Use of silicone oil in the treatment of complicated retinal detachment: results from 1981 to 1994

In previous studies of endogenous granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) production, we found several differences in the secretion pattern within and between different cell systems; for example, CSF secretion by endothelial cells is not affected by any major downregulatory factors, whereas monocyte CSF secretion is modulated by several mechanisms. In this study, we characterized the factors that inhibit CSF secretion by monocytes. Three cytokines have inhibitory effects: interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, and IL-13. Among these, IL-4 and IL-10 have higher potency than IL-13. IL-4 and IL-13 affect GM-CSF and G-CSF secretion to the same extent. In contrast, exogenously added IL-10 has a stronger inhibitory effect on GM-CSF secretion than on G-CSF secretion. We also found that monocytes produce IL-10 with an autocrine downregulatory effect, and that this autocrine IL-10 reaches concentrations at which in most cases only GM-CSF (not G-CSF) secretion is significantly affected. We postulate that the disparate effect of IL-10 on monocyte secretion of the two CSFs reflects their physiological functions, with GM-CSF being mainly a proinflammatory cytokine working in the local compartment and G-CSF functioning mainly as a cell recruiting factor.     

Blood pressure in women using oral contraceptives: results from the Health Survey for England 1994

Phenylarsonic compounds have been used as poultry and swine feed additives for the purpose of growth promotion and disease prevention. Owing to the lack of suitable analytical methods, however, knowledge of their metabolism, environmental fate and impact remains incomplete. In order to compensate for this, analytical procedures were developed that allow the speciation of arsenic animal feed additives by using microbore high-performance liquid chromatography (microHPLC) coupled on-line with ICP-MS. More specifically, reversed-phase (RP) chromatographic methods were optimised to achieve the separation of various phenylarsonic acids from each other and from the more toxic inorganic arsenic compounds. This mode of chromatography, however, exhibits limitations, especially in the presence of naturally occurring organoarsenic compounds. The application of RP ion-pairing chromatography eliminates such shortcomings by minimising the co-elution of arsenic species. In general, the microHPLC-ICP-MS methods developed in this study provide high selectivity, extremely good sensitivity, low limits of detection (low-ppb or sub-pg amounts of As), require small sample volumes (< 1 microliter), minimise waste and operate most efficiently under low mobile-phase flow rates (15-40 microliters min-1), which are compatible for use with other types of mass spectrometers, e.g., electrospray. Reference materials containing naturally occurring arsenic compounds were spiked with phenylarsonic compounds and then analysed by using the procedures developed in this study.     

HIV/AIDS risk factors among adolescent students in Puerto Rico, 1994

PURPOSE: Identify several HIV risk behaviors among adolescent students. METHODS: The sample (n = 3,648) was selected using a two-staged stratified cluster sampling design, and weighted to represent all junior high and high school students. RESULTS: About 28.8% of the students reported ever having sexual activity. Less than half of the sexually active (44.5%) used condoms during their last sexual activity; 27.6% used them always. Only 54.7% knew correctly > 75% of the HIV knowledge questions. A HIV risk scale was constructed using five risk factors. About 15.9% of the students did not have any risk factor, 36.2% had one, 47.9% had two or more. Males and high school students had significantly more risk factors. Half of the students will abstain from having sex next year because they don't want to get HIV/AIDS. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to implement effective HIV prevention programs for adolescents in order to change their attitudes and behaviors.     

Hiring preferences of diagnostic radiology groups: results of a 1994 survey

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: We surveyed diagnostic radiology group preferences and considerations in hiring radiologists and compared these findings with those of a survey performed in 1990. We sought to identify changes in hiring practices that might have occurred because of socioeconomic changes. We also sought to identify features of job candidates that make them more attractive to hiring groups. METHODS: One hundred surveys were mailed to a stratified random sample of diagnostic radiology groups identified by the American College of Radiology. We solicited information on the importance of various attributes and the level of experience of a candidate, the fellowship training considered most desirable, and the effect of changes in the health care socioeconomic environment. The responses were weighted by group size and geographic location to estimate what results might have been obtained if we had surveyed all groups in the United States. RESULTS: Seventy-five groups returned the survey. The two most important factors in choosing a candidate were motivation and radiologic knowledge. The fellowships that groups that were hiring considered to be the most desirable were body imaging, neuroradiology, and angiography/interventional radiology. Groups overwhelmingly preferred recent training over long experience. CONCLUSION: Fellowship training increases a candidate's marketability, but the two factors that hiring groups consider the most important are motivation and radiologic knowledge.     

Bulletin of breast disease: results of the 1990-1994 quinquennium

All mammary lesions diagnosed at the Institute of Pathological Anatomy of the University of Modena have been systematically filed since 1990 and reported in a bulletin, which is issued twice a year and delivered to health operators. So far, 5.188 cases of breast lesions, comprising 1.999 non-neoplastic pathologies, 1.040 benign tumors, 1.943 primary malignant neoplasms and 206 recurrences, have been filed. During the quinquennium 1990-1994, a progressive numerical reduction in diagnoses of non-neoplastic lesions coupled to an increase of benign tumors has been observed, whereas the number of primary malignant tumors has not changed. In particular, a statistically significant increase in diagnoses of carcinoma-in-situ and of fibrocystic disease associated with moderate-risk lesions (atypical hyperplasias) has been detected, whereas the number of cases of single fibrocystic disease has decreased. This reduction, however, is not significant. A slight increase of breast carcinomas smaller than 1 cm and 2 cm, coupled to a decrease of those exhibiting dimensions between 2 and 5 cm, has been found. The collection and systematic analysis of cases of mammary lesions appears to represent a useful tool to study the incidence of different breast pathologies in the general populations. It can also be viewed as a simple way to test the reliability of diagnostic methods used for selection of surgical cases.     

Combining results of independent studies.

Describes methods for combining the probabilities obtained from 2 or more independent studies. The reporting of an overall estimated effect size to accompany the overall estimated probability is recommended. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reconciling conflicting results derived from experimental and survey studies of attitude change.

"Two quite different types of research design are characteristically used to study the modification of atitudes through communication. In the first type, the experiment, individuals are given a controlled exposure to a communication and the effects evaluated in terms of the amount of change in attitude or opinion produced… . In the alternative research design, the sample survey, information is secured through interviews or questionnaires, both concerning the respondent's exposure to various communications and his attitudes and opinions on various issues." Divergences in results from the 2 methods are cited and the reconciliation of apparent conflicts is attempted. There appear to be "certain inherent limitations of each method." The mutual importance of the 2 approaches to communication effectiveness is stressed. "… each represents an important emphasis. The challenge of future work is one of fruitfully combining their virtues so that we may develop a social psychology of communication with the conceptual breadth provided by correlational study of process and with the rigorous but more delimited methodology of the experiment." 24 refs (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contemporary percutaneous treatment of unprotected left main coronary stenoses: initial results from a multicenter registry analysis 1994-1996

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) has been considered the therapy of choice for patients with unprotected left main (ULMT) coronary stenoses. Selected single-center reports suggest that the results of percutaneous intervention may now approach those of CABG. METHODS AND RESULTS: To assess the results of percutaneous ULMT treatment from a wide variety of experienced interventional centers, we requested data on consecutive patients treated after January 1, 1994, from 25 centers. One hundred seven patients were identified who were treated either electively (n=91) or for acute myocardial infarction (n=16). Of patients treated electively, 25% were considered inoperable, and 27% were considered high risk for bypass surgery. Primary treatment included stents (50%), directional atherectomy (24%), and balloon angioplasty (20%). Follow-up was 98.8% complete at 15+/-8 months. Results varied considerably, depending on presentation and treatment. For patients with acute myocardial infarction, technical success was achieved in 75%, and survival to hospital discharge was 31%. For elective patients, technical success was achieved in 98.9%, and in-hospital survival was strongly correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (P=.003). Longer-term event (death, infarction, or bypass surgery) -free survival was correlated with ejection fraction (P<.001) and was inversely related to presentation with progressive or rest angina (P<.001). Surgical candidates with ejection fractions > or = 40% had an in-hospital survival of 98% and a 9-month event-free survival of 86+/-5%, whereas patients with ejection fractions < 40% had 67% and 22+/-12% in-hospital and 9-month event-free survivals, respectively. Nine hospital survivors (10.6%) experienced cardiac death within 6 months of hospital discharge. CONCLUSIONS: While results for selected patients appear promising, until early post-hospital discharge cardiac death can be better understood and minimized, percutaneous revascularization of ULMT stenosis should not be considered an alternative to bypass surgery for most patients. When percutaneous revascularization of ULMT is required, directional atherectomy and stenting appear to be the preferred techniques, and follow-up angiography 6 to 8 weeks after treatment is probably advisable.     

Is alcohol a cofactor of HIV and AIDS? Evidence from immunological and behavioral studies.

The authors aim to critically examine empirical research on the effects of alcohol on HIV and AIDS from the immunological and behavioral fields. In vitro immunological studies demonstrate that social drinking increases the susceptibility of human cells to HIV infection. Animal studies show that acute and chronic alcohol ingestion increases rate of progression from retrovirus to clinical illness. In humans with HIV, no experimental evidence shows that alcohol is a cofactor of AIDS. Findings from behavioral studies show that a link between social drinking and risk of HIV is weak. No experimental evidence demonstrates that chronic drinking influences rate and course of disease progression to AIDS in humans who are HIV+. It is premature to promote the role of alcohol as a cofactor in HIV and AIDS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drug use and AIDS: Developments from the International Conference on AIDS.

This article presents recent information about injection drug use as it relates to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic. Presentations from the VIII International Conference on AIDS, held in Amsterdam in July 1992, are highlighted. Several recent developments are noteworthy for psychologists coping with addictive behaviors, including the return of tuberculosis as a communicable disease affecting people with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), advancements in prevention of HIV infection, and treatment of AIDS in drug users. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Basic and clinical studies on tazobactam/piperacillin in pediatric field

A drug susceptibility test of the combination drug TAZ/PIPC, which consists of a newly developed beta-lactamase inhibitor, tazobactam (TAZ), and one of penicillin antibiotics, piperacillin (PIPC), with combination ratio of 1:4 in potency, was conducted with stock strains and clinical isolates. The clinical efficacy and safety of its injection was also evaluated in children with a variety of infectious diseases. The results were as follows: 1. In susceptibility test, 114 strains from 4 species of stock strains were treated with 8 drugs, that is, TAZ/PIPC, PIPC, penicillin G (PCG), ampicillin (ABPC), cefotiam (CTM), cefotaxime (CTX), ceftazidime (CAZ), and sulbactam/cefoperazone (SBT/CPZ). Of three clinically isolated species from patients, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) was treated with TAZ/PIPC, PIPC, methicillin (DMPPC), CTM, CTX, and SBT/CPZ, and the others were treated with the same drugs except for DMPPC. The MICs were measured for these bacterial strains inoculated at the concentration of 10(6) CFU/ml. The MIC90 values of TAZ/PIPC against 45 strains of Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), one of the stock cultures of Gram-positive cocci, were 0.05 microgram/ml and similar to those of PIPC, CTM, CAZ, and SBT/CPZ. The MICs of TAZ/PIPC for 28 strains of Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) were 0.39 microgram/ml and similar to those of PIPC, CTM, CAZ, and SBT/CPZ. As for Gram-negative bacilli, the MIC90 of TAZ/PIPC against 10 strains of Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) were 0.10 microgram/ml and similar to those of PIPC. The MIC90 of TAZ/PIPC against 31 strains of Haemophilus influenzae (H. influenzae) were 0.05 microgram/ml and similar to those of PIPC, CTX, and SBT/CPZ. Regarding Gram-positive cocci isolated from patients received this combination drug, the MIC90 of TAZ/PIPC against 2 strains of S. aureus, a non beta-lactamase producing strain and a low-beta-lactamase producing strain, were 0.78 microgram/ml and 3.1 micrograms/ml, respectively; the former value was similar to those of PIPC, DMPPC, CTM, and CTX, and the latter was similar to those of PIPC, DMPPC, CTX, and SBT/CPZ. Of 4 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae, 2 strains were inhibited at 0.05 microgram/ml, and the others at 1.56 micrograms/ml; both values were similar to those of PIPC, SBT/CPZ. As for Gram-negative bacilli, 6 of 7 strains of H. influenzae did not produce beta-lactamase and 1 strain was a high producer. The MICs of TAZ/PIPC against beta-lactamase nonproducing strains were < or = 0.025 microgram/ml in 5 strains and 0.39 microgram/ml in 1 strain, and the values were similar to those of PIPC and SBT/CPZ. While the MIC of TAZ/PIPC against the high beta-lactamase producing strain was 0.78 microgram/ml; similar to that of SBT/CPZ and smaller than that of PIPC. 2. The results of clinical effects on 7 diseases in 33 cases were as follows: TAZ/PIPC was clinically judged "excellent" in 17 (51.5%); good in 14 (42.4%); fair in 2 (6.1%). No case with no response was seen in this study, and the total efficacy rate of "excellent" and "good" was 93.9%. 3. Bacteriological effects were evaluated in 17 strains of 4 species, and all of them were eradicated. 4. Adverse reactions were judged in 35, which consisted of 33 in which the clinical effects were evaluated and 2 dropped from this study. Of these cases, diarrhea was observed in 4 (11.4%). 5. Laboratory tests revealed an increase in platelets in 1 of 32 cases (3.1%), and eosinophilia in 2 of 29 cases (6.9%). Biochemical profile showed an increase in GPT alone and abnormal increases in both GOT and GPT in 1 each out of 21 cases.     

Basic and clinical studies on pathogenesis of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease

I have studied pathogenesis of pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex disease (PMAC), using mouse and human alveolar macrophage (PAM) model of the infection as well as clinical evaluations. The mouse model revealed no relation between natural resistance against the bacteria and the activation of macrophages which was evaluated on the basis of releasing capacities of prostaglandin E2 and superoxide anion. The PAM model suggested that TNF-alpha and GM-CSF could activate PAM to restrict the intracellular growth of the bacteria, probably not through the superoxide anion release, but through the myeloperoxidasae-halide system. It was also found that rifamycins in combination with clarithromycin could have a good bactericidal effect in the PAM-model of the infection. Clinical evaluations suggested that defect in local pulmonary defense, such as healed pulmonary tuberculous lesions, pneumoconiosis, and COPD was more important predisposing factor than defect in systemic defense in the development of PMAC. Most patients having PMAC without predisposing factors are elderly women, the reason of which is the most important question to be answered in the future studies.     

Causal inferences in motivation research: A reinterpretation of results from panel studies.

Presents a secondary analysis of the data reported in 3 previous studies (E. E. Lawler, 1968; E. E. Lawler and J. L. Suttle, 1973; J. Sheridan et al, 1975) on the causal relationships between an expectancy construct of motivation and job performance. Corrected cross-lagged correlations indicate that the previous statistical inferences of causality may have been artifact of varying measurement reliability and that the observed relationships were spurious. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cancer mortality in Italy, 1994, and an overview of trends from 1955 to 1994

BACKGROUND: Data and statistics are presented on cancer death certification in Italy, updating previous publications covering the period 1955-1993. METHODS: Data for 1994 and the quinquennium 1990-94 subdivided into 30 cancer sites are presented in 8 tables, including age- and sex-specific absolute and percentage frequencies of cancer deaths, and crude, age-specific and age-standardized rates, at all ages and truncated for the 35-64 year age group. Trends in age-standardized rates for major cancer sites are plotted from 1955 to 1994. RESULTS: The age-standardized (world standard) death certification rates from all neoplasms steadily declined from the peak of 199.2/100,000 males in 1988 to 186.3 in 1994, and in females from 102.5 in 1989 to 98.6 in 1994. Ever larger was the decline in truncated rates, for males from the peak of 275.1/100,000 in 1983 to 223.2 (-19%) in 1994, and for females from 151.6/100,000 in 1987 to 136.4 (-10%). A major component of the favourable cancer mortality trends in males was lung cancer (accounting for 31,000 deaths in both sexes combined in 1994), whose overall age-standardized rates declined from 60.3 in 1987-89 to 54.6/100,000 males in 1994 (-9%), and from the peak of 96.7 in 1983 at ages 35 to 64 to 72.7 in 1994 (-25%). In contrast, female lung cancer rates have remained stable from 1992 onwards, but have increased from 7.2 to 7.7 at all ages and from 10.6 to 11.0 at age 35-64 between 1985-89 and 1990-94. These different trends in the two sexes reflect the patterns and trends in smoking among Italian males and females. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer mortality trends in Italy over the period 1990-94 were relatively favourable, mainly reflecting the decline in lung cancer rates in males, together with the persistent declines in gastric cancer in both sexes and in cervix uteri for women. Continuous advancements were registered for neoplasms amenable to treatment, essentially testicular cancer, Hodgkin's disease and childhood leukaemias. The major unfavourable trends were observed for non Hodgkin's lymphomas, and require therefore further monitoring, besides a clearer understanding of their determinants. Italy maintains an intermediate level of cancer mortality on a European scale, suggesting that further progress is possible, mostly for tobacco-related neoplasms in males.     

Syphilis in pregnant women and their children in the United Kingdom: results from national clinician reporting surveys 1994-7

OBJECTIVE: To measure the incidence of syphilis detected in pregnancy and congenital syphilis in the United Kingdom. DESIGN: Surveys through consultants in genitourinary medicine and paediatricians with active surveillance. SETTING: United Kingdom, 1994-7. SUBJECTS: Women treated for syphilis in pregnancy, and children with early congenital syphilis born in the United Kingdom. RESULTS: Over 3 years 139 women were diagnosed with and treated for syphilis in pregnancy; 121 were detected through antenatal screening. Thirty one had confirmed or probable congenitally transmissible syphilis, putting their pregnancies at risk. These were minimum figures but are compatible with the 90 to 100 women newly diagnosed annually as having infectious or early latent syphilis. A universal screening policy would require 18 600 and 55 700 women (maximum numbers) to be screened, respectively, to detect one woman needing treatment and to prevent one case of congenital syphilis. Nine presumptive cases of children with congenital syphilis born in the United Kingdom were reported. Mothers requiring treatment for syphilis were found in almost every health region but were more prevalent in London and the south east. Being born abroad and belonging to an ethnic minority group were strong risk factors, but 14% (19 of 121) of cases treated and six of 31 definite or probably transmissible cases occurred in white women born in the United Kingdom. CONCLUSIONS: Congenitally transmissible syphilis continues to occur among pregnant women in the United Kingdom. Cases would be missed and stillbirths and congenitally infected babies would occur if antenatal screening was abandoned.