Screening sigmoidoscopy. Factors associated with utilization

Although screening sigmoidoscopy (SS) reduces colorectal cancer mortality, surveys indicate that fewer than half of primary care physicians routinely recommend SS and less than 10% of eligible patients receive this test. The purpose of this study was to explore barriers to compliance with SS through a cross-sectional survey of general medicine patients. Clinician advice, perceived benefit of the test, and having a family member who has had the test are associated with SS, while perceived pain is a barrier to compliance and can negate the positive effects of clinician advice. These factors can be targeted as part of efforts to improve compliance with SS.     

Capillary zone electrophoretic determination of the four vitamin C esters L-ascorbyl-2-phosphate, L-ascorbyl-2-sulfate, L-ascorbyl-2-diphosphate and L-ascorbyl-2-triphosphate in fish feed, plasma and tissue

Pig conceptuses undergo morphological development from spherical to filamentous forms during days 10 to 12 of pregnancy, coincident with a high content of mRNAs encoding insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I in the uterine endometrium and secretion of IGF-I into the uterine lumen. The potential regulation by developing conceptuses of the bioavailability of IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) within the uterine microenvironment was investigated. Uterine luminal flushings (ULFs) were obtained between days 10 and 18 of pregnancy and the presence of specific IGFBPs was detected by ligand blot analysis. ULFs collected at days 10 and 11 of pregnancy contained 46 and 43 kDa IGFBP-3, several IGFBPs of about 30 kDa including IGFBP-2, and an unidentified 26 kDa IGFBP; IGFBP-3 was the most abundant. By day 12, however, IGFBPs were substantially diminished or undetectable. Examination of the morphology of flushed conceptuses revealed that the loss of IGFBPs in ULF was associated with the transition from spherical to filamentous morphology. The abundance of IGFBP-3 mRNA in uterine endometrium, as monitored by blot-hybridization, was not altered in a similar way, suggesting that lack of IGFBP-3 in 'filamentous' ULF resulted from proteolysis rather than from decreased expression of the IGFBP-3 gene. Consistent with this, incubation of 'spherical' ULF with or without added 'filamentous' ULF at 37 degrees C resulted in the disappearance of endogenous IGFBP-3 only in 'spherical + filamentous' ULF. The protease activity in 'filamentous' ULF was inhibited by EDTA, but unlike matrix metalloproteinases, was not zinc ion-dependent or inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline. Moreover, this activity was partially inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor aprotinin, but not by 4-(2-aminoethyl)-benzenesulfonyl fluoride (AEBSF), a known inhibitor of plasmin. The IGFBP protease activity of ULF may therefore comprise a group of enzymes including an unidentified serine protease. The results suggest that elongating pig conceptuses induce IGFBP protease activity which may increase the intrauterine bioavailability of IGF.     

Detection of lead in environmental objects and biologic materials during monitoring]

The authors specified methods to detect lead in biologic materials. The quality control covered use of Russian and foreign standard samples, the results proved to agree. Lead was detected by AAS technique (direct and flow-type variants with preliminary concentration of lead) and ELRA method. The authors determined measurement limits sufficient for analysis of complex biologic materials. The measurement range for lead varied from 0.002 mg/kg (plants) to 3,000 mg/kg (soil); the range of serum lead levels was < 0.5-39 mg/dl.     

Validity of a self-completed questionnaire measuring the physical demands of work

The aim of this study was to compare the results of open retropubic (OC) and laparoscopic (LC) colposuspension to the Cooper's ligament (Burch operation). We matched retrospectively 72 LC and OC according to their ages, the type of associated operations and the clinical stages of their urinary incontinence. We excluded associated prolapsus, previous surgical procedure for urinary incontinence, maximal urethral closure pressure lower than 30 cms of water and instability of the detrusor. We estimated the comparability of our two series about the other criteria which have an effect upon the post operative results in literature. The mean follow up was 17 months for LC and 46 months for OC. LC operative time was longer than (Mean: LC: 89 minutes, OC: 42 minutes), women considered LC less aching than OC. They needed less postoperative analgesia, mostly given only just the day of the procedure. LC length of hospitalization and return to normal activity was shorter than OC (Mean: LC: 3 days--OC: 6, 7 days; LC: 15 days--OC: 21 days). The graphs of the subjective cure and improvement rates made according to the Kaplan-Meier method could be compared with the log rank test. (Cure after one year: LC 79%, OC 69%--Improvement after one year: LC 85%, OC 82%--Cure after two years: LC 68%--OC 64%--Improvement after two years: LC 80%--OC 75%).     

Antinuclear antibody and HLA-B27 positive uveitis: combination of two diseases?

AIMS/BACKGROUND: Anterior uveitis associated with juvenile chronic arthritis concerns two different clinical entities: firstly, antinuclear antibody (ANA) positive patients who have a chronic anterior uveitis with severe complications and often a poor visual prognosis; secondly, usually HLA-B27 positive children, predominantly boys, with unilateral recurrent anterior uveitis. Three patients are described who had a combination of clinical and laboratory features of both diseases. METHODS: Retrospective clinical and laboratory analysis of three patients. RESULTS: Ocular features in the three patients combined the clinical picture of ANA positive chronic anterior uveitis during early childhood with the clinical features of HLA-B27 unilateral acute anterior uveitis during adolescence. The patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of juvenile chronic arthritis, and they had no ankylosing spondylitis. All three patients had the HLA-B*2705 subtype. CONCLUSIONS: Whether the association of ANA positive chronic anterior uveitis and HLA-B27 unilateral acute anterior uveitis is a coincidence or represents a distinct clinical entity is not yet clear.     

IFN-tau: a novel subtype I IFN1. Structural characteristics, non-ubiquitous expression, structure-function relationships, a pregnancy hormonal embryonic signal and cross-species therapeutic potentialities

IFN-tau (IFN-tau) constitutes a new class of type I IFN which is not virus-inducible, unlike IFN-alpha and IFN-beta, but is constitutively produced by the trophectoderm of the ruminant conceptus during a very short period in early pregnancy. It plays a pivotal role in the mechanisms of maternal recognition of pregnancy in ruminants and it displays high antiviral and antiproliferative activities across species with a prominent lack of cytotoxicity at high concentrations in vitro in cell culture and possibly in vivo. It exhibits high antiretroviral activity against HIV and exhibits immunosuppressive activity in a multiple sclerosis model and reduces embryo and fetal mortality by stimulation of IL-10 production. In this review all the biochemical and para-hormonal properties of this novel IFN-tau are described in detail: structural characteristics of proteins and genes, trophoblast expression, regulation of its expression, structure of its gene promoter, its absence in human species and in non-ruminant animals, the evolution of the IFN-tau genes, its structure-function relationships with its three-dimensional structure, structural localization of biological activities, its lack of cytotoxicity and its receptor. Surprisingly, for an IFN, IFN-tau is also a pregnancy-embryonic signal with paracrine antiluteolytic activity. In order to maintain luteal progesterone secretion, IFN-tau inhibits PGF-2alpha pulsatile secretion and oxytocin uterine receptivity in early pregnancy. It is believed to suppress pulsatile release of endometrial PGF-2alpha by preventing oxytocin and estrogen receptor expression. Additionally, it directly regulates prostaglandin metabolism and possibly the PGE:PGF-2alpha ratio.