Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E R Berger.
We introduce generalized quark and gluon distributions in the deuteron, which can be measured in exclusive processes like deeply virtual Compton scattering and meson electroproduction. We discuss the basic properties of these distributions and point out how they probe the interplay of nucleon and parton degrees of freedom in the deuteron wave function.
OBJECTIVES: To analyze the relationship of age and race to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels among participants in a community-based study. METHODS: A total of 77,700 records of men aged 40 to 79 years were analyzed from a longitudinal study of PSA conducted during Prostate Cancer Awareness Week 1993 and 1994. Records from 1994 were not included for men who were tested in 1993. All cases of prostate cancer were excluded. Records with outlier PSA values greater than 20 ng/mL were eliminated from the analysis (n = 190; 24%). RESULTS: Mean PSA values (ng/mL) of 10-year age groups differed significantly (P < 0.0001) between each group (ages 40-49, 0.83; 50-59, 1.23; 60-69, 1.83; 70-79, 2.31). In each successively older age group, PSA variance increased significantly (P = 0.0001). Standard deviations (SD) by age group were: 40-49, 0.79; 50-59, 1.33; 60-69, 1.94; and 70-79, 2.35. Significant differences in mean PSA by race were found. Pairwise differences in mean PSA were found between whites and blacks, whites and Latinos, blacks and Asians, and Asians and Latinos (P < 0.0001). No statistically significant differences in PSA variance between racial groups were found. Age-within-race analysis resulted in consistent statistical significance when comparing variance among age cohorts in each race. CONCLUSIONS: Age-specific PSA reference ranges are a result of the increasing mean PSA and increasing PSA variance in successively older cohorts of men. Mean PSA values differ significantly by race, but differences in PSA variance do not. The clinical significance of race-specific PSA reference ranges has yet to be determined.
Prostate Cancer Awareness Week was begun in 1989 to investigate whether men could be recruited to participate in free prostate cancer screening. Initially designed to raise public awareness of "the ignored male disease", it has become the largest single cancer screening program in the United States. In 1992, more than 500,000 men were examined by digital rectal examination (DRE) and more than half of these also by measuring prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Although the populations examined have been generally better educated than the national average, predominantly white, and typically (> 40%) experiencing some symptom of prostate disease, adherence to annual prostate examinations remains low among successive cohorts of participants. Prostate cancers detected through this program exhibit a more favorable stage distribution than the national average. From 1989 through 1992, many cancers were detected by using the effective combination of DRE and PSA testing, which resulted in more stage A disease being diagnosed and fewer stage B, C, and D tumors. Data from 1992 suggest that increasing sophistication is possible with PSA test results, and age-specific PSA reference ranges have been developed.
A 22-yr-old primigravada developed a hemorrhagic diathesis 6 days after delivering a normal female infant and was found to have an immunoglobulin inhibitor of factor VIII (15 Bethesda units). The patient was treated with prednisone and the bleeding stopped soon thereafter. Her inhibitor titer decreased over the next 8 mo, at which time no inhibitor was detectable. Nine months later she became pregnant again and proceeded to have an uneventful pregnancy and delivery of a normal female infant without evidence of a recurrence of the inhibitor. Studies of 3H-thymidine incorporation into the patient's lymphocytes in the presence of her own plasma or plasmas from her husband, normals, a von Willebrand patient, and a hemophilic patient yielded equivocal results. Analysis of VIII:CAg using 2 different antisera failed to discern immunologic differences between the VIII:CAg of the patient, her husband, or her first child. A review of the literature revealed that there were no recurrences with second pregnancies in any of the 8 patients with postpartum factor VIII inhibitors whose inhibitors had completely disappeared prior to delivery. While the pathogenesis of this disorder remains uncertain, the apparently favorable prognosis for such patients should be considered in counselling with regard to future pregnancies.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.