Intensifying the Hormonal and Radiation Treatment in Prostate Cancer Presenting With Bulky Pelvic Lymph Nodes: An Opportunity for a New Paradigm.

Locally advanced prostate cancer may rarely present with bulky pelvic lymph nodes without distant metastasis. Patients may be treated with curative intent. Dual hormonal therapy including luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist in combination with abiraterone or enzalutamide can be utilized neoadjuvantly to shrink bulky disease. This can be followed by radical doses of radiotherapy. This intensified treatment is tolerable. Prostate-specific membrane antigen scan can be utilized to assess staging and treatment response. Here, we present a case of a non-metastatic locally advanced prostate cancer with bulky pelvic lymph nodes. The patient was treated neoadjuvantly with dual hormonal therapy followed by radical doses of radiotherapy. The patient tolerated the treatment well and had a promising early response.

Micro-wires self-assembled and 3D-connected with the help of a nematic liquid crystal.

We discuss a method for producing automatic 3D connections at right places between substrates in front of one another. The idea is based on the materialization of disclination lines working as templates. The lines are first created in the nematic liquid crystal (5CB) at the very place where microwires have to be synthesized. Due to their anchoring properties, colloids dispersed into the nematic phase produce orientational distortions around them. These distortions, which may be considered as due to topological charges, result in a nematic force, able to attract the colloids towards the disclinations. Ultimately, the particles get trapped onto them, forming micro- or nano-necklaces. Before being introduced in the nematic phase, the colloids are covered with an adhering and conducting polypyrrole film directly synthesized at the surface of the particles (heterogeneous polymerization). In this manner, the particles become conductive so that we may finally perform an electropolymerization of pyrrole monomers solved in 5CB, and definitely stick the whole necklace. The electric connection thus synthesized is analyzed by AFM, and its strength is checked by means of hydrodynamic tests. This wiring method could allow Moore's law to overcome the limitations that arise when down-sizing the electronic circuits to nanometer scale.

Mortality and employment after in-patient opiate detoxification.

AIM: We considered that completed opiate detoxification resulted in increased life expectancy and earning capacity as compared to non-completed detoxification. METHODS: The cohort study sample included pure opioid or poly-substance addicts admitted for voluntary in-patient detoxification between 1997 and 2004. Of 404 patients, 58.7% completed the detoxification program and 41.3% did not. The Austrian Social Security Institution supplied data on survival and employment records for every single day in the individual observation period between discharge and December 2007. Statistical analyses included the calculation of standardized mortality rates for the follow-up period of up to 11 years. RESULTS: The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were between 13.5 and 17.9 during the first five years after discharge, thereafter they fell clearly with time. Mortality did not differ statistically significantly between completers and non-completers. The median employment rate was insignificantly higher in completers (12.0%) than in non-completers (5.5%). The odds for being employed were higher in pure opioid addicts than in poly-substance addicts (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The assumption that completers of detoxification treatment have a better outcome than non-completers has not been confirmed. The decrease in mortality with time elapsed since detoxification is interesting. Pure opioid addicts had better employment prospects than poly-substance addicts.

Risk factors for scabies among male soldiers in Pakistan: case-control study.

Being a preventable disease, good control of scabies can be achieved by identification of risk factors. During the 3-month period February 2006-April 2006 we carried out a case-control study on 200 patients with scabies and 200 controls to identify risk factors for scabies among male soldiers in Pakistan. We identified risk factors for the infestation using logisitic regression analysis. Itching in family/dormitory mates, infrequent bathing, infrequent changing of clothes, low education, sharing beds and being away from the barracks were identified as significant risk factors for scabies, while overcrowding, large family size and sharing of towels and hospitalisation were not.

Risk factors for scabies among male soldiers in Pakistan: case-control study

Being a preventable disease, good control of scabies can be achieved by identification of risk factors. During the 3-month period February 2006-April 2006 we carried out a case-control study on 200 patients with scabies and 200 controls to identify risk factors for scabies among male soldiers in Pakistan. We identified risk factors for the infestation using logisitic regression analysis. Itching in family/dormitory mates, infrequent bathing, infrequent changing of clothes, low education, sharing beds and being away from the barracks were identified as significant risk factors for scabies, while overcrowding, large family size and sharing of towels and hospitalisation were not

Consanguineous marriage resulting in homozygous occurrence of X-linked retinoschisis in girls.

PURPOSE: To investigate a family afflicted with X-linked retinoschisis and to determine the pedigree leading to such an occurrence. DESIGN: Observational case series. METHODS: Visual acuities were measured at The Aga Khan University Hospital Ophthalmology clinic. Slit-lamp examination, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopies were performed on each of the seven members of this family. The pedigree was established by appropriate questioning about the rest of their family. RESULTS: The pedigree revealed the homozygosity of the four daughters for the XLRS mutations borne out of the consanguineous marriage between an affected father and a carrier mother. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report showing that consanguineous marriages lead to homozygous pairing of XLRS genes in female children, as concluded after a MEDLINE search.

Cancer patterns in the Middle East--special report from the Middle East Cancer Society.

To update its cancer statistics, the newly established Middle East Cancer Society examined the cancer frequency patterns in Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The results revealed differing overall patterns. For men the highest frequencies were found for lymphoma, bladder cancer and cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx in Egypt, and for lung cancer, leukaemia and lymphoma in Gaza. For women, breast cancer had the highest frequency in both areas, followed by cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx in Egypt, and leukaemia and lymphoma in Gaza. The distribution of cancer occurrence by organ system also varied. In the light of the different ethnicities, lifestyles, socioeconomic levels and carcinogenic exposure among the countries of the Middle East, this kind of comparison can provide the background for more sophisticated approaches for discerning risk factors in cancer. We believe that further cooperation among participating countries will overcome the present limitations in data collection, registration and access.

Ruptured cerebral hydatid cyst: a case report.

In this report we describe a case of cerebral hydatid cyst which ruptured into the subarachnoid space and suggest points which help in the preoperative diagnosis.