Dichotic listening and corpus callosum magnetic resonance imaging in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with emphasis on sex differences.

Twenty-five early-onset relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients (12 women and 13 men) with mild disability were compared with 25 matched controls in a dichotic listening (DL) test under nonforced and forced attentional-shift conditions. Patients showed left ear impairment and no left ear advantage in the forced-left condition. Four corpus callosum (CC) regions were measured in patients on a rnidsaggital magnetic resonance imaging scan. The right ear score was negatively correlated whereas the left ear score was positively correlated with CC regions (significant only for the nonforced condition). Moreover, in men, the correlations with DL scores were linked mainly to the splenium and posterior isthmus, and in women, they were stronger for anterior isthmus and posterior body. An inverse correlation between months of disease evolution and CC area was found only in women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the elimination of quadrature subcells for discontinuous functions in the eXtended Finite‐Element Method

The introduction of discontinuous/non‐differentiable functions in the eXtended Finite‐Element Method allows to model discontinuities independent of the mesh structure. However, to compute the stiffness matrix of the elements intersected by the discontinuity, a subdivision of the elements into quadrature subcells aligned with the discontinuity line is commonly adopted. In the paper, it is shown how standard Gauss quadrature can be used in the elements containing the discontinuity without splitting the elements into subcells or introducing any additional approximation. The technique is illustrated and developed in one, two and three dimensions for crack and material discontinuity problems. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ventilation/carbon dioxide production ratio in early exercise predicts poor functional capacity in congestive heart failure

Production of cytokines by immunocompetent cells in vitro may be assessed after stimulation with polyclonal activators. Because it mimics the natural environment, diluted whole blood (WB) culture may be the most appropriate milieu in which to study cytokine production in vitro. We tested TNF alpha production by small volume of whole blood (25 microliters) from HIV-1 positive patients by using a one-step procedure that combines WB stimulation with LPS and PHA and cytokine measurement. We studied 30 patients without secondary infection or at distance of secondary infection staged according to the classification proposed by the CDC and 12 healthy seronegative subjects. The mean values of TNF alpha from patients were not statistically different from those from normal controls however in certain patients at different stages of the disease higher values than the mean +2 SD of controls and lower values than the mean -2 SD of controls were obtained. Heparinized blood from 5 control subjects had been collected sequentially during a period of 5 months. The individual variation of TNF alpha production were limited for all these individuals. For each of 6 HIV-1 patients, whole blood samples were collected sequentially during a period of 5 months and in most of patients large variations of levels of TNF alpha were observed from one sample to another one. Our method can detect abnormal cytokine production in HIV-1 positive individuals and can become a useful tool to investigate the role of cytokines in the outcome of HIV-1 infection.     

NPs vs. MDs

The cardioprotective effect of cytochrome c preparations was evaluated according to the test for restriction of the size of the myocardial infarct and the effect on the course of acute myocardial ischemia in acute experiments on dogs. Cytochrome c of biotechnological and animal origin and hemtetradecapeptide caused a marked decrease in the size of the myocardial necrosis in experiments on rats: from 68 +/- 4.3% in the control to 32 +/- 3.4, 46 +/- 8.3 and 44 +/- 4.7%, respectively. In dog experiments the cytochrome c agents reduced the intensity of dp/dt decline and decreased the collateral coronary blood flow in acute myocardial ischemic. They produced a beneficial effect on heart bioenergetics, namely, reduced the lactate level in blood flowing from the zone of the ischemia and glucose consumption by the ischemic myocardium. The cardioprotective effect of biotechnological cytochrome c hemtetradecapeptide was practically identical to the effect of the enzyme of animal origin.     

Factors limiting evaluation of health care programs for the homeless

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in Britain, but despite its medical and economic importance, management of the three facets of stroke--prevention, acute care and rehabilitation--has been unstructured and poor value for money. This article considers how these issues might be more effectively addressed by a pragmatic coordinated approach to the whole problem of stroke in a health authority.     

Dislocations by partition of unity

A new finite element method for accurately modelling the displacement and stress fields produced by a dislocation is proposed. The methodology is based on a local enrichment of the finite element space by closed form solutions for dislocations in infinite media via local partitions of unity. This allows the treatment of both arbitrary boundary conditions and interfaces between materials. The method can readily be extended to arrays of dislocations, 3D problems, large strains and non‐linear constitutive models. Results are given for an edge dislocation in a hollow cylinder and in an infinite medium, for the cases of a glide plane intersecting a rigid obstacle and an interface between two materials. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Three-year longitudinal study with quantitative ultrasound at the hand phalanx in a female population

A longitudinal study was conducted to assess the value of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurement in predicting the risk of fracture and to evaluate how QUS parameters change with ageing and the climacteric. A group of 211 female subjects underwent assessment by QUS at the distal metaphysis of the first phalanx of the last four fingers of the hand on two occasions 3 years apart. The subjects were selected from outpatients attending the orthopaedic clinic, provided they were not affected by metabolic disease or under treatment with drugs known to interfere with bone metabolism. In vivo the coefficient of variation and the standardized coefficient of variation of the QUS device were respectively 0.5% and 3.5%. The correlation between the values of the amplitude-dependent speed of sound (AD-SoS) in the two measurements was r = 0.92. In 77.3% of the subjects during the observation period we recorded a reduction in AD-SoS. During the study 22 fractures were observed in peripheral sites, 8 of which were associated with 'low-energy trauma'. By multiple logistic regression analysis we found that the relative risk of fracture for a 1 SD reduction in AD-SoS was 1.5 (95% CI 1.1-1.7) (p < 0.03). The percentage of low-energy fractures significantly increased among those subjects with an AD-SoS value lower than 1850 m/s (T-score < -3.5) at the first examination (p <0.0001). QUS investigation proved to be especially sensitive to hormonal changes associated with the climacteric: we observed a mean decrease of 56 m/s in the AD-SoS for women who entered the menopause between the first and the second QUS test (average time since menopause 2 years), as against 10 m/s in subjects remaining premenopausal. In a group of 146 subjects with 'normal' Ad-SoS at the first examination, we observed a significant reduction in AD-SoS only after 40 years of age. This study demonstrates that measurement of the AD-SoS at the phalanx is reproducible, can be employed to assess the risk of fracture, and is able to detect age-related alterations in bone tissue.     

High bcl-2 expression in acute myeloid leukemia cells correlates with CD34 positivity and complete remission rate

Flow cytometric expression of bcl-2 protein was analyzed in 90 newly diagnosed acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) patients using an anti-bcl-2 monoclonal antibody by direct immunofluorescence technique and results were correlated with FAB cytotype, CD34 expression and clinical outcome. Bcl-2 was expressed in all AML cases with different intensity. The mean fluorescence index (MFI), expressed as the ratio of sample mean channel:control mean channel, ranged from 3.0 to 39.5 with a median value of 14. The MFI was significantly higher (P = 0.01) in M0 (20.9) and M1 (18.3) than in M2 (11.7), M3 (12.4), M4 (11.8) and M5 (9.5) cytotypes. In addition, bcl-2 MFI significantly correlated both with CD34 positivity (P = 0.001) and with CD34 MFI (P = 0.01), being CD34 antigen expressed in 65% of patients with a bcl-2 MFI >14, and only in 35% of AML cases with a bcl-2 MFI >14. When bcl-2 intensity expression was correlated with complete remission (CR) rate, a higher MFI was associated with a low CR rate after standard intensive chemotherapy. In particular, CR was achieved in 86% of patients with a bcl-2 MFI <14, but only in 57% of patients with a MFI >14 (P = 0.008). A further decrease of CR rate to 41% was observed in patients in whom a higher bcl-2 MFI was coupled with the presence of CD34 antigen on their blasts. By statistical analysis we also demonstrated that both bcl-2 high MFI (>14) and CD34 expression are independent prognostic factors for achieving CR in AML. These data raise the hypothesis that high values of bcl-2 may confer on myeloid blasts a higher resistance to standard chemotherapy. However, identification of patients with high expression of bcl-2 may be important for a different therapeutic approach.     

Low-temperature thermal properties of polypropylene

We have studied the low temperature thermal properties of a polypropylene copolymer (PP): thermal conductivity (between 0.1 and 4 K), specific heat (between 0.06 and 1 K) and thermal expansion (from 4.2 K to room temperature).Both the thermal conductivity and the specific heat temperature data were interpreted using the tunnelling model for phonon scattering.The measured thermal properties show that PP is suitable for use as thermal insulating support material in cryogenic devices.