Bounds on multipartite entangled orthogonal state discrimination using local operations and classical communication.

We show that entanglement guarantees difficulty in the discrimination of orthogonal multipartite states locally. The number of pure states that can be discriminated by local operations and classical communication is bounded by the total dimension over the average entanglement. A similar, general condition is also shown for pure and mixed states. These results offer a rare operational interpretation for three abstractly defined distancelike measures of multipartite entanglement.

Risk factors for alloimmunization by patients with sickle cell disease.

Blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is limited by the development of alloantibodies to erythrocytes. In the present study, the frequency and risk factors for alloimmunization were determined. Transfusion records and medical charts of 828 SCD patients who had been transfused and followed at the Belo Horizonte Blood Center, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, were retrospectively reviewed. Alloimmunization frequency was 9.9% (95% CI: 7.9 to 11.9%) and 125 alloantibodies were detected, 79% of which belonged to the Rhesus and Kell systems. Female patients developed alloimmunization more frequently (P = 0.03). The median age of the alloimmunized group was 23.3 years, compared to 14.6 years for the non-alloimmunized group (P < 0.0001). Multivariate analyses were applied to the data for 608 hemoglobin (Hb) SS or SC patients whose number of transfusions was recorded accurately. Number of transfusions (P = 0.00006), older age (P = 0.056) and Hb SC (P = 0.02) showed independent statistical associations with alloimmunization. Hb SC patients older than 14 years faced a 2.8-fold higher (95% CI: 1.3 to 6.0) risk of alloimmunization than Hb SS patients. Female Hb SC patients had the highest risk of developing alloantibodies. In patients younger than 14 years, only the number of transfusions was significant. We conclude that an increased risk of alloimmunization was associated with older patients with Hb SC, specially females, even after adjustments were made for the number of transfusions received, the most significant variable.

Risk factors for alloimmunization by patients with sickle cell disease

Blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is limited by the development of alloantibodies to erythrocytes. In the present study, the frequency and risk factors for alloimmunization were determined. Transfusion records and medical charts of 828 SCD patients who had been transfused and followed at the Belo Horizonte Blood Center, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, were retrospectively reviewed. Alloimmunization frequency was 9.9 percent (95 percent CI: 7.9 to 11.9 percent) and 125 alloantibodies were detected, 79 percent of which belonged to the Rhesus and Kell systems. Female patients developed alloimmunization more frequently (P = 0.03). The median age of the alloimmunized group was 23.3 years, compared to 14.6 years for the non-alloimmunized group (P < 0.0001). Multivariate analyses were applied to the data for 608 hemoglobin (Hb) SS or SC patients whose number of transfusions was recorded accurately. Number of transfusions (P = 0.00006), older age (P = 0.056) and Hb SC (P = 0.02) showed independent statistical associations with alloimmunization. Hb SC patients older than 14 years faced a 2.8-fold higher (95 percent CI: 1.3 to 6.0) risk of alloimmunization than Hb SS patients. Female Hb SC patients had the highest risk of developing alloantibodies. In patients younger than 14 years, only the number of transfusions was significant. We conclude that an increased risk of alloimmunization was associated with older patients with Hb SC, specially females, even after adjustments were made for the number of transfusions received, the most significant variable.

A study of clinical features of cough variant asthma.

Patients with cough variant asthma (CVA) and classic asthma are frequently among subjects who present at clinics complaining of a chronic persistent cough. To reveal the features of CVA, we examined the differences in the clinical appearance between CVA and classic asthma. Ten CVA subjects and 11 classic asthmatics were enrolled in the study; they were recruited among patients who presented at the National Minamiokayama Hospital complaining of a chronic cough. The number of eosinophils in peripheral blood was 256 +/- 45.8/microl in CVA and 400 +/- 123/microl in classic asthma. Eosinophils represented 67% of the cells of sputum in CVA and 82% in classic asthma. Bronchial responsiveness to methacholine was Dmin 1.37 +/- 0.56 U in CVA and 0.71 +/- 0.46 U in classic asthma. There was no significant difference in these three parameters. There was only a significant difference in V25 between CVA and classic asthma, 80.0 +/- 6.9 and 52.2 +/- 10.0%, respectively. Eosinophil inflammation was almost the same in both CVA and classic asthma.

Prevalence of functional dyspepsia and its relationship with Helicobacter pylori infection in a Japanese population.

AIM: To investigate the prevalence of functional dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori infection and their relationship in a Japanese population. METHODS: Two thousand five hundred people who visited Shimane Institute of Health Science for their annual medical check-up from September 1998 to August 1999 were prospectively enrolled in the study. After routine medical examination, including an upper gastrointestinal study and an ultrasonographic examination, all subjects were asked standard questions to check for the presence of any symptoms that suggested dyspepsia. Helicobacter pylori infection was determined by using a serum IgG antibody concentration with an ELISA. RESULTS: Of the 2,500 persons investigated, 2,263 showed no abnormal finding in any medical examination. The presence or absence of symptoms and H. pylori infection was investigated in these 2,263 cases. Of these, 201 people (8.9%) experienced nausea, fullness and/or early satiety and were diagnosed as having dysmotility-like dyspepsia, while 118 people (5.2%) experienced pain localized to the epigastrium and were diagnosed as having ulcer-like dyspepsia. The frequency of these symptoms had a tendency to decline with age, although this was not statistically significant. In contrast, the rate of H. pylori infection increased with age. There was no significant relationship between H. pylori infection and any type of functional dyspepsia. CONCLUSIONS: Helicobacter pylori infection does not influence the prevalence of the dysmotility-like and ulcer-like dyspeptic symptoms.

Remote information concentration using a bound entangled state.

Remote information concentration, the reverse process of quantum telecloning, is presented. In this scheme, quantum information originally from a single qubit, but now distributed into three spatially separated qubits, is remotely concentrated back to a single qubit via an initially shared entangled state without performing any global operations. This entangled state is a single unlockable bound entangled state and we analyze its properties.

A cross-cultural comparison of British and Japanese lay theories of schizophrenia.

Nearly 300 matched British and Japanese participants completed an equivalent three-part questionnaire in their native language. The questionnaire covered general beliefs or conceptions about schizophrenia, causal explanations for the aetiology of schizophrenia, as well as the role of hospitals in particular, and society in general, in helping schizophrenics recover from their illness. It was predicted that the Japanese, who have more taboos about mental illness than the British, would see schizophrenics as more difficult, dangerous and "morally insane". Factor analysis of each of the three parts of the questionnaire yielded a clearly interpretable structure. The British were more concerned with the rights of schizophrenics and believed them to be less dangerous and abnormal than did the Japanese. The Japanese favoured sociological (stress) explanations more than the British for the cause of schizophrenia. Whereas the Japanese saw micro- and macro-society change as the best way to help schizophrenics, the British stressed individual care and consideration as more relevant.

Low socioeconomic status is a strong independent predictor of relapse in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The results of the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children depend not only on the biologic diversity of the leukemia cell, the multi-drug treatment schedule and the individual variability of drug metabolism, but also on the socioeconomic and cultural background of the leukemic child. Social and cultural disparity is very marked in underdeveloped countries and has been increasing in industrialized nations. The prognostic influences of these factors are poorly documented and sometimes mistakenly attributed to differences in ethnic origin. We have investigated in Brazil the relative impact of malnutrition and socioeconomic status on the outcome of ALL, adjusting for the known influence of biologic factors. Children with ALL (n = 167) treated with a Berlin-Frankfurt-Munster-based protocol were studied prospectively. At a median follow-up of 1623 days, the estimated probability of disease-free survival was 43 +/- 4%. The main cause for interruption of remission was bone-marrow relapse. Socioeconomic indicators of poverty (poor housing conditions, low per capita income and energy consumption) were significantly associated with a greater risk of relapse in univariate analysis. They were consolidated in a single index, socioeconomic status (SES), defined by the product of monthly per capita income times mean familial daily energy consumption. Other unfavorable findings included age, z score for the height for age at diagnosis (HAZ) below-1.28 and the z score for weight for age below-1.28. After adjustment in Cox's multivariate model, only HAZ and poor SES remained as predictive factors for relapse. Poor prognosis for leukemic children of low SES is just another indicator of social inequality.

Primary hepatic non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in children: a case report and review of the literature.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas presenting exclusively in the liver are rather uncommon in adults and extremely rare in children. We describe a six-year-old white boy with jaundice, abdominal pain, and weight loss of two weeks duration. Physical examination disclosed asthenia, jaundice, abdominal swelling, large hepatomegaly, and ascitis. Aminotransferases bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase were significantly elevated. Bone marrow aspiration, cerebrospinal fluid, chest x-ray, renal function tests, and uric acid were normal. Abdominal ultrasound showed liver enlargement with irregular regular borders, many parenchymal nodules in both liver lobes, a large hypoechogenic mass in the inferior segment of the liver, normal biliary ducts and two pancreatic nodules resembling those in the liver. Liver needle biopsy disclosed diffuse lymphomatous infiltration. Blast cells were positive for leukocyte common antigen (CD 45). Immunohistochemistry study for T or B cell lineage differentiation was not done. The child showed an excellent response to chemotherapy based on the BFM-83 protocol for B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. The patient had his therapy discontinued in June 1995 and remains in first complete remission as of May 20th, 1996.

["High jugular bulb": clinical feature, radiographical findings and differential diagnosis, a case report].

Anatomically, the top portion of the jugular bulb lies just below the floor of the hypotympanum. In rare instances, it can protrude upward and elevate the floor of the hypotympanum thus placing it in the middle ear. Such a case is called high jugular bulb. This anatomical variation has been found in 3.5% to 6% of the temporal bones studied in several reports. But, clinically, only 43 cases have been reported, because in most cases they are asymptomatic. A 17-year-old female was hospitalized with right hearing disturbance and dizziness. Neurootological examination revealed sensory neuronal hearing disturbance. A caloric test was scaled out. Axial bone window CT scan demonstrated an enlarged jugular bulb and an extended upward projecting hypotympanum. MRI indicated flow void in the same region. Retrograde jugulography has been the most useful method for diagnosis but we were able to diagnose it by noninvasive MR angiography. High jugular bulb is an unfamiliar disease entity for neurosurgeons, but we should remember that it is one of the differential diagnosis for c-p angle regions or jugular foramen regions.

Malnutrition as a prognostic factor in lymphoblastic leukaemia: a multivariate analysis.

One hundred and twenty eight Brazilian children with lymphoblastic leukaemia were intensively treated with a Berlin-Frankfurt-Munich based protocol. More children had a white cell count above 50 x 10(9)/l (31%) then observed in developed countries. After a median follow up of 31 months (11-58 months), the estimated probability of relapse free survival was 41% (7%) for the whole group. After adjustment in the Cox's multivariate model, malnutrition was the most significant adverse factor affecting duration of complete remission. Age above 8 years and high peripheral white cell count were also significant adverse factors. Among the nutritional indices, the height for age and weight for age z scores were both significant, whether the cut off points of z-2 or z = -1.28 were chosen to define malnutrition. A strong statistical association between the two indices was found; the contribution of height for age z score to the prediction of relapse free survival was more significant. Children with height for age z score < -2 had a relapse risk of 8.2 (95% confidence interval 3.1 to 21.9) relative to children with z score > -2. The results of this study suggest that socioeconomic and nutritional factors should be considered in the prognostic evaluation of children with leukaemia in developing countries.

[Statistic evaluation of prognostic risk factors in penetrating keratoplasty using Cox multiple regression model].

Preoperative risk factors that may influence the prognosis in penetrating keratoplasty were statistically analyzed on 698 consecutive eye that had been operated on at the University of Tokyo Hospital. A Cox multiple regression model (proportional hazards models) was constructed with simultaneous consideration of follow-up periods and prognostic factors. Six preoperative risk factors were identified: corneal endothelial damage, the presence of anterior synechiae, glaucoma, older donor age, the area of vascularization, and aphakia or pseudophakia. Simulations of the prognosis were attempted using the significant factors.

[Study on safety of sodium hyaluronate (SL-1010) by injection in the anterior chamber].

We investigated effects of a newly developed sodium hyaluronate (SL-1010) on the anterior segment of the eye. The tested sodium hyaluronate was biosynthesized using Streptococcus zoo-epidemicus. Under an operating microscope, we replaced the aqueous humor of Macaca fascicularis (n = 3) with 150 microliters of 1% sodium hyaluronate solution without loss of the anterior chamber. The opposite eye was treated as a control and its aqueous was replaced with the same volume of the vehicle, isotonic phosphate buffer solution. We performed follow-up clinical examination with slit-lamp microscopy, pachymetry, pneumotonometery, and specular microscopy. On the 7th day, we performed histological study by light microscopy, transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Although the sodium hyaluronate group showed a significant increase of intraocular pressure at 9 hours after the treatment over the control, there were no significant differences in clinical findings between the sodium hyaluronate and the control groups. Histological studies demonstrated nothing particular except for slight swelling of mitochondria of corneal endothelial cells in both groups. It was concluded that the newly developed sodium hyaluronate is a biologically inactive and safe biomaterial.

[Ocular effects of topical instillation of UF-021 ophthalmic solution in healthy volunteers].

Phase I studies, as divided into two stages, were conducted in healthy volunteers with the ophthalmic solution of UF-021, a novel prostaglandin metabolite-related compound, that was reported to exhibit potent intraocular pressure (IOP)-reducing activity in various species of animals. In the first stage, the vehicle as well as UF-021 ophthalmic solutions at concentration of 0.03%, 0.06% and 0.09% were applied topically to the eyes of 8 healthy volunteers to determine their respective effects through observations on the IOP, and local ocular and systemic side effects. In the second stage, 2 dosages of UF-021 ophthalmic solution, 0.06% and 0.12%, were applied topically to 11 healthy volunteers to investigate the IOP-reducing activities and local ocular side effects. The results revealed that ophthalmic solutions of UF-021 at concentrations ranging from 0.03% to 0.12% reduced IOP in a dose-dependent manner with neither systemic nor local ocular controversial side effects at those dosage levels. In summary, UF-021 ophthalmic solutions, when administered to healthy volunteers through single instillation, reduced IOP significantly without causing any side effects.

Effect of single oral administration of nilvadipine on cerebral blood flow in chronic cerebral infarction.

UNLABELLED: The effect of nilvadipine, a newly developed calcium antagonist, on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was investigated in 7 patients with chronic cerebral infarction. rCBF was measured by the 133Xenon inhalation method. Patients were given a single dose of 4 mg of nilvadipine after the first measurement of rCBF, and the second measurement was done one hour after the administration. All patients had hemiparesis and 2 of them had mild to moderate mental deterioration, but all patients could walk to the outpatient clinic by themselves. RESULTS: (1) rCBF of the affected side significantly increased by 22.7% after single oral administration of nilvadipine (p < 0.05). The increase of rCBF was significantly marked in frontal regions of the affected hemispheres. (2) No significant changes in blood pressure or end tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide were observed during the examination. These results indicate that nilvadipine has a potent selective vasodilatory action on the cerebral arteries in patients with cerebral infarction.

Effects of nicorandil on regional cerebral blood flow in patients with chronic cerebral infarction. Preliminary communication.

The effect of a single oral dose of nicorandil (N-2-(hydroxyethyl)-nicotinamide nitrate, CAS 65141-46-0) on the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was studied in 9 patients with cerebral infarction. The rCBF was measured by the Xe-133 inhalation method before and after a single oral 10 mg dose of nicorandil. Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was mildly but significantly decreased. PeCO2 did not change significantly. Mean rCBF was significantly increased by 20.9% after administration of nicorandil (p less than 0.05). No significant correlation between percentage change in the MABP and percentage change in the rCBF was observed. These results indicate that nicorandil is not just a coronary vasodilator, but also possesses beneficial effects on the cerebral circulation in patients with cerebral infarction.

The effect of enalapril maleate on cerebral blood flow in chronic cerebral infarction.

UNLABELLED: The influence of long-term oral administration of enalapril maleate (an angiotensin II-converting enzyme inhibitor) on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was studied in 10 patients with chronic cerebral infarction. The rCBF was measured by a 133Xe inhalation method before and after a mean of sixty-five days' administration of 5 mg of enalapril. RESULTS: Mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) was mildly decreased in 6 patients, but the average change in MABP was not significant (Endtidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PeC02) was not changed significantly. The mean rCBF was increased by 8% after administration of enalapril (0.05 less than p less than 0.1) There was no significant correlation between percent change in MABP and the percent change in rCBF. These results indicate that enalapril has not only antihypertensive action but also a beneficial effect on the cerebral circulation in patients with chronic cerebral infarction.

[Corneal endothelial cell damage in penetrating keratoplasty].

Fifty-eight corneal grafts were investigated by specular microscopy to determine the corneal endothelial damage in penetrating keratoplasty. The center of the donor corneal endothelium was examined before and after 2 weeks, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. The cell density decreased periodically during the observation period, and the endothelial cell loss in all the cases averaged 10. 4% at 2 weeks after the operation, 16.0% at 1 month, 33.0% at 3 months, 39.4% at 6 months, and 48. 2% at 12 months. However, the cell loss in the keratoconus subgroup averaged -1.9%, 1.2%, 9.9%, 30. 6%, and 33.4% corresponding to the above period. The least cell loss among the diagnostic subgroups was in the keratoconus, followed by corneal leukoma. The cell loss in bullous keratopathy was higher than in keratoconus and corneal leukoma case. It was concluded that the cell loss in penetrating keratoplasty during the first postoperative year depends on the primary disease.

[Food-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis caused by small round structured virus. 2. An outbreak associated with bakery product consumption].

In December 1989, an outbreak of gastroenteritis associated with cake consumption occurred in a day-care center with 60 children and 12 staff in Saitama prefecture. Children were served cakes at the Christmas party held in the day-care center and ate them with their families. Thirty-three of the 59 children (56%), 16 of the 74 families (22%) and 1 of the 10 staff (10%) eating the cakes became ill. Illness consisted primarily of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fever; the median incubation period was 31 hours. Bacteriological analysis of stool specimens did not reveal a causative agent. Small round structured viruses (SRSV) were detected in fecal specimens from 10 of the 17 ill children (59%) and 2 of the 6 ill families (33%) by electron microscopy. Cakes were purchased from a bakery where an employee who prepared the cake denied symptoms, and SRSV was not detected in the fecal specimen from the employee. Thus, it was not determined that the cake was contaminated by a food handler.