Treatment of refractory adult lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with 4'(9- acridinylamino) methanesulfon-M-anisidide (AMSA)

Twenty-four adults with ALL were treated with AMSA alone or in combination. Twenty-two were treated at time of relapse and two patients after failing primary induction therapy. All had been treated with anthracyclines prior to receiving AMSA. Of the 22 patients with ALL in relapse, 4 achieved a complete remission. Two of these patients have relapsed while receiving maintenance chemotherapy; one died 1 mo after achieving remission due to the occurrence of cholycystitis in the setting of pancytopenia and one patient underwent bone marrow transplantation and is in remission at 8 mo after the second remission. Both patients who failed primary induction therapy remain in remission at 11 and 36 mo, respectively. The use of AMSA should be considered for patients with ALL who fail primary induction as well as those whose leukemia becomes resistant to conventional agents.     

Dietary intake and plasma concentrations of PUFA and LC-PUFA in breastfed and formula fed infants under real-life conditions

Background  

The breastfed infant is usually used as standard for formula feeding, also regarding long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA). Here, plasma fatty acid concentrations in formula fed infants and the effects of LC-PUFA supplementation were investigated under real-life conditions.     

冠状动脉粥样硬化ADAMTS7新位点的发现和冠状动脉粥样硬化中ABO位点与心肌梗死的相关性:两项全基因组关联研究

<正>背景:该研究旨在评价在现有的冠状动脉粥样硬化的病变中,遗传因素对粥样硬化斑块进展及特异性心肌梗死是否存在显著作用。方法:对欧洲后裔参与者冠状动脉造影表型进行了两项全基因组关联研究(GWAS),为寻找冠状动脉疾病(CAD)易感性基因位点,研究比较了有异常(n=12393)和无异常的(对照组n=7383)个体;为寻找心肌梗死易感性基因位点,也同时比较了造影证实存在CAD并且有心肌梗死的个体(n=5783)与虽有CAD但无心肌梗死的个体(n=3644)。     

Peer Reviewed: Differences in Patterns of Alcohol Consumption Among Hispanics in the United States,by Survey Language Preference,Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2005

Introduction

Alcohol consumption is pervasive in the United States, and extent of alcohol consumption for the growing US Hispanic population needs further study. We examined the association between language chosen for a national health survey and alcohol use among Hispanic adults.

Methods

Hispanic participants aged 18 years and older (N = 20,234) from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System were stratified by choice of language (English, n = 13,035; Spanish, n = 7,199) for completing the survey. Differences for these 2 groups in current alcohol use, heavy alcohol use, and binge drinking were determined by using χ² analyses and logistic regression models.

Results

In bivariate associations, current drinking (P < .001), heavy drinking (P < .001), and binge drinking (P = .002) were significantly higher among participants who chose to complete the survey in English than among those who elected to complete the survey in Spanish. After controlling for demographic characteristics, associations between language choice and drinking behaviors were found to be greatest among women. Compared with women who chose to complete the survey in Spanish, women who chose to complete the survey in English were more than twice as likely to report current drinking (odds ratio [OR] = 2.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.02-2.91), heavy drinking (OR = 3.82, 95% CI = 1.44-10.10), and binge drinking (OR = 2.51, 95% CI = 1.64-3.84).

Conclusion

This study suggests that language choice when completing a health survey is a predictor of high levels of alcohol use among Hispanic adults in the United States and that differences in drinking behaviors based on language choice for a survey are more profound among women.     

Hemostatic parameters in newborn--II. Sequential study during the first four weeks of life

A sequential study of kaolin cephalin clotting time (KCCT), prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), plasma fibrinogen and serum FDP was conducted during the first four weeks of life on term and preterm babies. A "physiological dip" of PT and TT was noted inappropriate for gestational age (AGA) babies both term and preterm; in case of KCCT, the dip was significant in term AGA babies only. At the end of four weeks, PT and TT had moderately improved in term babies but showed little improvement in preterm ones; KCCT reached almost an adult value in all babies except in preterm AGA and term LGA (large for gestational age) ones. Plasma fibrinogen showed no "physiological dip" and reached adult level in two to four weeks. Serum FDP levels were appreciably raised in preterm AGA babies only at birth and there too normalised by 72 h.     

Patient-reported recall of smoking cessation interventions from a health professional

Objective

To determine the prevalence and characteristics of current cigarette smokers who report receiving health care provider interventions (‘5A's’: ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange) for smoking cessation.

Methods

Data came from the 2009–2010 National Adult Tobacco Survey, a telephone survey of United States adults aged ≥ 18 years. Among current cigarette smokers who reported visiting a health professional in the past year (n = 16,542), estimates were calculated overall and by sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, health insurance coverage, and sexual orientation.

Results

Among smokers who visited a health professional (75.2%), 87.9% were asked if they used tobacco, 65.8% were advised to quit, and 42.6% were asked if they wanted to quit. Among those wanting to quit, 78.2% were offered assistance and 17.5% had follow-up arranged. Receipt of the ‘ask’ component was lower among males and uninsured individuals. Receipt of the ‘advise’ and ‘assess’ components was lower among those aged 18–24 and uninsured individuals. Receipt of the ‘assist’ component was lower among non-Hispanic blacks. No differences were observed for the ‘arrange’ component.

Conclusions

Many current smokers report receiving health care provider interventions for smoking cessation. Continued efforts to educate, encourage, and support all health professionals to provide effective, comprehensive tobacco cessation interventions to their patients may be beneficial.