More guilty if woman: The role of gender and causal attribution in political scandals' impact.

Political scandals can have a great impact for the perpetrator, but negative consequences may vary considerably depending on such factors as personal characteristics of the involved political actors or citizens' expectations. The present study investigated the effect of the gender of the politician involved in different kinds of scandals deriving from the transgression of gender role-based expectations and the role of participants' attribution of responsibility (internal vs. external) on their evaluation of the perpetrator. Results showed that participants did not express different evaluations of the female versus male politician when their behavior testified to a lack of qualities stereotypically associated to men and women. But when participants attributed the responsibility of the scandal to the perpetrator, women were punished more severely than their male colleagues. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

The effect of musical expertise on the representation of space.

Consistent evidence suggests that pitch height may be represented in a spatial format, having both a vertical and a horizontal representation. The spatial representation of pitch height results into response compatibility effects for which high pitch tones are preferentially associated to up-right responses, and low pitch tones are preferentially associated to down-left responses (i.e., the Spatial-Musical Association of Response Codes (SMARC) effect), with the strength of these associations depending on individuals' musical skills. In this study we investigated whether listening to tones of different pitch affects the representation of external space, as assessed in a visual and haptic line bisection paradigm, in musicians and non musicians. Low and high pitch tones affected the bisection performance in musicians differently, both when pitch was relevant and irrelevant for the task, and in both the visual and the haptic modality. No effect of pitch height was observed on the bisection performance of non musicians. Moreover, our data also show that musicians present a (supramodal) rightward bisection bias in both the visual and the haptic modality, extending previous findings limited to the visual modality, and consistent with the idea that intense practice with musical notation and bimanual instrument training affects hemispheric lateralization.

Addition of an induction regimen of antiangiogenesis and antitumor immunity to standard chemotherapy improves survival in advanced malignancies.

Studies have shown that cancer requires two conditions for tumor progression: cancer cell proliferation and an environment permissive to and conditioned by malignancy. Chemotherapy aims to control the number and proliferation of cancer cells, but it does not effectively control the two best-known conditions of the tumor-permissive environment: neoangiogenesis and tolerogenic immunity. Many malignant diseases exhibit poor outcomes after treatment with chemotherapy. Therefore, we investigated the potential benefits of adding an induction regimen of antiangiogenesis and antitumor immunity to chemotherapy in poor outcome disease. In a prospective, randomized trial, we included patients with advanced, unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinomas, non-small cell lung cancer, or prostate cancer. Two groups of each primary condition were compared: group 1 (G1), n = 30, was treated with the standard chemotherapy and used as a control, and group 2 (G2), n = 30, was treated with chemotherapy plus an induction regimen of antiangiogenesis and antitumor immunity. This induction regimen included a low dose of metronomic cyclophosphamide, a high dose of Cox-2 inhibitor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, a sulfhydryl (SH) donor, and a hemoderivative that contained autologous tumor antigens released from patient tumors into the blood. After treatment, the G2 group demonstrated significantly longer survival, lower blood level of neoangiogenesis and immune-tolerance mediators, and higher blood levels of antiangiogenesis and antitumor immunity mediators compared with the G1 group. Toxicity and quality of life were not significantly different between the groups. In conclusion, in several advanced malignancies of different primary localizations, an increase in survival was observed by adding an induction regimen of antiangiogenesis and antitumor immunity to standard chemotherapy.

Advanced ovarian cancer: Vaccination site draining lymph node as target of immuno-modulative adjuvants in autologous cancer vaccine.

Tumor as source of tumor associated antigens (TAA) and sentinel lymph node (SLN) configure the first interaction between the malignant disease and the patient's immune system. As consequence of this interaction, a local immune response is elicited inside the SLN. Tumor's cytokines reach the SLN conditioning its cellular microenvironment to produce local permissive immune responses. This local tolerogenic immunity is decisional because it starts a systemic also permissive immunity. The tumor progresses.To counteract this mechanism, we have designed a medical procedure to create an immunotherapeutic site (ITS) that reproduces, distantly from the tumor, a TAA source and a draining lymph node but with a cellular microenvironment conditioned to promote local protective instead of permissive immune responses. Due to ITS decisional role, this local protective immunity starts a systemic anti-tumoral immune response.In progressive ovarian cancer, we tested an ITS using the autologous thermostable hemoderivative-cancer vaccine as TAA source and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulant factor plus etoposide, injected both at the vaccination site, as conditioner of the draining lymph node cellularity. The immunophenotyping of lymph node cell populations showed that ITS acquired a locally protective immune profile T-regulatory-cells/activated-antigen presenting-cells and systemically increased the antiprogressive effect of the tested vaccine.

Advanced breast cancer: anti-progressive immunotherapy using a thermostable autologous hemoderivative.

INTRODUCTION: Advanced breast cancer patients, acquired-chemotherapy resistant and in progression, are therapeutically terminal. We tested a recently described medical procedure using a thermostable autohemoderivative purported to inhibit tumor growth possibly through an immunological mechanism of action. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Metastatic breast cancer patients, chemotherapy-resistant, high CEA and CA 15-3 plasma levels of tumor markers, in progression, were 2-group randomized. Group 1 received the test procedure and Group 2 adequate measures to be comparable control. From 121 included patients, 108 could be evaluated. During 8-month follow-up period, tumor growth, number of cases attaining clinical non-progressive status and mortality were monthly assessed. Immunologic effect was assessed by delayed type hypersensitivity test and lymphocyte proliferation assay. Responding-tumors histopathologies were studied. The proteome of the autologous immunogen was characterized by 2-D electrophoresis. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In a significant number of cases, the test procedure promoted inhibition of tumor growth, non-progressive disease status, and lower cumulative mortality. These clinical results were associated with polyvalent immunization against several tested antigens: the hemoderivative used for treatment, the blood tumor markers and the derivative obtained from a regulatory lymphocyte population (CD4+CD25+). Interference with this regulatory activity could explain the selective autoimmunity suggested by the histopathology findings in responding tumors. The thermostability could be an essential property of the immunogen hemoderivative. CONCLUSION: The thermostable autohemoderivative tested is antigenically polyvalent and promoted a polytargeted immune response associated to a tumor anti-progressive effect, consequently, acting as an autohemoderivative cancer vaccine.

Advanced colon cancer: antiprogressive immunotherapy using an autologous hemoderivative.

INTRODUCTION: Advanced colon cancer patients, acquired-chemotherapy resistant and in progression, are therapeutically terminal. We tested a recently described medical procedure using a thermostable autologous hemoderivative purported to inhibit tumor growth possibly through an immunological mechanism of action. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Metastatic colon cancer patients chemotherapy-resistant, high CEA plasma levels, in progression, were 2-group randomized. Group 1 received the test procedure and Group 2 adequate control measures. During an 8-mo follow-up period (n = 101), tumor growth, number of cases attaining clinical nonprogressive status, and mortality were assessed monthly. Immunological effect was assessed by delayed-type hypersensitivity test and lymphocyte proliferation assay. Responding-tumors histopathologies were studied. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In a significant number of cases, the test procedure promoted inhibition of tumor growth, nonprogressive disease status, and lower cumulative mortality. These clinical results were associated with polyvalent immunization against several tested antigens: the hemoderivative used for treatment, the blood tumor markers, and the regulatory lymphocyte population (CD4+CD25+). Interference with this regulatory activity could explain the selective autoimmunity suggested by the histopathology findings in responding tumors. CONCLUSION: The autologous hemoderivative tested is antigenically polyvalent and promotes a polytargeted immune response associated with a tumor antiprogressive effect, consequently, acting as an autologous hemoderivative cancer vaccine.

Insulin-induced enhancement of antitumoral response to methotrexate in breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: It has been reported that insulin increases the cytotoxic effect in vitro of methotrexate by as much as 10,000-fold. The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical value of insulin as a potentiator of methotrexate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Included in this prospective, randomized clinical trial were 30 women with metastatic breast cancer resistant to fluorouracil + Adriamycin + cyclophosphamide and also resistant to hormone therapy with measurable lesions. Three groups each of ten patients received two 21-day courses of the following treatments: insulin + methotrexate, methotrexate, and insulin, respectively. In each patient, the size of the target tumor was measured before and after treatment according to the Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors. The changes in the size of the target tumor in the three groups were compared statistically. RESULTS: Under the trial conditions, the methotrexate-treated group and the insulin-treated group responded most frequently with progressive disease. The group treated with insulin + methotrexate responded most frequently with stable disease. The median increase in tumor size was significantly lower with insulin + methotrexate than with each drug used separately. DISCUSSION: Our results confirmed in vivo the results of previous in vitro studies showing clinical evidence that insulin potentiates methotrexate under conditions where insulin alone does not promote an increase in tumor growth. Therefore, the chemotherapy antitumoral activity must have been enhanced by the biochemical events elicited in tumor cells by insulin. CONCLUSIONS: In multidrug-resistant metastatic breast cancer, methotrexate + insulin produced a significant antitumoral response that was not seen with either methotrexate or insulin used separately.

Antitumoral effect of a vaccination procedure with an autologous hemoderivative.

Lately, the promising results obtained with autologous cancer vaccines are stimulating new research in the old field of cancer immunotherapy. This paper describes the development of a procedure previously reported by us that is used to obtain an autologous hemoderivative with antitumoral properties. The procedure has been tested in a phase I-II, randomized, controlled clinical trial of 28 cancer patients with different primary malignancies in metastatic and chemotherapy-resistant stages. The histology of the lesions that responded to this treatment was consistent with the characteristic histology observed in malignant lesions treated with a similar antitumoral hemoderivative: proliferation of stromal connective tissue, T-lymphocyte infiltration, and a reduction in the amount of tumor cells and blood vessels. We concluded that vaccination had elicited an immune response because a delayed-type hypersensitivity test made with the autologous hemoderivative produced a significantly more intense response in the responding treated patients. We propose that an immune mechanism acting on tumor cells and/or the regulatory system for stromal growth explains the histological results observed. The use of blood to obtain the immunogen allows vaccination to be repeated, so this method could avoid tumor escape responses due to mutations in the antigen library of the tumor. The results of our study justify further research to optimize the antitumoral effect of vaccination.

Serum markers variation consistent with autoschizis induced by ascorbic acid-menadione in patients with prostate cancer.

In vitro exposure of malignant prostate cell lines to ascorbic acid-menadione showed that tumor cells were killed through a mechanism named autoschizis. Experimental animal studies showed that autoschizis is also evident when ascorbic acid-menadione is administered to nude mice with implanted human prostate tumors. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a known serum marker of prostate tumor cells specific activity. Recently, total serum homocysteine has been identified as a marker of tumor cell numbers with sensitivity for early detection of tumor cell death induced by treatments. A clinical trial with prostate cancer patients submitted to the association of ascorbic acid-menadione was performed and PSA/homocysteine was assessed in the follow- up. The early response in serum PSA and homocysteine levels was reported. The results showed that ascorbic acid-menadione produced an immediate drop in tumor cell numbers as assessed by homocysteine levels. Serum PSA levels showed an early rise and later dropped. These results suggest that autoschizis can also be induced by this pharmacological association at the clinical level in prostate cancer patients. Further studies are being performed in order to research if these results can be found with other primary tumors as it was shown in in vitro and experimental models. Ascorbic acid-menadione could be emerging as a new antitumoral chemotherapy.

Infección respiratoria aguda en niños menores de 24 meses. El diagnóstico virológico integrado a la práctica clínica / Acute respiratory infection in infants. Virologic diagnosis in clinical practice

Con el objetivo de integrar el diagnóstico virológico a la práctica clínica y de valorar los aspectos clínico radiológicos y evolutivos se llevó a cabo en el Servicio Pediátrico C del Hospital Pereira Rossell durante los meses de mayo a setiembre del año 1997 un estudio unicéntrico y prospectivo durante el cual ingresaron 56 pacientes menores de 24 meses procedentes de Montevideo y del interior del país. En todos se realizó aspirado nasofaríngeo para diagnóstico virológico por inmunofluorescencia indirecta, así como valoración de los diferentes aspectos clínicos y radiológicos. De los resultados obtenidos se destacan: predominio de edad menor de 1 año y del grupo menor de 3 meses, procedencia mayoritaria de Montevideo, de medio deficitario. Predominaron los niños bien nutridos sin antecedentes patológicos. Los síntomas predominantes fueron la polipnea, tos y tirajes, el aspecto radiológico, la hiperinsuflación aislada o asociada a procesos inhomogéneos difusos uni o bilaterales. Se obtuvo un elevado número de positivos para detección virológica (64,4 por ciento) con predominancia de virus sincicial respiratorio. En general hubo una evolución satisfactoria y se destaca un importante número de niños tratados con antibióticos. Se jerarquiza el trabajo en equipo como experiencia enriquecedora del grupo y la importancia de contar con el diagnóstico virológico como herramienta de trabajo en la clínica