Combination cytotoxic effects of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) and 5-fluorouracil with and without leucovorin against human non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

Both cisplatin (CDDP) and leucovorin (LV) have been shown to enhance cytotoxicity of 5-fluorouracil (FUra) against murine and human neoplasms by increasing intracellular reduced folate concentrations. We were interested in their use in a combination to inhibit non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell growth and therefore conducted an in vitro study to investigate the cytotoxic activities of combinations of CDDP plus FUra, with and without LV (20 microM), against seven NSCLC cell lines. A tetrazolium assay with application of the classical isobole method was used to test drug combinations. We found that LV enhanced FUra but not CDDP cytotoxicity and that the degree of enhancement was negatively correlated with the effect of FUra. There was an overall additive combination effect of CDDP plus FUra, although there may be synergy at higher effect levels. There was synergy to a combination of CDDP, FUra, and LV, presumably primarily related to the synergistic effects of adding LV to FUra. In summary, LV and CDDP enhanced FUra cytotoxicity in a complementary fashion and there was clear synergy of a combination of CDDP, FUra, and LV against a panel of NSCLC cell lines. Our in vitro results provide a rationale for controlled clinical studies of this three-drug regimen in patients with NSCLC.     

Structures of sialylated oligosaccharides of human erythropoietin expressed in recombinant BHK-21 cells

The native structures of the Asn-linked oligosaccharides and the O-glycans at Ser126 of human erythropoietin expressed from recombinant BHK cells have been elucidated. Enzymatically released N-glycans were studied by methylation analyses, fast-atom-bombardment mass spectrometry as well as one- and two-dimensional 1H-NMR spectrometry at 600 MHz. Many (82.7%) were found to be tetraantennary N-acetyllactosamine-type (22.8% with one, 3.6% with two and 0.4% with three N-acetyllactosamine repeats) being tetrasialylated (41%), trisialylated (29.6%) and disialylated (12.2%). A few (9.7%; 4.1% 2,4-branched, 5.6%, 2,6-branched) of the chains were triantennary (5.4% trisialyl, 4.3% disialyl) and 4.6% were of the disialyl diantennary type. Almost all of the innermost GlcNAc residues were alpha 1-6 fucosylated and NeuAc was exclusively alpha 2-3 linked to Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc-R; 60% of the protein was found to be O-glycosylated at Ser126; structures were monosialylated (70%) or disialylated (30%) forms of the Gal beta 1-3GalNAc core type. Glycosylation patterns at individual Asn-Xaa-Thr/Ser sites were determined by analytical high-pH anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection. Only tetraantennary chains with 0-3 N-acetyllactosamine repeats were detected at Asn38 and Asn83, while almost all of the di- and triantennary oligosaccharides were attached to Asn24. Batch analysis of different preparations of recombinant erythropoietin revealed the high reproducibility of the production procedure. Structures containing terminal GalNAc-GlcNAc were detected in small amounts in a few batches.     

Border crossing for hospital care and its implications for the use of statewide data

A major concern of researchers using state data sets for population-based analyses and market share studies in the health care sector is the potential bias caused by 'border crossing'--patients receiving care out of state. By using the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) discharge abstract files for 1987 and 1988, we found that 'border crossing' is not a serious problem for the two large states we examined. Only 4.4% of New York patients and 2.15% of California patients received care out of state. At the county and zip code level, 'border crossing' is more frequent but tends to be concentrated in areas adjacent to other states. Even excluding all zips with more than 10% of patients crossing the 'border' results in a small loss of patients (2.2% for New York and 1.0% for California).     

Colour image detection and matching using modified generalisedHough transform

A new approach to 2-dimensional (2D) colour-image detection and matching using a modified version of the generalised Hough transform (GHT) is proposed. In the conventional GHT, the useful colour information existing in the input image and the relationship between each pixel and its neighbourhood are not used. Furthermore, lighting changes in the image are not usually considered. Therefore, the conventional GHT is seldom applied to colour images. In the proposed approach, lighting are removed using normalised colour values. Next, certain critical pixels of an input colour image whose neighbourhoods have larger variances of normalised colour values are extracted. For each critical pixel, a feature vector, which includes the normalised colour values of the pixel as well as those of the pixel's neighbours, is then constructed. A modified voting rule for the GHT is therefore proposed which is based on a similarity-measure function of the feature vectors. High maximum peaks in the cell array are searched finally as the result. The proposed method is robust for colour-image detection and matching in noisy, occlusive, and lighting-change environments, as demonstrated by experimental results     

Prediction of fatigue screw loosening in anterior spinal fixation using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry

STUDY DESIGN: A biomechanical study was performed to investigate a relation between the bone mineral density of the vertebral body and the number of loading cycles to induce fatigue loosening of an anterior vertebral screw. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to investigate the potential usefulness of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry of measuring bone mineral density of the vertebral body in predicting the fatigue loosening of th anterior vertebral screw. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Loosening of the vertebral body screw is a well know failure in spinal instrumentation, and more commonly observed than pullout failure. The relation between bone mineral density and pullout strength of the screw has been investigated previously, but no studies are available on the fatigue loosening in anterior spinal fixation. METHODS: Bone mineral density was measured using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry and the screw loosening was produce by a cyclic loading in the cephalad-caudal direction. Screw loosening was defined as 1 mm displacement of the screw relative to bone, and the number of loading cycles to induce the screw loosening was obtained and statistically correlated with bone mineral density. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between the number of loading cycles to induce screw loosening and bone mineral density (R = 0.8, P < 0.01). The average number of loading cycles to induce screw loosening was significantly less for specimens with bone mineral density < 0.45 g/cm2 compared to those with bone mineral density > or = g/cm2. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that bone mineral density may be a good predictor of anterior vertebral screw loosening. Bone mineral density < 0.45 g/cm2 may be critical value of loosening of the anterior vertebral body screw. However, further biomechanical and clinical studies are required before using threshold value clinically.     

A newly robust controller design for the position control ofpermanent-magnet synchronous motor

A robust controller which is designed by employing variable-structure control and linear-quadratic method is presented for a permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) position control system. It is to achieve accurate control performance in the presence of plant parameter variation and load disturbance. In addition, it possesses the design flexibility of the conventional state feedback control. It is applied to the position control of a PMSM. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed approach gives a better position response and is robust to parameter variations and load disturbance     

Precision and accuracy of total body bone mass and body composition measurements in the rat using x-ray-based dual photon absorptiometry

Lean body mass (LBM), total body bone mineral mass (BMC), total body bone areal density (BMD), and body fat mass (FM) were measured in rats by dual photon absorptiometry (DXA), using two different instruments. The coefficients of variation for repeated measurements of LBM and FM were about 0.4 and 2.5%, respectively, over an animal body weight range of 150 to 600 g. For BMC and BMD, the coefficients of variation were less than 2%. The correlation coefficients for LBM, FM, BMC, and BMD measured on the two densitometers were all greater than 0.94. The slope of the regression line relating LBM measured by DXA and LBM measured by carcass analysis was 0.999, and the correlation coefficient was 0.99. For FM the slope was 1.05, and the correlation coefficient was 0.98. BMC measures by DXA were falsely low in small animals. For larger animals, the correlation between BMC and ash weight was 0.93, but the slope of the regression line was 0.78. DXA measures of LBM and FM were accurate and reproducible for rats weighing between 150 and 600 g. There was a size-dependent error in BMC, which will be significant in longitudinal measurements of bone mass.     

Playing with pets and longevity among older people.

Models of the relations between contact with pets and better health are examined in an archival prospective study using data derived from the longitudinal study initiated by Terman in 1921 (current N?=?343 men, 300 women) . In survival analyses of documented longevity, playing with pets in 1977 (M age?=?67 years) was not associated with mortality risk through 1991 for the total sample nor for those who were unmarried or those who were less satisfied with their human relationships. Playing with pets was not associated with health-prone attributes or healthy behaviors such as personality, social ties, education, and smoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence and adjustment goals: Sources of cultural differences in ideal affect.

Previous studies have found that in American culture high-arousal positive states (HAP) such as excitement are valued more and low-arousal positive states (LAP) such as calm are valued less than they are in Chinese culture. What specific factors account for these differences? The authors predicted that when people and cultures aimed to influence others (i.e., assert personal needs and change others' behaviors to meet those needs), they would value HAP more and LAP less than when they aimed to adjust to others (i.e., suppress personal needs and change their own behaviors to meet others' needs). They test these predictions in 1 survey and 3 experimental studies. The findings suggest that within and across American and Chinese contexts, differences in ideal affect are due to specific interpersonal goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)