Synthesis and structure elucidation of estrogen quinones conjugated with cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, and glutathione

A micromechanical model for predicting the densification of particulate matter under hydrostatic loading was developed to account for the time-dependent response of materials to applied loads. Viscoelastic material response used in the analysis was based upon a standard three-parameter rheological model. Compaction data under closed die conditions were collected using an Instron analyzer for different rates of applied load. Densification during the loading phase of PMMA/coMMA powder, a pharmaceutical polymeric coating material, was well predicted by the proposed algorithm, which contrasts with the prediction implied through a static indentation model. Secondary factors which affect compaction such as die-wall friction are also briefly discussed.     

Preoperative irradiation therapy and radical hysterectomy: prognostic value of tumor regression after initial irradiation of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of tumor persistence in patients submitted to irradiation therapy and radical hysterectomy. DESIGN: A retrospective analysis of prognostic factors. LOCATION: Hospital A.C. Camargo, S?o Paulo, Brazil, a private non-profitmaking foundation and tertiary referral centre. PATIENTS: A total of 629 cases of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix were studied. Criteria for inclusion in the study were: confirmed histological diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma and no previous treatment (except for preoperative radiotherapy carried out at the Hospital A.C. Camargo itself). At the end of the follow-up period, 410 patients (65%) had no evidence of disease and 219 (34.8%) had died because of the tumor. INTERVENTION: The patients were submitted to radical surgery and radiation therapy, separately or in combination between 1953 and 1982. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Multivariate analysis of the different variables was performed according to the Cox regression method. RESULTS: The variables of prognostic value were, in decreasing order of importance: the decade of patient admission (p = 0.0001), the modality of therapy employed (p = 0.0005), the presence of residual tumor in the surgical specimens (p = 0.0055) and the clinical stage of the disease (p = 0.0575). CONCLUSION: Radiation therapy controlled a considerable number of local tumors and pelvic lymph nodes but not all of them in every patient. There is a specific group of patients for whom radical surgery is necessary to achieve control of the disease.     

What causes prostate cancer? A brief summary of the epidemiology

Epoetin alfa is the cornerstone of anemia therapy in patients with end-stage renal disease. In addition to stimulating erythropoiesis, Epoetin alfa has been demonstrated to affect hemostasis. Such effects may be important because patients with chronic renal failure have a bleeding diathesis that is multifactorial in origin. Therefore, a computer literature search on the relationship between Epoetin alfa therapy for anemia in patients with end-stage renal disease and platelets, coagulation, coagulation inhibitors, and fibrinolysis was performed. All articles and abstracts reporting original data in the English language on Epoetin alfa and its effect on hemostasis were reviewed. The literature suggests that the effects of Epoetin alfa on the coagulation cascade are of minimal clinical importance. However, Epoetin alfa transiently increases the number of circulating platelets and improves platelet function, and these effects are associated with a return of the bleeding time towards normal.     

Time to dP/dtmax reflects both inotropic and chronotropic properties of cardiac contraction: a conscious dog study

The value of protective gloves in the health care environment is well known. However, these gloves are not perfect. Some are permeable to microorganisms and various chemicals, and/or result in side effects for health care professionals. Gloves that offer the greatest protection and least side effects are highly desirable. Protection against microorganisms and protection against chemicals used in health care are described in Part II of this three-part series.     

Specific cleavage of chromosomal and plasmid DNA strands in gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria can be detected with nucleotide resolution

A sensitive and precise in vitro technique for detecting DNA strand discontinuities produced in vivo has been developed. The procedure, a form of runoff DNA synthesis on molecules released from lysed bacterial cells, mapped precisely the position of cleavage of the plasmid pMV158 leading strand origin in Streptococcus pneumoniae and the site of strand scission, nic, at the transfer origins of F and the F-like plasmid R1 in Escherichia coli. When high frequency of recombination strains of E. coli were examined, DNA strand discontinuities at the nic positions of the chromosomally integrated fertility factors were also observed. Detection of DNA strand scission at the nic position of F DNA in the high frequency of recombination strains, as well as in the episomal factors, was dependent on sexual expression from the transmissable element, but was independent of mating. These results imply that not only the transfer origins of extrachromosomal F and F-like fertility factors, but also the origins of stably integrated copies of these plasmids, are subject to an equilibrium of cleavage and ligation in vivo in the absence of DNA transfer.     

Structure and differential target sensitivity of the stimulable cytotoxic complex from hemolymph of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Radiation therapy has been for years the treatment of choice of locally advanced non small cell lung cancer. Improvement due to the combination of radiation and chemotherapy has been shown recently through several randomized trials and a recent meta-analysis. These results may be explained by biological mechanisms, yet uncompletely explored, which are detailed in this review and applied to lung cancer. The optimal combination scheme is not yet defined, even though the concurrent approach is promising, at the expense of an increased toxicity which is the limiting factor of treatment escalation doses. Biological findings and future results of randomized trials will hopefully open new avenues in the therapeutic strategy of this poor prognosis disease.     

Outcome of differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosed in pregnant women

The clinical features and outcome of thyroid cancer in 61 pregnant women (mean age, 26.0 +/- 5.9 SD yr) and in 528 female, age-matched controls who were not pregnant (mean age, 26.3 +/- 5.9 SD yr) were compared. Median follow-up was 22.4 and 19.5 yr [P = not significant (NS)] in the two groups, respectively. The thyroid nodule was asymptomatic and discovered on routine examination more often in the pregnant women (74%) than in controls (43%, P < 0.001); other clinical and tumor features were similar in the two groups. Most of the pregnant women underwent thyroidectomy after delivery (77%) or during the second trimester of pregnancy (20%). Near-total thyroidectomy was done in 43 (73%) of the pregnant women and 265 (59%) of the controls (P = NS), and nearly the same proportion of both groups (30% and 25%, respectively) were treated with 131I postoperatively. Outcome in the pregnant women and controls, respectively, was: cancer recurrence 9 (15%) and 107 (23%, P = NS); distant recurrences 1 (2%) and 12 (3%, P = NS), and cancer deaths 0 and 6 (1.2%, P = NS). Outcomes were similar when surgery was done during or after pregnancy, despite a longer delay in treatment of the latter (1.1 +/- 1.0 vs. 16.1 +/- 19.7 months, P < 0.001). This study suggests that the prognosis of differentiated thyroid cancer is the same in pregnant women and nonpregnant women of the same age, and that the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer occurring during pregnancy can be delayed until after delivery in most patients.