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Biomedical subjects

B Bergman

Publications and source records attributed to B Bergman.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

The EORTC QLQ-LC13: a modular supplement to the EORTC Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) for use in lung cancer clinical trials. EORTC Study Group on Quality of Life.

The EORTC Study Group on Quality of Life has developed a modular system for assessing the quality of life of cancer patients in clinical trials composed of two basic elements: (1) a core quality of life questionnaire, the EORTC QLQ-C30, covering general aspects of health-related quality of life, and (2) additional disease- or treatment-specific questionnaire modules. Two international field studies were carried out to evaluate the practicality, reliability and validity of the core questionnaire, supplemented by a 13-item lung cancer-specific questionnaire module, the EORTC QLQ-LC13. In this paper, the results of an evaluation of the QLQ-LC13 are reported. The lung cancer questionnaire module comprises both multi-item and single-item measures of lung cancer-associated symptoms (i.e. coughing, haemoptysis, dyspnoea and pain) and side-effects from conventional chemo- and radiotherapy (i.e. hair loss, neuropathy, sore mouth and dysphagia). It was administered to patients with non-resectable lung cancer recruited from 17 countries. In total, 883 and 735 patients, respectively, completed the questionnaire prior to and once during treatment. The symptom measures discriminated clearly between patients differing in performance status. All item scores changed significantly in the expected direction (i.e. lung cancer symptoms decreased and treatment toxicities increased) during treatment. With one exception (problems with a sore mouth), the change of toxicity measures over time was related specifically to either chemo- or radiotherapy. However, the single item on neuropathy did not measure adequately the full range of symptoms. The hypothesised scale structure of the questionnaire was partially supported by the data. The multi-item dyspnoea scale met the minimal standards for reliability (Cronbach alpha coefficient > 0.70), while the pain items did not form a scale with reliability estimates acceptable for group comparisons. In conclusion, the results form international field testing lend support to the EORTC QLQ-LC13 as a clinically valid and useful tool for assessing disease- and treatment-specific symptoms in lung cancer patients participating in clinical trials, when combined with the EORTC core quality of life questionnaire. In a few areas, however, the questionnaire module could benefit from further refinements. In addition, its performance over a longer period of time still needs to be investigated.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Does digital chest radiography assess regional ventilation?

Digital radiography of the chest was evaluated for estimation of regional ventilation disturbances. Thirty-three patients with suspected bronchial carcinomas were examined. Objective measurements of regional density changes during breathing correlated significantly with standardized regional lung function tests (133Xe ventilation scintigraphy), but did not permit reliable individual estimations of regional ventilation. About 35% of the density variations could be explained by regional ventilation. Thus, factors other than ventilation, e.g. changes in the geometry of the thorax, have a major impact on the density variation at digital radiography.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Hormone levels and personality traits in abusive and suicidal male alcoholics.

This study presents personality and biochemical correlates to abusive and suicidal behavior in 49 male alcoholics. Our hypothesis was that neuroendocrine and personality characteristics reflect a postulated regulatory mechanism that determines the direction of aggression either outward (abusive) or inward (suicidal). Eleven patients (22%) had physically abused someone on one occasion and 15 (31%) constituted a more violent subgroup with repeated instances of abuse. Thirteen (27%) had attempted suicide at least once. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of abusive and suicidal events (r = 0.33). The violent subgroup with repeated episodes of physical abuse had elevated levels of serum testosterone and low levels of cortisol when compared with the rest of the sample. Aggressive, antisocial, and impulsive personality traits were common. Suicidal alcoholics did not differ from the rest regarding hormone levels, but exhibited high impulsivity and muscular tension on the personality test. It is suggested that the high impulsivity without aggressive traits makes them exhibit autoagressive rather than abusive behavior. Both the abusive and suicidal alcoholics partly had a history typical of the type 2 alcoholic. We propose that these two categories constitute subgroups of the type 2 alcoholic determined by a combination of genetic predisposition to alcoholism, certain personality traits, and, with regard to the violent group, also hormone disturbances. We find it highly justified to identify and treat these subgroups because of their harmful acting-out behavior.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Islet-specific T-cell clones from the NOD mouse respond to beta-granule antigen.

Islet-reactive T-cell clones from NOD mice provide an important approach to the investigation of antigens with relevance to type I diabetes. To identify a source of beta-cell antigen suitable for biochemical studies, we have used two islet-specific, diabetogenic T-cell clones to test beta-tumor cells. beta-tumor cell lines, maintained in continuous culture, were found to lose antigenicity rapidly. However, cells harvested directly from beta-tumors arising spontaneously in the transgenic NOD/Lt-Tg(RIPTag)1Lt mouse proved to be a potent source of beta-cell antigen for the T-cell clones. Subcellular fractionation of beta-tumor cells showed that the T-cell antigen was highly enriched in the beta-granule fraction and that this activity was associated with the granule membrane.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Septic arthritis of the knee: a 10-year review and long-term follow-up using a new scoring system.

The case records of 64 patients with 65 episodes of infectious gonarthritis during 1979-88 were reviewed regarding epidemiological, clinical and laboratory data of possible relevance to the course and outcome of the disease. Long-term healing results were evaluated by means of a new scoring system 2-11 years after the acute disease in 46 patients. The infection was acquired by inoculation in 37% and by the hematogenous route in 55%. The major risk factors were trauma to the joint and arthrosis. Staphylococcus aureus was the causative agent in 58% and Streptococci in 15%. Treatment consisted of suction irrigation (86%) or intermittent aspiration (5%) combined with systemic antibiotic treatment. At follow-up, the pain and ache scores of the arthritic joint had decreased by 21% and 16% respectively, compared with the scores of the contralateral control joints. Anatomy and motility were reduced by 9% and 8% respectively. Age < 45 was associated with a greater score loss than in older patients. Treatment delayed by > 5 days was associated with increased loss of motility. We estimate that 79% of the patients had excellent or good long-term results following treatment of infectious arthritis of the knee. Evaluation of healing after infectious gonarthritis by use of a scoring system is quite feasible and allows comparison of different treatment regimes with improved accuracy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Characteristics of violent alcoholics.

This study is based on interviews with 53 male alcoholics. Its purpose was to study the relationship between childhood conditions, history of alcohol and drug misuse and assaultive and suicidal behaviour. Fifty-seven per cent of the alcoholics reported a history of violent behaviour. Hidden violence, often towards women, was common. One-third of the violent patients had a history of attempted suicide compared to 17% in the non-violent group. The assaultive alcoholics also had a more violent childhood, a higher proportion of fathers with alcohol problems and had started drinking earlier in life. Drug addiction was much more common in this group too. We find support for our hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between violence in the parental home and assaultive and suicidal behaviour and drug misuse later in life. When violent and non-violent alcoholics are compared many of the same characteristics appear as when suicidal and non-suicidal and type 2 and type 1 alcoholics are compared. This study raises the question of adding attempted suicide as a characteristic of the type 2 alcoholic.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Dentacolor as veneering material for titanium. A clinical evaluation after 51-72 months.

Fifty-one patients who had been provided with 104 Dentacolor veneered titanium copings/pontics were recalled after periods varying between 51 and 72 months. Fourty-two patients with 85 units-67 crowns and 18 pontics-attended. In this retrospective study the condition of the veneering material was rated by dentists who had performed the treatment. Seven units exhibited Dentacolor fractures and one obvious discoloration of the veneering material. These eight units correspond to a failure rate of 9.4%. The corresponding failure rate after 3 years was 7.1%.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30: a quality-of-life instrument for use in international clinical trials in oncology.

BACKGROUND: In 1986, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) initiated a research program to develop an integrated, modular approach for evaluating the quality of life of patients participating in international clinical trials. PURPOSE: We report here the results of an international field study of the practicality, reliability, and validity of the EORTC QLQ-C30, the current core questionnaire. The QLQ-C30 incorporates nine multi-item scales: five functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, and social); three symptom scales (fatigue, pain, and nausea and vomiting); and a global health and quality-of-life scale. Several single-item symptom measures are also included. METHODS: The questionnaire was administered before treatment and once during treatment to 305 patients with nonresectable lung cancer from centers in 13 countries. Clinical variables assessed included disease stage, weight loss, performance status, and treatment toxicity. RESULTS: The average time required to complete the questionnaire was approximately 11 minutes, and most patients required no assistance. The data supported the hypothesized scale structure of the questionnaire with the exception of role functioning (work and household activities), which was also the only multi-item scale that failed to meet the minimal standards for reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient > or = .70) either before or during treatment. Validity was shown by three findings. First, while all interscale correlations were statistically significant, the correlation was moderate, indicating that the scales were assessing distinct components of the quality-of-life construct. Second, most of the functional and symptom measures discriminated clearly between patients differing in clinical status as defined by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status scale, weight loss, and treatment toxicity. Third, there were statistically significant changes, in the expected direction, in physical and role functioning, global quality of life, fatigue, and nausea and vomiting, for patients whose performance status had improved or worsened during treatment. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were highly consistent across the three language-cultural groups studied: patients from English-speaking countries, Northern Europe, and Southern Europe. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the EORTC QLQ-C30 as a reliable and valid measure of the quality of life of cancer patients in multicultural clinical research settings. Work is ongoing to examine the performance of the questionnaire among more heterogenous patient samples and in phase II and phase III clinical trials.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1993

A clinical evaluation of conical crown retained dentures.

In an uncontrolled retrospective recall study of 57 patients treated with conical crown retained dentures, 60 restorations (37 in the maxillae and 23 in the mandible jaw) with a mean wearing time of 30.1 months (range 4 to 76) were evaluated. Of the 248 abutments, eight (3.2%) had been lost. Clinically healthy mucosa was seen in 35 jaws. The marginal fit of the copings was judged to be good. No caries or new restorations were observed in 44 patients. Thirteen patients had 19 surfaces with new restorations and 20 surfaces with caries lesions. Of these 39 surfaces, 38 were located subgingivally.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Clinical usefulness of serum assays of neuron-specific enolase, carcinoembryonic antigen and CA-50 antigen in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Serum concentrations of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA-50 antigen were determined in 168 consecutive patients with lung cancer. All three markers were significantly elevated compared with levels in 102 patients with non-malignant chest diseases. NSE and CEA varied significantly across histological lung cancer types, with most highly elevated serum levels in small cell lung cancer and adenocarcinomas, respectively. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 0.66 for NSE, 0.74 for CEA, and 0.62 for CA-50, implying that CEA best discriminated between lung cancer and benign chest diseases, while CA-50 was less efficient as a diagnostic marker. In multivariate analysis of the three markers combined, a positive predictive value of 95% for lung cancer could be achieved with a diagnostic sensitivity of 57%, with a cut-off level defined as 0.037.NSE + 0.052.CEA + 0.011.CA-50 > 1. In 22% of the cancer patients, the time from admission to histological or cytological lung cancer diagnosis exceeded 1 month. In 52% of these patients, the initial weighted tumour marker index was > 1, strongly implying the cancer diagnosis. The study lends support to the potential use of combined analysis of NSE, CEA and CA-50 as a complementary tool in the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1993

Rubisco but not Rubisco activase is clustered in the carboxysomes of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942: Mud-induced carboxysomeless mutants.

The Mud technology of Groisman and Casadaban was adapted to the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942. A new high-CO2-requiring (hcr) mutant, hcr Mu28 was isolated following the integration of the Mud element 89 bp upstream of ORFI, at the 5'-flanking region of the rbc operon, which encodes RuBP carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco). The integration involved a 7 bp duplication that formed a direct repeat at the integration site, as previously shown in Escherichia coli. The mutant was devoid of apparent carboxysome bodies, which are considered to be important for the availability of CO2 for Rubisco. Immunolabelling studies demonstrated that Rubisco was distributed throughout hcr Mu28 cells, while in the wild type (WT) and in the carboxysome aberrant mutant hcr O221, Rubisco was markedly associated with the carboxysomes. Rubisco activase, however, was evenly distributed throughout the cytosol of the hcr and WT cells, without any preferential association with the apparent carboxysomes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1993

Otoacoustic emissions from normal-hearing and hearing-impaired subjects: distortion product responses.

Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) were measured in normal-hearing and hearing-impaired human subjects. Analyses based on decision theory were used to evaluate DPOAE test performance. Specifically, relative operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed and the areas under these curves were used to estimate the extent to which normal and impaired ears could be correctly identified by these measures. DPOAE amplitude and DPOAE/noise measurements were able to distinguish between normal and impaired subjects at 4000, 8000, and, to a lesser extent, at 2000 Hz. The ability of these measures to distinguish between groups decreased, however, as frequency and audiometric criterion used to separate normal and hearing-impaired ears decreased. At 500 Hz, performance was no better than chance, regardless of the audiometric criterion for normal hearing. Cumulative distributions of misses (hearing-impaired ears incorrectly identified as normal hearing) and false alarms (normal-hearing ears identified as hearing impaired) were constructed and used to evaluate test performance for a range of hit rates (i.e., the percentage of correctly identified hearing-impaired ears). Depending on the desired hit rate, criterion values of -5 to -12 dB SPL for DPOAE amplitudes and 8 to 15 dB for DPOAE/noise accurately distinguished normal-hearing ears from those with thresholds greater than 20 dB HL for the two frequencies at which performance was best (4000 and 8000 Hz). It would appear that DPOAE measurements can be used to accurately identify the presence of high-frequency hearing loss, but are not accurate predictors of hearing status at lower frequencies, at least for the conditions of the present measurements.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1993

Cytochrome Oxidase: Subcellular Distribution and Relationship to Nitrogenase Expression in the Nonheterocystous Marine Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium thiebautii.

Immunochemical labeling was used to study the subcellular distribution of cytochrome oxidase, a respiratory protein, in Trichodesmium thiebautii. The protein was found associated with both cytoplasmic and thylakoid membranes. About a sixfold variation in the protein content (gold particle count) was found among Trichodesmium cells within a single colony. Double labeling was performed with cytochrome oxidase and nitrogenase antisera. Regression analysis of gold particle counts per unit of cell area of cytochrome oxidase and nitrogenase showed a positive correlation (r = 0.911); cells with higher nitrogenase levels also had higher levels of cytochrome oxidase. The parallel expression of two proteins suggests that respiratory oxygen uptake may be involved in nitrogenase protection (respiratory protection) in Trichodesmium spp.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1993

Nasal mucosal congestion after treatment with bromocriptine.

Nine women were given bromocriptine a few days after delivery in order to inhibit lactation. Nasal airway resistance to airflow (NAR) was recorded and blood samples were taken before treatment with bromocriptine, 2 to 3 hours after the first dose of this drug, and after 3 to 5 days on this treatment. All the women had increased nasal congestion after bromocriptine and NAR rose significantly. The prolactin, estradiol, and progesterone hormone levels decreased significantly, but no significant difference was found in the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP). The bromocriptine effect may be caused by different mechanisms.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Assailants and victims: a comparative study of male wife-beaters and battered males.

Eighteen male wife-beaters were compared with 19 battered males concerning their background, history of addiction and present social situation, as well as present violence. The two groups of males had a very similar background including violence in their parental home. Alcohol and drug problems were common, the males generally belonged to the lower social classes and the number of divorcees was large. Many of the battered males had abused someone and the male batterers had been victimized themselves. It is concluded that the roles as victims and assailants vary among these men. The same background and precipitating factors will predestine the male to be a batterer or to be battered, but most probably both.

Adolescent↗