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Showing papers by "University of Barcelona published in 2001"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Irbesartan is renoprotective independently of its blood-pressure-lowering effect in patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria, and serious adverse events were less frequent among the patients treated with the drug.
Abstract: Background Microalbuminuria and hypertension are risk factors for diabetic nephropathy. Blockade of the renin–angiotensin system slows the progression to diabetic nephropathy in patients with type 1 diabetes, but similar data are lacking for hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes. We evaluated the renoprotective effect of the angiotensin-II–receptor antagonist irbesartan in hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria. Methods A total of 590 hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria were enrolled in this multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of irbesartan, at a dose of either 150 mg daily or 300 mg daily, and were followed for two years. The primary outcome was the time to the onset of diabetic nephropathy, defined by persistent albuminuria in overnight specimens, with a urinary albumin excretion rate that was greater than 200 μg per minute and at least 30 percent higher than the base-line level. Results The base-line characteristics...

2,853 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The GAIA astrometric mission has recently been approved as one of the next two ''cornerstones'' of ESA's science programme, with a launch datetarget of not later than mid-2012 as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The GAIA astrometric mission has recently been approved as one of thenext two ``cornerstones'' of ESA's science programme, with a launch datetarget of not later than mid-2012. GAIA will provide positional andradial velocity measurements with the accuracies needed to produce astereoscopic and kinematic census of about one billion stars throughoutour Galaxy (and into the Local Group), amounting to about 1 percent ofthe Galactic stellar population. GAIA's main scientific goal is toclarify the origin and history of our Galaxy, from a quantitative censusof the stellar populations. It will advance questions such as when thestars in our Galaxy formed, when and how it was assembled, and itsdistribution of dark matter. The survey aims for completeness to V=20mag, with accuracies of about 10 mu as at 15 mag. Combined withastrophysical information for each star, provided by on-boardmulti-colour photometry and (limited) spectroscopy, these data will havethe precision necessary to quantify the early formation, and subsequentdynamical, chemical and star formation evolution of our Galaxy.Additional products include detection and orbital classification of tensof thousands of extra-Solar planetary systems, and a comprehensivesurvey of some 105-106 minor bodies in our SolarSystem, through galaxies in the nearby Universe, to some 500 000 distantquasars. It will provide a number of stringent new tests of generalrelativity and cosmology. The complete satellite system was evaluated aspart of a detailed technology study, including a detailed payloaddesign, corresponding accuracy assesments, and results from a prototypedata reduction development. (Less)

1,281 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A scaling law is reported that governs both the elastic and frictional properties of a wide variety of living cell types, over a wide range of time scales and under a variety of biological interventions, and implies that cytoskeletal proteins may regulate cell mechanical properties mainly by modulating the effective noise temperature of the matrix.
Abstract: We report a scaling law that governs both the elastic and frictional properties of a wide variety of living cell types, over a wide range of time scales and under a variety of biological interventions. This scaling identifies these cells as soft glassy materials existing close to a glass transition, and implies that cytoskeletal proteins may regulate cell mechanical properties mainly by modulating the effective noise temperature of the matrix. The practical implications are that the effective noise temperature is an easily quantified measure of the ability of the cytoskeleton to deform, flow, and reorganize.

1,166 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study showed no survival benefit for chemoradiotherapy but revealed a potential benefit for adjuvant chemotherapy, justifying further randomised controlled trials of adjUvant chemotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

990 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jun 2001-Brain
TL;DR: The predictors of mortality and PEM evolution found in the study may be important in the design of future therapeutic protocols, and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the underlying tumour.
Abstract: We reviewed 200 patients with paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis (PEM) and anti-Hu antibodies to show possible clinical differences with respect to previous series, and to identify patient, tumour and treatment-related characteristics associated with neurological disability and survival. The median age of the 200 patients was 63 years (range 28–82 years) and 75% were men. The predominant neurological syndromes were sensory neuropathy (54%), cerebellar ataxia (10%), limbic encephalitis (9%) and multifocal involvement (11%). Sensorimotor neuropathies with predominant motor involvement were observed in only 4% of the patients. Pathological or X-ray evidence of a tumour was obtained in 167 patients (83%) and was a small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) in 74% of those with histological diagnosis. Coexistence of extrathoracic tumours with SCLC was rare (0.5%). Positive Hu immunoreactivity was observed in the extrathoracic tumours of six out of seven patients in whom autopsy or long-term follow-up ruled out a coexisting SCLC. PEM preceded the diagnosis of the tumour in 71% of patients (mean delay ± SD 6.5 ± 7.0 months; range 0.1–47 months). In the 24 patients in whom the tumour diagnosis was the initial event, PEM predicted the progression or relapse of the tumour in 87% of them. No tumour was found in 33 patients, including four who had a post-mortem study and four with >5 years of follow-up. In a logistic regression analysis, treatment of the tumour, associated or not with immunotherapy, was an independent predictor of improvement/stabilization of PEM [odds ratio 4.56; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.62–12.86]. Cox multivariate analysis indicated that the variables independently associated with mortality were: age >60 years [relative risk (RR) 1.49; 95% CI 1.05–2.12], Rankin score at diagnosis >3 (RR 1.60; 95% CI 1.12–2.28), more than one area of the nervous system affected (RR 1.61; 95% CI 1.08–2.40), and absence of treatment (RR 2.56; 95% CI 1.76–3.71). We conclude that, unlike previous series, the majority of our patients were male, and there was a low occurrence of predominantly motor neuropathies and extrathoracic tumours coexisting with SCLC. When the diagnosed extrathoracic tumour expresses Hu antigens, further tests to rule out a coexisting SCLC are probably unnecessary. Finally, the predictors of mortality and PEM evolution found in the study may be important in the design of future therapeutic protocols, and emphasize the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the underlying tumour.

767 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Radiofrequency ablation with cooled‐tip needle for HCC is associated with a high risk of neoplastic seeding, and has to be considered when selecting curative treatments for H CC or adjuvant therapies before liver transplantation.

710 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Fenton reagent has been used to test the degradation of different organic compounds in aqueous solution and eliminates the toxic substances and increases the biodegradability of the treated water (measured as the ratio BOD5/COD).

588 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
15 Jun 2001-Science
TL;DR: The unexpected result is that the chirality sign of these homoassociates can be selected by vortex motion during the aggregation process and this result is confirmed by means of circular dichroism spectra.
Abstract: Achiral diprotonated porphyrins, forming homoassociates in aqueous solution, lead to spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. The unexpected result is that the chirality sign of these homoassociates can be selected by vortex motion during the aggregation process. This result is confirmed by means of circular dichroism spectra. These experimental findings are rationalized in terms of the asymmetric influence of macroscopic forces on bifurcation scenarios and by considering the specific binding characteristics of the porphyrin units to form the homoassociates.

581 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, sea surface temperature (SST) profiles over the last 25 kyr derived from alkenone measurements are studied in four cores from a W-E latitudinal transect encompassing the Gulf of Cadiz (Atlantic Ocean), the Alboran Sea, and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (western Mediterranean).
Abstract: Sea surface temperature (SST) profiles over the last 25 kyr derived from alkenone measurements are studied in four cores from a W-E latitudinal transect encompassing the Gulf of Cadiz (Atlantic Ocean), the Alboran Sea, and the southern Tyrrhenian Sea (western Mediterranean). The results document the sensitivity of the Mediterranean region to the short climatic changes of the North Atlantic Ocean, particularly those involving the latitudinal position of the polar front. The amplitude of the SST oscillations increases toward the Tyrrhenian Sea, indicating an amplification effect of the Atlantic signal by the climatic regime of the Mediterranean region. All studied cores show a shorter cooling phase (700 years) for the Younger Dryas (YD) than that observed in the North Atlantic region (1200 years). This time diachroneity is related to an intra-YD climatic change documented in the European continent. Minor oscillations in the southward displacement of the North Atlantic polar front may also have driven this early warming in the studied area. During the Holocene a regional diachroneity propagating west to east is observed for the SST maxima, 11.5–10.2 kyr B.P. in the Gulf of Cadiz, 10–9 kyr B.P. in the Alboran Sea, and 8.9–8.4 kyr B.P. in the Thyrrenian Sea. A general cooling trend from these SST maxima to present day is observed during this stage, which is marked by short cooling oscillations with a periodicity of 730±40 years and its harmonics.

481 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
05 Apr 2001-Nature
TL;DR: It is found that dislocations generate a slowly evolving configuration landscape which coexists with rapid collective rearrangements and should provide a framework for discussing fundamental aspects of plasticity that goes beyond standard mean-field approaches that see plastic deformation as a smooth laminar flow.
Abstract: The viscoplastic deformation (creep) of crystalline materials under constant stress involves the motion of a large number of interacting dislocations. Analytical methods and sophisticated 'dislocation dynamics' simulations have proved very effective in the study of dislocation patterning, and have led to macroscopic constitutive laws of plastic deformation. Yet, a statistical analysis of the dynamics of an assembly of interacting dislocations has not hitherto been performed. Here we report acoustic emission measurements on stressed ice single crystals, the results of which indicate that dislocations move in a scale-free intermittent fashion. This result is confirmed by numerical simulations of a model of interacting dislocations that successfully reproduces the main features of the experiment. We find that dislocations generate a slowly evolving configuration landscape which coexists with rapid collective rearrangements. These rearrangements involve a comparatively small fraction of the dislocations and lead to an intermittent behaviour of the net plastic response. This basic dynamical picture appears to be a generic feature in the deformation of many other materials. Moreover, it should provide a framework for discussing fundamental aspects of plasticity that goes beyond standard mean-field approaches that see plastic deformation as a smooth laminar flow.

461 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A classification of mixed three-qubit states is introduced, in which the classes of separable, biseparable, W, and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states are successively embedded into each other.
Abstract: We introduce a classification of mixed three-qubit states, in which we define the classes of separable, biseparable, $W$, and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states. These classes are successively embedded into each other. We show that contrary to pure $W$-type states, the mixed $W$ class is not of measure zero. We construct witness operators that detect the class of a mixed state. We discuss the conjecture that all entangled states with positive partial transpose (PPTES) belong to the $W$ class. Finally, we present a new family of PPTES ``edge'' states with maximal ranks.

Journal ArticleDOI
10 Feb 2001-Langmuir
TL;DR: This study deals with the production, purification, and identification of rhamnolipids in the mixture (M7), as well as their physical and chemical characterization and the evaluation of their antimicrobial properties.
Abstract: The rhamnolipids produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains are often a mixture of several homologues. Up to seven (R2C10C10 + R1C10C10 + R2C10C12 + R1C10C12 + R1C12:1C10 + R1C12:2 + R1C8:2 ) have been identified in cultures of P. aeruginosa AT10 from soybean oil refinery wastes. This study deals with the production, purification, and identification of rhamnolipids in the mixture (M7), as well as their physical and chemical characterization and the evaluation of their antimicrobial properties. The surface tension decreases to 26.8 mN/m and the critical micelle concentration value to 1.2 × 102 mg/L. These molecules show excellent antifungal properties against Aspergillus niger and Gliocadium virens (16 μg/mL) and C. globosum, P. crysogenum, and A. pullulans (32 μg/mL), whereas the growth of the phytopathogenic fungi B. Cinerea and R. solani was inhibited at 18 μg/mL.

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Feb 2001-Nature
TL;DR: This first molecular view of the break-up of Gondwana provides a new temporal framework for speciation events within other Gondwanan biota and can be used to evaluate competing biogeographical hypotheses.
Abstract: The origin of the ratites, large flightless birds from the Southern Hemisphere, along with their flighted sister taxa, the South American tinamous, is central to understanding the role of plate tectonics in the distributions of modern birds and mammals. Defining the dates of ratite divergences is also critical for determining the age of modern avian orders. To resolve the ratite phylogeny and provide biogeographical data to examine these issues, we have here determined the first complete mitochondrial genome sequences of any extinct taxa--two New Zealand moa genera--along with a 1,000-base-pair sequence from an extinct Madagascan elephant-bird. For comparative data, we also generated 12 kilobases of contiguous sequence from the kiwi, cassowary, emu and two tinamou genera. This large dataset allows statistically precise estimates of molecular divergence dates and these support a Late Cretaceous vicariant speciation of ratite taxa, followed by the subsequent dispersal of the kiwi to New Zealand. This first molecular view of the break-up of Gondwana provides a new temporal framework for speciation events within other Gondwanan biota and can be used to evaluate competing biogeographical hypotheses.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The SMT protocol was used in a study of a reservoir, which allowed to calculate the P stock, therefore helping to predict the restoration delay of the lake, and is useful tools in the field of water management.
Abstract: An analytical protocol for the determination of the extractable phosphorus contents in freshwater sediments has been harmonized through interlaboratory studies in the frame of the Standards Measurements and Testing Program of the European Commission. A homogeneous and stable sediment reference material has been prepared and certified on the basis of this protocol named SMT protocol, and will be available in spring of 2001. The SMT protocol, together with the reference material, are useful tools in the field of water management, especially at a time when quality assurance and data comparability are of paramount importance in laboratory analysis. The knowledge of the bioavailable forms of phosphorus is important not only for sediments but also for sludge and soils. Therefore, the SMT protocol could be extended to these materials and new CRMs could be prepared. The SMT protocol was used in a study of a reservoir, which allowed to calculate the P stock, therefore helping to predict the restoration delay of the lake. The paper describes the protocol and the CRM, and gives a brief outline of the case study.

Journal ArticleDOI
06 Mar 2001-Langmuir
TL;DR: In this paper, the formation of nano-emulsions was studied in the system water/Brij 30/decane at 25 °C by three low-energy emulsification methods: stepwise addition of oil to a water−surfactant mixture, stepwise adding water to a solution of the surfactant in oil, and mixing all the components in the final composition.
Abstract: Formation of nano-emulsions has been studied in the system water/Brij 30/decane at 25 °C by three low-energy emulsification methods: (A) stepwise addition of oil to a water−surfactant mixture, (B) stepwise addition of water to a solution of the surfactant in oil, and (C) mixing all the components in the final composition. Nano-emulsions with average droplet size of 50 nm and high kinetic stability have been obtained only at oil weight fractions, R, lower than 0.3 by emulsification method B. Independent of the oil weight fraction, R, emulsions obtained by method B have lower polydispersity than those obtained by methods A and C. Phase behavior studies have revealed that compositions giving rise to nano-emulsions consist of Wm, (O/W microemulsion), Lα (lamellar liquid crystalline), and O (oil) phases, at equilibrium. It has been shown that equilibrium properties cannot fully explain nano-emulsion formation. Low values of equilibrium interfacial tensions and phase equilibrium involving a lamellar liquid cry...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Translocation of enteric organisms to mesenteric lymph nodes is increased in patients with advanced cirrhosis and is reduced to the level found in non-cirrhotic patients by selective intestinal decontamination.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The effective diffusion coefficient for the overdamped Brownian motion in a tilted periodic potential is calculated in closed analytical form and Universality classes and scaling properties for weak thermal noise are identified near the threshold tilt where deterministic running solutions set in.
Abstract: The effective diffusion coefficient for the overdamped Brownian motion in a tilted periodic potential is calculated in closed analytical form. Universality classes and scaling properties for weak thermal noise are identified near the threshold tilt where deterministic running solutions set in. In this regime the diffusion may be greatly enhanced, as compared to free thermal diffusion with, for a realistic experimental setup, an enhancement of up to 14 orders of magnitude.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The mesoscopic nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory is used to derive the general kinetic equation of a system in the presence of potential barriers, and its validity is generalized through the formulation of a scaling law for the diffusion coefficient which depends on the shape of the boundaries.
Abstract: We use the mesoscopic nonequilibrium thermodynamics theory to derive the general kinetic equation of a system in the presence of potential barriers. The result is applied to a description of the evolution of systems whose dynamics is influenced by entropic barriers. We analyze in detail the case of diffusion in a domain of irregular geometry in which the presence of the boundaries induces an entropy barrier when approaching the exact dynamics by a coarsening of the description. The corresponding kinetic equation, named the Fick-Jacobs equation, is obtained, and its validity is generalized through the formulation of a scaling law for the diffusion coefficient which depends on the shape of the boundaries. The method we propose can be useful to analyze the dynamics of systems at the nanoscale where the presence of entropy barriers is a common feature.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used the Cosmology Project (SCP) to fit R-band intensity measurements along the light curve of Type Ia supernovae to templates allowing a free parameter the time-axis width factor w identically equal to s times (1+z).
Abstract: R-band intensity measurements along the light curve of Type Ia supernovae discovered by the Cosmology Project (SCP) are fitted in brightness to templates allowing a free parameter the time-axis width factor w identically equal to s times (1+z). The data points are then individually aligned in the time-axis, normalized and K-corrected back to the rest frame, after which the nearly 1300 normalized intensity measurements are found to lie on a well-determined common rest-frame B-band curve which we call the composite curve. The same procedure is applied to 18 low-redshift Calan/Tololo SNe with Z < 0.11; these nearly 300 B-band photometry points are found to lie on the composite curve equally well. The SCP search technique produces several measurements before maximum light for each supernova. We demonstrate that the linear stretch factor, s, which parameterizes the light-curve timescale appears independent of z, and applies equally well to the declining and rising parts of the light curve. In fact, the B band template that best fits this composite curve fits the individual supernova photometry data when stretched by a factor s with chi 2/DoF ~;~; 1, thus as well as any parameterization can, given the current data sets. The measurement of the data of explosion, however, is model dependent and not tightly constrained by the current data. We also demonstrate the 1 + z light-cure time-axis broadening expected from cosmological expansion. This argues strongly against alternative explanations, such as tired light, for the redshift of distant objects.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There appears to be some relationships between aspects of physical and social environment and physical activity participation, however, future research is needed to refine and clarify this.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A continuous phase transition between a sparse and a congested regime is observed and accurately described by an order parameter and the power spectra and scaling properties are observed when the size of the system varies.
Abstract: We present a simple model of communication in networks with hierarchical branching. We analyze the behavior of the model from the viewpoint of critical systems under different situations. For certain values of the parameters, a continuous phase transition between a sparse and a congested regime is observed and accurately described by an order parameter and the power spectra. At the critical point the behavior of the model is totally independent of the number of hierarchical levels. Also scaling properties are observed when the size of the system varies. The presence of noise in the communication is shown to break the transition. The analytical results are a useful guide to forecasting the main features of real networks.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Nov 2001-Medicine
TL;DR: The clinical and serologic features of the largest series of patients with catastrophic APS hitherto reported are described, including 30 new cases from interested physicians in many different countries, as well as a comprehensive literature review of 50 additional recently published case reports with this syndrome.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The findings suggest that BMI-1 gene alterations in human neoplasms are uncommon, but they may contribute to the pathogenesis in a subset of malignant lymphomas, particularly of mantle cell type.
Abstract: The BMI-1 gene is a putative oncogene belonging to the Polycomb group family that cooperates with c-myc in the generation of mouse lymphomas and seems to participate in cell cycle regulation and senescence by acting as a transcriptional repressor of the INK4a/ARF locus. The BMI-1 gene has been located on chromosome 10p13, a region involved in chromosomal translocations in infant leukemias, and amplified in occasional non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) and solid tumors. To determine the possible alterations of this gene in human malignancies, we have examined 160 lymphoproliferative disorders, 13 myeloid leukemias, and 89 carcinomas by Southern blot analysis and detected BMI-1 gene amplification (3- to 7-fold) in 4 of 36 (11%) mantle cell lymphomas (MCLs) with no alterations in the INK4a/ARF locus. BMI-1 and p16INK4a mRNA and protein expression were also studied by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot, respectively, in a subset of NHLs. BMI-1 expression was significantly higher in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and MCL than in follicular lymphoma and large B cell lymphoma. The four tumors with gene amplification showed significantly higher mRNA levels than other MCLs and NHLs with the BMI-1 gene in germline configuration. Five additional MCLs also showed very high mRNA levels without gene amplification. A good correlation between BMI-1 mRNA levels and protein expression was observed in all types of lymphomas. No relationship was detected between BMI-1 and p16INK4a mRNA levels. These findings suggest that BMI-1 gene alterations in human neoplasms are uncommon, but they may contribute to the pathogenesis in a subset of malignant lymphomas, particularly of mantle cell type.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the atomic hydrogen content for a total of 1900 spirals in the fields of 18 nearby clusters was derived by comparing the H I-deficiency distributions of the galaxies inside and outside one Abell radius (RA) of each cluster, and two-thirds of the clusters in their sample showed a dearth of neutral gas in their interiors.
Abstract: We derive the atomic hydrogen content for a total of 1900 spirals in the fields of 18 nearby clusters. By comparing the H I-deficiency distributions of the galaxies inside and outside one Abell radius (RA) of each cluster, we find that two-thirds of the clusters in our sample show a dearth of neutral gas in their interiors. Possible connections between the gaseous deficiency and the characteristics of both the underlying galaxies and their environment are investigated in order to gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for H I depletion. While we do not find a statistically significant variation of the fraction of H I-deficient spirals in a cluster with its global properties, a number of correlations emerge that argue in favor of the interplay between spiral disks and their environment. In the clusters in which neutral gas deficiency is pronounced, we see clear indications that the degree of H I depletion is related to the morphology of the galaxies and not to their optical size; early-type and probably dwarf spirals are more easily emptied of gas than the intermediate Sbc-Sc types. Gas contents below 1/10, and even 1/100, of the expectation value have been measured, implying that gas removal is very efficient. The radial extent of the region with significant gas ablation can reach up to 2RA. Within this zone, the proportion of gas-poor spirals increases continuously toward the cluster center. The wealth of 21 cm data collected for the Virgo region has made it possible to study the two-dimensional pattern of H I deficiency in that cluster. The map of gas deficiency in the Virgo central area points to an scenario in which gas losses result from the interaction of the disks with the inner hot intracluster gas around M87. We also find evidence that gas-poor spirals in H I-deficient clusters move in orbits more radial than those of the gas-rich objects. The implications of all these results on models of how galaxies interact with their environment are reviewed. Hydrodynamic effects appear as the most plausible cause of H I removal.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The adaptation and normalisation of MMS provides the Spanish population with a highly valuable screening tool.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This study provides strong evidence of the effectiveness of CPAP treatment in improving symptoms and perceived health status in moderate to severe SAHS.
Abstract: Application of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as the standard treatment for sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (SAHS) is a moot point. Studies on the effectiveness of this treatment have been challenged because of the lack of a suitable placebo. The recent description of a true placebo (sham CPAP) prompted us to conduct a randomized trial of CPAP or placebo to assess the effectiveness of CPAP in improving SAHS-related symptoms and daytime function in patients with moderate to severe SAHS. Forty-eight patients, stratified in four groups according to severity, were randomly allocated into two treatment groups (optimal and sham CPAP) for a 6-wk period. Of these, 45 completed follow-up (91% males; age: 54 ± 10 yr; body mass index [BMI]: 32 ± 6 kg/m2; apnea-hypopnea index [AHI]: 54 ± 19 events/h; and Epworth Sleepiness Scale [ESS]: 16 ± 5). The ESS, a questionnaire on SAHS-related symptoms, Functional Outcomes Sleep Questionnaire (FOSQ), and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) were completed at inclusi...

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Feb 2001-Brain
TL;DR: It is concluded that idiopathic OMS occurs in younger patients, the clinical evolution is more benign and the effect of immunotherapy appears more effective than in paraneoplastic OMS.
Abstract: We analysed a series of 24 adult patients with idiopathic (10 cases) and paraneoplastic (14 cases) opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) to ascertain possible differences in clinical course and response to immunotherapies between both groups. Associated tumours were small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) (nine patients), non-SCLC (one patient), breast carcinoma (two patients), gastric adenocarcinoma (one patient) and kidney carcinoma (one patient). Patients with paraneoplastic OMS were older [median age: 66 years versus 40 years (P = 0.006) of those with idiopathic OMS] and had a higher frequency of encephalopathy (64% versus 10%; P = 0.02). Serum from 10/10 idiopathic and 12/14 paraneoplastic OMS patients showed no specific immunoreactivity on rat or human brainstem or cerebellum, lacked specific antineuronal antibodies (Hu, Yo, Ri, Tr, glutamic acid decarboxylase, amphiphysin or CV2) and did not contain antibodies to voltage-gated calcium channels. The two paraneoplastic exceptions were a patient with SCLC, whose serum contained both anti-Hu and anti-amphiphysin antibodies and a patient with breast cancer who had serum anti-Ri antibodies. The clinical course of idiopathic OMS was monophasic except in two elderly women who had relapses of the opsoclonus and mild residual ataxia. Most idiopathic OMS patients made a good recovery, but residual gait ataxia tended to persist in older patients. Immunotherapy (mainly intravenous immunoglobulins or corticosteroids) seemed to accelerate recovery. Paraneoplastic OMS had a more severe clinical course, despite treatment with intravenous immunoglobulins or corticosteroids, and was the cause of death in five patients whose tumours were not treated. By contrast the eight patients whose tumours were treated showed a complete or partial neurological recovery. We conclude that idiopathic OMS occurs in younger patients, the clinical evolution is more benign and the effect of immunotherapy appears more effective than in paraneoplastic OMS. In patients aged 50 years and older with OMS who develop encephalopathy, early diagnosis and treatment of a probable underlying tumour, usually SCLC, is indicated to increase the chances of neurological recovery. At present, there are no immunological markers to identify the adult patients with paraneoplastic OMS.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, an adaptation of the phoneme monitoring task for speech production was used to determine whether the target language that bilinguals are not using is nonetheless activated, and three experiments were conducted in which highly fluent Catalan-Spanish bilinguals had to decide whether a certain phoneme was in the Catalan name of a picture.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There were statistically significant differences in values for 34.9% of health states rated directly, and some preference reversals between countries, and further analysis is required to determine how these differences affect cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses.
Abstract: Few studies have compared preference values for health states obtained in different countries. The present study compared Spanish and United Kingdom (UK) time trade-off values for EuroQol-5D health...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is proposed that the effects of PPARalpha activation on expression of the brown fat-specific uncoupling protein-1 (ucp-1) gene mediates ucp-1 gene up-regulation associated with adipogenic differentiation or in coordination with gene expression for the fatty acid oxidation machinery required for active thermogenesis.