Cerebrospinal fluid profile of amyloid β42 (Aβ42), hTau and ubiquitin in North Indian Alzheimer's disease patients

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, and is characterized by the degeneration of neurons and their synapses, and a higher number of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) compared with that found in non-demented individuals. Amyloid-β-peptides (Aβ) are major components of amyloid plaques in AD brain whereas NFTs are composed of Tau and associated with ubiquitin. The aim of the present study was to analyze the levels of Aβ42, hTau (total Tau) and ubiquitin in CSF of North Indian population. CSF Aβ42, Tau and ubiquitin were measured in CSF of AD patients as well as controls using ELISA assays. Here we report low Aβ42 levels in AD patients (324.24 ± 76.38 pg/ml) as compared to those in non-AD (NAD) (668.34 ± 43.13 pg/ml), neurological controls (NCs) (727.28 ± 46.49 pg/ml) and healthy controls (HCs) (976.47 ± 124.46 pg/ml). In contrast, hTau and ubiquitin levels were significantly high (568.65 ± 48.89 pg/ml and 36.82 ± 4.34 ng/ml, respectively) in AD patients compared to those in NAD, NC and HC. The hTau levels were 267.37 ± 36.64 pg/ml, 167.34 ± 44.27 pg/ml and 107.62 ± 24.27 pg/ml in NAD, NC and HC, respectively. Similarly, ubiquitin levels were 23.57 ± 2.32 ng/ml, 19.76 ± 3.64 ng/ml and 13.24 ± 4.56 ng/ml in NAD, NC and HC, respectively. In conclusion, low Aβ42 and high Tau–ubiquitin levels were found in North Indian AD patients.     

Reaching mothers of preschool-aged children with a targeted quit smoking intervention

Younger women smoke at disproportionately higher rates than other women and their smoking has a major impact on the health of their young children. To address this problem, a smoking cessation intervention combining minimal advice and assistance from a community health nurse and a tailored self-help guide was developed for low-income women with young children. The program evaluation results reported here were gathered from women using publicly funded pediatric services in four agencies with 32 clinic sites in central and eastern Pennsylvania. Unlike volunteers in formal cessation programs, the women varied widely in their readiness to quit smoking. Follow-up data were obtained from 1,230 female smokers, aged 18 to 39, after receiving brief, individualized smoking cessation advice and encouragement to read the self-help guide. One year later, 12.5 percent reported quitting smoking, and 20.2 percent reported having made a serious quit attempt that lasted at least 7 days. These results suggest that, even among smokers with low socioeconomic status and wide variation in their readiness to quit, minimal intervention programs requiring modest resources can promote cessation.This work was funded under contracts from the Cancer Control Program, Pennsylvania Department of Health (SPC-883141 and SPC-979425). The Quitting Times STOP IT quit smoking protocol was adapted from the Smoking Cessation Project, Maternal and Child Health, Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The authors also wish to express appreciation to the staff of the Division of Population Science, Fox Chase Cancer Center for their contributions to this project and especially those of Chris Jepson, Eunice King, C. Tracy Orleans, and Marjorie Utt.     

Conservation of bactericidal activity in ultrasound-exposed murine peritoneal phagocytic cells.

Murine peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), predominantly macrophages, were insonated in vitro with burst-mode ultrasound and assayed for their ability to phagocytose and kill Staphylococcus aureus. PEC were exposed at 37 degrees C in rotating tubes to 1-MHz, burst-mode (10 ms on, 10 ms off) ultrasound at 3.7 +/- 0.2 W/cm2 ISPTA (7.4 +/- 0.4 W/cm2 ISPBA) for 150 s. Bactericidal activity was assayed at 1, 2, and 3 h after exposure and subsequent 37 degrees C incubation with the bacteria for 20 min. In these experiments, which comprised 17 treated and 7 sham-treated control samples, there was no significant difference in results between treated and control samples (p > 0.29).     

Effectiveness of telephone counseling for mammography: results from five randomized trials.

BACKGROUND: Women over age 50 continue to be underscreened for breast cancer. The purpose of this report is to compare the effectiveness of a barrier-specific telephone counseling intervention across the five study sites of the Breast Cancer Screening Consortium (BCSC). METHODS: Each of the BCSC projects was a randomized study of the effectiveness of telephone counseling (TC) in comparison to a control condition. Eligible underusers were identified and surveyed by telephone before and after the implementation of the interventions. Data from a total of 3,461 underusers were analyzed. We tested whether significantly more women randomized to TC than to control were regular mammography users at the follow-up survey. Data were analyzed separately by site. RESULTS: Overall, TC was not significantly more effective than control in encouraging regular mammography. The pooled consortium-wide odds ratio was 1.08 (95% confidence interval: 0.91 to 1.27). CONCLUSIONS: TC has the potential to support maintenance of mammogram use. Modifications are needed to maximize this potential and additional methods should be used in conjunction with TC to reach women who are underusers of mammography.     

Muscular disorders in tension-type headache

In order to evaluate the diagnostic criteria for muscular disorders in tension-type headache, pericranial muscle tenderness and pressure pain thresholds were studied in a random sample population of 735 adults aged 25–64. In addition, quantitative EMGs were recorded in 547 of these subjects. The correlation between the three diagnostic tests was assessed and the discriminality and cut-off points were analysed using Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis. Local tenderness from the temporal muscles was closely related to the total tenderness scores from 14 pairs of muscles. In chronic tension-type headache, tenderness was positively related to EMG and inversely related to pain thresholds. In the episodic form the total tenderness score was inversely related to pain thresholds, whereas no significant relation to EMG was noted. The Receiver Operating Characteristics curves indicated that tenderness recorded by manual palpation was the most specific and sensitive test, whereas EMG and pain thresholds were of limited diagnostic value. Eighty-seven percent of subjects with the chronic, and 66% of subjects with the episodic form were found to have a "muscular disorder" defined as increased tenderness recorded by either manual palpation or pressure algometry and/or increased EMG levels. However, muscle tenderness increased significantly during pain, so the headache state should be considered in future studies. Suggestions for revision of the present diagnostic criteria for muscular disorders are given.