six villous adenomas, and the remaining eight mucinous adenocarcinomas without a remnant adenoma. Serrated adenomas accounted for six of the 11 adenomas without invasion, and four of the 15 adenomas with invasive carcinoma. At the time of surgical resection, four of the 10 serrated adenomas had evolved into invasive carcinomas, in addition to 11 of the 16 villous adenomas.Conclusions:Serrated and villous adenomas of the appendix appear to be highly aggressive lesions, more aggressive than similar adenomas in the colon and rectum. Of the seven cases with a hyperplastic polyp, one concurred with a serrated adenoma, two with a serrated adenoma having an invasive carcinoma, and one with invasive carcinoma without a remnant adenomatous structure. At present, there is an increased awareness that some hyperplastic polyps of the colon and rectum may evolve into serrated adenomas. Whether this pathway is also valid for the appendix vermiformis should be investigated in a larger number of cases.
Elimination and Tolerance of a New Parenteral Lipid Emulsion (SMOF) – A Double-Blind Cross-Over Study in Healthy Male Volunteers
Authors: Schlotzer Ewald , Kanning Ulrike 
Published: August 2004

<i>Aims:</i> The objective of this phase I study was to investigate plasma elimination and tolerance of a new lipid emulsion based on soybean oil, medium chain triglycerides (MCT), olive oil and fish oil (SMOF). <i>Methods:</i> In a double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, 12 healthy male subjects received SMOF 20% and a standard soybean oil emulsion (Lipovenoes<sup>®</sup> 20%, both Fresenius Kabi). Lipid emulsions were infused at a rate of 0.125 g fat/kg body weight/h over 6 h. Before, during and up to 24 h after infusion, lipid metabolism parameters and numerous clinical, chemical and hematological parameters, vital signs and local tolerance were determined. <i>Results:</i> Infusion of SMOF induced a less marked increase of serum triglyceride concentration. At the end of infusion, mean serum triglyceride concentration was significantly lower with SMOF (p < 0.05). Triglyceride half-life was significantly shorter for SMOF than for Lipovenoes (p < 0.001). Infusion of SMOF was apparently associated with higher glycerol concentration (NS). Routine laboratory parameters, vital signs and local tolerance showed no evidence of infusion-related abnormalities. <i>Conclusion:</i> SMOF was eliminated significantly faster than the standard lipid emulsion. This is of potential benefit in patients with limited triglyceride elimination capacity. The safety evaluation revealed a good systemic and local tolerance of SMOF.
NKG2D receptor–mediated NK cell function is regulated by inhibitory Ly49 receptors
Authors: Regunathan Jeyarani , Chen Yuhong , Wang Demin , Malarkannan Subramaniam 
Published: August 2004

AbstractInteraction of the activating ligand H60 with NKG2D receptor constitutes a major stimulatory pathway for natural killer (NK) cells. The influence of inhibitory Ly49 receptors on NKG2D-mediated activation is not clearly understood. Here we show that the magnitude of NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity is directly proportional to both the levels of H60 and the nature of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules expressed on the target cells. The expression levels of H60 on the target cells determined the extent to which the inhibition by Ly49C/I receptors can be overridden. In contrast, even a higher expression of H60 molecule on the target cells failed to overcome the inhibition mediated by Ly49A/G receptors. Also, the level of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) generated by NK cells through anti-NKG2D monoclonal antibody (mAb)-mediated activation is significantly reduced by the presence of immobilized anti-Ly49A/G mAbs. Thus, NKG2D-mediated cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion results from the fine balance between activating and inhibitory receptors, thereby defining the NK cell-mediated immune responses. (Blood. 2005;105:233-240)
Physical and functional link of the leukemia-associated factors AML1 and PML
Authors: Nguyen Lan Anh , Pandolfi Pier Paolo , Aikawa Yukiko , Tagata Yusuke , Ohki Misao , Kitabayashi Issay 
Published: August 2004

AbstractThe AML1-CBFβ transcription factor complex is the most frequent target of specific chromosome translocations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The promyelocytic leukemia (PML) gene is also frequently involved in AML-associated translocation. Here we report that a specific isoform PML I forms a complex with AML1. PML I was able to recruit AML1 and coactivator p300 in PML nuclear bodies and enhance the AML1-mediated transcription in the presence of p300. A specific C-terminal region of PML I and a C-terminal region of AML1 were found to be required for both their association and colocalization in the nuclear bodies. Overexpression of PML I stimulates myeloid cells to differentiate. These results suggest that PML I could act as a mediator for AML1 and its coactivator p300/CBP to assemble into functional complexes and, consequently, activate AML1-dependent transcription and myeloid cell differentiation. (Blood. 2005;105:292-300)