This is the first report to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of the Rituxan chimeric anti-CD20 antibody in combination with standard-dose CHOP in the treatment of aggressive B-cell lymphoma. The clinical responses are at least comparable to those achieved with CHOP alone with no significant added toxicity. The presence or absence of the bcl-2 translocation did not affect the ability of patients to achieve a CR with this regimen. The ability to achieve sustained remissions in patients with an IPI score > or = 2 warrants further investigation with a randomized study.

Glucocorticoids are one of the two main classes of hormones, along with mineralocorticoids, which are secreted from the adrenal cortex. Since the discovery of the anti-inflammatory properties of the natural glucocorticoid hydrocortisone, a large number of artificial glucocorticoids have been synthesized to attempt to increase efficacy and decrease side effects. These drugs are now considered one of the most commonly prescribed agents in veterinary practice. The effect of these drugs has been shown to vary significantly between species. Cats appear to tolerate glucocorticoids well, resulting in these drugs being recommended for a wide variety of conditions; however, there are few studies on the effects of glucocorticoids in cats. In this paper we review some of the available literature on glucocorticoid use in the cat.

An important aspect of qualitative research is reaching saturation-loosely, a point at which observing more data will not lead to discovery of more information related to the research questions. However, there has been no validated means of objectively establishing saturation. This article proposes a novel quantitative approach to measuring thematic saturation based on a sound statistical model. The model is validated on two data sets from different qualitative research projects involving interviews, focus groups, and literature surveys. The proposed model provides consistent estimates of saturation across data sets, within branches of data sets, and over the course of a research project. The model can be used for both quantifying saturation and estimating the number of observations required to achieve a specified level of saturation.

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Skin is the outermost layer of the human body which regulates the body temperature and protects the body from abrasion and water loss. The Young's Modulus of skin is measured as a ratio of the stress applied to the skin in vitro or in vivo over the skin deformation. Skin is found to be highly anisotropic and Young's Modulus is found to be dependent on orientation with respect to Langer's lines, where highest value is seen in the parallel orientation, and can be twice the perpendicular values. Young's Modulus decreases up to three orders of magnitude with hydration. An inverse relationship between skin's thickness and Young's Modulus is observed. It can be concluded that the thickness of skin increases with age until 30 years and varies inversely with age after then. This paper summarises evidence for correlation of Young's Modulus with intramural and extraneous factors such as Langer's lines, skin's thickness, ageing and hydration.

Fourteen cats received either daily prednisolone (4.4 mg/kg per os [PO]) or dexamethasone (0.55 mg/kg PO) for 56 days. These doses were clinically equipotent. Serum fructosamine and urine glucose were measured on days 0, 28, and 56. Insulin sensitivity, glucose tolerance, and peak insulin secretion were measured in each group prior to and at the end of the courses of glucocorticoid administration. On day 56, the prevalence of glucosuria was significantly greater (P=0.027), and a trend was seen toward greater fructosamine concentrations (P=0.083) in dexamethasone-treated cats compared to prednisolone-treated cats. The results of this pilot study also showed a trend toward a greater decrease in insulin sensitivity (P=0.061) and a significantly lower compensatory increase in insulin secretion (P=0.081) in the dexamethasone-treated cats than in cats administered prednisolone. These preliminary data suggest that dexamethasone exhibits greater diabetogenic effects in cats than equipotent doses of prednisolone. Further study is justified to support this hypothesis.

Pulse wave analysis (PWA) is widely used to investigate systemic arterial stiffness. The augmentation index (AIx), the primary outcome derived from PWA, is influenced by the mean arterial pressure (MAP), age, gender and heart rate (HR). Gender-and age-specific reference values have been devised, and it is recommended that the MAP be used as a statistical covariate. The AIx is also commonly statistically adjusted to a HR of 75 b·min; however, this approach may be physiologically and statistically inappropriate. First, there appears to be an important physiological chronic interaction between HR and arterial stiffness. Second, the method used to correct to HR assumes that the relationship with AIx is uniform across populations. A more appropriate practice may be to include HR as an independent predictor or covariate; this approach is particularly recommended for longitudinal studies, in which changes in HR may help to explain changes in arterial stiffness.

We concluded that Pulsecor R6.5 provides a simple and easy method to noninvasively estimate central SBP, which has highly acceptable accuracy.