[Occult multicentric breast cancer].

The study included 92 patients with invasive ductal breast cancer (T2-4N0-2M0-1). In 38 cases, tumor growth was unicentric while histologically identifiable ones as multicentric in 44. Multicentricity mostly occurred in cases of macroscopically-identifiable nodes located in the central segments of the breast. Clinically-identifiable nodes of multicentric tumor growth measured more than 3 cm. Multicentric tumors were mostly grade III, featured lower expression of sex hormone receptors and positive Her2 status.

[A relationship of squamous-cell metaplasia with the pattern of the course of a respiratory epithelial dysplastic process].

The morphological signs of squamous-cell metaplasia were revealed in 65 out of 193 patients with varying bronchial mucosal changes. A follow-up of the patients indicated that in the group of patients with epithelial dysplasia without squamous-cell metaplasia, the prognosis was good in 65.6% of cases. In the group of patients with epithelial dysplasia and squamous-cell metaplasia, the prognosis was poor in 86.2% of cases.

[Genetic and clinical and pathological characteristics of breast cancer in premenopausal and postmenopausal women].

This study involved 525 breast cancer (BC) patients of T2-4N0-2M0 stages at the age of 35 years and older. Significant differences in clinical and pathological characteristics between premenopausal and postmenopausal BC patients were found. Mostly marked differences were shown for positive lymph node correlation with distant metastasis, multicentric growth and local recurrence depending on menopause status. The prevalence of various morphological structures in primary tumors was appeared to be associated with different forms of tumor progression in pre- and postmenopausal women. We have studied polymorphisms in 15 genes involved in major cancer related pathways (apoptosis, interleukins, folate metabolism enzymes genes). We found that variant genotypes of MTHFR and DHFR genes were associated with an increased BC risk among premenopausal women while polymorphism in IL-18, p53 genes were associated with BC among postmenopausal women. These results demonstrate novel biological information, which points the different mechanisms contributed to breast cancer progression in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

[Assay of matrix metalloproteinase levels and their endogenous inhibitors in patients with laryngeal carcinoma].

Levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2) and endogenous inhibitors (TIMP-1,-2) in tumor and blood serum from patients with squamous-cell laryngeal carcinoma were studied. Immunohistochemical investigation showed much higher MMP-9 expression (76.9%) and TIMP-1 (100%) in tumor tussue than MMP-2 (23.8%) and TIMP-2 (33.3%). Therefore, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels in blood serum alone were assayed. TIMP-1 levels in serum from patients were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects (p=0.023). High TIMP-1 levels in blood serum were recorded in patients with stage III laryngeal carcinoma and differed significantly from control (p=0.009). However, no correlation was found between them and MMP concentration in blood serum, on the one hand, and tumor size, on the other. High TIMP-1 levels in blood serum were recorded in patients free from metastasis to regional lymph nodes (124.5+39.5 ng/ml); however, they were lower than in those with such metastases (102.7+10.9 ng/ml) and significantly lower than in healthy subjects (p=0.023). There was a correlation between MMP-9 expression in tumor tissue, on the one hand, and involvement of regional lymph nodes, on the other, (p=0.054). In blood serum from patients showing tumor regression by 75-100% after radiotherapy, TIMP-1 levels were higher than in those with relatively lower response to the same treatment (p=0.072). Hence, assay of TIMP-1 levels in blood serum and MMP-9 concentration in tumor tissue may be used for assessment of tumor processes alongside standard procedures. Moreover, the former may be instrumental in predicting laryngeal response to radiotherapy.

Initial morphofunctional asymmetry of the adrenal glands in CBA/Lacy mice.

We performed morphological examination of the adrenal glands from intact CBA/Lacy mice. Morphometry, histochemistry, and electron microscopy revealed predominance of functional activity of the right adrenal gland. This phenomenon was associated with adaptive state of the animals. The observed differences are probably related to specific pattern of functioning of paired organs determined during embryogenesis.

Hemopoietic and lymphoid organs in AKR/JY mice with thymic lymphoma.

Cytological and histological studies of the thymus, bone marrow, peripheral blood, spleen, and lymph nodes in 6-9-month-old AKR/JY mice showed that the risk of thymic lymphoma in these animals increased with age. Generalization of the tumor process was observed in mice aged over 8 months and first involved the spleen, then the lymph nodes, bone marrow, and liver. A case of primary lymphoma in the spleen was detected.

Segmentation, not rhyming, predicts early progress in learning to read.

We present a longitudinal study of children in the first 2 years of learning to read. A battery of tests of phonological skills administered when the children were prereaders identified two distinct and relatively independent factors, Rhyming (defined by measures of rhyme detection and rhyme production) and Segmentation (defined by measures of phoneme identification and phoneme deletion). Segmentation was strongly correlated with attainment in reading and spelling at the end of the first year at school, while Rhyming was not. In addition, letter name knowledge predicted both reading and spelling skill and showed an interactive effect with children's segmentation skills. By the end of the second year of school, however, rhyming had started to exert a predictive effect on spelling, but not on reading. The results are discussed in the context of current theories of the role of phonological skills in learning to read.

Segmentation does predict early progress in learning to read better than rhyme: A reply to bryant

In our recent paper (Muter, Hulme, Snowling, & Taylor, 1997) we argued that measures of segmentation were better predictors of early progress in learning to read than were measures of rhyme. Bryant (1998, this issue), in his comment on our paper, has argued that this conclusion is flawed because the instructions used in our rhyme detection measure included the phrase "rhymes with or sounds like." We present new data showing that the instructions used do not have the effect Bryant claims: asking children which word "rhymes with" or which word "rhymes with or sounds like" a target word produces identical patterns of responses. We argue that Bryant's new measure derived from our data simply reflects children's global sensitivity to the similarity in sound between different words and that this measure provides no convincing support for his conclusion that sensitivity to onset and rime is a predictor of children's success in learning to read. We conclude that the data in our paper, as well as other recent evidence, support the view that measures of phonemic segmentation are better predictors of early reading skills than are measures of onset-rime sensitivity. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Segmentation, not rhyming, predicts early progress in learning to read.

We present a longitudinal study of children in the first two years of learning to read. A battery of tests of phonological skills administered when the children were prereaders identified two distinct and relatively independent factors, Rhyming (defined by measures of rhyme detection and rhyme production) and Segmentation (defined by measures of phoneme identification and phoneme deletion). Segmentation was strongly correlated with attainment in reading and spelling at the end of the first year at school, though Rhyming was not. In addition, letter name knowledge predicted both reading and spelling skill and showed an interactive effect with children's segmentation skills. By the end of the second year of school, however, rhyming had started to exert a predictive effect of spelling, but not on reading. The results are discussed in the context of current theories of the role of phonological skills in learning to read.

A longitudinal study of early intellectual development in hemiplegic children.

Thirty-eight 3- to 5-year-old children with unilateral lesions sustained pre- or peri-natally were studied longitudinally over a 2-year period, and their IQ scores compared with those of 20 "medical' controls. The failure to discover laterality effects following early unilateral injury supports the hypothesis of at least broad functional equipotentiality. There were few decrements in intellectual functioning provided the injury was not accompanied by seizures. The presence of seizures in contrast had a deleterious effect on both verbal and nonverbal aspects of cognitive functioning. While the IQs of the hemiplegic groups showed considerable stability over the 2-year span of the study, there was evidence that performance IQ, even in seizure-free patients, might be selectively impaired because of competition within the intact neural space for the sparing of verbal IQ.

[Prognostic significance of immunocompetent cell infiltration of breast tumor tissue]. / [Prognosticheskoe znachenie infil'tratsii stromy raka molochnoi zhelezy immunokompetentnymi kletkami.

The prognostic significance of stromal reaction in breast cancer patients has been identified. A reverse correlation between blast lymphocyte level in tumor and metastasis into the regional lymph nodes has been found. Patients with pronounced lympho-histiocytic infiltration receiving combined therapy are expected to have favorable prognosis.

A review of cognitive outcome after unilateral lesions sustained during childhood.

Views on human brain organization early in development have swung back and forth between the extreme notions of complete equipotentiality and adult-like specialization. Recent research on the cognitive effects of early brain damage supports an intermediate position and suggests that many claims on the older literature must be re-examined in the light of new evidence that cognitive impairments are sometimes attributable to previously ignored factors, such as a history of seizures, time since injury, and unsuspected lesions that are now detectable with neuroimaging techniques.

Orthographic analogies and phonological awareness: their role and significance in early reading development.

Two studies investigated young children's use of analogies in reading. In Study 1, 6-year-old children were trained to criterion on a series of clue words. Following training, they read more words that shared spelling patterns with the clue words than control words. However, this effect was reduced when the clue word was not exposed at post-test. Study 2 showed that there was a significant relationship between rhyming and analogizing at age 6, but the predictive relationship between phonological skills at ages 4 and 5 and use of analogy at age 6 was not significant.

[Effect of electromagnetic fields of a millimeter range on the blood system of animals depending upon their initial state and the zone of irradiation]. / Vliianie élektromagnitnykh kolebanii millimetrovogo diapazona na sistemu krovi zhivotnykh v zavisimosti ot ikh iskhodnogo sostoianiia i zony oblucheniia.

As a result of cytological investigations it was discovered that the millimeter range microwaves being applied once during one hour stimulated erythrocytopoiesis of intact mice and induced a change of the lymphocytes number in the blood. The reaction to the microwaves depends on the location of irradiation and animal initial state, which was estimated pertinent to the red blood cells and white blood cells number in the peripheric blood. These factors are of prognostic importance. For mice with initial white and red blood cells numbers less than 12 X 10(9) l and 8 X 10(12) l the change of erythrocytopoiesis in the left thigh and thorax bone marrow took place and lymphopenia developed due to the irradiation of hind left leg. For other animals the stimulation of erythrocytopoiesis in the right thigh bone marrow and lymphocytes was registered due to microwaves irradiation of the hind right leg. The microwave effect is considered as a combination of local and general changes. On the basis of quantitative analysis the preferable mechanism of microwaves action on the whole organism level is discussed.

[Antirecurrence action of preparations made from Listeria in the surgical removal of sarcoma 180]. / Protivoretsidivnoe deistvie preparatov iz listerii pri khirurgicheskom udalenii sarkomy 180.

It is shown that in spite of the absence of the marked inhibition of the tumour growth in the preparative period listeria preparations decreased the percentage of recurrances. Based on the results obtained a conclusion is drawn that injection of listeria preparations into the tumour for several days before its surgical removal may be an effective prophylactic means of the relapse development.

Functional differentiation within the neostriatum of the rat using electrical (blocking) stimulation during discrimination learning.

Sixteen rats, eight with bipolar electrodes implanted bilaterally in the anterodorsal head of the caudate-putamen and eight with similar electrodes in the posteroventral caudate-putamen, learned a spatial and a form discrimination task and their reversals while receiving "continuous" stimulation. Rats receiving stimulation to the anterodorsal caudate-putamen were imparied on spatial reversal learning compared with the posteroventral group. On form discrimination reversal the posteroventral group were impaired compared with the anterodorsal group. This dissociation is related to the particular cortical neostriatal projection system for the region stimulated and demonstrates a behavioral differentiation in rat neostriatum comparable with that observed in the monkey.