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Introduction: Worldwide, the estimated prevalence of urinary incontinence is 8.7%. Urinary incontinence is more frequent in women than in men. Posing the right questions is crucial, when diagnosing urinary incontinence, but also to evaluate the need of treatment and treatment effect. Therefore, reliable and validated questionnaires within this area are needed. Even though the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) has been used on a daily basis in the Danish Urogynaecological Database since 2006, it has not yet been validated in a Danish population of both men and women., Objective: To test the reliability and validity of the Danish version of the ICIQ-UI SF in a Danish speaking population of men and women among municipal employees., Methods: Content validity was evaluated with semi-structured interviews. A quantitative field test was performed, in which the questionnaire was distributed electronically to municipal workers by E-mail. Statistical methods included item characteristics (missings, kurtosis and skewness), internal consistency (Chronbach's alfa), test-retest (ICC), construct validity (known group validation), and floor and ceiling effect., Results: A number of 1814 Danish municipal workers completed the questionnaire. Of the total number of responders, 426 were invited to complete the questionnaire twice (for test-retest) and 215 (50.5%) of these completed the questions again two weeks later. Statistical analyses of the ICIQ-UI SF demonstrated no floor and ceiling effects, skewness was zero and kurtosis 0.00-0.49. Cronbach's alfa was 0.87 and intraclass correlation coefficient 0.73. Two out of three hypotheses were accepted in the known-groups validation., Conclusion: This study offers an adaptation of the ICIQ-UI SF to a Danish setting. The Danish ICIQ-UI SF demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity. However, clinicians should consider the relatively high measurement error., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction: Overexpression of the oxygen-responsive transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) correlates with poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. The mouse mammary tumor virus polyoma virus middle T (MMTV-PyMT) mouse is a widely utilized preclinical mouse model that resembles human luminal breast cancer and is highly metastatic. Prior studies in which the PyMT model was used demonstrated that HIF-1α is essential to promoting carcinoma onset and lung metastasis, although no differences in primary tumor end point size were observed. Using a refined model system, we investigated whether HIF-1α is directly implicated in the regulation of tumor-initiating cells (TICs) in breast cancer., Methods: Mammary tumor epithelial cells were created from MMTV-PyMT mice harboring conditional alleles of Hif1a, followed by transduction ex vivo with either adenovirus β-galactosidase or adenovirus Cre to generate wild-type (WT) and HIF-1α-null (KO) cells, respectively. The impact of HIF-1α deletion on tumor-initiating potential was investigated using tumorsphere assays, limiting dilution transplantation and gene expression analysis., Results: Efficient deletion of HIF-1α reduced primary tumor growth and suppressed lung metastases, prolonging survival. Loss of HIF-1α led to reduced expression of markers of the basal lineage (K5/K14) in cells and tumors and of multiple genes involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. HIF-1α also enhanced tumorsphere formation at normoxia and hypoxia. Decreased expression of several genes in the Notch pathway as well as Vegf and Prominin-1 (CD133)was observed in response to Hif1a deletion. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that CD133 expression was reduced in KO cells and in tumorspheres. Tumorsphere formation was enhanced in CD133hi versus CD133neg cells sorted from PyMT tumors. Limiting dilution transplantation of WT and KO tumor cells into immunocompetent recipients revealed > 30-fold enrichment of TICs in WT cells., Conclusion: These results demonstrate that HIF-1α plays a key role in promoting primary mammary tumor growth and metastasis, in part through regulation of TICs. HIF-1α regulates expression of several members of the Notch pathway, CD133 and markers of the basal lineage in mammary tumors. Our results suggest that CD133, which has not been profiled extensively in breast cancer, may be a useful marker of TICs in the PyMT mouse model. These data reveal for the first time that HIF-1α directly regulates breast TIC activity in vivo.

The noninvasive xenon-enhanced CT (Xe CT) cerebral blood flow (CBF) method has been used in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to identify the blood-flow thresholds for the development of irreversible ischaemia or infarction following severe TBI. Quantitative regional CBF (rCBF) estimates are based on the assumption of identity between the end-tidal xenon concentration curve, used as the input function, and the arterial xenon concentration curve, being the true input function to the brain. Accordingly, rCBF data addressing the issue of ischaemia should be viewed in relation to possible deviations between the end-tidal and arterial xenon concentration curves. To evaluate this possible source of error, we studied five patients with severe TBI (Glasgow coma score < or =7) who also had pulmonary trauma. CBF was studied with the Xe CT CBF method and flow rates were determined by fitting the Kety equation to each CT voxel using either the end-tidal or the arterial xenon curve as input function. In all patients rCBF estimates were lower using the end-tidal xenon curve than with the arterial xenon curve; the mean underestimation was 20.3% in gray metter and 17.3 % in white matter. The deviation between the end-tidal and arterial xenon concentration curves should be considered as a source of error when defining critical flow values according to the flow thresholds of tissue viability.

In plants, cortical microtubules (MTs) occur in characteristically parallel groups maintained up to one microtubule diameter apart by fine filamentous cross-bridges. However, none of the plant microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) so far purified accounts for the observed separation between MTs in cells. We previously isolated from carrot cytoskeletons a MAP fraction including 120- and 65-kDa MAPs and have now separated the 65-kDa carrot MAP by sucrose density centrifugation. MAP65 does not induce tubulin polymerization but induces the formation of bundles of parallel MTs in a nucleotide-insensitive manner. The bundling effect is inhibited by porcine MAP2, but, unlike MAP2, MAP65 is heat-labile. In the electron microscope, MAP65 appears as filamentous cross-bridges, maintaining an intermicrotubule spacing of 25-30 nm. Microdensitometer-computer correlation analysis reveals that the cross-bridges are regularly spaced, showing a regular axial spacing that is compatible with a symmetrical helical superlattice for 13 protofilament MTs. Because MAP65 maintains in vitro the inter-MT spacing observed in plants and is shown to decorate cortical MTs, it is proposed that this MAP is important for the organization of the cortical array in vivo.

Adolescents were asked to select from two-word pairs the one that was emphasized more in their experiences with the environments of school, church, family, friends, or media. One of the word pairs was an indicator of caring, the other of justice. Analysis of responses of 87 adolescents indicated school was perceived as very low in caring compared to family, church, and friends.

Asbestos has been described as a physical carcinogen in that its carcinogenic effects appear to be related primarily to fiber dimensions. It has been hypothesized that long asbestos fibers may interfere with chromosome distribution during cell division, causing genomic changes that lead to cell transformation and neoplastic progression. Using high-resolution time-lapse light microscopy and serial-section electron microscopy, we have followed individual crocidolite asbestos fibers through the later stages of cell division in LLC-MK2 epithelial cells, and have detailed for the first time their effect on cytokinesis. We found that long fibers (15-55 microgram), trapped by the cleavage furrow, sterically blocked cytokinesis, sometimes resulting in the formation of a binucleated cell. The ends of blocking fibers were usually found within invaginations of the newly formed nuclei. Nuclear envelope-fiber attachment was evident when a chromatin strand ran with the fiber into the intercellular bridge. Such strands may break, causing chromosome structural rearrangements. Our data are the first to show that individual crocidolite fibers can cause genomic changes by sterically blocking cytokinesis and that fiber length and affinity for the nuclear envelope are important factors. Such genomic changes may be among the initial events leading to asbestos-induced cancers.

Purpose: In most departments CT has replaced special radiographic projections with regard to classification of pelvic fractures. This change of procedure calls for analysis in terms of dosimetry., Methods: The total effective radiation doses given with spiral CT and conventional 5 projection radiography were determined according to ICRP 60 by measuring organ doses with an anthropomorphic Rando Alderson phantom packed with thermoluminescence dosimeters. For comparison, easily obtainable calculated effective doses were also determined, based on the CT dose index (CTDI), measured free-in-air and as entrance surface dose using organ conversion factors according to NRPB-R250 and NRPB-R262., Results: The total effective radiation dose was lower in spiral CT than in conventional 5 projection radiography, 4.4 and 5.0 mSv, respectively. In spiral CT the calculated effective dose was 11% lower and in conventional radiography 68% higher than the dose obtained by actual measurement using the Alderson phantom., Conclusion: As CT gives important diagnostic information with regard to classification of pelvic fractures, and without a greater radiation risk than impacted by 5 projection conventional radiography, we recommend the performance of spiral CT instead of special projections.

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Conventional frontal tomography of the sternum has to some extent been replaced by spiral computed tomography (CT). The objective of this study was to analyse this change of procedure in terms of dosimetry by measurement of the radiation dose to individual organs using an anthropomorphic Rando Alderson phantom., Results: The total effective radiation dose in examination of the sternoclavicular joints and the manubrium sterni was found to be lower using spiral CT than conventional tomography, the values being 0.6 and 0.8 mSv, respectively., Conclusion: As spiral CT is diagnostically comparable and in some respects superior to tomography, its use is recommended for studies of the sternum.

Asbestos has been described as a physical carcinogen in that long thin fibers are generally more carcinogenic than shorter thicker ones. It has been hypothesized that long thin fibers disrupt chromosome behavior during mitosis, causing chromosome abnormalities which lead to cell transformation and neoplastic progression. Using high-resolution time lapse video-enhanced light microscopy and the uniquely suited lung epithelial cells of the newt Taricha granulosa, we have characterized for the first time the behavior of crocidolite asbestos fibers, and their interactions with chromosomes, during mitosis in living cells. We found that the keratin cage surrounding the mitotic spindle inhibited fiber migration, resulting in spindles with few fibers. As in interphase, fibers displayed microtubule-mediated saltatory movements. Fiber position was only slightly affected by the ejection forces of the spindle asters. Physical interactions between crocidolite fibers and chromosomes occurred randomly within the spindle and along its edge. Crocidolite fibers showed no affinity toward chromatin and most encounters ended with the fiber passively yielding to the chromosome. In a few encounters along the spindle edge the chromosome yielded to the fiber, which remained stationary as if anchored to the keratin cage. We suggest that fibers thin enough to be caught in the keratin cage and long enough to protrude into the spindle are those fibers with the ability to snag or block moving chromosomes.

In a study of 1,844 suburban and rural students in Grades 7 and 8 in public schools in Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho, sexual activity was much lower than that reported by the popular media and in some scholarly journals. The difference was in part related to using measures other than asking the adolescents whether they had ever had sexual intercourse. The estimates based on those who have had sex more than just once decreased to 16% the number of adolescents who would be classified as sexually active. If the definition of sexually active is further limited to only those who have had sex recently (within the past 4 weeks), only 9% are sexually active. Further restrictions to those who have had sex 5 or more or 10 or more times reduce the percentage of sexually active adolescents to 6% and 2%, respectively. Over-all, the percentage of "sexually active" adolescents depends on the empirical definition of "sexually active," and there are many indications why "ever had sex" is not an adequate measure.

A study of 1551 high school students in four midwestern states showed that more girls than boys reported "some" or "a lot" of encouragement to abstain from having sex. More boys than girls reported societal pressure to become sexually active. The sources of encouragement for abstinence were mother, father, and teacher. The largest difference reported between boys and girls was for friends; more than twice as many girls as boys reported that friends encouraged abstinence. Virgin vs nonvirgin comparisons showed similar results, with mother and father chosen most frequently, but nonvirgins chose guest speaker instead of teacher for third place. Regarding important decision-making factors, both boys and girls selected own feelings, health, future, boy- or girlfriend, and parents' feelings. Girls considered parents' feelings more while boys rated boy- or girlfriends' feelings higher. It was concluded that society exerts a strong influence through the media, but parents have the strongest influence on adolescents' sexuality.

The relations among religiosity, denomination, and mental health were studied. Comparisons of groups high, medium, and low in religiosity were made possible by extracting data from a large data set for three denominational groups and gender in a three-way analysis of variance design. There were significant main effects, with higher scores on three mental health measures for high religious groups, Mormons, and men. There were interactions resulting from highly religious Mormon women, but not highly religious Mormon men scoring higher. The three scores were self-esteem, emotional maturity, and nondepression.

Over a 2-month period a register was kept of all dilatation and curettage procedures performed in Frederiksborg County, Denmark, involving women aged 40-59 years. The total recorded was 284. In the same period, questionnaires were sent out to 1200 women in the county who fell within the same, randomly selected age group, to establish the number of women treated with sequential oestrogen/progestogen and those who had been hysterectomized. Based on the results and the total female population in the county, it was calculated that the frequency of the procedure in sequentially-treated women as compared with untreated women was 3.1 times higher in the 55-59 age group. In the 40-54 age group no difference in the incidence of curettage in the sequentially-treated women could be demonstrated.

Differences in school behavior and achievement between students from intact, reconstituted, and single-parent families were analyzed. Students from intact two-parent families had fewer absences and tardies, higher grade point averages, and fewer negative and more positive teacher behavioral ratings than did those from reconstituted and single-parent families.

The effects of two family structures, single- and two-parent homes, on adolescent sexual behavior were studied. The variables of race, age, and gender were controlled. The analysis compared the age at first intercourse, frequency of intercourse in the last four weeks, and virgin/nonvirgin status of adolescents from black single-parent families, white single-parent families, black two-parent families, and white two-parent families. For males, the two-parent family was related to less sexual activity and older age at first intercourse. For females, the two-parent family was not as important as race in influencing sexual behavior. The white females from two-parent families were more likely to be virgins, but once having had sexual intercourse, tended to have a higher level of sexual activity than did black females from two-parent homes.

The effects of three abstinence sex education programs on student attitudes toward sexual activity were studied. The programs were administered to 7th- and 10th-grade students in three school districts in the State of Utah. All students were administered a pre- and posttest survey to determine attitude change. The independent variables were program, grade level, gender, and pre/posttest. The dependent variable was the combined and averaged response to 12 questions taken from the survey. There was a four-way interaction between the independent variables. The Sex Respect program produced the most positive attitude change.

In recent decades, various attempts have been made to determine the level of sexual activity among adolescents. This information has been used in the planning and evaluation of sex-related programs. However, there is a flaw in using only the initial estimates of the behavior--that a sexually active person is defined as one who has had sexual intercourse. This narrow definition distorts the perception of adolescent sexual behavior. Sexual activity can more accurately be designated by focusing on the actual frequency with which teenagers have sex. In this research report, adolescents were considered sexually active if they had had sex within the last four weeks. Using this definition, adolescents were found to be substantially less sexually active than has been previously reported. This finding was then used to look at various policy decisions in the areas of sex education, family planning, and sexually transmitted disease prevention.

Previous video-light microscopic studies have shown that the microtubule bundles in the pseudopodia of foraminiferan protists display several types of movements in vivo, including active bending, zipping/splaying, and axial translocations. To gain insight into the types and arrangement of microtubule-associated proteins (e.g., mechanoenzymes, crosslinkers) in such a highly dynamic system, we employed microdensitometric-computer correlation methods to analyze, quantitatively, intermicrotubule bridges in thin-section electron micrographs of Allogromia laticollaris and Allogromia sp. (strain NF). Two distinct bridges occupying mutually exclusive zones between adjacent microtubules were identified. Type I bridges displayed a single axial repeat (34 nm for A. laticollaris and 28 nm for Allogromia sp.) and Type II bridges showed a typical 12-dimer helical superlattice pattern. In A. laticollaris, the two types of bridges were morphologically distinct: Type I bridges were aligned perpendicular to the microtubule wall and were 23-nm wide with an electron-lucent core; Type II bridges were irregular filaments projecting from the microtubules at various angles. When compared with the known distribution of microtubule-associated proteins in other systems, our findings indicate that, in vivo, Allogromia pseudopodial microtubules are decorated with MAP2-like bridges interrupted by discrete clusters of a dynein-like component.

The relationship between early sexual maturation and the psychosexual behaviors of dating and sexual intercourse was investigated using a national sample of adolescent females aged 15 to 19. Among both black and nonblack subjects, early-maturing girls were more likely to have experienced earlier dating and coital onset than were their later-maturing peers. Blacks experienced menarche and first intercourse at earlier ages, yet dating onset at later ages. Early menarche was also associated with marriage at an early age for nonblacks, but not for blacks. These racial differences were explained in terms of diverse socialization patterns or cultural expectations. For both blacks and nonblacks, those with earlier coital experience were found to have had menarche and dating onset at earlier ages.

A major obstacle in the application of quantitative microelectrophoresis has been tedious manipulations and calculations. To overcome these difficulties, we have developed an automatic system for the microdensitometry and calculations as part of a quantitative agarose gel electrophoresis facility. Results are internally standardized by serum cholesterol and/or triglyceride measurements. The hardware consists of a densitometer, an analog to digital converter, a cathode ray tube terminal, a teleprinter, and a small computer. A program in 4K words allows sample coding, electrophoretic scan display, indexing, and systematic identification of each peak. Data are acquired from scans of electrophoretic patterns of serum alone or in combination with the 1.006 gm/ml VLDL top and/or bottom preparative lipoprotein fractions. As many as 30 scans can be stored in 4K words of memory and then sent via high-speed telephone line to a larger computer for remote processing. The analysis corrects for baseline drifts and pre-beta asymmetry and will properly identify and quantify the amount of VLDL, LDL, and HDL with corrections for "sinking pre-beta" and "floating beta" in LDL and VLDL, respectively. Results are given in milligrams per 100 milliliter as well as percentile rank and standard deviation score ranking of each lipoprotein class as compared to an appropriate normal reference population. The latter data are in a form more meaningful to the physician and patient and provide a quantitative dimension to lipoprotein phenotyping.

During mitosis a monooriented chromosome oscillates toward and away from its associated spindle pole and may be positioned many micrometers from the pole at the time of anaphase. We tested the hypothesis of Pickett-Heaps et al. (Pickett-Heaps, J. D., D. H. Tippit, and K. R. Porter, 1982, Cell, 29:729-744) that this behavior is generated by the sister kinetochores of a chromosome interacting with, and moving in opposite direction along, the same set of polar microtubules. When the sister chromatids of a monooriented chromosome split at the onset of anaphase in newt lung cells, the proximal chromatid remains stationary or moves closer to the pole, with the kinetochore leading. During this time the distal chromatid moves a variable distance radially away from the pole, with one or both chromatid arms leading. Subsequent electron microscopy of these cells revealed that the kinetochore on the distal chromatid is free of microtubules. These results suggest that the distal kinetochore is not involved in the positioning of a monooriented chromosome relative to the spindle pole or in its oscillatory movements. To test this conclusion we used laser microsurgery to create monooriented chromosomes containing one kinetochore. Correlative light and electron microscopy revealed that chromosomes containing one kinetochore continue to undergo normal oscillations. Additional observations on normal and laser-irradiated monooriented chromosomes indicated that the chromosome does not change shape, and that the kinetochore region is not deformed, during movement away from the pole. Thus movement away from the pole during an oscillation does not appear to arise from a push generated by the single pole-facing kinetochore fiber, as postulated (Bajer, A. S., 1982, J. Cell Biol., 93:33-48). When the chromatid arms of a monooriented chromosome are cut free of the kinetochore, they are immediately ejected radially outward from the spindle pole at a constant velocity of 2 micron/min. This ejection velocity is similar to that of the outward movement of an oscillating chromosome. We conclude that the oscillations of a monooriented chromosome and its position relative to the spindle pole result from an imbalance between poleward pulling forces acting at the proximal kinetochore and an ejection force acting along the chromosome, which is generated within the aster and half-spindle.

We have been investigating the emission of particles due to deformation and fracture of materials. We observe the emission of electrons (exoelectron emission), ions, neutral species, photons (triboluminescence), as well as long wavelength electromagnetic radiation; collectively we refer to these emissions as fractoemission. In this paper we describe measurements of the neutral emission accompanying the fracture of single-crystal MgO. Masses detected are tentatively assigned to the emission of H2, CH4, H2O, CO, O2, CO2, and atomic Mg. Other hydrocarbons are also observed. The time dependencies of some of these emissions relative to fracture are presented for two different loading conditions.

An ultracentrifugal method for isolating chylomicron-containing fractions from serum by flotation, using either standard Spinco swinging-bucket rotors or a specially fabricated swinging-bucket rotor, is described. Lower limits of the S(f) rates of the chylomicron fractions are evaluated using a computer technique to define lipoprotein flotation over a nonlinear NaCl density gradient. The latter is prepared by a special overlayering technique.Quantitation within a 9-50 mug region of mass assay is accomplished by both infrared spectrometry and elemental analysis for N, C and H. Results indicate that the chylomicron concentration in serum for a small population of nonfasting male adults ranges from approximately 0-50 mg %.

A procedure is described for the separation of plasma S(f) > 400 and S(f) 20-400 lipoproteins each into three fractions. Serum samples are overlayered with a sodium chloride density gradient in a preparative ultracentrifuge tube and thin layers are removed at the top of the tube after successive centrifugations at different speeds in a swinging bucket rotor. The procedure was evaluated by electron microscopy of the S(f) > 400 lipoprotein fractions and schlieren analysis of the S(f) 20-400 lipoprotein fractions. Protein content of each fraction was measured by elemental N, C, H, and lipid-P analysis. Protein coverage was calculated for all fractions on the assumption that there is a surface layer 20 A thick. For the entire S(f) > 400 lipoprotein spectrum and for a part of the S(f) 20-400 lipoprotein distribution the proportion of surface covered by protein was constant (approximately 20% coverage). Therefore, for these portions of the lipoprotein spectrum, the increase in surface: volume ratio as particle size decreases is approximately compensated for by an increase in the weight percentage of protein.