The Role of Instructional Set on Alcoholic Performance

This study was conducted to determine whether alcoholic and control subjects respond differently to manipulations that either enhance personal involvement (PI) or reduce negative affect (R, relaxation) on tests of neuropsychological function. In Phase 1, 48 male alcoholics and 36 male control subjects completed neuropsychological tasks under standard instructional sets. In Phase 2, subjects completed equivalent forms of these tests under one of three randomly assigned conditions; the PI condition in which subjects were encouraged to identify specific ways of improving their performance, the R condition in which subjects participated in a short relaxation exercise designed to reduce anxiety, or a No Treatment (NT) condition in which no attempt to manipulate the subjects' involvement or affect was made. Alcoholics were inferior to controls in both Phase 1 and Phase 2 [Fs (1,82) > 5.03, ps < 0.03]. The experimental manipulation differentially affected measures of negative affect and effort in the predicted direction. There were no group x condition interactions. Alcoholic and control subjects responded comparably to the experimental manipulations. This investigation, in combination with others using related manipulations, reinforces the hypothesis that alcohol-related cognitives dysfunction reflects an underlying deficit in brain states.     

Radiodiagnosis of thymomas

On the ground of the clinical experience gained on thymomas observed during the last decade and controlled by histopathology at the National Cancer Institute of Milan, the authors report and describe the typical morphology of the above neoplasms, which were studied with both the conventional and the most advanced imaging procedures. First of all, the authors point out the common problems of differential diagnosis with other lesions in the anterior mediastinum, with a special emphasis on lymphomas. Attention is also drawn to both the diagnostic and therapeutic value of conventional radiotomographic procedures combined with CT and MRI: in particular, the former can provide an extremely valuable diagnostic support to fine needle biopsy. In the authors' opinion, explorative surgery--e.g. mediastinal endoscopy-is immediately advisable when an unquestionable diagnosis is not reached even after a most rational combination of the different imaging procedures.     

Contribution of the maculo-ocular reflex to gaze stability in the rabbit

Summary The contribution of the maculo-ocular reflex to gaze stability was studied in 10 pigmented rabbits by rolling the animals at various angles of sagittal inclination of the rotation and/or longitudinal animal axes. At low frequencies (0.005–0.01 Hz) of sinusoidal stimulation the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) was due to macular activation, while at intermediate and high frequencies it was mainly due to ampullar activation. The following results were obtained: 1) maculo-ocular reflex gain decreased as a function of the cosine of the angle between the rotation axis and the earth's horizontal plane. No change in gain was observed when longitudinal animal axis alone was inclined. 2) At 0° of rotation axis and with the animal's longitudinal axis inclination also set at 0°, the maculo-ocular reflex was oriented about 20° forward and upward with respect to the earth's vertical axis. This orientation remained constant with sagittal inclinations of the rotation and/or longitudinal animal axes ranging from approximately 5° upward to 30° downward. When the longitudinal animal axis was inclined beyond these limits, the eye trajectory tended to follow the axis inclination. In the upside down position, the maculo-ocular reflex was anticompensatory, oblique and fixed with respect to orbital coordinates. 3) Ampullo-ocular reflex gain did not change with inclinations of the rotation and/or longitudinal animal axes. The ocular responses were consistently oriented to the stimulus plane. At intermediate frequencies the eye movement trajectory was elliptic because of directional differences between the ampullo- and maculo-ocular reflexes. 4) In the upright position the coactivation of the optokinetic reflex (OKR) eliminated the eye disalignment with respect to the stimulus plane and the elliptic trajectory. 5) Combined vertical OKR and VOR gain in the prone position (VOKR + VVOR 0°) was higher than that of the combined VOKR + VVOR in the 90° nose up position. The VVOR + VOKR 90° gain was in turn higher than the VVOR + VOKR gain in the 180° upside down position. 6) We suggest that, in the dark, the maculo-ocular response tends to reduce the disalignment of both eyes with respect to the horizon rather than inducing oculocompensatory responses. In the light, this maculo-ocular reflex increases the gain of combined optokinetic and vestibular responses.     

Effectiveness of combined GnRH analogue plus raloxifene administration in the treatment of uterine leiomyomas: a prospective,randomized, single-blind,placebo-controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Raloxifene hydrochloride is a synthetic non-steroidal drug used for the prevention and treatment of post-menopausal osteoporosis. Pre-clinical and clinical data have shown that raloxifene may have a beneficial effect on leiomyomas. The aim of this prospective single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of the addition of raloxifene to GnRH analogues on uterine, leiomyoma, and non-leiomyoma sizes, and on the occurrence of leiomyoma-related symptoms. METHODS: After randomization using a computer-generated list, 100 pre-menopausal women with symptomatic uterine leiomyomas received either leuprolide acetate depot plus raloxifene 60 mg daily (group A) or leuprolide plus placebo tablet (group B) for six cycles of 28 days. At baseline and after treatment, uterine, leiomyoma and non-leiomyoma sizes, and leiomyoma-related symptoms were evaluated for each woman. Analysis was by intention-to-treat method. RESULTS: After six cycles of treatment, a significant decrease in uterine, leiomyoma, and non-leiomyoma sizes was detected in both groups in comparison with baseline. At the same time, no significant difference in uterine and non-leiomyoma sizes was observed between the groups. Leiomyoma sizes were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in group A than in group B. No difference was observed in leiomyoma-related symptoms between groups throughout the study period. CONCLUSIONS: In women treated with GnRH analogue, the raloxifene administration induces a higher reduction of leiomyoma sizes.     

In vivo neutron dosimetry during high-energy Bremsstrahlung radiotherapy

Purpose: A new technique is presented for in vivo measurements of the dose equivalent from photoneutrons produced by high-energy radiotherapy accelerators.Methods and Materials: The dosimeters used for this purpose are vials of superheated halocarbon droplets suspended in a tissue-equivalent gel. Neutron interactions nucleate the formation of bubbles, which can be recorded through the volume of gel they displace from the detector vials into graduated pipettes. These detectors offer inherent photon discrimination, dose-equivalent response to neutrons, passive operation, and small sensitive size. An in vivo vaginal probe was fabricated containing one of these neutron detector vials and a photon-sensitive diode. Measurements were carried out in patients undergoing high-energy x-ray radiotherapy and were also repeated in-phantom, under similar irradiation geometries.Results and Conclusion: Neutron doses of 0.02 Sv were measured in correspondence to the cervix, 50 cm from the photon beam axis, following a complete treatment course of 46.5 Gy with an upper mantle field of 18-MV x-rays. This fraction of dose from neutrons is measured reliably within an intense photon background, making the technique a valid solution to challenging dosimetry problems such as the determination of fetal exposure in radiotherapy. These measurements can be easily carried out with tissue-equivalent phantoms, as our results indicate an excellent correlation between in vivo and in-phantom dosimetry.     

Colorectal cancer:Current imaging methods and future perspectives for the diagnosis,staging and therapeutic response evaluation

In the last 10 years the mortality rate of colorectal cancer(CRC)has decreased by more than 20%due to the rising developments in diagnostic techniques and optimization of surgical,neoadjuvant and palliative therapies.Diagnostic methods currently used in the evaluation of CRC are heterogeneous and can vary within the countries and the institutions.This article aims to discuss in depth currently applied imaging modalities such as virtual computed tomography colonoscopy,endorectal ultrasound,computed tomography(CT)and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)in the diagnosis of CRC.Special focus is put on the potential of recent diagnostic developments as diffusion weighted imaging MRI,MRI biomarkers(dynamic enhanced MRI),positron emission tomography with 2-(fluorine-18)-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose(FDG-PET)combined with computed tomography(PET/CT)and new hepatobiliary MRI contrast agents.The precise role,advantage and disadvantages of these modalities are evaluated controversially in local staging,metastatic spread and treatment monitoring of CRC.Finally,the authors will touch upon the future perspectives in functional imaging evaluating the role of integrated FDG-PET/CT with perfusion CT,MRI spectroscopy of primary CRC and hepatic transit time analysis using contrast enhanced ultrasound and MRI in the detection of liver metastases.Validation of these newer imaging techniques may lead to significant improvements in the management of patients with colorectal cancer.