Two-axis bend measurement with Bragg gratings in multicore optical fiber

We describe what is to our knowledge the first use of fiber Bragg gratings written into three separate cores of a multicore fiber for two-axis curvature measurement. The gratings act as independent, but isothermal, fiber strain gauges for which local curvature determines the difference in strain between cores, permitting temperature-independent bend measurement. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America

A trial of home-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for arthritis in a regional center

Residents of rural and regional areas often have limited access to health care professionals. This study investigated the ability of a modification of the Arthritis Basics for Change program developed by the American Arthritis Foundation to improve psychosocial functioning in a group of individuals with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis who lived in northern Queensland. The program comprised five, home-based sessions spaced over three weeks incorporating an audio CD and two 10-minute telephone consultations. A total of 34 individuals (7 males, mean age 59 years) were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait list control group. Measures were administered before, after and at three-months follow up and included the Arthritis Helplessness Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Health Assessment Questionnaire, and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Improvements in both groups were noted in helplessness, anxiety, and depression following the program and at a three-month follow up. No changes were observed for pain, disability, or coping skills across time and between groups. A higher proportion of individuals in the intervention group than in the control group attained clinically significant improvement on the HADS Depression scale. Despite the small sample size, results showed that some significant gains can be made through short, specifically tailored interventions

A Trial of Home-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Arthritis in a Regional Center

Residents of rural and regional areas often have limited access to health care professionals. This study investigated the ability of a modification of the Arthritis Basics for Change program developed by the American Arthritis Foundation to improve psychosocial functioning in a group of individuals with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis who lived in northern Queensland. The program comprised five, home-based sessions spaced over three weeks incorporating an audio CD and two 10-minute telephone consultations. A total of 34 individuals (7 males, mean age 59 years) were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait list control group. Measures were administered before, after and at three-months follow up and included the Arthritis Helplessness Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Health Assessment Questionnaire, and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire. Improvements in both groups were noted in helplessness, anxiety, and depression following the program and at a three-month follow up. No changes were observed for pain, disability, or coping skills across time and between groups. A higher proportion of individuals in the intervention group than in the control group attained clinically significant improvement on the HADS Depression scale. Despite the small sample size, results showed that some significant gains can be made through short, specifically tailored interventions

Clinical testing of the radiosensitizer Ro 07-0582: experience with multiple doses.

The hypoxic cell radiosensitizer, Ro 07-0582, has now been given in multiple doses to 16 patients. They have received a total of 15-51 g in 3-20 doses. Immediate tolerance was good, and satisfactory plasma levels of the drug were consistently obtained. Neurotoxicity was, however, troublesome: convulsions occurred in the patient given the highest dose, and there was peripheral neuropathy in 11 cases. Tumour concentrations similar to those in plasma were obtained in human tumours, in contrast to the findings in mouse tumours where concentrations are usually below 40% of plasma levels. In the treatment of human tumours, a lower dose of Ro 07-0582 should give useful hypoxic cell sensitization. Although the total dose of Ro 07-0582 must be limited, there is a real prospect that it will give benefit in clinical radiotherapy

Significant effect of polymorphisms in CYP2D6 and ABCC2 on clinical outcomes of adjuvant tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer patients

Purpose The clinical efficacy of tamoxifen is suspected to be influenced by the activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters involved in the formation, metabolism, and elimination of its active forms. We investigated relationships of polymorphisms in transporter genes and CYP2D6 to clinical outcome of patients receiving tamoxifen. Patients and Methods We studied 282 patients with hormone receptor–positive, invasive breast cancer receiving tamoxifen monotherapy, including 67 patients who have been previously reported. We investigated the effects of allelic variants of CYP2D6 and haplotype-tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tag-SNPs) of ABCB1, ABCC2, and ABCG2 on recurrence-free survival using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis. Plasma concentrations of tamoxifen metabolites were measured in 98 patients receiving tamoxifen 20 mg/d. Results CYP2D6 variants were significantly associated with shorter recurrence-free survival (P = .000036; hazard ratio [HR] = 9.52; 95% CI, 2.79 to 32.45 in patients with two variant alleles v patients without variant alleles). Among 51 tag-SNPs in transporter genes, a significant association was found at rs3740065 in ABCC2 (P = .00017; HR = 10.64; 95% CI, 1.44 to 78.88 in patients with AA v GG genotypes). The number of risk alleles of CYP2D6 and ABCC2 showed cumulative effects on recurrence-free survival (P = .000000055). Patients carrying four risk alleles had 45.25-fold higher risk compared with patients with ≤ one risk allele. CYP2D6 variants were associated with lower plasma levels of endoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen (P = .0000043 and .00052), whereas no significant difference was found among ABCC2 genotype groups. Conclusion Our results suggest that polymorphisms in CYP2D6 and ABCC2 are important predictors for the prognosis of patients with breast cancer treated with tamoxifen

FlyRNAi.org—the database of the Drosophila RNAi screening center: 2012 update

FlyRNAi (http://www.flyrnai.org), the database and website of the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center (DRSC) at Harvard Medical School, serves a dual role, tracking both production of reagents for RNA interference (RNAi) screening in Drosophila cells and RNAi screen results. The database and website is used as a platform for community availability of protocols, tools, and other resources useful to researchers planning, conducting, analyzing or interpreting the results of Drosophila RNAi screens. Based on our own experience and user feedback, we have made several changes. Specifically, we have restructured the database to accommodate new types of reagents; added information about new RNAi libraries and other reagents; updated the user interface and website; and added new tools of use to the Drosophila community and others. Overall, the result is a more useful, flexible and comprehensive website and database

Specific requirement of NMDA receptors for long-term memory consolidation in Drosophila ellipsoid body

In humans and many other animals, memory consolidation occurs through multiple temporal phases and usually involves more than one neuroanatomical brain system. Genetic dissection of Pavlovian olfactory learning in Drosophila melanogaster has revealed multiple memory phases, but the predominant view holds that all memory phases occur in mushroom body neurons. Here, we demonstrate an acute requirement for NMDA receptors (NMDARs) outside of the mushroom body during long-term memory (LTM) consolidation. Targeted dsRNA-mediated silencing of Nmdar1 and Nmdar2 (also known as dNR1 or dNR2, respectively) in cholinergic R4m-subtype large-field neurons of the ellipsoid body specifically disrupted LTM consolidation, but not retrieval. Similar silencing of functional NMDARs in the mushroom body disrupted an earlier memory phase, leaving LTM intact. Our results clearly establish an anatomical site outside of the mushroom body involved with LTM consolidation, thus revealing both a distributed brain system subserving olfactory memory formation and the existence of a system-level memory consolidation in Drosophila

CYP genotypes influence the effect of tamoxifen therapy on serum lipids

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110066/1/cptclpt2004270.pd

Pii‐18

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110052/1/cptclpt2006156.pd