Food,water, energy,and macronutrient intake of non-breastfed infants and young children (0–3 years)

European Journal of Nutrition - The French Nutri-Bébé 2013 study aimed to assess the nutritional intake of infants and young children in comparison with the recommendations of the 2013...     

Tachykinin receptor cross-talk. Immunological cross-reactivity between the external domains of the substance K and substance P receptors.

In the present study, we have chemically synthesized peptides which correspond to the four putative extracellular domains of the predicted substance K (SK) receptor protein and raised specific polyclonal antibodies against these peptides. These antibodies were then tested for both structural and functional recognition of epitopes on the substance P (SP) receptor on rat AR42J pancreatic cells and human IM9 lymphoblasts, which express the SP receptor, but not the SK receptor. Antibodies directed against the first, second, and fourth external domains of the predicted SK receptor recognized a 58-kDa protein on AR42J cells. This protein has a molecular weight similar to the previously demonstrated SP receptor on both AR42J cells and IM9 cells. Furthermore, antibodies against the second and fourth extracellular domains significantly inhibited specific 125I-SP binding on both AR42J and IM9 cells, and also significantly inhibited SP-induced mobilization of [Ca2+]i on AR42J cells. These data suggest that the second and fourth extracellular domains of the SK and SP receptors may share common structural motifs for ligand binding and signaling mechanism.     

Results of the tension-free vaginal tape procedure for stress incontinence: Patient''s perspective

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the results of the tension-free vaginal tape procedure (TVT) from a patient's perspective. METHODS: Between May 1999 and January 2002, 90 patients underwent a TVT for genuine stress incontinence (GSI) and mixed incontinence. Prior to the procedure, GSI was confirmed by clinical examination and urodynamic studies. Results were then audited from patient notes and the same patients were sent questionnaires to examine results from a patient perspective. RESULTS: Overall response rate to the questionnaire was 70 (77%). The mean age of the patients was 50.4 years (range 31-83 years). Sixty-one patients had spinal anesthesia, seven had general anesthesia and two had local anesthesia. Mean hospital stay was 3.36 days (range 2-14 days) and mean period from the operation to the time of the survey and audit was 16.34 months (range 3-28; SD 6.92). Thirty-nine (56%) of the 70 patients who answered said that the operation had cured their incontinence, 16 (23%) had an improvement in their symptoms, 7 (10%) had worsening of their symptoms and 8 (11%) felt that the operation did not make any difference. The overall success rate according to the patients' perspective was 79%, whereas our audit showed an overall success rate of 86% (77% and 82%, respectively, when we compared only the 66 patients who had both notes and replies available for analysis). CONCLUSION: Although a patient's perception regarding the success of TVT tends to differ from that of a clinician, it was not found to be statistically significant (P = 0.22, McNemar test). The TVT is a very successful operation, but realistic cure rates should be offered to patients.     

Hodgkin disease: CT of the thymus

The computed tomography (CT) scans in two groups of patients with Hodgkin disease were reviewed to determine the frequency of thymic enlargement. In 50 CT scans from 50 patients with evidence of thoracic disease on CT scans who were examined for primary staging, the thymus was enlarged in 15 of 50 (30%). Fifty CT scans were obtained from 44 patients at the time of 50 separate episodes of known or suspected relapse. Relapse occurred in the mediastinum in 12 episodes, lung parenchyma in five, and both sites in one. Thymic enlargement thought to be due to involvement by disease was present in seven of 18 (38%). Mediastinal disease was associated with thymic enlargement in all but one patient in whom a thymic cyst developed after radiation therapy. Differentiation of thymic enlargement from enlarged superior mediastinal lymph nodes was easily made in all but two patients. Thymic enlargement in the absence of lymph node enlargement may indicate a different disease, since isolated Hodgkin disease of the thymus is uncommon. Primary thymic tumor should be considered initially, whereas after treatment, rebound hyperplasia of the thymus may be the cause of enlargement.     

Solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas: CT findings

Five female patients and one male patient with solid and papillary epithelial neoplasms of the pancreas were examined with computed tomography (CT). The mean age of the patients was 27 years (range, 13-46 years). All cases showed well-encapsulated, round or lobulated masses consisting of both cystic and solid areas. Cystic portions showed CT numbers that suggested hemorrhagic necrosis. There were no internal septations within the masses. In three tumors located in the head of the pancreas, dilatation of the biliary tree was absent or minimal, although the masses were large. Two tumors contained calcifications. One tumor demonstrated metastatic deposits in liver and lymph nodes. Metastatic masses appeared similar to the primary pancreatic mass. Solid and papillary neoplasm of the pancreas should be the primary diagnostic consideration when characteristic CT findings are detected in a young female patient.     

Intractable diarrhoea revealing a neuroblastoma hypersecreting the vasoactive intestinal peptide]

In children, the watery diarrhoea-hypokalemia-achlorhydria (WDHA) syndrome is uncommon and usually due to a neuroblastic tumour hypersecreting the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). We report a case of WDHA syndrome secondary to hypersecretion of VIP that revealed a neuroblastoma in a 13-month-old girl. A secretory diarrhoea, characterised by the persistence of diarrhoea despite the cessation of oral feeding, led to the search of a neuroblastic tumour in the patient. The serum concentration of VIP decreased to normal values soon after the surgical excision of the tumour.     

Variable selection under multiple imputation using the bootstrap in a prognostic study

Background  

Missing data is a challenging problem in many prognostic studies. Multiple imputation (MI) accounts for imputation uncertainty that allows for adequate statistical testing. We developed and tested a methodology combining MI with bootstrapping techniques for studying prognostic variable selection.