TASK DEFINITION: Given a passage, construct a question on the basis of the information present in the passage. Construct the question in such a way that (i) it is unambiguous, (ii) it is answerable from the passage, (iii) its answer is unique (iv) it answer uses text phrases from the passage. Avoid creating questions that (i) can't be answered correctly without actually understanding the passage and (ii) uses the same words or phrases given in the passage.
PROBLEM: To develop a scale and survey the measurement of patient adherence and patient recruitment, and to explore how these methods impact the results in randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve patient adherence to medications.', 'Analytic survey of a purposively selected sample of patient adherence intervention trials from a systematic review, assessing the quality of adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods.', 'We identified 44 different measures of adherence, with qualities ranging from valid and objective to unreliable and subjective. The median overall quality of measures of adherence was 5 (interquartile range [IQR], 3; range, 0-9, 9 is high quality). The quality of the measures was associated with variation in the estimate of adherence (Spearman r\xa0=\xa00.66; 95% confidence interval: 0.39, 0.83). The median overall quality of patient recruitment methods was 2 (IQR, 1; maximum score 6, higher is better). There was no significant correlation between the power of the trial to detect an effect and the quality of the patient recruitment methods.

SOLUTION: Are adherence measurement and patient recruitment methods poor in intervention trials to improve patient adherence?

PROBLEM: To determine whether the number and location of positive surgical margins (PSMs) in radical prostatectomy (RP) surgical specimens affect biochemical recurrence (BCR) rates.', 'The locations of PSMs were recorded for 1308 consecutive men who underwent RP between October 2000 and December 2006. BCR was defined as three consecutive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level rises with the peak level >or=0.15 ng/mL. Multivariate regression analyses were used to identify preoperative predictors of PSMs and BCR. The estimated 5-year risk of BCR was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.', 'In all, 128 (9.8%) men had one or more PSMs. The mean body mass index, mean preoperative serum PSA level, the distributions of clinical stage and biopsy Gleason scores, and the presence or absence of biopsy perineural invasion were significantly different between men with or with no PSMs. In multivariate analysis, baseline serum PSA level, Gleason score and perineural invasion were independent preoperative predictors of PSMs. The 5-year actuarial BCR rates were dependent on the site of the PSM (P = 0.035) and not the number of PSMs (P = 0.18). The rank order of estimated 5-year BCR rates according to the site of PSMs were base > anterior > posterolateral > apex approximately posterior.

SOLUTION: Does site of positive surgical margins influence biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy?

PROBLEM: A previous study by the authors has shown that recombinant myocilin purified from a prokaryotic expression system increases outflow resistance in cultured human anterior segments. The present study was performed to determine whether full-length myocilin purified from a human trabecular meshwork cell expression system alters outflow resistance after infusion into human anterior segments.', "A feline immunodeficiency virus vector encoding both full-length myocilin (amino acids 1-503 fused to C-terminal V5 and six-histidine epitopes) and puromycin resistance was used to transduce a transformed trabecular meshwork cell line (TM5). Stably expressing cells were selected with puromycin. Recombinant myocilin was purified from the media using nickel ion affinity chromatography. Control purifications were performed on media from parental TM5 cells. Anterior segments of human eyes were placed in organ culture and perfused with either Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) or DMEM supplemented with 50% porcine aqueous humor. One eye received an anterior chamber exchange with recombinant myocilin (2 microg/mL), whereas the fellow eye received an equal volume of control. Immunohistochemistry was performed with anti-myocilin and anti-V5 antibodies. Native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to analyze myocilin complex formation in porcine aqueous humor.", 'Recombinant myocilin in porcine aqueous humor increased outflow resistance in cultured human anterior segments (91% +/- 68% [mean +/- SD] versus 18% +/- 31% in fellow control eye; n = 9, P = 0.004). Maximum outflow resistance was obtained 5 to 17 hours after infusion and remained above baseline for >3 days. Recombinant myocilin also increased outflow resistance in eyes incubated in DMEM, but only if myocilin was preincubated with porcine aqueous humor (78% +/- 77% when preincubated in DMEM containing porcine aqueous humor versus 13% +/- 15% when preincubated with DMEM alone, n = 6, P = 0.03). Recombinant myocilin appears to form a complex in porcine aqueous humor with a heat-labile protein(s). Immunohistochemistry revealed the presence of myocilin in the juxtacanalicular region of the trabecular meshwork.

SOLUTION:
Does perfusion of his-tagged eukaryotic myocilin increase outflow resistance in human anterior segments in the presence of aqueous humor?