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Amphetamine addiction and pregnancy. Psycho-social and medical aspects.

The psycho-social backgrounds of 69 amphetamine-addicted mothers were investigated in order to find indicators which might be applicable in predicting the addicted women's chances of adaptation to motherhood. Of these 69 women, 17 stopped taking drugs in the first months of gestation when they realized that they were pregnant (Group 1). The remaining 52 women continued taking drugs throughout pregnancy (Group 2). There was no difference between the groups as to number of years of addiction, or other drugs used except that more women in Group 2 abused alcohol at the same time. A large proportion of the women in both Groups 1 and 2 were, as children, known to the local social welfare agencies because of their unsatisfactory home conditions. In Group 2, psychiatric illness and drug abuse were more common among parents and siblings than in Group 1. In spite of this, the women in Group 2 had, on the average, been placed in a foster home at a significantly older age. Significantly more women in Group 2 also had a poorer educational background and a criminal record including more serious crimes. At the time of their current pregnancy the women in Group 1 had a more stable social situation with regard to permanent dwelling, work and relationship with non-addicted friends.

Adolescent↗

Exercise capacity and blood pressure response in children and adolescents after renal transplantation.

Physical working capacity and cardiovascular response to graded exercise on a bicycle ergometer were investigated in 70 children and adolescents (33F, 37M) after renal transplantation. Results of static and dynamic lung function tests were within the normal range in all patients. Systolic blood pressure, heart rate, pulmonary ventilation and oxygen uptake increased with workload and returned to pre-exercise levels after 5 m of rest. During exercise, blood pressure values were within the normal range in almost all patients. The increase in heart rate and respiratory frequency was blunted in patients receiving beta blocking agents. Maximum workloads (Wmax) were 2.00 +/- 0.48 W/kg in females and 2.38 +/- 0.54 W/kg in males, which are 78 +/- 18% and 84 +/- 18% of the normal values predicted for age. Maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) was 23.2 +/- 5.8 ml/min/kg in females and 28.3 +/- 5.8 ml/min/kg in males. Half of the patients had height below the third percentile. For this reason exercise capacity in relation to height is probably a more relevant parameter than age. Using actual height, Wmax was 102 +/- 20% and 102 +/- 29%, and VO2max 74 +/- 14% and 80 +/- 18% of predicted values, respectively. We conclude that the adaption of the cardiovascular and respiratory system to graded exercise was influenced by beta blocking agents. Wmax and VO2max were significantly reduced for age in pediatric patients after renal transplantation. Wmax was normal, but VO2max was still reduced if corrected for height.

Adolescent↗

Intentional switches between bimanual coordination patterns are primarily effectuated by the nondominant hand.

Based on indications that hand dominance is characterized by asymmetrical interlimb coupling strength (with the dominant hand exerting stronger influences on the nondominant hand than vice versa), intentional switches between rhythmic bimanual coordination patterns were predicted to be mediated primarily by phase adaptations in the movements of the nondominant hand. This hypothesis was supported for both right-handed and left-handed participants who performed voluntary switches from in-phase to antiphase coordination and vice versa, at four different frequencies. In accordance with previous indications that handedness is expressed less consistently in left-handers, the asymmetry between the hands was less pronounced in left-handed than in right-handed participants. The asymmetry was smaller for switches from in-phase to antiphase coordination (i.e., in the direction opposite to spontaneous transitions) than for switches in the reverse direction, suggesting that (the expression of) the handedness-related asymmetry in coupling strength was weakened by intentional processes associated with these switches.

Adolescent↗

Identification, distribution, and expression of novel genes in 10 clinical isolates of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae.

We hypothesize that Haemophilus influenzae, as a species, possesses a much greater number of genes than that found in any single H. influenzae genome. This supragenome is distributed throughout naturally occurring infectious populations, and new strains arise through autocompetence and autotransformation systems. The effect is that H. influenzae populations can readily adapt to environmental stressors. The supragenome hypothesis predicts that significant differences exist between and among the genomes of individual infectious strains of nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi). To test this prediction, we obtained 10 low-passage NTHi clinical isolates from the middle ear effusions of patients with chronic otitis media. DNA sequencing was performed with 771 clones chosen at random from a pooled genomic library. Homology searching demonstrated that approximately 10% of these clones were novel compared to the H. influenzae Rd KW20 genome, and most of them did not match any DNA sequence in GenBank. Amino acid homology searches using hypothetical translations of the open reading frames revealed homologies to a variety of proteins, including bacterial virulence factors not previously identified in the NTHi isolates. The distribution and expression of 53 of these genes among the 10 strains were determined by PCR- and reverse transcription PCR-based analyses. These unique genes were nonuniformly distributed among the 10 isolates, and transcription of these genes in planktonic cultures was detected in 50% (177 of 352) of the occurrences. All of the novel sequences were transcribed in one or more of the NTHi isolates. Seventeen percent (9 of 53) of the novel genes were identified in all 10 NTHi strains, with each of the remaining 44 being present in only a subset of the strains. These genic distribution analyses were more effective as a strain discrimination tool than either multilocus sequence typing or 23S ribosomal gene typing methods.

Base Sequence↗

Cardiovascular and sympathoadrenal responses to stress in swim-trained rats.

Chronic exposure to swim stress (i.e., training) is associated with functional adaptations of the cardiovascular system. On the other hand, repeated exposure to tail shock, an emotional stress, often results in deleterious changes in resting blood pressure and myocardial pathology. We hypothesized that the pathological adaptation following chronic exposure to tail shock was associated with a larger acute physiological response compared with swim stress. Therefore, acute responses to swim and shock stress were compared. A second concern of this study examined the extent to which adaptation to swim training influences responses to predictable tail shock stress. The cardiovascular and sympathoadrenal responses to swim stress, using 1% body wt attached to the tail, were compared with predictable tail shock (0.2-0.4 mA intensity, 1-s duration, 1/min) in two groups of Long-Evans male rats. In the first, 11 rats were studied following 5-7 wk of swim training, consisting of daily 1-h sessions of swimming with 2% body wt attached to their tails. They were compared with an age-matched nontrained (NT) group (n = 8). During swimming, the trained animals showed significantly lower heart rate (387 +/- 10 vs. 449 +/- 18 beats/min) and significantly lower lactate (0.9 +/- 0.09 vs. 2.0 +/- 0.24 mmol/l), epinephrine (332 +/- 57 vs. 739 pg/ml), and corticosterone (32 +/- 10 vs. 62 +/- 9 micrograms/dl) responses. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were elevated in swim stress by the same degree in trained (167/110 mmHg) and NT (177/116 mmHg) rats.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adrenal Glands↗

Mysterious Mystacina: how the New Zealand short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) locates insect prey.

The New Zealand short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata evolved in the absence of terrestrial mammals and initially with few potential predators. Unusual among bats, it is well adapted for the capture of prey on the ground. Bats from Fiordland, New Zealand had relatively low wing loadings and aspect ratios adapted for flight in cluttered habitats. We predicted that M. tuberculata would locate prey in air (uncluttered space) by echolocation. Echolocation call sequences associated with prey capture (terminal buzzes) were heard in the field, and bats detected and localized prey suspended on fishing line by echolocation in a flight cage. The bats emitted brief, multiharmonic echolocation calls at low duty cycle during search phase, and 64% of calls contained most energy in the fundamental harmonic. Approach- and terminal-phase calls were also broadband and multiharmonic. We predicted that bats would not use echolocation to locate prey hidden on the ground in leaf litter (cluttered space). Bats seemed unable to locate hidden prey precisely from the air and instead hunted for such prey while crawling. Echolocation calls were emitted at a low repetition rate on the ground, suggesting that here echolocation was used for orientation and not for prey detection. We experimentally removed cues available to the bats and showed that bats located mealworms in leaf litter by listening for prey-generated noises and possibly by olfaction.

Animals↗

Seasonal adjustment of energy budget in a large wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) I. Energy intake.

Large ruminants respond to changing plant phenology during winter by decreasing voluntary food intake, increasing gut passage time and utilizing body fat reserves. It is uncertain, however, how other large mammals with a non-ruminant digestive physiology cope with winter forage conditions. Therefore, we investigated seasonality of energy intake in a large herbivorous wild mammal, the Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii). Throughout all seasons we used the n-alkane method to measure daily dry matter intake (DMI), diet composition and digestion, and determined an index of gut passage time in horses living under close to natural conditions. DMI correlated positively with its content of crude protein and nitrogen-free extract. Independent of these effects, DMI further varied seasonally with a peak in autumn and a nadir in late winter. Fluctuations of DMI corresponded to the annual change in body condition, which decreased during winter while energy reserves were depleted, and increased during the fattening period. Gut passage time varied in the course of the year and was longer during winter when the diet was high in crude fibre. Nevertheless, changes in gut passage time occurred rather independently of changes in forage composition and DMI, suggesting endogenous control for timely adaption of the digestive strategy to meet predictable changes in forage quality.

Animals↗

Computer-assisted studies of molecular structure and genotoxic activity by pattern recognition techniques.

Often a compound's biological activity is determined by complex relationships between its structural components. Such a relationship often can only be adequately described and exploited by multivariate structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies that can deal with many variables simultaneously. Pattern recognition (PR) is a multivariate technique that is well suited for the qualitative, active-inactive, data that is often supplied by biological assays. PR studies of compounds of known activity can yield information that will allow the prediction of the activity of untested compounds. ADAPT is a computerized system that was developed for such PR-SAR studies. A general introduction to this field is presented and the methodology used for such a study is described in the context of an actual study of mutagenic compounds. The data requirements, descriptor generation, and the details of a PR study are discussed. In addition, the example study was chosen to highlight the problems that may occur if a study is not well formulated and carefully executed. Current work and future plans for computerized mutagen screening are discussed.

Computers↗

Anticipated and experienced changes in activities after husbands retire.

As an element of anticipatory socialization, ability to predict future roles accurately may impact subsequent adaptation. Part of a larger study of retirement and marital quality, this longitudinal research examined husbands' and wives' (n = 61 couples) anticipations of change (more/less/same) in six individual and joint activities following husbands' retirement, and compared them with couples' reported experiences a year after husbands had retired. With the exception of household tasks, continuity in levels of activity from pre-to post-retirement was greater than couples had anticipated. Cross-classification of responses at baseline and Time 2 indicated only modest congruence between anticipated and experienced change in activities. Accuracy of anticipation was not related significantly to retirement satisfaction as hypothesized, but direction of retirement-satisfaction mean scores, especially among wives, suggest that future testing would be warranted.

Aged↗

Moiré patterns between aperiodic layers: quantitative analysis and synthesis.

Moiré effects that occur in the superposition of aperiodic layers such as random dot screens are known as Glass patterns. Unlike classical moiré effects between periodic layers, which are periodically repeated throughout the superposition, a Glass pattern is concentrated around a certain point in the superposition, and farther away from this point it fades out and disappears. I show that Glass patterns between aperiodic layers can be analyzed by using an extension of the Fourier-based theory that governs the classical moiré patterns between periodic layers. Surprisingly, even spectral-domain considerations can be extended in a natural way to aperiodic cases, with some straightforward adaptations. These new results allow us to predict quantitatively the intensity profile of Glass patterns; furthermore, they open the way to the synthesis of Glass patterns that have any desired shapes and intensity profiles.

Journal Article↗

Multiple testing and data adaptive regression: an application to HIV-1 sequence data.

Analysis of viral strand sequence data and viral replication capacity could potentially lead to biological insights regarding the replication ability of HIV-1. Determining specific target codons on the viral strand will facilitate the manufacturing of target-specific antiretrovirals. Various algorithmic and analysis techniques can be applied to this application. In this paper, we apply two techniques to a data set consisting of 317 patients, each with 282 sequenced protease and reverse transcriptase codons. The first application is recently developed multiple testing procedures to find codons which have significant univariate associations with the replication capacity of the virus. A single-step multiple testing procedure (Pollard and van der Laan 2003) method was used to control the family wise error rate (FWER) at the five percent alpha level as well as the application of augmentation multiple testing procedures to control the generalized family wise error (gFWER) or the tail probability of the proportion of false positives (TPPFP). We also applied a data adaptive multiple regression algorithm to obtain a prediction of viral replication capacity based on an entire mutant/non-mutant sequence profile. This is a loss-based, cross-validated Deletion/Substitution/Addition regression algorithm (Sinisi and van der Laan 2004), which builds candidate estimators in the prediction of a univariate outcome by minimizing an empirical risk. These methods are two separate techniques with distinct goals used to analyze this structure of viral data.

Journal Article↗

Migration and mental health: an empirical test of depression risk factors among immigrant Mexican women.

Empirical research in the field of migration and mental health is rare and its recent appearance follows decades of inconsistent reports in the research literature about the risks posed by numerous precipitating and predisposing factors. This article has 2 goals: 1) to summarize critically selected issues and methodological problems regarding mental health implications of migration-adaptation, and, 2) to test empirically hypotheses derived from the Fabrega Migration Adaptation Model to determine whether they have predictive value for depressive symptomatology in a cross-sectional sample of Mexican immigrant women in San Diego county. Findings from bivariate analyses indicate most of the model's factors were significantly related to depressive symptoms. Multivariate analyses identified 1) demographic factors (education-income), 2) perceived economic opportunity, 3) perceived distance between the 2 centers involved in the migration, and 4) loss of interpersonal ties in Mexico as the most parsimonious subset of depression indicators within the model. Implications are discussed.

Acculturation↗

[Clinical and molecular diagnosis of inherited breast-ovarian cancer].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to pinpoint familial breast and/or ovarian cancer risk. Clinical cancer genetics include: diagnostic cancer genetics, cancer genetic counseling and management of women at high risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An update of documented data was performed in order to assess our current knowledge about inherited breast-ovarian cancer. RESULTS: Most breast cancers (BC) are sporadic while 5-10% are estimated to be due to an inherited predisposition. Rare autosomal dominant alteration in two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which confer a high risk of developing BC and ovarian cancer (OC), are likely to account for most families with multiple cases of early-onset BC and OC, but only 3-4% of all BC. The estimations of their prevalence and penetrance vary greatly, depending on the population studied, the study design, statistical methods and the sensitivity of technical methods for detection of mutations. Penetrance can be very high, but incomplete (maximum 80%). Penetrance and age at onset of the same mutation show great variability within and between BC families. This could be due to the effects of other genetic as well as non-genetic factors that are being studied. The heterogeneity of families makes the identification of other high-risk genes difficult. Additive effects of several susceptibility genes could explain much more BC in the general population (polygenic models). Molecular diagnoses have become feasible. Specific consultations in oncogenetics help clinicians and patients understand hereditary components, establish molecular diagnoses, provide guidelines for a better surveillance of people at high risk of developing BC, OC or both and reassure the mutation non-carriers. The strategies of management and treatment of BC and OC in mutation carriers remain under discussion and it is is difficult to choose preventive options. CONCLUSION: Inherited BC or OC due to a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 are rare in the general population. However, women and men have the right to be informed of the possibilities concerning presymptomatic testing, risk assessment, surveillance, prevention and psychological support with respect to the potential benefits and limitations. Other large prospective studies are needed to validate rapidly the methods of surveillance and prevention in this group at "high risk" in order to adapt them to very large populations. However, predictive medicine should be used with care.

Breast Neoplasms↗

[Effects of removable plate dentures made of acrylic plastic on the structure and function of oral mucosal cell membranes].

The results of orthodontic treatment of 120 patients with complete and partial adentia are presented. The patients were fitted with removable plate dentures on the base of acrylic polymers trevalon, fluorax, ethacryl, and redont. The results of biochemical and morphological studies recommend the basic material trevalon for practical orthodontics. Measurements of medium molecular weight oligopeptides, histamine, malonic dialdehyde, and activities of antioxidant enzymes are recommended for predicting the time and quality of patients' adaptation to removable plate dentures from acrylic polymers.

Acrylates↗

Predicting survival causes after out of hospital cardiac arrest using data mining method.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of life for patients with heart failure remains poor. By using data mining methods, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the most important criteria for predicting patient survival and to profile patients to estimate their survival chances together with the most appropriate technique for health care. METHODS: Five hundred and thirty three patients who had suffered from cardiac arrest were included in the analysis. We performed classical statistical analysis and data mining analysis using mainly Bayesian networks. RESULTS: The mean age of the 533 patients was 63 (+/- 17) and the sample was composed of 390 (73 %) men and 143 (27 %) women. Cardiac arrest was observed at home for 411 (77 %) patients, in a public place for 62 (12 %) patients and on a public highway for 60 (11 %) patients. The belief network of the variables showed that the probability of remaining alive after heart failure is directly associated to five variables: age, sex, the initial cardiac rhythm, the origin of the heart failure and specialized resuscitation techniques employed. CONCLUSIONS: Data mining methods could help clinicians to predict the survival of patients and then adapt their practices accordingly. This work could be carried out for each medical procedure or medical problem and it would become possible to build a decision tree rapidly with the data of a service or a physician. The comparison between classic analysis and data mining analysis showed us the contribution of the data mining method for sorting variables and quickly conclude on the importance or the impact of the data and variables on the criterion of the study. The main limit of the method is knowledge acquisition and the necessity to gather sufficient data to produce a relevant model.

Bayes Theorem↗

Prognostic significance of serial magnetic resonance spectroscopies over the course of radiation therapy for patients with malignant glioma.

BACKGROUND: The standard treatment of high grade gliomas (HGG) involves maximal neuro-surgical debulking, followed by post-operative radiotherapy, with or without concurrent chemotherapy, depending on histologic grade. Despite this aggressive strategy, there are few long-term survivors. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive imaging method that can monitor metabolic changes in brain tumours. To date there is little data concerning the prognostic significance of the evolving spectral alterations during a course of radiotherapy. MATERIALS: We report herein a prospective study of patients with HGGs undergoing post-operative radiotherapy. Fourteen consecutively eligible patients with a confirmed histologic diagnosis of malignant glioma and completion of all required MRS imaging were included in this study. All patients had MRS imaging prior to radiotherapy, at week 4 of radiotherapy, and 2 months post-treatment. T1 and T2 weighted images as well as post-gadolinium multi-voxel proton MRS images were obtained. Normalized (tumour metabolite/normal brain metabolite) levels of choline, NAA, creatine, lipid and lactate were calculated. Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves of progression-free and overall survival were constructed based on the evolving patterns of metabolite changes over the course of the images. RESULTS: The mean tumour choline/NAA ratio decreased over the course of therapy, with a reduction observed between the baseline and post-radiotherapy studies (1.91 vs. 1.29, P=0.049). A similar decrease was identified with the mean normalized choline ratio, with a highly significant difference observed between the baseline and post-radiation images (1.61 vs. 0.96, P=0.001). Patients who exhibited more than 40% decrease in normalized choline between the week 4 and post-radiotherapy studies were associated with unfavourable survival (logrank test, P=0.003) and disease progression (logrank test, P=0.012). The Lactate/NAA ratio at the 4th week of radiotherapy and the change in normalized choline/creatine between baseline and week 4 of radiotherapy were also predictive of outcome suggesting the possibility of adaptive, response-based radiation treatment. Patients with two or more poor prognostic MRS indices had a significantly shorter progression-free survival compared with those with zero or one poor indices, with 15% and 68% at 1 year, respectively (logrank test, P=0.045). CONCLUSION: The evolving pattern of spectral changes over the course of radiotherapy, in particular those associated with choline-containing compounds, appears to be prognostic of tumour response and outcome. Based on our data, a decision point may exist in the mid course of radical radiotherapy, at which time consideration of the choline levels could indicate the extent of radiotherapeutic response, thus allowing for individualized treatment modification.

Brain Neoplasms↗

[Medical flight certification of civil pilots with cardiovascular pathologies].

Comprehensive examination of civil pilots including the clinical-physiological and mental tests was performed with the purpose to improve the system of expert evaluation of health and fight fitness of pilots with cardiovascular pathologies. Mental tests consisted of an MMPI modification, the standard multifactor personality test, portrait choice (adapted Szondi's eight inclinations test), and predictive drawing tests of the unconscious. Type of personality of the persons with cardiovascular pathologies were characterized in terms of individual traits, social behavior, thinking type, stress reaction, protective tactics, and form of deadaptation. Persons with a variety of premorbid cardiovascular pathologies (essential hypertension, atherosclerosis, and neurocirculatory dystonia) reveal specific traits that should be taken into consideration in the process of medical flight certification.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Ambulatory post-operative care of patients following coronary artery bypass and valve replacement surgery: discussion and algorithms.

Patients who are seen for medical follow-up after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or valve replacement (VR) surgery often present with a complex array of complaints and can be difficult to assess. We provide a summary of the components of the surgical procedure, the associated post-operative problems and potential significant complications. In addition, as an aid to simplify and direct outpatient post-operative care, we present an algorithm which addresses the expected clinical features of post-operative patients, recommended routine follow-up diagnostic tests, signs, symptoms and appropriate screening procedures for significant post-operative complications and recommendations for rehabilitation and risk factor management. This approach is designed to enable the practitioner to address these complex patients with confidence and to assist them with positive lifestyle adaptations and risk factor reduction and to predict and prevent significant post-operative complications.

Ambulatory Care↗