1,720,993 research outputs found
Normotensive middle-aged men after 5-10 years: normal blood pressure or hypertension?
We evaluated the incidence of hypertension over 5-10 years of follow-up in middle-aged men, 40-59 years at entry, selected from the Italian section of the Seven Countries Study. Out of the 2480 subjects, 852 were normotensive at entry [systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) less than 90 mmHg)], alive after 10 years and had been evaluated repeatedly after 5 and 10 years. After 5 years, 31.3\% had developed borderline hypertension (140 less than or equal to SBP less than 160 and 90 less than or equal to DBP less than or equal to 95 mmHg) and 14.6\% had developed definite hypertension (SBP greater than or equal to 160 mmHg or DBP greater than or equal to 95 mmHg). During the next 5 years, out of the 267 borderline hypertensives, 28.5\% became definite hypertensives, while 29.6\% reverted to normal blood pressure. Out of the 124 definite hypertensives, 46\% remained in this category, while 34.7\% became borderline hypertensives and 19.4\% became normotensive. In men aged 60-69 years, less than 2\% of hypertensives were being effectively treated and changes in body weight were closely related to blood pressure. In addition, out of 461 normotensive subjects who remained normotensive at the 5-year examination, 63.6\% remained normotensive in the next 5 years also, while 28\% developed borderline hypertension and only 8.4\% moved into the definite hypertensive class. These data suggest that a normotensive subject aged 40-59 years has a 34.4\% probability of remaining normotensive in the next 10 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
[Outcome of the normotensive subject in a 5-to-10 year follow-up: normal arterial pressure or hypertension?].
Can the intraprostatic concentration of epidermal growth factor influence the variance of serum prostate specific antigen levels in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia?
Purpose: Except for prostate volume, little is known about the factors influencing serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. Considering that dihydrotestosterone and epidermal growth factor are regulators of the proliferation and differentiation in the epithelial component of human prostate tissue and that PSA is produced only by the epithelial cells of the gland, studies were performed on patients with a histological diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) to establish whether a significant association exists between the intraprostatic concentration of dihydrotestosterone or epidermal growth factor and serum PSA levels.
Materials and Methods: A total of 20 patients with BPH who had not been previously treated were part of a larger study on the correlation among PSA, prostate volume and age, and were evaluated according to the algorithm in the guidelines of the international consultation on BPH. All men underwent open suprapubic prostatectomy to enucleate the entire adenoma and in each case sections were made in the periurethral, subcapsular and intermediate zones of the BPH tissue. Dihydrotestosterone and epidermal growth factor concentrations were evaluated by radioimmunoassay in the periurethral zone and in total BPH tissue.
Results: In these 20 patients with BPH serum PSA levels were significantly associated with epidermal growth factor but not with dihydrotestosterone concentrations in total BPH tissue (r = 0.7762, p = 0.00002836 and r = 0.3923, p = 0.0956307, respectively). A stronger association was found between PSA levels and the periurethral concentration of epidermal growth factor and dihydrotestosterone (r = 0.8117, p = 0.000005 and r = 0.5656, p = 0.0098326, respectively). On the contrary, epidermal growth factor and dihydrotestosterone were not significantly associated with prostate volume (p = 0.957415 and p = 0.531439, respectively).
Conclusions: To our knowledge this study is the first report in the literature to demonstrate an association between serum PSA, and dihydrotestosterone and epidermal growth factor levels, particularly in the periurethral zone of human BPH tissue. These data suggest the importance of epidermal growth factor and dihydrotestosterone in influencing serum PSA levels
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Role of radical retropubic prostatectomy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer: The influence of Gleason score 8-10
Background: To define whether in locally advanced prostate cancer submitted to radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) the presence of a Gleason score 8-10 represents an index of high risk for progression and cancer-specific death. Methods: Finally, a total of 130 men with pathologically confirmed T3 cancer were included in this analysis. On the basis of the histological grade obtained at RRP, patients were divided into two groups: patients with a Gleason score 8-10 (group 1) and patients with a Gleason score <8 (group 2). Postoperative follow-up ranged from 24 to 120 months (median 60). After RRP no patients received additional treatments until a biochemical or clinical disease progression was found. Kaplan-Meier projections were used in each group. Results: After RRP, 41 patients (31.5%) had a Gleason score 8-10 tumor. The incidence of positive lymph nodes was significantly higher (p = 0.0030) in group 1 (36.6%) when compared with group 2 (12.3%). Significant differences between the two groups were also found with respect to seminal vesicle involvement (p = 0.0045) and positive surgical margins (p = 0.0040). The actuarial cumulative disease-specific survival for group 1 and group 2 was, respectively, 69 and 82% at 10 years. A Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated a 100% disease-specific survival, a 92% clinical progression-free survival and a 38% biochemical progression-free survival 10 years postoperatively if patients in group 1 had negative surgical margins and negative lymph nodes (48.8%). Conclusions: Our data indicate a significant association between Gleason score 8-10 and disease-specific survival, only if patients in group 1 are stratified on the basis of surgical margins and/or lymph node involvement. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel
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