Factors related to postmenopausal muscle performance: a cross-sectional population-based study

The aim of the present study was to investigate cross-sectionally the association of postmenopausal muscle strength with simple performance tests. A random sample of 1,166 naturally postmenopausal women (born 1932–1941) was selected from the Kuopio Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention (OSTPRE) study cohort. Grip and quadriceps strength were measured with strain gauge dynamometers and reported in both absolute values (KPa and kg) and per kilogram of body mass (N cm^–2 kg^–1 and N kg^–1). In addition, two performance tests, ability to stand on one foot and ability to squat down to touch the floor were carried out. A five-category self-assessment of overall health (very good, good, moderate, bad, and very bad) was obtained by postal questionnaire. The women that were able to stand on one foot and able to squat down to touch the floor had greater grip and quadriceps strength than their counterparts (P<0.001 and P<0.03 in ANOVA, respectively). In addition, self-assessed health had a strong positive association with muscle strength in the grip and leg extensor muscles in ANOVA (P<0.001 between very good and moderate or poorer state of health) and regression model (P<0.001). Adjustment for age, duration of menopause, body mass, height, physical activity level, use of HRT, and number of diseases and medications did not change any of the main effects. Also, there were no differences in results between absolute measurement values and values reported per kilogram of body mass. According to the present study, a simple performance test may be useful in the prediction of postmenopausal muscle strength. Furthermore, self-assessed state of health is strongly associated with muscle strength in postmenopausal women.     

Web-based virtual microscopy in teaching and standardizing Gleason grading

Gleason grading forms the basis of prognostic and therapeutic assessment in prostatic carcinoma despite its subjective nature and substantial interobserver variation. The accuracy of Gleason grading can be improved by the use of educational tools such as reference images. However, conventional microscopy images are of limited educational value because it is neither possible to view the sample at different magnifications nor to navigate into different areas of the specimen. This limitation can be overcome by the use of virtual microscopy, which allows viewing entire digitized microscope slides. We created an interactive Web site ( www.webmicroscope.net/gleason ) featuring a comprehensive set of prostatic needle biopsies as virtual slides, which can be viewed with a standard Web browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape). To evaluate the validity of Web-based virtual microscopy for Gleason grading, an experienced uropathologist (TK) scored a series of 62 biopsies from the original glass slides and 6 weeks later from virtual slides on the Web site using an ordinary desktop computer. The intraobserver agreement was excellent, with identical Gleason scores found in 48 of the 62 cases ( kappa = 0.73). The 14 remaining scores differed only by 1 point on the Gleason scale (2-10). The virtual slides were viewed by 2 other uropathologists (PM and HH), with interobserver kappa coefficients ranging from 0.55 to 0.62, which is within the range of previously reported studies using glass slides. The 3 uropathologists' Gleason scores were included as reference scores on the Web site, which now serves as a publicly open platform for self-testing and learning of Gleason grading. We conclude that Web-based virtual microscopy is a promising new tool for teaching and standardizing Gleason grading.     

The Bioperl toolkit: Perl modules for the life sciences

The Bioperl project is an international open-source collaboration of biologists, bioinformaticians, and computer scientists that has evolved over the past 7 yr into the most comprehensive library of Perl modules available for managing and manipulating life-science information. Bioperl provides an easy-to-use, stable, and consistent programming interface for bioinformatics application programmers. The Bioperl modules have been successfully and repeatedly used to reduce otherwise complex tasks to only a few lines of code. The Bioperl object model has been proven to be flexible enough to support enterprise-level applications such as EnsEMBL, while maintaining an easy learning curve for novice Perl programmers. Bioperl is capable of executing analyses and processing results from programs such as BLAST, ClustalW, or the EMBOSS suite. Interoperation with modules written in Python and Java is supported through the evolving BioCORBA bridge. Bioperl provides access to data stores such as GenBank and SwissProt via a flexible series of sequence input/output modules, and to the emerging common sequence data storage format of the Open Bioinformatics Database Access project. This study describes the overall architecture of the toolkit, the problem domains that it addresses, and gives specific examples of how the toolkit can be used to solve common life-sciences problems. We conclude with a discussion of how the open-source nature of the project has contributed to the development effort.     

13C NMR relaxation studies of poly(vinyl alcohol) and its derivatives

Spin-lattice relaxation times (T₁) have been measured by ¹³C NMR for poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinyl benzoate), poly(vinyl cinnamate) and poly(vinyl acetate) in dimethyl sulfoxide as a function of temperature and concentration. As expected, T₁ increases with increasing temperature and decreases with increasing polymer concentration. The influence of the microstructure (tacticity) of the polymers on the relaxation times is negligible. T₁ for the methine carbon of the polymer main chain is observed to serve as a measure of the rigidity and/or mobility of the chain. Assuming isotropic motion of the polymer chains, the activation energies for the protonated carbons were determined using the calculated correlation times.     

Analysis of the seasonal pattern in suicide

BACKGROUND: Suicide has been attributed to social and psychological factors but also to geophysical effects. Of the latter, changes in solar radiation and geomagnetic activities may contribute to the frequency and the seasonal pattern of suicides. METHODS: We studied with a population-based, nationwide analysis all the individuals who committed suicide (n=27,469) in Finland during the period of 1979 to 1999. The daily data on the number of suicides, and the mean and maximum levels of geomagnetic activity were compiled and modelled with Poisson regression using the number of inhabitants in each province as the denominator. Time series analysis of monthly numbers of suicides was carried out using a seasonal-trend decomposition procedure. RESULTS: There was a strong seasonal effect on suicide occurrence (P<0.00001), the risk of suicide being greatest in spring. The seasonal effect was most pronounced when the number of suicides was relatively low. High levels of solar radiation activity were associated with the increased risk of suicide (P=0.00001), but the effect of geomagnetic activity was weak. LIMITATIONS: No individual data on alcohol consumption or mental disorders were available. CONCLUSIONS: Suicide occurrence varies markedly by season and needs attention where prevention is concerned.     

Hepatic arterial variations and liver-related diseases of 100 consecutive donors

We prospectively studied anatomical variations and diseases of the liver in 100 consecutive donor operations during a period of 1 year. The normal arterial anatomy with a single hepatic artery (HA) from the celiac trunk was seen in 76% of all cases. Seven of twelve different major variations of the HA may be considered as rare, one of which cannot be found in the earlier literature. During harvesting, 6% of the livers were discarded, 3% on the basis of infection and 1% because of a polycystic disease. Two cases were rejected as the liver was found to be severely hypoperfused or hypoxic in an otherwise stable donor. Severe steatosis was macroscopically and histologically diagnosed in 3% of the cases, and in three donors a benign tumour was found in the liver or in the gall bladder. Two primarily nonfunctioning livers in the present series of 94 recipient operations were retrieved from this group of severely steatotic livers. As the donor liver was totally normal in only 2 out of 3 of the cases, the present study underlines the importance of searching for extremely variable anomalies of the HA and for liver-related diseases during organ harvesting.     

Cancer incidence among Finnish seafarers, 1967–92

A cohort of 30,940 male and 11,529 female seafarers registered in the files of Seafarers' Pension Fund in Finland was followed up through the Finnish Cancer Registry for cancer in 1967–92. Among male seafarers, there were 1,199 cases of cancer, which corresponds to the average cancer incidence in Finnish men. There was a statistically significant excess of non-melanoma skin cancer (standardized incidence ratio [SIR]=1.8, 95 percent confidence interval [CI]=1.2–2.5) and mesothelioma (SIR=2.9, CI=1.2–5.6) in the follow-up category of 20 or more years since the first employment. Alcohol-related cancers were increased among seafarers (SIR for cancer of the mouth and pharynx = 1.; esophagus = 1.4; and liver = 1.5; combined CI=1.1–1.9). Deck crews had a significantly high risk of cancer of the pancreas (SIR=2.0) and also prostate after 10 years since first employment (SIR=1.6). Occupational asbestos exposure among seafarers is likely strong enough to cause excess cases of mesothelioma but not of lung cancer. Occupational exposures also may be associated with increased risk of cancers of the kidney, pancreas, prostate and old-age brain cancer in some of the main occupational categories. Cumulative ultraviolet radiation likely doubles the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer among older men and repeated sunburns that of skin melanoma in ages below 30 (SIR among deck and engine crew = 4.6, CI=3.1–6.5). Female ship personnel had a significantly elevated total cancer risk (observed number of cases = 732) which increased over follow-up time (SIR in the category 20 years since the first employment was 1.3, CI=1.1–1.5). This excess was attributable primarily to lung cancer (SIR=2.6, CI=2.0–3.3). Also cancers of the cervix uteri, vulva, and vagina showed significant excess after 10 to 20 years since first employment aboard.Address correspondence to Dr Pukkala, Finnish Cancer Registry, Litsankatu 21 B, FIN-00170 Helsinki, Finland. The Finnish Work Environment Fund financially supported this project.Dr Pukkala is with the Finnish Cancer Registry, Helsinki, Finland. Dr Saarni is with the Regional Institute of Occupational Health, Turku, Finland.