Adult

Paclitaxel is an active agent for adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus and is a radiation sensitizer. We sought to investigate the toxicity and complete response rate of paclitaxel, cisplatin, and concurrent radiation for esophageal cancer. Forty-one patients with esophageal cancer were studied, 29 with adenocarcinomas and 12 with squamous cell cancers. Twelve patients had tumor extension into the proximal stomach and/or abdominal adenopathy.

PURPOSE: To investigate the incidence of and variables associated with clinically evident fat necrosis in women treated on a protocol of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy alone without external-beam whole-breast irradiation for early-stage breast carcinoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From 6/1997 until 8/1999, 30 women diagnosed with Stage I or II breast carcinoma underwent surgical excision and postoperative irradiation via HDR brachytherapy implant as part of a multi-institutional clinical Phase I/II protocol.

PURPOSE: To investigate the feasibility, toxicity, cosmetic outcome, and local control of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy alone without whole breast external beam irradiation for early-stage breast carcinoma. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Between June 1997 and August 1999, 32 women diagnosed with a total of 33 AJCC Stage I/II breast carcinomas underwent surgical breast excision and postoperative irradiation using HDR brachytherapy interstitial implantation as part of a multi-institutional clinical Phase I/II protocol.

Studies were conducted to directly test whether the introduction of telomerase protects cancer-prone human mammary epithelial cells from chromosomal instability and spontaneous immortalization. Using a model for Li Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), infection of human telomerase resulted in maintenance of telomere lengths, extension of in vitro lifespan, and prevention of spontaneous immortalization.

A new retrospective interview assessment of childhood psychological abuse, an extension to the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse (CECA) instrument, is described in a companion article (Moran, Bifulco, Ball, Jacobs, & Benaim, 2002). The purpose of the present article is to examine the relationship of childhood psychological abuse to other adverse childhood experiences and to major depression and suicidal behavior in adult life. Childhood experience and lifetime disorder were assessed retrospectively in a high-risk, community series of London women (n = 204).

Cognitive plasticity, a developmental trait that promotes acquisition of complex skills such as language or playing musical instruments, diminishes substantially during puberty. The loss of plasticity has been attributed to surge of sex steroids during adolescence, but the phenomenon remains poorly understood. We hypothesize that pineal involution during puberty may contribute to plasticity decay. The pineal gland produces melatonin, the level of which declines dramatically during onset of puberty.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the processing time and neuromuscular delay required to extract and process sensory information from the ankle in order to coordinate an upper extremity movement sequence. METHODS: Nineteen able-bodied subjects were tested on their ability to perform a motor task that involved extension of their left index finger when their left ankle was passively plantar flexed at random velocities through a predetermined target angle. RESULTS: We found that the able-bodied subjects were able to adjust their finger responses up to ankle velocities of 70 degrees /s (300 ms).

A comparison of the data published in anatomy textbooks and anthropological tables does not reveal any change in basic heart dimensions during the period since the beginning of the 20th century to nowadays. However, normal values of many other parameters have changed up to 30% over the same period. These changes may be caused by the acceleration phenomenon or the extension of average lifespan.

BACKGROUND: Family studies and heritability estimates provide evidence for a genetic contribution to variation in the human life span. METHODS: We conducted a genome wide association study (Affymetrix 100K SNP GeneChip) for longevity-related traits in a community-based sample. We report on 5 longevity and aging traits in up to 1345 Framingham Study participants from 330 families.

The sirtuin 1 protein (SIRT1) is a member of the class III NAD+-dependent histone deacetylases, which are also referred to as the 'sirtuins'. The sirtuins and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) in particular, are known to play a role in the response to DNA damage, metabolism, longevity and carcinogenesis. SIRT1 regulates different cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis through deacetylation of important regulatory proteins such as p53, FOXO3a and NFkappaB.