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 95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Despite considerable support for the inter-rater reliability of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991, 2003) in research contexts, there is increasing concern that scores from this instrument may be considerably less stable across examiners in applied contexts, particularly when scoring is based on separate interviews. The present study examines archival data from a sample of imprisoned sex offenders (n = 20) who obtained relatively high PCL-R total scores (> or =25) and were administered this instrument on a second occasion by a different examiner. Intraclass correlations for the total and Factor 2 score were lower than those generally reported in research studies. Of greater concern, Factor 1 scores were only negligibly related to each other (ICC(A,1) = .16). Correcting for potential range restriction among these high scoring individuals resulted in total and Factor 2 score measures of agreement that were somewhat more consistent with published research, but Factor 1 continued to display exceedingly poor agreement across examiners.
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PMID:Inter-rater reliability of the PCL-R total and factor scores among psychopathic sex offenders: are personality features more prone to disagreement than behavioral features? 2010 92

Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) is the most common human sarcoma and is primarily defined by activating mutations in the KIT or PDGFRA receptor tyrosine kinases. KIT is highly expressed in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs)-the presumed cell of origin for GIST-as well as in haematopoietic stem cells, melanocytes, mast cells and germ cells. Yet, families harbouring germline activating KIT mutations and mice with knock-in Kit mutations almost exclusively develop ICC hyperplasia and GIST, suggesting that the cellular context is important for KIT to mediate oncogenesis. Here we show that the ETS family member ETV1 is highly expressed in the subtypes of ICCs sensitive to oncogenic KIT mediated transformation, and is required for their development. In addition, ETV1 is universally highly expressed in GISTs and is required for growth of imatinib-sensitive and resistant GIST cell lines. Transcriptome profiling and global analyses of ETV1-binding sites suggest that ETV1 is a master regulator of an ICC-GIST-specific transcription network mainly through enhancer binding. The ETV1 transcriptional program is further regulated by activated KIT, which prolongs ETV1 protein stability and cooperates with ETV1 to promote tumorigenesis. We propose that GIST arises from ICCs with high levels of endogenous ETV1 expression that, when coupled with an activating KIT mutation, drives an oncogenic ETS transcriptional program. This differs from other ETS-dependent tumours such as prostate cancer, melanoma and Ewing sarcoma where genomic translocation or amplification drives aberrant ETS expression. It also represents a novel mechanism of oncogenic transcription factor activation.
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PMID:ETV1 is a lineage survival factor that cooperates with KIT in gastrointestinal stromal tumours. 2094 35

In the gastrointestinal tract, interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) act as pacemaker cells to generate slow wave activity. Interstitial cells that resemble ICCs in the gastrointestinal tract have been identified by their morphological characteristics in the bladder. KIT is used as an identification marker of ICCs. ICCs in the bladder may be involved in signal transmission between smooth muscle bundles, from efferent nerves to smooth muscles, and from the urothelium to afferent nerves. Recent research has suggested that not only the disturbance of spontaneous contractility caused by altered detrusor ICC signal transduction between nerves and smooth muscle cells but also the disturbance of signal transduction between urothelial cells and sensory nerves via suburothelial ICC may induce overactive bladder (OAB). Recent reports have suggested that KIT is not only a detection marker of these cells, but also may play a crucial role in the control of bladder function. Research into the effect of a c-kit receptor inhibitor, imatinib mesylate, on bladder function implies that KIT-positive ICCs may be therapeutic target cells to reduce bladder overactivity and that the blockage of c-kit receptor may offer a new therapeutic strategy for OAB treatment, although further study will be needed.
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PMID:Role of KIT-Positive Interstitial Cells of Cajal in the Urinary Bladder and Possible Therapeutic Target for Overactive Bladder. 2178 86

Researchers recently found that Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) scores reported by state experts were much higher than those reported by defense experts in sexually violent predator cases pursued for civil commitment (Murrie, Boccaccini, Johnson, & Janke, 2008), which raised the question of which scores were more accurate. In this study, two independent raters rescored the PCL-R from file review for 44 offenders from that sample who had opposing evaluator scores (allegiance cases) and 44 who had state expert, but not defense expert, scores (comparison cases). The independent raters agreed with one another in their scoring of the allegiance and comparison cases (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC] ICCA,1 = .95), but they disagreed with both state (ICCA,1 = .29) and defense (ICCA,1 = .14) experts in the allegiance cases. Agreement was stronger between state experts and independent raters for the comparison cases (ICCA,1 = .63), but the independent raters assigned significantly higher PCL-R scores than experts for both the allegiance and comparison cases. These findings suggest that offenders who were selected for rescoring by the defense may have been more difficult to score. Findings also raise questions about the extent to which PCL-R scores based on correctional file review only are comparable to those based on file and interview.
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PMID:When experts disagreed, who was correct? A comparison of PCL-R scores from independent raters and opposing forensic experts. 2235 47

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) are important mediators of gastrointestinal (GI) motility because of their role as pacemakers in the GI tract. In addition to their function, ICCs are also structurally distinct cells most easily identified by their ultra-structural features and expression of the tyrosine kinase receptor c-KIT. ICCs have been described in mammals, rodents, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, but there are no reports at the ultra-structural level of ICCs within the GI tract of an organism from the teleost lineage. We describe the presence of cells in the muscularis of the zebrafish intestine; these cells have similar features to ICCs in other vertebrates. The ICC-like cells are associated with the muscularis, are more electron-dense than surrounding smooth muscle cells, possess long cytoplasmic processes and mitochondria, and are situated opposing enteric nervous structures. In addition, immunofluorescent and immunoelectron-microscopic studies with antibodies targeting the zebrafish ortholog of a putative ICC marker, c-KIT (kita), showed c-kit immunoreactivity in zebrafish ICCs. Taken together, these data represent the first ultra-structural characterization of cells in the muscularis of the zebrafish Danio rerio and suggest that ICC differentiation in vertebrate evolution dates back to the teleost lineage.
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PMID:Ultra-structural identification of interstitial cells of Cajal in the zebrafish Danio rerio. 2262 60

Design and development of novel targeted therapeutic strategies is an innovation in handling patients with solid malignancies including breast, colon, lung, head & neck or even pancreatic and hepatocellular carcinoma. For a long time, immunohistocytochemistry (IHC/ICC) has been performed as a routine method in almost all labs for evaluating protein expression. Modern molecular approaches show that identification of specific structural and numerical imbalances regarding genes involved in signal transduction pathways provide important data to the oncologists. Alterations in molecules such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), HER2/neu, PTEN or Topoisomerase IIa affect the response rates to specific chemotherapeutic agents modifying also patients' prognostic rates. In situ hybridization (ISH) techniques based on fluorescence and chromogenic variants (FISH/CISH) or silver in situ hybridization (SISH) are applicable in both tissue and cell substrates. Concerning cytological specimens, FISH/CISH analysis appears to be a fast and very accurate method in estimating gene/chromosome ratios. In this paper, we sought to evaluate the usefulness of FISH/ CISH analysis in cytological specimens, describing also the advantages and disadvantages of these methods from the technical point of view.
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PMID:Gene numerical imbalances in cytological specimens based on fluorescence/chromogenic in situ hybridization analysis. 2303 6

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is believed to original from interstitial cells of (ICC) present in Auerbach's nerve plexus. GIST frequently shows gain-of-function mutations of KIT and PDGFRA. In practical pathology, GIST is diagnosed by positive immunostaining or KIT and/or CD34. The author herein demonstrates that human embryonic gastrointestinal tract smooth muscles (HEGITSM) and human embryonic stem gastrointestinal cells (HEGISC) consistently express KIT, CD34, NCAM, PDGFRA and other stem cell (SC) antigens NSE, synaptophysin, chromogranin, bcl-2, ErbB, and MET throughout the embryonic development of 7-40 gestational week (GW). CK14 was negative. The author examines 42 cases (7-40 GW) of embryonic GI tract (EGI). The HEGISM, HEGIST, and gall bladder smooth muscles (SM) were consistently positive for KIT, CD34, NCAM, PDGFRA, synaptophysin, chromogranin, NSE, bcl-2, ErbB2, and MET in foregut, stomach, GB, midgut, and hindgut throughout the fetal life (7-40 GW). The stem cells (SC) were seen to create the SM, nerves, ICC, and other all structures of GI tract. In adult gastrointestinal walls (n=30), KIT, CD34, PDGFRA, and S100 proteins were expressed in Auerbach's nerve plexus and ICC. The bronchial and vascular SM of embryos did not express these molecules. In GIST, frequent expressions of KIT (100%, 30/30), CD34 (90%, 27/30), and PDGFRA (83%, 25/30) were seen. In general, characteristics of tumors recapitulate their embryonic life. Therefore, it is strongly suggested that GIST may be originated from GI SM and/or GI SC in addition to ICC.
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PMID:Smooth muscles and stem cells of embryonic guts express KIT, PDGFRRA, CD34 and many other stem cell antigens: suggestion that GIST arise from smooth muscles and gut stem cells. 2369 20

Although typically described as reliable and valid, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) has come under some criticism by researchers in the last half-decade due to evidence of poor interrater reliability and adversarial allegiance being reported in applied settings in North America. This study examines the field reliability of the PCL-R using a naturalistic test-retest design among a sample of Swedish life sentenced prisoners (N = 27) who had repeatedly been assessed as part of their application to receive a reduced prison term. The prisoners, who were assessed by a team of forensic evaluators retained by an independent government authority, had spent on average 14 years in prison with a mean time from Assessment 1 to Assessment 2 of 2.33 years. The overall reliability of the PCL-R (ICC(A1)) was .70 for the total score and .62 and .76 for Factor 1 and 2 scores, respectively. Facet 1-3 scores ranged from .54 to .60, whereas Facet 4 was much higher (.90). Reliability of individual items was quite variable, ranging from .23 to .80. In terms of potential causes of unreliability, both high and low PCL-R scores at the initial assessment tended to regress toward the mean at the time of the second evaluation. Our results are in line with previous research demonstrating concerns regarding the reliability of the PCL-R within judicial settings, even among independent evaluation teams not retained by a particular side in a case. Collectively, these findings question whether the interpersonal (Facet 1) and affective (Facet 2) features tapped by the PCL-R are reliable enough to justify their use in legal proceedings.
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PMID:Field reliability of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised among life sentenced prisoners in Sweden. 2412 96

The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) is a professional rating scale that enjoys widespread use in forensic and correctional settings, primarily as a tool to inform risk assessments in a variety of types of cases (e.g., parole determinations, sexually violent predator [SVP] civil commitment). Although widely described as "reliable and valid" in research reports, several recent field studies have suggested that PCL-R scores provided by examiners in forensic cases are significantly less reliable than the interrater reliability values reported in research studies. Most of these field studies, however, have had small samples and only examined SVP civil commitment cases. This study builds on existing research by examining the reliability of PCL-R scores provided by forensic examiners in a much more extensive sample of Canadian criminal cases. Using the LexisNexis database, we identified 102 cases in which at least 2 scores were reported (of 257 total PCL-R scores). The single-rater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC(A1)) was .59, indicating that a large percentage of the variance in individual scores was attributable to some form of error. ICC values were somewhat higher for sexual offending cases (.66) than they were for nonsexual offending cases (.46), indicating that poor interrater reliability was not restricted specifically to the assessment of sexual offenders. These and earlier findings concerning field reliability in legal cases suggest that the standard error of measurement for PCL-R scores that are provided to the courts is likely to be much larger than the value of 2.90 reported in the instrument's manual.
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PMID:How reliable are Psychopathy Checklist-Revised scores in Canadian criminal trials? A case law review. 2548 3

Recent field studies have questioned the interrater reliability (IRR) and predictive validity regarding (violent) recidivism of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Using a forensic psychiatric sample, the current study investigated discrepancies in scoring between hospital and prison settings, as well as differences in predictive validity across these two settings. PCL-R information was collected from prison and hospital files, resulting in 224 PCL-R total scores and 74 double scores. When examining repeated measurements, large individual differences were found together with an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICCA,1) of .42 for the total score. Discrepant results were found for Factor 2, with repeated scores within the same setting having an ICCA,1 of .28 versus an ICCA,1 of .57 for repeated scores between settings. However, areas under the curve (AUCs) from receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses for total, factor and facet scores did not differ between settings. For the whole sample, Factor 2 scores marginally predicted violent and general recidivism after 2 years (AUC = .62 and .63), whereas Factor 1 did not predict (violent) recidivism. Consistent with recent studies from other countries, these results suggest inadequate field reliability and validity in prison and hospital settings in Flanders (Belgium). (PsycINFO Database Record
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PMID:PCL-R field validity in prison and hospital settings. 2793 26


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