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RA Groups (ra + groups)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Sensitivity to visual and auditory stimuli in children with developmental dyslexia

DYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2008
Bernardine King
Abstract This study considered the extent to which 23 children with dyslexia differed from 23 reading age (RA) and 23 chronological age (CA) matched controls in their ability to make temporal judgements about auditory and visual sequences of stimuli, and in the speed of their reactions to the onsets and offsets of visual and auditory stimuli. The children with dyslexia were slower (p,=,0.039) than the CA controls in their reactions to non-verbal auditory onsets (tones), were less able to recognize the first stimulus of a sequence of tones (p,=,0.022), and were less accurate in identifying the initial phoneme of a sequence of three (p,<,0.001). These characteristics may be manifestations of an impaired temporal processing system for rapid auditory stimuli. CA controls responded more quickly to tone onsets than to tone offsets (p,=,0.025), but the dyslexic and RA groups showed no significant difference (p,>,0.05) in their reaction times to onsets and offsets of these non-verbal auditory stimuli. Dyslexic readers showed impairment compared with CA controls in responding to the last of a sequence of three non-verbal visual stimuli (shapes), p,=,0.02. Reaction times in the visual and auditory onset and offset tasks were richly intercorrelated in the control groups, but the dyslexic group did not show as many significant correlations in reaction times between the auditory and visual domains, or between the onset and offset RTs within each modality. These results suggest that there may be a less integrated cross-modal and intra-modal temporal system in children with dyslexia than in controls. In many of the measures in this study, the performance of the dyslexic group resembled that of the RA control group but differed from CA controls, which implies a developmental delay. The possibility that such a cognitive delay may be related to an underlying neurological disorder is discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

DRB1 alleles in polymyalgia rheumatica and rheumatoid arthritis in southern France

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF IMMUNOGENETICS, Issue 1 2001
D. Reviron
To investigate the association of HLA-DRB1 alleles with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 55 patients with PMR without giant cell arteritis, 203 patients with RA and 230 controls, all from the European population of Marseille, were HLA-DRB1 genotyped by PCR-SSO. HLA-DRB1*01 was significantly increased in both the PMR and RA groups compared to controls (35% versus 17%, Pc < 0.05, and 41% versus 17%, Pc < 0.001, respectively). HLA-DRB1*04 was significantly increased in the RA group compared to controls (48% versus 23%, Pc < 0.001) but not in the PMR group. HLA-DRB1*04 subtype frequencies were significantly different between PMR patients and RA patients. Shared epitope-positive HLA-DRB1*04 alleles (DRB1*0401, 0404, 0405, 0408) were significantly overrepresented in RA patients compared to PMR patients and shared epitope-negative HLA-DRB1*04 alleles were overrepresented in PMR patients compared to RA patients. In conclusion, in the Mediterranean population studied, HLA-DRB1*01 is associated with RA and PMR whereas HLA-DRB1*04 is associated with RA only. [source]

Comparison of efficacies of dual therapy and triple therapy using rabeprazole in second-line eradication of Helicobacter pylori in Japan

ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2006
T. KAWAI
Summary Background The only authorized second-line Helicobacter pylori regimen in Japan is proton pump inhibitor + amoxycillin + clarithromycin. However, it has been reported that this second-line regimen is not effective. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of dual and triple eradication therapies using rabeprazole as second-line H. pylori eradication regimens. Aim To evaluate the efficacy of dual and triple eradication therapies using rabeprazole as second-line H. pylori eradication therapy. Methods Sixty-two H. pylori -positive patients with first-line eradication failure were randomly assigned to two groups. The RAM group was administered rabeprazole 20 mg + amoxycillin 1500 mg + metronidazole 500 mg daily for 1 week. The RA group was administered rabeprazole 40 mg + amoxycillin 2000 mg daily for 2 weeks. Eradication of H. pylori infection was determined by 13C-urea breath testing at 8 weeks after completion of treatment. Prior to treatment, amoxycillin, clarithromycin and metronidazole susceptibility, and CYP2C19 phenotype status were determined. Results Eradication rates for the RAM and RA groups were 97% and 74%, respectively. Eradication rates were not influenced by CYP2C19 phenotype in either group. Eradication rates for clarithromycin-resistant patients were 100% in the RAM group and 77% in the RA group. Conclusions One week with RAM therapy and 2 weeks with RA therapy were effective as second-line eradication therapy for H. pylori infection; moreover, RAM was more effective than RA therapy. [source]

Birth outcomes in women who have taken leflunomide during pregnancy

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 5 2010
Christina D. Chambers
Objective In preclinical reproductive studies, leflunomide was found to be embryotoxic and teratogenic. Women treated with leflunomide are advised to avoid pregnancy; those who become pregnant are advised to reduce fetal exposure through a cholestyramine drug elimination procedure. The present study was undertaken to investigate pregnancy outcomes in women who received leflunomide and were treated with cholestyramine during pregnancy. Methods Sixty-four pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were treated with leflunomide during pregnancy (95.3% of whom received cholestyramine), 108 pregnant women with RA not treated with leflunomide, and 78 healthy pregnant women were enrolled in a prospective cohort study between 1999 and 2009. Information was collected via interview of the mothers, review of medical records, and specialized physical examination of infants. Results There were no significant differences in the overall rate of major structural defects in the exposed group (3 of 56 live births [5.4%]) relative to either comparison group (each 4.2%)(P = 0.13). The rate was similar to the 3,4% expected in the general population. There was no specific pattern of major or minor anomalies. Infants in both the leflunomide-exposed and non,leflunomide-exposed RA groups were born smaller and earlier relative to infants of healthy mothers; however, after adjustment for confounding factors, there were no significant differences between the leflunomide-exposed and non,leflunomide-exposed RA groups. Conclusion Although the sample size is small, these data do not support the notion that there is a substantial increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes due to leflunomide exposure among women who undergo cholestyramine elimination procedure early in pregnancy. These findings can provide some reassurance to women who inadvertently become pregnant while taking leflunomide and undergo the washout procedure. [source]