Enzyme tests in the evaluation of thrombolysis in acute myocardial infarction.

The activity of alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, creatine kinase, creatine kinase MB and aspartate aminotransferase was measured on serial plasma samples from patients with acute myocardial infarction. The study was part of a multicentre randomised trial of the effect of thrombolytic treatment in the acute phase of acute myocardial infarction. The applicability and comparability of enzyme tests for the estimation of myocardial injury were studied in 76 control patients and 74 patients treated with streptokinase. Treatment with streptokinase caused a considerable acceleration of enzyme release after acute myocardial infarction, both in patients with persistent coronary occlusion and in those with successful reperfusion. But this changed pattern of enzyme release did not affect the rate of enzyme elimination from plasma or the released proportions of different enzymes. Thus the assessment of infarct size by measurement of these enzyme activities can also be applied to patients treated with streptokinase. Moreover, the enzymes measured in the present study are all equally valid markers of myocardial injury

Doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide with concurrent versus sequential docetaxel as neoadjuvant treatment in patients with breast cancer.

Contains fulltext : 127295.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Abstract BACKGROUND: This study was designed to determine whether delivering neo-adjuvant chemotherapy at a higher dose in a shorter period of time improves outcome of breast cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Women with newly diagnosed breast cancer were randomly assigned to neoadjuvant chemotherapy of four cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by four cycles of docetaxel (AC 60/600 - T 100mg/m(2)) or six cycles of TAC (75/50/500mg/m(2)) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate, defined as no invasive tumour present in the breast. RESULTS: In total, 201 patients were included. Baseline characteristics were well balanced. AC-T resulted in pCR in 21% and TAC in 16% of patients (odds ratio 1.44 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67-3.10). AC-T without primary granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) prophylaxis was associated with more febrile neutropenia compared to TAC with primary G-CSF prophylaxis (23% versus 9%), and with more grade 3/4 sensory neuropathy (5% versus 0%). CONCLUSIONS: With a higher cumulative dose for the concurrent arm, no differences were observed between the two treatment arms with respect to pCR rate. The differential toxicity profile could partly be explained by different use of primary G-CSF prophylaxis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KEYWORDS: Breast cancer, Cyclophosphamide, Docetaxel, Doxorubicin, Neoadjuvant chemotherap

Biomechanical analysis of risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders during repetitive lifting task in construction workers

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) represent major health issues for construction workers yet risk factors associated with repetitive lifting tasks remain unexplored. This study evaluates the effects of lifting weights and postures on spinal biomechanics (i.e. muscle activity and muscle fatigue) during a simulated repetitive lifting task undertaken within a strictly controlled laboratory experimental environment. Twenty healthy male participants performed simulated repetitive lifting tasks with three different lifting weights using either a stoop (n = 10) or a squat (n = 10) lifting posture until subjective fatigue (a point in time at which the participant cannot continue lifting further). Spinal biomechanics during repetitive lifting tasks were measured by surface electromyography (sEMG). Results revealed that (1) increased lifting weights significantly increased sEMG activity and muscle fatigue of the biceps brachii (BB), brachioradialis (BR), lumbar erector spinae (LES), and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles but not the rectus femoris (RF) muscle; (2) sEMG activity and muscle fatigue rate of the LES muscle were higher than all other muscles; (3) a significant difference of sEMG activity of the RF and MG muscles was observed between lifting postures, however no significant difference of muscle fatigue was apparent (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that risk factors such as lifting weights, repetitions and lifting postures may alleviate the risk of developing WMSDs. However, future research is required to investigate the effectiveness of using ergonomic interventions (such as using team lifting and adjustable lift equipment) in reducing WMSDs risks in construction workers. This work represents the first laboratory-based simulated testing conducted to investigate work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) primarily caused by repetitive lifting tasks and manual handling. Cumulatively, the results and ensuing discussion offer insight into how these risks can be measured and mitigated

CMS physics technical design report: Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

This report presents the capabilities of the CMS experiment to explore the rich heavy-ion physics programme offered by the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The collisions of lead nuclei at energies ,will probe quark and gluon matter at unprecedented values of energy density. The prime goal of this research is to study the fundamental theory of the strong interaction - Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) - in extreme conditions of temperature, density and parton momentum fraction (low-x). This report covers in detail the potential of CMS to carry out a series of representative Pb-Pb measurements. These include "bulk" observables, (charged hadron multiplicity, low pT inclusive hadron identified spectra and elliptic flow) which provide information on the collective properties of the system, as well as perturbative probes such as quarkonia, heavy-quarks, jets and high pT hadrons which yield "tomographic" information of the hottest and densest phases of the reaction.0info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe