First trimester maternal concentrations of thrombin-inhibitor complexes and the presence of histologic placental lesions at delivery

Objective. Placental fetal vessel thrombosis or vasculitis and retroplacental hematoma have been associated with adverse neonatal outcomes. The activation of thrombin may contribute to the development of thrombosis and inflammation, and can be assessed through the measurement of thrombin-inhibitor complexes.

Methods. A nested case–control study was performed within a cohort of women with singleton gestations. Thrombin–antithrombin III (TAT) and Thrombin-Heparin co-factor II (T-HCII) concentrations were measured in first trimester maternal plasma. Cases were defined by retroplacental hematoma and/or fetal vessel thrombosis or vasculitis in the umbilical cord or chorionic plate. Outcomes were analysed with Mann–Whitney U and linear regression.

Results. Concentrations of both TAT (p = 0.013) and T-HCII (p = 0.001) from maternal plasma was significantly lower in cases than in controls.

Conclusions. The development of placental inflammatory and thrombotic lesions at term may be associated with lower concentrations of thrombin-inhibitor complexes earlier in the pregnancy.     

Effects of Supraphysiological Testosterone Treatment and Orchiectomy on Ischemia/Reperfusion‐Induced Bladder Dysfunction in Male Rabbits

IntroductionThe roles of testosterone and orchiectomy on male bladder subjected to ischemic/reperfusion (I/R) injuries received little attention. To fill this gap, the present study intended to examine testosterone and orchiectomy effects on male rabbits subjected to I/R damages.AimTo elucidate the effects of testosterone and orchiectomy on contractile response, bladder morphology, interstitial fibrosis, and oxidative stress in male rabbit bladder subjected to I/R surgery.MethodsMale New Zealand rabbits were distributed into five groups as follows: Group 1 received sham surgical procedure. In group 2, I/R surgery was performed. In group 3, testosterone (100 μg/kg/day) was intramuscularly injected prior to I/R surgery. In group 4, orchiectomy was performed prior to I/R surgery. In group 5, orchiectomy was performed with subsequent testosterone administration, followed by I/R surgery. All the rabbits were euthanized 7 days after I/R. Comparative studies were analyzed to elucidate the effects of testosterone and orchiectomy on bladder dysfunction subjected to I/R injuries.Main Outcome MeasuresBladder contractile function was evaluated. Masson's trichrome staining and immunohistochemical studies were performed to evaluate bladder morphology and intramural nerve terminals. Western blotting was examined to investigate the expressions of fibrosis and oxidative stress markers.ResultsI/R surgery significantly decreased bladder contractility in response to various stimulations with and without testosterone treatment. I/R damages decreased bladder nerve density with and without testosterone. The expressions of fibrosis and oxidative stress‐related proteins were increased by I/R injuries with or without testosterone treatment. Testosterone depletion significantly decreased the expressions of transforming growth factor‐β and fibronectin expressions after I/R injury. Supraphysiological testosterone treatment after orchiectomy greatly increased the expressions of these fibrosis proteins; however, orchiectomy alone ameliorated I/R injuries.ConclusionsTestosterone treatment or orchiectomy affected I/R‐induced bladder damages in male rabbits. Orchiectomy decreased the level of fibrosis and oxidative stress markers and increased neurofilament densities. Supraphysiological exogenous testosterone administration after orchiectomy further exacerbated such detrimental effects of I/R.     

Intraneural lipoma of the sciatic nerve

A large, well-encapsulated intraneural lipoma occurred within the sciatic nerve of a 34-year-old woman. In a review of the literature, significant differences were noted between the well-encapsulated and the diffusely infiltrative lipofibromatous hamartoma types of intraneural lipomas. The average age at the time of appearance of the well-encapsulated type is 45 years, with female predominance, while the infiltrative type arises in a younger age group (average age, eight years) with no sexual predominance. To avoid a recurrence, total excision is recommended in cases of the well-encapsulated type. Attempts to excise the diffusely infiltrative type are likely to fail.     

Human prostatic cancer cell derived growth factor stimulating fibroblasts and its mechanisms

A human prostatic cell line JCA-1 has been shown to release into culture medium an activity that promotes the proliferation of murine fibroblast 3T3 cells. The presence of additional serum-free conditioned culture supernatant from JCA-1 cells accelerates the 3T3 growth rate as determined by cell counts, [3H]thymidine uptake into DNA and colony formation in soft agar gel. The growth activity was determined not to derive from culture medium components. Treatment of JCA-1 cells with RNA synthesis inhibitor actinomycin D abrogated the activity, indicating that protein synthesis is required for the presence of this activity from JCA-1 cells. The molecular mass of this prostatic cell derived growth factor (PRGF) was larger than 10,000 KDa, and its interaction with fibroblasts resulted in an approximate 27 percent increase in replicating cell cycle phases S and G2M with a reciprocal decrease of G1 cells. These data indicated a mechanism causing a more rapid entry of cells into replication. The interaction between prostatic cancer cells and related tissues and their relation to pathogenesis is reviewed.     

Individual- and community-level determinants of social acceptance of people living with HIV in Kenya: Results from a national population-based survey

Using the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, we investigated the influence of individual- and community-level factors on accepting attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLHIV) using three outcomes: (1) willingness to care for an infected household member, (2) willingness to buy vegetables from an infected vendor, and (3) willingness to allow an infected female teacher to continue teaching. In multilevel logistic regression models, we found that individuals who expressed greater acceptance of PLHIV were more likely to be male, older, more educated, high AIDS knowledge, and exposed to mass media. At the community level, differences in accepting attitudes were associated with community AIDS knowledge, community education, and community AIDS experience, but not for region, or place of residence. The findings suggest the important role of community factors in determining social acceptance of PLHIV. Programmatic strategies aimed at increasing these accepting attitudes should consider both individual- and community-level factors.     

Exploring the Efficacy of Cognitive Bibliotherapy and a Potential Mechanism of Change in the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms Among the Chinese: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The present study investigated the efficacy of cognitive bibliotherapy in the treatment of depressive symptoms among Chinese individuals in Taiwan. Adults with depressive symptoms (N = 52, M age = 26.4) were randomly assigned to the treatment condition or the delayed treatment control condition. Participants were assessed at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Results indicated that participants’ overall depression level lowered at posttreatment. Analyses were performed on the intention-to-treat basis. Multiple imputation inference procedure (Rubin in Multiple imputation for nonresponse in surveys, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1987) was adopted to estimate missing values and to draw inferences based on the imputed data. Results of the analyses indicated that the cognitive-affective symptoms of depression, rather than the somatic symptoms of depression, evidenced significant reduction as a result of cognitive bibliotherapy. Further reductions in cognitive-affective symptoms were observed at 3-month follow-up. Lastly, learned resourcefulness was found to be a mechanism through which bibliotherapy reduced depressive symptoms. The present study provides preliminary evidence that cognitive bibliotherapy may be a promising treatment option for Chinese individuals with depressive symptoms. In the meantime, participants’ qualitative feedback may provide important direction for cross-cultural adaptation of cognitive bibliotherapy. Applied implications and cultural issues are discussed.     

Establishment of new human prostatic cancer cell line (JCA-1)

The establishment of a new human prostatic cancer cell line is described. This cell line was derived from a poorly to moderately differentiated prostatic adenocarcinoma. It has been maintained in tissue culture for fourteen months and has been passed fifty-two times. This cell line has an ability to form colonies in soft agar suspension cultures, and also is transplantable to nude mice. Tumors grown in nude mice revealed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with positive PSA staining. Acid phosphatase activity was detected in freeze-thawed cells by enzymatic assay. A karyotype analysis demonstrated aneuploidy with a model chromosomal number of 69 and six marker chromosomes.