63,097 research outputs found

    Clinical and genetic factors associated with nausea and vomiting in cancer patients receiving opioids

    No full text
    Background: This study investigates whether demographical, disease-related and genetic factors contribute to inter-individual differences in nausea and vomiting among patients receiving opioids for cancer pain. Methods: Cancer patients receiving opioids were included from 17 centres in 11 European countries. Intensities of nausea and vomiting were reported by 1579 patients on four-point categorical scales. In stratified regression models including demographical and disease-related factors as covariates, 96 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 16 candidate genes related to opioid- or nausea/vomiting signalling pathways (ABCB1, OPRM1, OPRK1, ARRB2, STAT6, COMT, CHRM3, CHRM5, HRH1, DRD2, DRD3, TACR1, HTR3A, HTR3B, HTR3C, CNR1) were analysed for association with nausea and vomiting. Findings: Age, body mass index, Karnofsky Performance Status, gender, use of antiemetics, type of opioid, type of cancer and eight SNPs were associated with the inter-individual differences in nausea and vomiting among cancer patients treated with opioids (p < 0.01). The SNPs were rs1176744, rs3782025 and rs1672717 in HTR3B; rs165722, rs4680 and rs4633 in COMT; rs10802789 and rs685550 in CHRM3. Only the SNP rs1672717 in HTR3B passed the Benjamini-Hochberg criterion for a 10% false discovery rate. Interpretation: Clinical characteristics and SNPs within the HTR3B, COMT and CHRM3 genes may be associated with the variability in nausea and vomiting among cancer patients receiving opioids. This knowledge may help to identify patients at particular risk for nausea and vomiting during treatment with opioids for cancer pain. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

    Fetal, infant, and childhood growth and adult blood pressure: a longitudinal study from birth to 22 years of age

    No full text
    Background: people who are small at birth tend to have higher blood pressure in later life. However, it is not clear whether it is fetal growth restriction or the accelerated postnatal growth that often follows it that leads to higher blood pressure.Methods and Results: we studied blood pressure in 346 British men and women aged 22 years whose size had been measured at birth and for the first 10 years of life. Their childhood growth was characterized using a conditional method that, free from the effect of regression to the mean, estimated catch-up growth. People who had been small at birth but who gained weight rapidly during early childhood (1 to 5 years) had the highest adult blood pressures. Systolic pressure increased by 1.3 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.3 to 2.3) for every standard deviation score decrease in birth weight and, independently, increased by 1.6 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.6 to 2.7) for every standard deviation score increase in early childhood weight gain. Adjustment for adult body mass index attenuated the effect of early childhood weight gain but not of birth weight. Relationships were smaller for diastolic pressure. Weight gain in the first year of life did not influence adult blood pressure.Conclusions: part of the risk of adult hypertension is set in fetal life. Accelerated weight gain in early childhood adds to this risk, which is partly mediated through the prediction of adult fatness. The primary prevention of hypertension may depend on strategies that promote fetal growth and reduce childhood obesity

    A 2 h periodic variation in the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1

    No full text
    Spectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ?2 h periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to orbital motion, making it the first indication of the orbital period of Ser X-1. Together with the fact that the emission lines are remarkably narrow, but still resolved, we show that a main-sequence K dwarf together with a canonical 1.4 M? neutron star gives a good description of the system. In this scenario, the most likely place for the emission lines to arise is the accretion disc, instead of a localized region in the binary (such as the irradiated surface or the stream-impact point), and their narrowness is due instead to the low inclination (?10°) of Ser X-1

    Stable voters in an unstable party environment : continuity and change in Italian electoral behaviour

    No full text
    M.24981-1999 Paolo Segatti, Paolo Bellucci and Marco Maraffi. 30 cm. A previous version of this paper was presented at a symposium on Political Parties : Changing Roles in Contemporary Democracies, held at the Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences of the Juan March Institute, Madrid, December 15-17, 1994. -- P.1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59

    De Maiestate / Praeside M. Jacobo Thomasio, Moralis Philosoph. P. P., publice disputabit Johannes Dunte, R. L. Author & Respon: ad diem 9. Septembr. H L. Q. C.

    No full text
    DE MAIESTATE / PRAESIDE M. JACOBO THOMASIO, MORALIS PHILOSOPH. P. P., PUBLICE DISPUTABIT JOHANNES DUNTE, R. L. AUTHOR & RESPON: AD DIEM 9. SEPTEMBR. H L. Q. C. De Maiestate / Praeside M. Jacobo Thomasio, Moralis Philosoph. P. P., publice disputabit Johannes Dunte, R. L. Author & Respon: ad diem 9. Septembr. H L. Q. C. (1) Titelblatt (1) Widmung (2) Text (3) Beiträge (21

    Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts

    No full text
    We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more sophisticated methods

    Diagnostic performance of P wave duration in the identification of left atrial enlargement in dogs

    No full text
    Objectives: To determine sensitivity and specificity of P wave duration in the identification of left atrial enlargement (LAE) in dogs. Methods: Electrocardiograms (ECG) from normal dogs and dogs with various cardiovascular diseases were evaluated. Inclusion criteria were the availability of an ECG showing a stable isoelectric line, easily recognizable P waves and good quality 2D echocardiographic estimate of left atrial dimensions using the left atrial to aortic root ratio (LA/Ao). Using a metal caliper system, P wave duration was measured to the nearest 10 msec for six consecutive heart beats; data were then averaged for each dog. The accuracy of P wave duration in predicting LAE was determined using a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: 156 dogs were included in the study. Average P wave durations of 20, 30, 40 and 50 msec yielded sensitivities of 100%, 85%, 68% and 40% and specificities of 0%, 16.04%, 64.15% and 93.4%, respectively, for the diagnosis of LAE by echocardiography. The estimated Area Under Curve (AUC) of the ROC curve was 0.70 (95% confidence interval: 0.60-0.80). Clinical significance: The diagnostic performance of P wave duration for identification of LAE in dogs presents considerable limitations

    The long-wavelength view of GG Tau A: rocks in the ring world

    No full text
    We present the first detection of GG Tau A at centimetre wavelengths, made with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager Large Array at a frequency of 16 GHz (λ = 1.8 cm). The source is detected at >6 σrms with an integrated flux density of S16GHz = 249 ± 45 µJy. We use these new centimetre-wave data, in conjunction with additional measurements compiled from the literature, to investigate the long-wavelength tail of the dust emission from this unusual protoplanetary system. We use an MCMC-based method to determine maximum likelihood parameters for a simple parametric spectral model and consider the opacity and mass of the dust contributing to the microwave emission. We derive a dust mass of Md ~ 0.1 Msun, constrain the dimensions of the emitting region and find that the opacity index at λ > 7 mm is less than unity, implying a contribution to the dust population from grains exceeding ~4 cm in size. We suggest that this indicates coagulation within the GG Tau A system has proceeded to the point where dust grains have grown to the size of small rocks with dimensions of a few centimetres. Considering the relatively young age of the GG Tau association in combination with the low derived disc mass, we suggest that this system may provide a useful test case for rapid core accretion planet formation models
    corecore