Relevance of 10-min delayed recall in dementia screening

Within the context of early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is a growing interest in neuropsychological screening tests. Amongst these tests, we focused on the largely used Memory Impairment Screen (MIS). The objective of the present work was to show that adding a 10-min delayed recall to the MIS, improves the test psychometric characteristics in order to detect dementia in the earliest stages. A prospective study was carried out on a cohort of 270 consecutive elderly ambulatory subjects attending the Broca Hospital Memory Clinic: normal controls ( n  = 67), mild cognitive impairment subjects ( n  = 98) and mildly demented patients [ n  = 105, Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) = 23 ± 4]. This study consisted in testing the advantage of the 10-min delayed recall entitled MIS-D compared with the MIS. At a cut-off score of 6, the MIS-D revealed satisfying psychometric characteristics with a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 91%, whilst the MIS alone indicated a sensitivity of 60% and a specificity of 88% in detecting dementia. In demented patients with MMSE score ≥26, MIS-D properties still remained satisfying (sensitivity: 75%, specificity: 92%). MIS-D is a more relevant screening test than MIS alone at very early stages of dementia.     

用混合粘合剂碳糊电极测定丁螺环酮

用混合粘合剂碳糊电极测定丁螺环酮张正奇，曾鸽鸣，刘传桂，黎艳飞（湖南大学化学化工系，长沙４１００８２）碳糊电极无毒，制作方便，表面更新容易，应用电位范围广，在药物分析中已有应用［１～５］。我们在液体石腊中加入添加剂，组成混合粘合剂，可显著改善电极的检...     

Paired Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative and EBV-converted Burkitt lymphoma lines: stimulatory capacity in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte cultures

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative Burkitt lymphoma lines (BLE-) and their in vitro EBV-converted sublines (BLEc), obtained by infection with the P3HRI and B95-8 strains of EBV, were compared for their capacity to induce T-lymphocyte proliferation in allogeneic mixed lymphocyte cultures (MLC). Regardless of the virus strain used for conversion, the BLEc lines induced a considerably stronger primary MLC response than their EBV-negative parentals. Only the BLEc lines were able to maintain T-lymphocyte proliferation in repeated stimulations. The low proliferative response observed in cultures stimulated with BLE- cells was not due to the generation of suppressor cells or to the release of inhibitory factors. The increased stimulatory capacity of BLEc lines was unrelated to changes in expression of MHC class-I and class-II antigen, or of B-cell activation markers, and was not due to the reactivation of EBV-specific memory T cells, since lymphocytes from EBV-seropositive and seronegative donors responded similarly. The results indicate that the capacity of BL cells to elicit cellular immune responses may be influenced by their EBV-carrying status.     

Prenatal diagnosis of neuroblastoma]

One of the prognostic factors for neuroblastoma is age at the time of diagnosis: neuroblastoma detected prenatally or in the first year of live have a more favorable outcome. Antenatal diagnosis is essential early management. Knowledge of local tumor extent is invaluable in determining the appropriate treatment, and MR imaging has proved to be the most useful procedure in this regard.     

Association between pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma, malignant liver cysts, and polycystic disease of the kidney

Polycystic kidney disease is an autosomal dominant disease that may be associated with cystic disease of the liver. In women, the cysts may develop early and be more troublesome than in men. Cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas is uncommon, comprising 1% of primary pancreatic malignancies. This case report is the first to describe a familial association between polycystic kidney disease and cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas and liver in the English medical literature. A patient with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and multiple hepatic cysts developed cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas with multiple malignant liver cysts. The patient's mother, sister, and niece had ADPKD, and the patient's sister also died of pancreatic cystadenocarcinoma. We believe that the development of these two disease entities in which the primary pathology is cyst formation has a genetic association. (Gastroenterology 1997 Jun;112(6):2104-7)     

Validity and reliability of the infant Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (IBSE): A rating scale for the assessment of young children with autism and developmental disorders

The Infant Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (IBSE) is a rating scale adapted from the Behavioral Summarized Evaluation (BSE) and specifically related to the assessment of behaviors of young children having autistic disorders. Content validity and reliability studies described in the paper were made from behavior ratings of videotapes for 89 children aged from 6 to 48 months. Results show a significant group of 19 items including some characteristic early autistic behaviors (communicative and social abnormalities) and some that are less commonly described in the syndrome (attentional, perceptive, and adaptive disorders). The value of the use of this scale for clinicians and professionals involved in behavioral evaluations and treatment of young children with developmental disorders and the necessity for further psychometric investigations are discussed.This study was supported by INSERM U.316 Nervous System from the Foetus to the Child. Development, Circulation, Metabolism, L. Pourcelot, INSERM, Network INSERM No. 489001, Grant INSERM No. 911182 (D. Savrage) No. 911008 (L. Hameury) MRT. No. 9906 Fondation Langlois. Gratitude is expressed to Professor G. Lelord who initiated and supervised this study. The authors thank Professor J. Fermanian, Department of Biostatistics, CHU Necker, Paris, for his helpful suggestions and assistance. They also thank Dr. Larmande, Dr. Leddet, Dr. Glorion, and Dr. Garreau for their medical participation in the study and C. Richard, C. Fillatre, J. Rabant, and F. Etourneau for the psychological assessments of children. Special thanks to G. Calzas, M. Barré, A. Lardeux, and D. Lioret for their technical assistance.     

Evaluation of a new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test for rotavirus antigen in faeces

A new commercial test for the diagnosis of rotavirus gastroenteritis was assessed. With some modifications it compared favourably with electron microscopy and immunofluorescence.