Porównanie maksymalnego ciśnienia zamknięcia cewki moczowej mierzone cewnikiem typu mikrotip i cewnikiem wypełnionym powietrzem – badanie randomizowane

Background: Measurements of maximum urethral closure pressure (MUCP) are a part of urodynamic investigations preceding an incontinence surgery and a part of urethral function tests. Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare maximum urethral closure pressure determined by a microtip catheter with those measured by an air-charged catheter. Material and methods: A prospective randomized study in a tertiary referral centre. 122 female patients with urodynamic stress incontinence were randomly assigned to have their urethral pressure profi les measured at rest by both microtip and air-charged catheters. Intervention and Measurements: Each patient had three measurements taken by each catheter type. Means of the measurements were compared with regard to correlation and repeatability. For statistical analysis, an approach proposed by Bland-Altman was applied to assess the agreement between the two techniques. Results: Correlation coeffi cient between MUCP by the air-charged and the microtip catheter was r=0.8507(95% CI 0.7928 – 0.8934; pCel: Pomiar maksymalnego ciśnienia zamknięcia cewki moczowej (MUCP) jest częścią badania urodynamicznego poprzedzającego operacyjne leczenie nietrzymania moczu i częścią testow czynnościowych cewki moczowej. Celem pracy było porownanie maksymalnego ciśnienia zamknięcia cewki moczowej zmierzonego przy pomocy cewnika microtip i cewnika wypełnionego powietrzem. Materiał i metoda: Przeprowadzono prospektywne, randomizowane badanie w ośrodku trzeciego stopnia referencyjności. Do badania losowo włączono 122 kobiety z nietrzymaniem moczu, u których wykonywano profi l ciśnień w cewce moczowej w spoczynku przy pomocy zarówno cewnika microtip jak i cewnika wypełnionego powietrzem. Każda pacjentka miała wykonane trzy pomiary przy pomocy obu cewników. Średnie z pomiarów porównano w odniesieniu do korelacji i powtarzalności. Do celów statystycznych użyto metody Bland-Altmana oceniającej zgodność obu technik pomiarów. Wyniki: Współczynnik korelacji pomiędzy MUCP mierzonym cewnikiem powietrznym a cewnikiem microtip wynosił r=0,8507(95% CI 0,7928–0,8934;

Concepts, Developments and Advanced Applications of the PAX Toolkit

The Physics Analysis eXpert (PAX) is an open source toolkit for high energy physics analysis. The C++ class collection provided by PAX is deployed in a number of analyses with complex event topologies at Tevatron and LHC. In this article, we summarize basic concepts and class structure of the PAX kernel. We report about the most recent developments of the kernel and introduce two new PAX accessories. The PaxFactory, that provides a class collection to facilitate event hypothesis evolution, and VisualPax, a Graphical User Interface for PAX objects

Critical properties of the double exchange ferromagnet Nd0.4Pb0.4MnO3

Results of a study of dc-magnetization M(T, H), performed on a Nd0.6Pb0.4MnO3 single crystal in the temperature range around T_C (Curie temperature) which embraces the critical region | epsilon | = |T -T_C |/T_C <= 0.05 are reported. The magnetic data analyzed in the critical region using the Kouvel-Fisher method give the values for the T_C =156.47 +/- 0.06 K and the critical exponents, beta = 0.374 +/- 0.006 (from the temperature dependence of magnetization), and gamma = 1.329 +/- 0.003 (from the temperature dependence of initial susceptibility). The critical isotherm M(T_C, H) gives delta = 4.547 +/- 0.1. Thus the scaling law gamma+beta=delta beta is fulfilled. The critical exponents obey the single scaling-equation of state M(H, epsilon) = epsilon^b f_+/- (H/epsilon^(beta + gamma)) where, f_+ for T > T_C and f_- for T< T_C. The exponent values are very close to those expected for the universality class of 3D Heisenberg ferromagnets with short-range interactions.Comment: 19 pages, including 6 figure

INI1 mutations in meningiomas at a potential hotspot in exon 9

Rhabdoid tumours have been shown to carry somatic mutations in the INI1 (SMARCB1/hSNF5) gene. A considerable fraction of these tumours exhibit allelic losses on chromosome 22. Allelic loss on 22q also is characteristic for meningiomas, however most of these alterations are considered to be associated with mutations of the NF2 gene. We examined a series of 126 meningiomas for alterations in the INI1 gene. Four identical somatic mutations in exon 9 were detected resulting in an exchange of Arg to His in position 377 of INI1. Our observations were reproduced both by using DNA from a new round of extraction and by employing overlapping primers. This mutational hotspot therefore appears to be an important target in the formation of a fraction of meningiomas. In addition, 4 novel polymorphisms of INI1 were characterized. Our data indicate that the INI1 is a second tumour suppressor gene on chromosome 22 that may be important for the genesis of meningiomas. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co