Effect of tamoxifen alone and in combination with RU 486 on the endometrium in the mid-luteal phase

The effects of RU 486 combined with tamoxifen and tamoxifen alone on hormonal parameters and endometrial development at the time of implantation were studied. Measurements of cytosolic oestrogen and progesterone receptors in endometrium and placental protein 14 (PP14) in plasma were also included. Three dosage schedules were used: single oral dose of 40 mg tamoxifen alone and in combination with 200 mg RU 486, and 40 mg tamoxifen for three consecutive days starting on the first day after the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge. The combined treatment prolonged the luteal phase (P < 0.05) and increased the plasma levels of progesterone. A single dose of tamoxifen did not affect the bleeding pattern and plasma hormone levels, but raised plasma oestradiol and LH with the 3-day treatment. The endometrium was retarded after the combined and the 3-day treatment with tamoxifen. Concentrations of cytosolic progesterone receptors were higher after the combined therapy, but were unaffected after tamoxifen only. PP14 levels were higher (P < 0.05) after repeated tamoxifen doses than in controls, but were lower with combined treatment. Progesterone and oestrogen are evidently necessary for endometrial maturation during the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle. PP14 levels in plasma cannot be used for clinical assessments of endometrial function because high levels coincide with disturbed endometrial developmen

The effect of RU486 administered during the proliferative and secretory phase of the cycle on the bleeding pattern, hormonal parameters and the endometrium

Seventeen healthy women aged 24-45 years with regular menstrual periods, proven fertility and not using steroidal contraceptives or IUD were recruited for the study. The volunteers were followed during one control, one treatment and one follow-up cycle. Daily morning urine samples were obtained during the control and the treatment cycle. The samples were analysed with regard to pregnanediol glucuronide (P2-G), oestrone glucuronide (E1-G), oestradiol (E2), progesterone (P4), LH and creatinine. During the entire 3-month study the subjects kept a record of uterine bleeding and side effects. The subjects received 50 mg RU486 daily either on cycle days 7-10 (n = 7) or on cycle days 20-23 (n = 10). An endometrial biopsy was taken on cycle day 10 in the first group and on cycle days 21-28 in the second group of patients. Treatment during the proliferative phase caused significant prolongation of the cycle length due to a delay of the oestrogen and LH surge. However, once the oestrogen concentration started to increase, the remaining part of the cycle was normal. The length of the follow-up cycle was similar to that of the control cycle. The morphology of the endometrium did not differ from control samples taken from untreated women at the same time of the cycle. All ovulating women (n = 9) treated in the mid-luteal phase started to bleed on the 3rd to 4th day of the treatment. In four of these women the bleeding was scanty and followed by a menstrual-like bleeding at expected time, while in the remaining five volunteers the treatment bleeding was heavier and not followed by a new bleeding until a month later. The duration of the secretory phase was 16.5 ± 1.3 days in women with two bleeding episodes and 11.8 ± 1.9 days in women with one bleeding episode (P < 0.05). The hormonal parameters were similar in both groups up to the start of the treatment. In the patients with one bleeding episode, the treatment was associated with a reduction in progesterone concentration, while in the patients with two bleeding episodes the progesterone concentration remained elevated until the second bleeding episode. Light microscopic examination of the endometrium revealed unique changes in the endometrial morphology. The results indicate that RU486 acts mainly on the endometrium but a direct or indirect effect on the corpus luteum cannot be excluded. The age of the corpus luteum may be of importance for its susceptibility to RU486 treatmen

Alcohol Policies and Alcoholic Cirrhosis Mortality in the United States

Introduction Stronger alcohol policies predict decreased alcohol consumption and binge drinking in the United States. We examined the relation- ship between the strength of states’ alcohol policies and alcoholic cirrhosis mortality rates. Methods We used the Alcohol Policy Scale (APS), a validated assessment of policies of the 50 US states and Washington DC, to quantify the efficacy and implementation of 29 policies. State APS scores (the- oretical range, 0–100) for each year from 1999 through 2008 were compared with age-adjusted alcoholic cirrhosis death rates that oc- curred 3 years later. We used Poisson regression accounting for state-level clustering and adjusting for race/ethnicity, college edu- cation, insurance status, household income, religiosity, policing rates, and urbanization. Results Age-adjusted alcoholic cirrhosis mortality rates varied signific- antly across states; they were highest among males, among resid- ents in states in the West census region, and in states with a high proportion of American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). Higher APS scores were associated with lower mortality rates among fe- males (adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR], 0.91 per 10-point in- crease in APS score; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.84–0.99) but not among males (adjusted IRR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.90–1.04). Among non-AI/AN decedents, higher APS scores were also associated with lower alcoholic cirrhosis mortality rates among both sexes combined (adjusted IRR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82–0.97). Policies were more strongly associated with lower mortality rates among those living in the Northeast and West census regions than in other regions. Conclusions Stronger alcohol policy environments are associated with lower al- coholic cirrhosis mortality rates. Future studies should identify un- derlying reasons for racial/ethnic and regional differences in this relationship

Non-Equilibrium Magnetization in a Ballistic Quantum Dot

We show that Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations in the magnetic moment of an integrable ballistic quantum dot can be destroyed by a time dependent magnetic flux. The effect is due to a nonequilibrium population of perfectly coherent electronic states. For real ballistic systems the equilibrization process, which involves a special type of inelastic electron backscattering, can be so ineffective, that AB oscillations are suppressed when the flux varies with frequency $\omega\sim$ 10$^7$-10$^8$ s$^{-1}$. The effect can be used to measure relaxation times for inelastic backscattering.Comment: 11 pages LaTeX v3.14 with RevTeX v3.0, 3 post script figures available on request, APR 93-X2

Alcohol marketing and drunkenness among students in the Philippines: findings from the nationally representative Global School-based Student Health Survey

BACKGROUND: A largely unaddressed issue in lower income countries and the Philippines, in particular, is the role of alcohol marketing and its potential link to early alcohol use among youth. This study examines the associations between exposures to alcohol marketing and Filipino youths’ drinking prevalence and drunkenness. METHODS: Cross-sectional analyses were used to examine the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) conducted in Philippines (2011). The self-administered questionnaires were completed by students primarily 13 to 16 years of age (N = 5290). Three statistical models were computed to test the associations between alcohol marketing and alcohol use, while controlling for possible confounding factors. RESULTS: Alcohol marketing, specifically through providing free alcohol through a company representative, was associated with drunkenness (AOR: 1.84; 95% CI = 1.06–3.21) among youths after controlling for demographic and psychosocial characteristics, peer environment, and risky behaviors. In addition, seeing alcohol ads in newspapers and magazines (AOR: 1.65, 95% CI = 1.05–2.58) and seeing ads at sports events, concerts or fairs (AOR: 1.50, 95% CI = 1.06–2.12) were significantly associated with increased reports of drunkenness. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant associations between alcohol marketing exposure and increased alcohol use and drunkenness among youth in the Philippines. These findings highlight the need to put policies into effect that restrict alcohol marketing practices as an important prevention strategy for reducing alcohol use and its dire consequences among vulnerable youth

Knowledge, experience, and potential risks of dating violence among Japanese university students: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Domestic Violence Prevention Act came into effect in Japan in 2001, but covers only marriage partner violence and post-divorce partner violence, and does not recognize intimate partner violence (IPV). The present study was performed to determine the experience of harassment, both toward and from an intimate partner, and recognition of harassment as IPV among Japanese university students.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A self-administered questionnaire survey regarding the experience of harassment involving an intimate partner was conducted as a cross-sectional study among freshman students in a prefectural capital city in Japan.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 274 students participated in the present study. About half of the subjects (both male and female students) had experience of at least one episode of harassment toward or had been the recipient of harassment from an intimate partner. However, the study participants did not recognize verbal harassment, controlling activities of an intimate partner, and unprotected sexual intercourse as violence. Experience of attending a lecture/seminar about domestic violence and dating violence did not contribute to appropriate help-seeking behavior.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>An educational program regarding harassment and violence prevention and appropriate help-seeking behavior should be provided in early adolescence to avoid IPV among youth.</p

Relationship between treatment delay and final infarct size in STEMI patients treated with abciximab and primary PCI

Background Studies on the impact of time to treatment on myocardial infarct size have yielded   conflicting results. In this study of ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) treated   with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), we set out to investigate the   relationship between the time from First Medical Contact (FMC) to the demonstration   of an open infarct related artery (IRA) and final scar size. Between February 2006 and September 2007, 89 STEMI patients treated with primary PCI   were studied with contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (ceMRI) 4 to 8 weeks   after the infarction. Spearman correlation was computed for health care delay time   (defined as time from FMC to PCI) and myocardial injury. Multiple linear regression   was used to determine covariates independently associated with infarct size. Results An occluded artery (Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction, TIMI flow 0-1 at initial   angiogram) was seen in 56 patients (63%). The median FMC-to-patent artery was 89 minutes.   There was a weak correlation between time from FMC-to-patent IRA and infarct size,   r = 0.27, p = 0.01. In multiple regression analyses, LAD as the IRA, smoking and an occluded vessel   at the first angiogram, but not delay time, correlated with infarct size. Conclusions In patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI we found a weak correlation between   health care delay time and infarct size. Other factors like anterior infarction, a   patent artery pre-PCI and effects of reperfusion injury may have had greater influence   on infarct size than time-to-treatment per se