Objectives. To assess the preoperative parameters and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy with specific attention to the body mass index (BMI). Little is known about the impact of obesity (BMI greater than 30) on the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Methods. The data of 100 men undergoing robotic laparoscopic radical prostatectomy between June 2002 and October 2003 were prospectively entered into a database. The standard clinical characteristics (eg, prostate-specific antigen, Gleason score) and perioperative and postoperative parameters were evaluated. Additionally, all were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively for American Urological Association symptom and bother scores, uroflowmetry, postvoid residual urine volume, and sexual function. Results. Nineteen men were obese (BMI greater than 30) and 81 were not (BMI less than 30). The two groups had a similar need for transfusion, length of stay, and pathologic outcome. However, the obese men had poorer baseline urinary function (peak flow rate 13.9 versus 18.3 mL/s; voided volume 306 versus 454 mL; P <= 0.05) and sexual function (Sexual Health Inventory of Men score 14.1 versus 18.2; P <= 0.05). Obese men had significantly more complications (26.3% versus 4.9%; P = 0.01) and required more time to return to baseline activities (7 versus 4.3 weeks; P = 0.09) and urinary function. Finally, at 6 months, only 47% of obese patients versus 91.4% of nonobese patients had achieved pad-free urinary continence (P <= 0.001). Conclusions. In this study, obese patients had significantly worse baseline urinary and sexual function, had complications, and did not recover urinary function as quickly or as well as nonobese patients. Obese patients also demonstrated a strong trend toward a delay in recovery time. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc.

We discuss U-Th and 14C measurements in coral. Samples with U-Th dates in excess of 50 ka BP were chosen for study. Some bulk samples from this group have measurable 14C dates, which range from 30 ka to 43 ka BP. These can be explained by 0.5-2.5% contamination by modern carbon. This small amount of contamination can produce significant offsets in 14C dates of coral samples older than -10 ka. It may be undetectable in X-ray powder diffraction patterns. We describe a sample pretreatment that removes the modern carbon by selective dissolution and produces accurate 14C dates.

This paper provides preliminary evidence that the placement of buildings influences the concentration of fine particulates by altering wind flow. The authors collected measurements of fine particulate concentration, wind speed, wind direction, and traffic levels around five Southern California arterials selected to represent a range of building densities. In some cases the difference in average concentrations between opposite sides of the street was on the order of 10 μg/m3. In most cases the concentration was higher on the upwind side of the street, where the wind wakes of buildings limit the dispersion of particulates. Although this work is exploratory in nature, it reveals that fine particulate concentrations can vary even within a single city block, a scale finer than those used in current policy models. Given the trend towards infill development and densification in many places, this is an important topic that warrants further research to more fully understand the influence of the built environment on air quality.

Background: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a family of highly conserved proteins found ubiquitously in mammalian cells, believed to be regulators of normal cell physiology and the cellular stress response. In addition, the small 27-kDa heat shock protein (HSP27) has previously been found to be a differentiation marker for keratinocytes and a prognostic marker associated with increased survival in certain cancerous tumors. Methods: Using immunohistochemistry on routinely processed paraffin sections, we examined skin biopsies from 15 invasive melanomas, 13 intradermal nevi, and two compound nevi immunostained with a mouse monoclonal antibody to HSP27. In addition, cultured melanocytes were heat stressed at 45degreesC for I h and then fixed and immunostained in order to localize HSP27 expression intracellularly. Results: We found cytoplasmic and strong perinuclear staining of HSP27 in melanocytes in normal skin, in melanomas, and in nevi. Nuclear reactivity was absent, In addition, in cultured non-malignant melanocytes, HSP27 expression relocated from the cytoplasm to the nucleus with heat stress. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this investigation is the first to demonstrate that HSP27 is expressed in melanocytes in normal skin, in nevi, and in non-malignant cultured melanocytes.