This retrospective study showed a modest advantage in survival duration for men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer who continued to receive testicular androgen suppression. The hypothesis that continued hormonal maneuvers can still affect survival in this group warrants examination in prospective trials.

Background-Assessing calcium and vitamin D intake becomes important in conditions associated with low bone density such as anorexia nervosa (AN). Food records (FR) that assess intake over a representative time period are used in research and sometimes clinical settings. However, compliance in adolescents can be suboptimal.

Scars in humans of African continental ancestry heal with an exaggerated inflammatory response and a generally wider scar. Interleukin-10 is an anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic cytokine. A randomized controlled trial in Caucasians found that exogenous interleukin-10 resulted in improved macroscopic scar appearance and reduced scar redness. We investigated the effects of interleukin-10 on cutaneous scarring in volunteers of African ancestral origin in an exploratory, single-center, within-subject, double-blind randomized controlled trial. Fifty-six subjects received two of four potential prerandomized concentrations of interleukin-10 (5, 25, 100, and 250 ng/100 µL) in two full-thickness incisions on the upper inner arms. Anatomically matching incisions on the contralateral arm were treated with placebo. Scars were excised at 1 month for histological analysis and were redosed with the same regimen. Resultant excision scars were followed up for 12 months for scar width measurement and scoring. Scoring was performed by trial doctors, subjects, and a panel. Incisions treated with 100 ng/100 µL interleukin-10 had significantly reduced microscopic scar widths. Incisions treated with 5 and 25 ng/100 µL interleukin-10 were also narrower, but not significantly. There were no differences observed in pro-inflammatory or pro-fibrotic markers between interleukin-10 and placebo treatment. There was no long-term evidence that 100 ng/100 µL interleukin-10 had a therapeutic effect on macroscopic scar width or appearance, as excisions treated with this concentration were significantly wider than placebo between 8 and 12 months of maturation. Doctors showed a trend toward favoring the macroscopic appearance of placebo-treated excisions compared with those treated with 250 ng/100 µL interleukin-10. Panelists scored placebo-treated excisions as significantly better-appearing than those treated with 250 ng/100 µL interleukin-10. Doctors' scores showed a trend toward favoring treatment with 5 ng/100 µL interleukin-10 at 10 and 11 months post-excision. Subjects showed a trend toward favoring treatment with 5 ng/100 µL interleukin-10 between 5 and 9 months postexcision. Analysis of images of markedly improved scars revealed a potential subset of responders among those treated with 5 ng/100 µL interleukin-10. No concentration of interleukin-10 produced a statistically significant improvement in scarring compared with placebo.

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Objectives: This study evaluated the effect of phantom positioning and the configuration of phantom inserts on the measurement of contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in dental CBCT. The work aimed to make pragmatic suggestions for the remedial tolerances for CNR measurements in the routine quality control (QC) of a three-dimensional Accuitomo 170 dental CBCT system (J Morita, Kyoto, Japan). Methods: Images of the SEDENTEXCT (safety and efficacy of a new and emerging dental X-ray modality) IQ (image quality) dental CBCT phantom (Leeds Test Objects Ltd, Boroughbridge, UK) were acquired and measurements of CNR were obtained in three configurations of inserts and in six phantom orientations for one of the configurations. Five consecutive images were acquired in each case, to assess the reproducibility of measurements. Results: Reproducibility of measurements ranged from 1.8% to 4.6%. For the CNR measurements in the three phantom configurations, the ratio of the measured CNR to the minimum value was 2.1 ± 0.2 times the minimum value for Delrin ® (DuPont UK Ltd, Stevenage, UK). For aluminium, there was no significant variation between configurations and for the other three materials, the ratio ranged from 20% to 50%. Significant variations in CNR with phantom position were observed, with differences between the maximum and minimum values ranging from 10% to 60%. Absolute differences in CNR from the minimum value ranged from ,0.1 to 2.1 with phantom configuration and from 1.2 to 4.5 with phantom position. Conclusions: The effects of phantom configuration and positioning on CNR measurements for dental CBCT QC were investigated and possible remedial tolerances suggested.