Time Of Manuscript Preparation Research Articles

Help-Seeking Behavior for Intimate Partner Violence among Racial Minority Women in Canada

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is experienced by women of all ethnoracial backgrounds. Despite the serious adverse impacts of IPV on women's lives, many abused women do not seek help. The main objective of this paper was to determine whether a woman's racial minority status was a significant predictor of help-seeking for IPV after controlling for other factors associated with help-seeking. Data from a national Canadian, cross-sectional, telephone survey were used. Help-seeking variables included disclosure of IPV, reporting IPV to police, the use of social services subsequent to IPV, and barriers to social service use. In the bivariate analyses, rates of disclosure and reporting to police were similar for racial minority and white women, however, racial minority women, compared to white women, were significantly less likely to use social services. After adjustment for age, marital status, household income, number of young children at home, immigration status, household language, and severity of IPV, racial minority status was not a significant predictor of help-seeking in the multivariate analysis. Our findings suggest that further investigation is necessary to understand what aspects of membership in a racial minority group or sytemic factors may be contributing to inequalities in accessing help for IPV.

Long-term remission with imatinib mesylate in Philadelphia chromosome-positive AML presenting as primary extramedullary myeloid sarcoma

In this case report, we describe the first account in the literature of a patient who presented with extramedullary myeloid sarcomas (EMS) and Ph+ AML without leukemic manifestations. EMS are rare, destructive, extramedullary tumor masses that consist of immature leukemia cells. These tumors can occur anywhere in the body and have to be differentiated from lymphoma, carcinoma or infectious processes. We report a previously healthy 61-year-old male who presented with progressive left-sided hip pain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the left hip joint revealed an extensive lytic lesion with pathological fracture of the femur. The lesion was confirmed by biopsy to be EMS with bcr-abl rearrangement in tumor cell nuclei by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Laboratory tests showed normal metabolic and complete blood counts with normal differential. Peripheral blood RT-PCR for bcr-abl was negative. Bone marrow examination revealed a normocellular with progressive trilineage hematopoiesis and no evidence of increased blast count. On the basis of available literature for the treatment of EMS, our patient received standard AML induction chemotherapy consisting of idarabucin and cytarabine. After cytogenetics studies of the bone marrow revealed bcr-abl rearrangement, we discontinued further chemotherapy and managed the patient with imatinib mesylate 400 mg p.o.q. day. Follow-up at time of manuscript preparation, the patient remains in complete cytogenetic remission (CCR) for 22 months. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of Ph+ AML presenting as a primary EMS without leukemic manifestations.

Lamivudine Plus Low-Dose Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin to Prevent Recurrent Hepatitis B Following Liver Transplantation

High-dose intravenous hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) may prevent recurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, but the cost has limited its widespread use in countries with endemic HBV infection. We report on long-term safety and efficacy of an alternative strategy of very low doses (400-800 IU/month) of intramuscular (IM) HBIG plus lamivudine. Australian and New Zealand patients who received low-dose HBIG plus lamivudine following liver transplantation for HBV-related end-stage liver disease were studied. Prior to transplantation, patients with detectable serum HBV DNA received lamivudine 100 mg daily. Posttransplantation, all patients received lamivudine 100 mg daily plus IM HBIG 400 or 800 IU daily for 1 week then monthly thereafter. Serum HBV DNA levels were measured prior to lamivudine, at transplantation, and at 12 months posttransplantation. Serum titers of antibody to HBV surface antigen were measured at 1, 3, and 12 months posttransplantation. Between February 1996 and October 2004, 147 patients received low-dose HBIG plus lamivudine. Thirty-one percent were hepatitis B e antigen positive, and 85% were HBV DNA+ prior to transplantation. The median duration of pretransplantation lamivudine was 92 days (range, 1-1775). Median follow-up posttransplantation was 1860 days. Kaplan-Meier patient survival was 92% at 1 year and 88% at 5 years. The actuarial risk of HBV recurrence was 1% at 1 year and 4% at 5 years. Baseline HBV DNA titer was associated with HBV recurrence. Low-dose IM HBIG plus lamivudine provides safe and effective long-term prophylaxis against recurrent HBV at <10% the cost of the high-dose regimen.

A comparison of microarray databases

Microarray technology has become one of the most important functional genomics technologies. A proliferation of microarray databases has resulted. It can be difficult for researchers exploring this technology to know which bioinformatics systems best meet their requirements. In order to obtain a better understanding of the available systems, a survey and comparative analysis of microarray databases was undertaken. The survey included databases that are currently available, as well as databases that should become available in early 2001. Databases fall into three categories: (i) those that can be installed locally, (ii) those available for public data submission and (iii) those available for public query. Developers of microarray gene-expression databases were asked questions regarding the scope and availability of their database, its system requirements, its future compliance with MGED (Microarray Gene Expression Database) standards, and its associated analytical tools. Participants included AMAD (Stanford/Berkeley/UCSF), ArrayExpress (EBI), ChipDB (MIT/Whitehead), GeneX (NCGR), GeNet (Silicon Genetics), GeneDirector (BioDiscovery), GEO (NCBI), GXD (Jackson Laboratory), mAdb (NCI), maxdSQL (University of Manchester), NOMAD (UCSF), RAD (University of Pennsylvania) and SMD (Stanford University). Other database developers were contacted but data was not available at the time of manuscript preparation. Each database fulfils a different role, reflecting the widely varying needs of microarray users.

Staphyloma Formation as a Complication of Ultrasound Treatment in Glaucoma-Reply

In Reply. —Dr Wilensky has described a complication in a patient referred to the New York Hospital/ Cornell Medical Center for therapeutic ultrasound treatment. In our recent article describing the initial clinical results of the ultrasound treatment on our first 42 patients with a minimum three-month follow-up, all complications and side effects noted at the time of manuscript preparation are discussed. 1 The clinical trial has continued, and to date over 160 patients have been treated. Our development of this new treatment modality has afforded us the unique opportunity to assess prognostic variables and risk factors in a purely prospective manner. Ongoing exploratory data analysis has identified three cases of visible scleral defects or staphylomas in adults. In the 16 patients aged 15 years or younger who were treated, visible scleral defects were noted in four (including Dr Wilensky's patient), and is related inversely to treatment efficacy. As the sample