In 1999, an insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution project was started in several malaria-endemic villages in Lao P.D.R., namely Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouanne Provinces. After the completion of the project, it was found that the ITNs were effective for malaria control based on the analysis of the slide positivity rate for malaria parasites between 1999 and 2000 [6]. We conducted malariometric, entomological and KAP surveys in 2005-06 to confirm the status of malaria and to determine the effectiveness of ITNs in three different socioepidemiological areas (near city, rural and remote), represented by the Xebangfay and Boualapha districts, Khammouanne Province.
A marked decrease in the annual malaria incidence and slide positivity rate was noted from 1999 to 2006 in the two districts. The malaria prevalence was significantly reduced in near city areas (5.6%-10.7% in 1999 to 0% in 2005-06) and rural areas (21.4%-50.9% in 1999 to 0%-1% in 2005-06). Twelve positive cases were recorded in remote areas (3.4 - 7.7% in 2006).
The illiteracy rate was significantly higher among the respondents in the remote (83.9%) than among those in the near city (32.7%) and rural (54%) areas. In all areas, more than 50% of the villagers indicated that they were not aware of malaria. Similarly, about 60% of the respondents were found to have incorrect knowledge concerning malaria transmission. In remote, 40.9% of the respondents were aware of the methods to prevent malaria infection and 49.5% used mosquito nets throughout the year, rates significantly lower than the corresponding rates in near city and rural. The density of persons per net in remote (3.1-5.9) was considerably higher than that in near city (1.8-2.1) and rural (1.2-2.7). Malaria vector mosquitoes, such as An. minimus and An. nivipes were collected by human-baited adult collection, and cow-baited and CDC light traps. The results of the analysis suggested that the lower the number of persons per net the more effective the reduction of malaria morbidity in these areas. It is imperative that ITN distribution and health education regarding malaria be strengthened, especially in remote, but also in other areas.

AIMTo assess the efficacy and limitation of free/total prostate-specific antigen ratio (f/tPSA) at a single institution in Japan, focusing on the avoidance of pointless prostate biopsies.

METHODSIn total, 631 men between 44 and 93 years old (mean 69.8 years) with elevated PSA underwent power-Doppler ultrasoundgraphy-guided transrectal 10-core prostate biopsies at Niigata Cancer Center Hospital, and their histological features were investigated with total PSA (tPSA) and f/tPSA.

RESULTSPCa was detected in 126 of 134 patients (94.3%) with tPSA of 26 ng/mL or higher. The detection rate was 59.4% for tPSA of 21-25 ng/mL, followed by 39.2% for 16-20 ng/mL, 30.0% for 11-15 ng/mL, 20.0% for 4.1-10 ng/mL and 7.6% for = or <4.0 ng/mL. f/tPSA of the PCa group was significantly lower than that of non-malignamt disorders in any tPSA ranges (mean 0.122 vs. 0.160, P<0.001). Receiver-operating characteristics analyses showed that f/tPSA (AUC:0.664) performed more valuably than tPSA (AUC:0.559) in patients with tPSA between 3.0-10 ng/mL (P<0.01). Although f/tPSA of 0.250 for the cut-off value might miss 1.8% PCa patients, it potentially spares 9.2% of unnecessary biopsies.

CONCLUSIONf/tPSA is more valuable compared with tPSA alone for the prediction of the occurrence of PCa. We recommend 0.250 as the cut-off value for f/tPSA in PCa screening for Asian men having so-called grey-zone tPSA.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Area Under Curve ; Humans ; Japan ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate ; diagnostic imaging ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; analysis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography, Doppler

AIMTo investigate the outcomes for Asian populations with locally advanced/clinical stage III prostate cancer (PCa) treated with currently prevailing modalities.

METHODSWe reviewed the record of 209 patients with clinical stage III PCa, who were treated at Niigata Cancer Center Hospital between 1992 and 2003. Treatment options included hormone therapy-combined radical prostatectomy (RP+HT), hormone therapy-combined external beam irradiation (EBRT+HT) and primary hormone therapy (PHT).

RESULTSThe 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 80.3% and 46.1% in all cohorts, respectively. The survival rates were 87.3% and 66.5% in the RP+HT group, 94.9% and 70.0% in the EBRT+HT group and 66.1% and 17.2% in the PHT group, respectively. A significant survival advantage was found in the EBRT+HT group compared with that in the PHT group (P < 0.0001). Also, the RP+HT group had better survival than the PHT group (P = 0.0107). The 5- and 10-year disease-specific survival rates for all cases were 92.5% and 80.0%, respectively. They were 93.8% and 71.4% in the RP+HT group, 96.6% and 93.6% in the EBRT+HT group and 88.6% and 62.3% in the PHT group, respectively. A survival advantage was found in the EBRT+HT group compared with the PHT group (P = 0.029). No significant difference was found in disease-specific survival between the EBRT+HT and RP+HT groups or between the RP+HT and PHT groups.

CONCLUSIONAlthough our findings indicate that radiotherapy plus HT has a survival advantage in this stage of PCa, we recommend therapies that take into account the patients'social and medical conditions for Asian men with clinical stage III PCa.

Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Japan ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatectomy ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

No abstract available.
Breast* ; Female ; Mammaplasty*

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the effects of high-fat diet feeding on the skeletal muscle persisted during aging using mice. Post-weaned male mice were fed a high-fat diet between 1- and 3-mo-old followed by return to supply a normal diet until 13-mo-old. Monthly physical tests demonstrated that age-related glucose intolerance that was generally developed after 10-mo-old in the control mice was significantly improved in mice fed a high-fat diet. Interestingly, mRNA expressions of Pdk4 , Ucp3, and Zmynd17 were up-regulated by high-fat feeding and persisted in the tibialis anterior muscle until 13-mo-old. At Pdk4 and Ucp3 loci, enhanced distributions of active histone modifications were noted in the high-fat-fed mice at 13-mo-old. In contrast, age-related accumulation of histone variant H3.3 at these loci was suppressed. These results indicated that epigenetic modifications caused by early nutrition mediated the changes in skeletal muscle gene expression during aging.