Study protocol of a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of Ad-SGE-REIC for treatment of recurrent malignant glioma

Malignant glioma is one of the most common brain cancers in humans, which is very devastating. The expression of reduced expression in immortalized cells/Dickkopf-3 (REIC/Dkk-3) is decreased in various human cancers. Lately, we have developed a novel second-generation adenoviral vector that expresses REIC/Dkk-3 (Ad-SGE-REIC) and revealed its antiglioma efficacy. The present investigator-initiated clinical trial is a single-arm, prospective, nonrandomized, noncomparative, open-label, single-center trial performed at Okayama University Hospital, Okayama, Japan. The primary end points are dose-limiting toxicities and the incidence of adverse events. The secondary end points are the objective response rate and immunological assessment. Use of Ad-SGE-REIC will help to improve the prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors.

Letter Reversals, Default Mode, and Childhood ADHD

Objective: To investigate the relationship of static reversals, handedness and gender to reaction time variability (RTV) in a sequentional sample of 1,109 children referred to a child psychiatry clinic for investigation of possible ADHD. Method: A DSM-III ADHD diagnosis and ADHD severity ratings (mild, moderate, and severe) by the present investigator was recorded. The age at which the children were still manifesting static reversals as reported by their mother, and right, left, or both-handedness as reported by the mother and observed by the investigator, were noted. Results: The age that letter reversals were still manifested was significantly associated with RTV for male and female children. Conclusions: The findings may represent an early manifestation of a failure of suppression of visually symmetrical information and/or a failure of default mode suppression

Teachers' and Nonteachers' Attitudes toward Mainstreaming

The attitudes of special education teachers, regular teachers, and nonteachers toward mainstreaming handicapped individuals were assessed by a Mainstreaming Opinionnaire constructed by the present investigator. This questionnaire is a 30-item Likert-type scale consisting of two subscales: Academic Costs of Mainstreaming, and Socio-Emotional Costs of Segregation. While the results indicated that all three groups have relatively positive attitudes toward mainstreaming on both factors, a multiple discriminant function analysis demonstrated, as hypothesized, that special education teachers view mainstreaming as academically less costly than do the other two groups.