Discipline across generations

The objective of this qualitative research was to understand how parents decide which discipline practices they will repeat from their childhoods. Participants chose not to repeat punishment practices when a strong, negative effect was remembered. However, some parents repeated physical punishment practices even when a strong, negative effect was remembered if they believed the practices were effective or culturally valued, if they were under stress, or if the parents lacked alternative strategies.     

Non-invasive trigeminal evoked potentials: normative aging data

A mild electric shock applied to the lower lip was used to elicit reliable evoked potentials from the trigeminal nerve in 50 normal adults who ranged in age from 20 to 69 years. The waveforms were morphologically similar to those observed with invasive procedures. No substantial effects for subject age, side of stimulation, or recording electrode were obtained for any of the individual trigeminal evoked potential amplitudes or latencies. Female subjects tended to have somewhat larger amplitudes and shorter latencies than male subjects. The results suggest that non-invasive procedures produce reliable evoked potential measures of trigeminal nerve function for patients of all ages.     

自体造血干细胞的体外净化

目的:综合分析自体造血干细胞体外净化的方法。资料来源:应用计算机检索Medline 1991-01/2003-12有关自体造血干细胞体外净化方法的文章,检索词“purging,HSCT”,并限定文章语言种类为English。同时计算机检索CNKI数据库1991-01/2003-12有关自体造血干细胞体外净化方法的文章,检索词“体外净化,PUVA”,并限定文章语言种类为中文。资料选择:对相关资料进行整理,选取同一领域、不同方面的文献,以近期发表或权威杂志的文章优先。资料提炼:共检索到42篇有关自体造血干细胞体外净化方法的文献,其中24篇文章符合要求。排除18篇,其中15篇系重复同一研究,3篇为Meta分析。资料综合:自体造血干细胞的体外净化方法很多,如物理方法、生物学方法、药物方法、免疫净化、基因净化等。每种净化方法都有其各自的优势和不足,如淋巴系统疾病可以采用免疫净化;慢性粒细胞白血病患者可考虑反义技术;大多数患者则均可以考虑药物净化的方法。结论:针对不同的疾病,可以选择不同的净化方法,还可以将几种净化方法联合起来,其效果和方法的改进也在不断的研究探索中。     

Update on HER-kinase-directed therapy in prostate cancer

The human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER) family of receptor tyrosine kinases is part of a network of pathways that are involved in the development and progression of prostate cancer. HER-kinase receptors include epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), HER2, HER3, and HER4, which must combine as dimers to affect signaling. Different combinations of receptors produce different qualities and levels of pathway activation. Among HER-family receptors, HER2 activation is particularly important in breast cancer, as HER2 gene amplification is associated with a distinct clinical course and response to treatment with a HER2-directed therapy (trastuzumab). Although HER2 can be over-expressed in prostate cancer, there is no clinical data to support the use of trastuzumab for prostate cancer patients. Preclinical and clinical data show that the activation of the HER-kinase axis is important for the progression of prostate cancer to androgen-independent disease. Data points towards the importance of inhibiting multiple members of the HER-kinase family to achieve more complete blockade of this axis for cancers other than HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. Multiple pharmaceutical agents that block the HER-kinase axis are currently being tested for patients with prostate cancer. These include antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and novel strategies which seek to decrease HER2 expression.     

氟尼辛葡甲铵的解热镇痛效应

目的:通过小白鼠醋酸扭体法、家兔蛋白胨致热法观察氟尼辛葡甲铵的解热、镇痛作用。方法:实验于2004-03/06在南京农业大学药理及毒理教研室实验室完成。①小鼠扭体实验:取清洁级KM小鼠80只按随机数字表法分为8组,每组10只:双氯芬酸钠16.25mg/kg组、安乃近32.5mg/kg组、氟尼辛葡甲铵10,5,2.5,1.25,0.625mg/kg组、生理盐水对照组。除双氯芬酸钠采取口服外,其余各组分别肌肉注射相应剂量的药品,生理盐水对照组给予等体积量的生理盐水。给药30min后立即给各组小鼠腹腔注射1.2%的冰醋酸溶液0.2mL/只,观察记录15min内出现扭体反应的次数。②蛋白胨致热实验:健康家兔36只,按随机数字表法分成6组,每组6只:空白对照组(生理盐水1mL/kg)、氟尼辛葡甲铵1,2,4mg/kg组、安乃近0.2g/kg组和氨基比林0.2g/kg组。实验前测定各组兔子的直肠体温。在家兔大腿肌肉注射40%蛋白胨,剂量为2mL/kg,然后按上述分组分别给予相应的药物。给药后8h内每小时各测体温1次。结果:80只小鼠和36只家兔均进入结果分析,中途无脱落。①与生理盐水对照组相比,安乃近32.5mg/kg组、氟尼辛葡甲铵10,5,2.5,1.25mg/kg组和双氯芬酸钠16.25mg/kg组对醋酸所致小鼠的扭体反应有显著的镇痛作用[(4.3±4.1),(10.4±5.7),(0.0±0.0),(0.9±1.9),(1.8±2.4),(3.2±4.2),(3.6±3.9)次/15min;P<0.05,P<0.01]。②与空白对照组比较,氟尼辛葡甲铵高、中剂量组及安乃近0.2g/kg组、氨基比林0.2g/kg组对由蛋白胨引起的家兔发热,在给药后4～8h均有显著的抑制作用(P<0.05),氟尼辛葡甲铵高、中剂量和安乃近0.2g/kg组在给药后6～8h作用极显著(P<0.01)。氟尼辛葡甲铵高剂量组在给药后5～7h显著强于安乃近0.2g/kg组(P<0.05),与氨基比林0.2g/kg组相比,差异极显著(P<0.01)。氟尼辛葡甲铵中剂量组作用稍逊于安乃近0.2g/kg组,差异不显著。氟尼辛葡甲铵低剂量组与氨基比林0.2g/kg组相当。结论:氟尼辛葡甲铵具有明显的解热、镇痛作用。     

Demographic characteristics and prevalence of serologic markers among donors who use the confidential unit exclusion process: the Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study

BACKGROUND: Most blood centers utilize a confidential unit exclusion (CUE) process, intended to reduce the risk of transfusion-associated infectious diseases by allowing high-risk donors confidentially to exclude their blood from use for transfusion. The effectiveness of this method remains controversial. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Confirmatory or supplemental test results for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus, human T-lymphotropic virus type I, and hepatitis C virus, as well as hepatitis B surface antigen and syphilis and screening test results for antibodies to hepatitis B core (antigen) and alanine aminotransferase levels were obtained for approximately 1.8 million units donated during 1991 and 1992 at five blood centers within the United States. The prevalences of these infectious disease markers in units that the donors confidentially excluded (CUE+) and units that the donors did not exclude (CUE-) were calculated and examined within demographic subgroups. RESULTS: Units that were CUE+ were 8 to 41 times more likely to be seropositive for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B surface antigen, and syphilis and three to four times more likely to react for antibody to hepatitis B core (antigen) or to have elevated alanine aminotransferase levels than units that were CUE- (p < 0.001). The positive predictive value of CUE (the percentage of CUE+ units that were confirmed seropositive for any marker) was 3.5 percent, and the sensitivity of CUE (the percentage of confirmed-seropositive units that were CUE+) was 2.3 percent. CONCLUSION: The current CUE process has low sensitivity and apparently low positive predictive value, and in many cases, it appeared that donors misunderstood it. Yet, CUE was not a “random process,” as CUE+ units were more likely to be seropositive for any infectious disease marker than CUE- units. This suggests that efforts to improve the CUE system may be warranted. As risk factors for transfusion-transmitted infection become more difficult to identify by history-based screening, however, such efforts may have limited effect.     

Social support and risk-adjusted mortality in a frail older population

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that social support is an important predictor of mortality in a frail older population receiving formal long-term care services. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The analysis is based on 3138 individuals enrolled in 28 Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Information about the enrollees is obtained from dataPACE. Semiparametric Cox proportional hazards models are estimated to assess the importance of individual risk factors, program effect, and social support. RESULTS: The introduction of the social support variables into the mortality model containing the sociodemographic, health needs, and the PACE-site indicator variables results in a significant improvement of the overall model fit. Several social support variables are statistically significant predictors of mortality. Controlling for all participant and caregiver characteristics, participants whose caregiver is a spouse have a significantly lower risk of mortality (hazard ratio = 0.63) compared with those whose caregiver is not a spouse. Furthermore, caregivers' assistance with meals confers a significantly lower risk of morality (hazard ratio = 0.66) compared with no assistance with meals. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that certain aspects of informal caregiving are important factors enhancing survival in a population of frail, nursing home-certifiable individuals enrolled in a health program that already provides extensive services, including personal care, chores, and meals. Further research to better differentiate between the affective versus the instrumental dimensions of social support is needed to guide programs on how to balance the use of resources to provide both the necessary formal services and the support for the informal caregivers.     

Associations Between Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Complications for Patients with Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

Purpose

To examine the associations between sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and complications among older patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS) for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).

Methods

We identified women from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare dataset aged 67–94 years diagnosed during 1998–2011 with DCIS who underwent BCS as initial treatment. We assessed incidence of complications, including lymphedema, wound infection, seroma, or pain, within 9 months of diagnosis. We used Mahalanobis matching and generalized linear models to estimate the associations between SLNB and complications.

Results

Our sample consisted of 15,515 beneficiaries, 2409 (15.5%) of whom received SLNB. Overall, 16.8% of women who received SLNB had complications, compared with 11.3% of women who did not receive SLNB (p?<?0.001). Use of SLNB was associated with subsequent mastectomy but not radiotherapy. Multivariate analyses of the matched sample showed that, compared with no SLNB, SLNB use was significantly associated with incidence of any complication [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.39; 99% confidence interval (CI) 1.18–1.63], lymphedema (AOR 4.45; 99% CI 2.27–8.75), wound infection (AOR 1.24; 99% CI 1.00–1.54), seroma (AOR 1.40; 99% CI 1.03–1.91), and pain (AOR 1.31; 99% CI 1.04–1.65). Sensitivity analyses excluding patients who underwent mastectomy yielded qualitatively similar results regarding the associations between SLNB and complications.

Conclusions

Among older women with DCIS who received BCS, SLNB use was associated with higher risks of short-term complications. These findings support consensus guidelines recommending against SLNB for this population and provide empirical information for patients.

     

Physician attitudes about genetic testing for localized prostate cancer: A national survey of radiation oncologists and urologists

Introduction

Genetic testing has been recently put forth as a strategy to improve decision-making in the management of localized prostate cancer. Little is known about how frequently prostate cancer specialists are using these tests, or whether they consider them important or effective. We performed a national survey of radiation oncologists and urologists on their perceptions and self-reported use of genetic testing.