839 research outputs found

    Women and men with coronary heart disease in three countries : are they treated differently?

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    Non-medical determinants of medical decision making were investigated in an international research project in the US, in the UK and in Germany. The key question in this paper is whether and to what extent doctors' diagnostic and therapeutic decisions in coronary heart disease (CHD) are influenced by the patients' gender. A factorial experiment with a videotaped patient consultation was conducted. Professional actors played the role of patients with symptoms of CHD. Several alternative versions were taped featuring the same script with patient-actors of different sex, age, race and socio-economic status. The videotapes were presented to a randomly selected sample of 128 primary care physicians in each country. Using an interview with standardized and open-ended questions, physicians were asked how they would diagnose and treat such a patient after they had seen the video. Results show gender differences in the diagnostic strategies of the doctors. Women were asked different questions, a CHD was mentioned more often as a possible diagnosis for men than for women, and physicians were less certain about their diagnosis with female patients. Moreover, results indicate that gender differences in management decisions (therapy and lifestyle advice) are less pronounced and less consistent than in diagnostic decisions. Magnitude of gender effect on doctors' decisions varies between countries with smaller influences in the US. Although patients with identical symptoms were presented, primary care doctors’ behavior differed by patients' gender in all three countries under study. These gender differences suggest that women may be less likely to receive an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment than men

    Engagement on Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation

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    Bowl Shaped Cavitands Dimerize and Complex Certain Organic Guests in Organic Solvents which Themselves are Poor Guests

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    The syntheses and binding properties of rigidly bowl-shaped polycyclic cavitands (1—4) are reported. Attached to the four aryl rim positions of the bowls are four benzenes substituted in their para positions with four CC^Me, Br, OH or NO2 groups, which deepen the bowls. Attached to the base of the bowls are four pentyl feet, which increase the solubilities of these hosts in organic solvents. Of the four hosts, only the one containing the CO2Me groups dimerized both in the crystalline state and in solution in ten deute- rated solvents which themselves are poor guests. In three other deuterated solvents, no dimerization was observed. A crystal structure of the dimer showed that one p-MeC^CCs^ group of each monomer occupied the cavity of its complexing partner in a reciprocating double host-guest arrangement. Such a structure is compatible with the ^H-NMR spectra of the dimer in solution. The dimer was also detected in its FAB-MS. The tetrabromocavitand at low concentrations in CD2CI2 complexed MeCC^C^Me, MeCC^Me, PhCC^Me and MeCOC^CC^Me. Tetranitrocavitand 4 also complexed MeC02CH2Me in CD2CI2 as solvent

    Influence du taux d’hémoglobine sur la réponse à la radiothérapie des cancers du col de l’utérus : Étude rétrospective de 31 cas au CHU de Dakar

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    Le cancer du col de l’utérus est actuellement le deuxième cancer gynécologique après celui de l’endomètre. Près de 50% des cas diagnostiqués à travers le monde pourraient profiter de la radiothérapie dont l’efficacité dépend en partie du taux d’hémoglobine. Ainsi, nous avons entrepris d’évaluer l’influence du taux d’hémoglobine sur la réponse à la radiothérapie des cancers du col de l’utérus. Il s’agit d’une étuderétrospective de janvier 2006 à janvier 2009 portant sur 31 dossiers de patientes admises pour un cancer du col de l’utérus et ayant bénéficié d’une radiothérapie exclusive. L’âge moyen des patientes était de 53 ans. Les tranches d’âge les plus représentées étaient celles de 44 à 55 ans et de 55 à 66 ans avec respectivement 16 et 12 patientes. Plus de la moitié des patientes 61,29% étaient anémiées en début de traitement. Des doses élevées de radiations étaient retrouvées chez les patientes  anémiées. En effet, certains auteurs ont montré que les patientes anémiées avant de subir une radiothérapie développaient une  radiorésistance tumorale liée à l’hypoxie tissulaire expliquant ces doses élevées. Ces résultats suggèrent une collaboration entre radiothérapeutes et biologistes pour un diagnostic précoce (clinique, biologique) de l’anémie et un suivi biologique des patientes pendant leur traitement afin d’éviter les radiorésistances tumorales et les effets radio-induits tardifs.Mots clés : Anémie, cancer, col utérin, radiothérapie

    Brain lateralization probed by water diffusion at atomic-to-micrometric scale

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    Combined neutron scattering and diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance experiments have been used to reveal significant interregional asymmetries (lateralization) in bovine brain hemispheres in terms of myelin arrangement and water dynamics at micron to atomic scales. Thicker myelin sheaths were found in the left hemisphere using neutron diffraction. 4.7\u2009T dMRI and quasi-elastic neutron experiments highlighted significant differences in the properties of water dynamics in the two hemispheres. The results were interpreted in terms of hemisphere-dependent cellular composition (number of neurons, cell distribution, etc.) as well as specificity of neurological functions (such as preferential networking)

    Validação do zoneamento ecológico do Estado do Paraná para produção de sementes de soja.

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    Em determinadas regiões do Estado do Paraná, o baixo potencial de germinação, atribuído às condições climáticas desfavoráveis, durante o período de maturação da soja, é o principal fator de eliminação de lotes de sementes. Objetivando avaliar a dimensão do problema o estudo visou determinar as regiões mais apta do Paraná para produção de sementes de soja de elevado padrão fisiológico. Para tal, foram coletadas 121 amostras de sementes da cultivar BR16 (1996/97, 1997/98 e 1998/1999) e 119 amostras da cultivar BRS 133 (1999/2000, 2000/2001 e 20012002). Os parâmetros tomados por base para analisar a qualidade das sementes foram: germinação (%), vigor (TZ 1-3), viabilidade (TZ 1-5), deterioração por umidade (TZ 6-8), dano mecânico (6-8) e lesões de percevejos (TZ 6-8). Para interpretação dos dados, o estado do Paraná foi dividido em três regiões ecológicas: T1, temperatura média do mês mais quente (Fevereiro) >24oC; T2, temperatura média entre 22 e 24oC; T3, temperatura média <22oC. A região T3 que abrange os municípios de Ponta Grossa, Guarapuava, Pato Branco, Marilândia do Sul, Francisco Beltrão e parte de Cascavel, destacou-se, invariavelmente, por apresentar reduzidos índices de sementes com deterioração por umidade, com dano mecânico e com lesões de percevejos, resultando num melhor potencial de germinação, de vigor e de viabilidade. A validação do zoneamento ecológico adiciona uma tecnologia capaz de identificar a região Sul do estado do Paraná, com melhores condições climáticas para produção de sementes de soja de qualidade

    Mapping specificity, cleavage entropy, allosteric changes and substrates of blood proteases in a high-throughput screen

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    Proteases are among the largest protein families and critical regulators of biochemical processes like apoptosis and blood coagulation. Knowledge of proteases has been expanded by the development of proteomic approaches, however, technology for multiplexed screening of proteases within native environments is currently lacking behind. Here we introduce a simple method to profile protease activity based on isolation of protease products from native lysates using a 96FASP filter, their analysis in a mass spectrometer and a custom data analysis pipeline. The method is significantly faster, cheaper, technically less demanding, easy to multiplex and produces accurate protease fingerprints. Using the blood cascade proteases as a case study, we obtain protease substrate profiles that can be used to map specificity, cleavage entropy and allosteric effects and to design protease probes. The data further show that protease substrate predictions enable the selection of potential physiological substrates for targeted validation in biochemical assays

    Z-score mapping for standardized analysis and reporting of cardiovascular magnetic resonance modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) T1 data: normal behavior and validation in patients with amyloidosis

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    BACKGROUND: T1 mapping using modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) provides quantitative information on myocardial tissue composition. T1 results differ between sites due to variations in hardware and software equipment, limiting the comparability of results. The aim was to test if Z-scores can be used to compare the results of MOLLI T1 mapping from different cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) platforms. METHODS: First, healthy subjects (n = 15) underwent 11 combinations of native short-axis T1 mapping (four CMR systems from two manufacturers at 1.5 T and 3 T, three MOLLI schemes). Mean and standard deviation (SD) of septal myocardial T1 were derived for each combination. T1 maps were transformed into Z-score maps based on mean and SD values using a prototype post-processing module. Second, Z-score mapping was applied to a validation sample of patients with cardiac amyloidosis at 1.5 T (n = 25) or 3 T (n = 13). RESULTS: In conventional T1 analysis, results were confounded by variations in field strength, MOLLI scheme, and manufacturer-specific system characteristics. Z-score-based analysis yielded consistent results without significant differences between any two of the combinations in part 1 of the study. In the validation sample, Z-score mapping differentiated between patients with cardiac amyloidosis and healthy subjects with the same diagnostic accuracy as standard T1 analysis regardless of field strength. CONCLUSIONS: T1 analysis based on Z-score mapping provides consistent results without significant differences due to field strengths, CMR systems, or MOLLI variants, and detects cardiac amyloidosis with the same diagnostic accuracy as conventional T1 analysis. Z-score mapping provides a means to compare native T1 results acquired with MOLLI across different CMR platforms

    The relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in the general population.

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    Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591–601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1–11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of autistic traits that is also evident in the general population, we investigated the link between ASD and sensory sensitivity in the general population by administering two questionnaires online to 212 adult participants. Results showed a highly significant positive correlation (r = .775, p &#60; .001) between number of autistic traits and the frequency of sensory processing problems. These data suggest a strong link between sensory processing and autistic traits in the general population, which in turn potentially implicates sensory processing problems in social interaction difficulties
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