Trends and predictions for gastric cancer mortality in Brazil

AIM: To analyze the effect of age-period and birth cohort on gastric cancer mortality, in Brazil and across its five geographic regions, by sex, in the population over 20 years of age, as well as make projections for the period 2010-2029.METHODS: An ecological study is presented herein,which distributed gastric cancer-related deaths in Brazil and its geographic regions. The effects of ageperiod and birth cohort were calculated by the Poisson regression model and projections were made with the age-period-cohort model in the statistical program R. RESULTS: Progressive reduction of mortality rates was observed in the 1980's, and then higher and lower mortality rates were verified in the 2000's, for both sexes, in Brazil and for the South, Southeast and Midwest regions. A progressive decrease in mortality rates was observed for the Northeast(both sexes) and North(men only) regions within the period 1995-1999, followed by rising rates. CONCLUSION: Regional differences were demonstrated in the mortality rates for gastric cancer in Brazil, and the least developed regions of the country will present increases in projected mortality rates.     

胸腺瘤临床病理的预后因素研究

目的 探讨胸腺瘤临床病理特点与预后的关系。方法 对130例胸腺瘤的重症肌无力、肿瘤大小、坏死、核分裂及包膜情况、组织学分型（按照L－B分类及M－H分类）、Massaoka临床分期等诸多因素进行分析,观察其5,10年生存率的差别,所得数据进行统计学U检验及χ^2检验。结果 重症肌无力的有无、肿瘤大小、坏死、核分裂及L－B分类均与预后无关（P＞0．05）;而肿瘤有无包膜、M－H分类及临床分期与生存率有明显相关性。有包膜者5,10年生存率分别为100％和93．1％,无包膜者分别为54．4%和40．0％（P＜0．05）。按M－H分类,髓质型5,10年生存生存率分别为100％和79．8％,混合型分别为97．5％和88．4％,皮质为主型分别为83．3％和50．1％,皮质型分别为60．2％和29．9％,分化好的胸腺癌（WDTC）分别为43．4％和0％（P＜0．05）。临床分期中Ⅰ期5,10年生存率分别为100％和93．2％,Ⅱ期分别为84．6％和78．4％,Ⅲ期分别为45．3％和19．8％,Ⅳ期分别为38．0％和0（P＜0．01）。其中以细胞的异型性及有无侵犯胸腺周围器官对预后尤为重要。结论 L－B分类与预后无关;M－H分类、临床分期与预后有关,尤其是瘤细胞呈多角形和大圆形、临床侵犯胸腺外器官者对预后影响较明显。     

Zwei neue Haemaphysalisarten,sowie über das MÄnnchen von Ixodes granulatus supino

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Analysis of the Practice of Nutrition Support Pharmacy Specialists

In 1988 the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS) recognized nutrition support pharmacy practice (NSPP) as one of four specialty areas in pharmacy. The BPS appointed a specialty council to develop and manage the process for board certification of qualified specialists. One step was to identify and validate activities performed by the specialists. This was accomplished by conducting a study that delineated the role of these practitioners and also provided information for developing a blueprint for a certification examination. The results revealed the types of practice settings, education, and training for specialists, and the distribution of professional time devoted to nutrition support activities.     

Multimodality noninvasive imaging of gene transfer using the human sodium iodide symporter.

In this study we investigated the feasibility of using radionuclide accumulation mediated by the human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS) gene in conjunction with various imaging modalities as a reporter system to noninvasively monitor the expression of transgenes delivered for gene therapy. METHODS: NIS-expressing adenovirus (Ad-hNIS) was delivered in vitro to MB-435 breast carcinoma cells. NIS-mediated accumulation of (125)I(-), (99m)TcO(4)(-), and (76)Br(-) by the cells was visualized using autoradiography, gamma-camera scintigraphy, and PET imaging, respectively. RESULTS: For all imaging modalities, signal intensity generated by the cells correlated linearly both with the amount of Ad-hNIS and with the activity of radionuclide added to the cells. CONCLUSION: hNIS-mediated cellular accumulation of radionuclide was clearly visualized by all 3 imaging modalities tested. This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of using hNIS for monitoring the location and magnitude of expression of genes delivered during gene therapy.     

Maternal hyperphenylalaninaemia as a cause of microcephaly and mental retardation

We attempted to evaluate the role of maternal hyperphenylalaninaemia (HPA) as an isolated cause of mental retardation and microcephaly in children. This transversal study observed the plasma phenylalanine from mothers of 161 children with mental retardation and/or microcephaly of unknown origin. In this sample, we found two women with previously undiagnosed HPA, a frequency (2/161) higher than expected for our general population (1:12 500) ( p < 0.001). We concluded that the plasma phenylalanine levels should be determined during preconceptional evaluation of every woman of reproductive age that already has had a child affected either by mental retardation or microcephaly of unknown cause. It is particularly significant where women currently having their pregnancies have not been screened for phenylketonuria as newborns, as happens in most developing countries.