Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas: CT findings

Five female patients and one male patient with solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas were examined with computed tomography (CT). The mean age of the patients was 27 years (range, 13-46 years). All cases showed well-encapsulated, round or lobulated masses consisting of both cystic and solid areas. Cystic portions showed CT numbers that suggested hemorrhagic necrosis. There were no internal septations within the masses. In three tumors located in the head of the pancreas, dilatation of the biliary tree was absent or minimal, although the masses were large. Two tumors contained calcifications. One tumor demonstrated metastatic deposits in liver and lymph nodes. Metastatic masses appeared similar to the primary pancreatic mass. Solid and papillary neoplasm of the pancreas should be the primary diagnostic consideration when characteristic CT findings are detected in a young female patient.     

Post-1950 mortality trends and medical care: gains in life expectancy due to declines in mortality from conditions amenable to medical intervention in The Netherlands

In order to assess the impact of medical care innovations on post-1950 mortality in The Netherlands, we analysed trends in mortality from a selection of conditions suggested by Rutstein et al.'s lists of "unnecessary untimely mortality". This selection covers 11 types of innovation, and includes 35 conditions which have become amenable to medical care. Loglinear regression analysis shows that for most of these conditions mortality declined during each of two subperiods (1950-1968; 1969-1984). Mortality decline accelerated in the second subperiod for many conditions. Reductions in mortality from these conditions between 1950/54 and 1980/84 added 2.96 and 3.95 years to life expectancy at birth of Dutch males and Dutch females respectively. A priori evidence indicates that these mortality reductions are due to some extent to 'spontaneous' incidence declines. Although the exact contribution of medical care innovations to these changes in mortality thus cannot be determined, the impact of medical care on post-1950 mortality in The Netherlands could well have been substantial.     

Regional differences in mortality from conditions amenable to medical intervention in The Netherlands: a comparison of four time periods.

In The Netherlands, as in many other countries, important geographical variation in mortality from conditions amenable to medical intervention exists. Associations with a number of simple medical care supply characteristics (general practitioner density, hospital bed density, and percentage of regional hospital beds located in university and small hospitals) are generally weak and inconsistent, both before and after controlling for possible confounding factors. We explored one of the possible reasons for this lack of consistency, which is the time dependency of the relationship between medical care supply and avoidable mortality. A comparison of associations in four time periods (1950-54, 1960-64, 1970-74 and 1980-84) shows that the percentage of variance in regional mortality levels which can be "explained" by the medical care supply variables has changed over time. Although the patterns of change differ little from what one would expect on the basis of the time of introduction of medical care innovations, the exact nature of the associations is puzzling. Apart from some expected negative associations between mortality and the presence of university hospitals, we also found a few unexpected positive associations with general practitioner density. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed, and it is concluded that further study is necessary to reveal the causes of a higher or lower mortality level for conditions considered to be amenable to medical intervention.     

Composition of Essential Oil of Ocimum kilimandscharicum Grown in Rwanda1

The essential oil of OCIMUM KILIMANDSCHARICUM Guerke, growing wild in Rwanda, was investigated by LSC, GLC and GC-MS. The oil contained 62% 1.8-cineole, indicating the occurrence of a new chemotype of the species concerned. In addition to 1.8-cineole, 16 oxygen-containing compounds and 14 monoterpene hydrocarbons were identified, of which limonene and beta-pinene were the main components. Most of the constituents were not previously known to be present in the essential oil of O. KILIMANDSCHARICUM.     

Clinical and genetic features of variegate porphyria in a Chinese patient

Acute porphyria is rare in orientals. We describe a Chinese woman with recurrent generalised tonic-clonic seizures and abdominal pain. Genomic DNA studies identified a heterozygous base substitution from guanine to adenine at nucleotide position 503, resulting in substitution of arginine by histidine at position 168 of the protein (R168H). This genetic abnormality is similar to the mutation reported in Caucasians with variegate porphyria. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in the English literature a Chinese patient with variegate porphyria with an identifiable mutation. A brief review of porphyria is presented.     

Intratumoral administration of recombinant human interleukin 12 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients elicits a T-helper 1 profile in the locoregional lymph nodes.

The objective of this Phase II study was to evaluate the pharmacodynamic and immune effects of intratumorally administered recombinant human interleukin-12 (IL-12) on regional lymph nodes, primary tumor, and peripheral blood. Ten previously untreated patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma were injected in the primary tumor two to three times, once/week, at two dose levels of 100 or 300 ng/kg, before surgery. We compared these patients with 20 control (non-IL-12-treated) patients. Toxicity was high, with unexpected dose-limiting toxicities at the 300 ng/kg dose level. Dose-dependent plasma IFN-gamma and IL-10 increments were detected. These cytokine levels were higher after the first injection than after the subsequent injections. A rapid, transient reduction in lymphocytes, monocytes, and all lymphocyte subsets, especially natural killer cells, was observed, due to a redistribution to the lymph nodes. In the enlarged lymph nodes of the IL-12-treated patients, a higher percentage of natural killer cells and a lower percentage of T-helper cells were found compared with control patients. The same pattern was detected in the infiltrate in the primary tumor. Real-time semiquantitative PCR analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the peripheral blood showed a transient decrease of T-bet mRNA. Interestingly, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the lymph nodes showed a 128-fold (mean) increase of IFN-gamma mRNA. A switch from the Th2 to a Th1 profile in the lymph nodes compared with the peripheral blood occurred in the IL-12-treated patients. In conclusion, in previously untreated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients, recombinant human IL-12 intratumorally showed dose-limiting toxicities at the dose level of 300 ng/kg and resulted in measurable immunological responses locoregionally at both dose levels.     

The influence of reported paternal attitudes on the decision to breast-feed

Objective: To identify factors that influence a woman's decision to breast-feed.
Methodology: Five hundred and fifty-six women were recruited from the maternity wards of two Perth hospitals. Data were collected from a self-administered questionnaire completed by participants prior to discharge. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing the initiation of breast-feeding.
Results: At discharge from hospital 83.8% of women were breast-feeding, including 6% who were giving complementary formula feeds. After controlling for potentially confounding demographic and biomedical factors, the father's reported preference for breast-feeding was found to be the most important factor influencing a woman's decision to breast-feed (OR 10.18).
Conclusion: Fathers participate in and influence the choice of infant feeding method and should be included in breast-feeding discussions.     

Isolation and characterization of propagable cell lines (HUNC) from the androgen-sensitive Dunning R3327H rat prostatic adenocarcinoma

The Dunning H rat prostate tumor (R3327H) is a widely used experimental model of human prostatic adenocarcinoma (CaP). The Dunning H tumor has been characterized as androgen-sensitive, androgen-receptor (AR) positive, prostate-specific antigen and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) positive. To date, the tumor has been maintained by serial passage in vivo because of the lack of an in vitro cell line that retains the characteristics of the in vivo tumor. The objective of the present study was to establish a propagable cell line from R3327H adenocarcinoma that maintained androgen sensitivity and expression of AR, PSA and PAP. Tissue harvested from an in vivo R3327H tumor was dissociated with collagenase and placed into Richter's improved media (with supplements). A cytokeratin-positive epithelial cell line (HUNC- E) and a vimentin-positive stromal cell line (HUNC-S) were generated from the primary culture, subcultured continuously for >300 days, and passaged >50 times. Survival of the HUNC-E cell line in vitro depended on several media supplements, including nicotinamide, insulin, transferrin, selenium and epidermal growth factor (EGF). HUNC-E cells expressed AR and produced PSA and PAP throughout the culture period, as confirmed by immunocytochemistry and Western blot analyses. Addition of 14 nM testosterone (T) or dihydrotestosterone (DHT) to HUNC-E cells, stimulated DNA synthesis as well as anchorage-independent growth and PSA production, which demonstrated the androgen-sensitive nature of the cells in vitro. When HUNC-E and HUNC-S cells were combined in a 3:1 ratio and introduced subcutaneously into syngeneic male hosts, tumors formed in 2/3 animals with an average latency of 7 months. RT-PCR and immunocytochemical characterization of the HUNC cell lines revealed that the cells expressed several growth factors and their cognate receptors, including HGF, TGF-alpha and the TGF-betas, indicating the establishment of potential autocrine loops in the neoplastic cells. The HUNC-E and HUNC-S CaP cell lines, which retain the characteristics of the epithelial and stromal components of the in vivo R3327H tumor, will allow a more thorough and informative molecular and biological analysis of prostatic adenocarcinoma.      

银杏叶提取物改善反复脑缺血再灌注小鼠血液流变学的作用

目的：研究银杏叶提取物（ＥＧＢ）改善反复脑缺血再灌注小鼠血液流这的作用。方法：采用反复脑缺血再注模型鼠,应用毛细管微量热沉法和毛细管微量法分别检测血纤维蛋白原含量和红细胞压积数值,并将结果输入全自动血液流变仪得出血浆粘度、血液粘度、血细胞聚集系数,血栓形成系数及微循环滞留时间（ＭＳＴ）。结果：ＥＢＧ２５￣１００ｍｇ／ｋｇ均可不同程度地降低Ｆｉｂ、ＨＣＴ、降低ηｂ、ηｐ、ηｈ,缩小ＶＡＬ及ＴＷＥＬ,     

Variable selection under multiple imputation using the bootstrap in a prognostic study

Background  

Missing data is a challenging problem in many prognostic studies. Multiple imputation (MI) accounts for imputation uncertainty that allows for adequate statistical testing. We developed and tested a methodology combining MI with bootstrapping techniques for studying prognostic variable selection.