Comment on: Chocolate Consumption and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes: A Meta-analysis of prospective Studies, Nutrients 2017, 9, 688

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gilberto F. Hurtado-Torres

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Shen Yuan et al. [1] highlight the protective cardiometabolic effects of chocolate intake. Without doubt, their work contributes to support evidence about the salutary and wide protective effects of chocolate compounds, particularly flavanols and its derivatives.[...

Antimicrobial activity of southern African medicinal plants with dermatological relevance: From an ethnopharmacological screening approach, to combination studies and the isolation of a bioactive compound.

Science.gov (United States)

Mabona, Unathi; Viljoen, Alvaro; Shikanga, Emmanual; Marston, Andrew; Van Vuuren, Sandy

2013-06-21

Ethnobotanical reports on more than 100 southern African medicinal plants with dermatological relevance have been highlighted, yet there is still limited scientific data to support claims for their antimicrobial effectiveness against skin pathogens. Guided by ethnobotanical data, this paper explores the antimicrobial efficacies of southern African medicinal plants used to treat skin ailments. To investigate the antimicrobial properties of southern African medicinal plants against dermatologically relevant pathogens. The study also aimed at providing a scientific rationale for the traditional use of plant combinations to treat skin diseases and the isolation of the bio-active compound from the most active species, Aristea ecklonii (Iridaceae). Organic and aqueous extracts (132) were prepared from 47 plant species and screened for antimicrobial properties against dermatologically relevant pathogens using the micro-titre plate dilution method. Four different plant combinations were investigated for interactive properties and the sum of the fractional inhibitory concentration (ƩFIC) calculated. Isobolograms were used to further investigate the antimicrobial interactive properties of Pentanisia prunelloides combined with Elephantorrhiza elephantina at varied ratios. A bioactivity-guided fractionation process was adopted to fractionate the organic leaf extract of Aristea ecklonii. Plants demonstrating notable broad-spectrum activities (MIC values ≤1.00mg/ml) against the tested pathogens included extracts from Aristea ecklonii, Chenopodium ambrosioides, Diospyros mespiliformis, Elephantorrhiza elephantina, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Gunnera perpensa, Harpephyllum caffrum, Hypericum perforatum, Melianthus comosus, Terminalia sericea and Warburgia salutaris. The organic extract of Elephantorrhiza elephantina, a plant reportedly used to treat acne vulgaris, demonstrated noteworthy antimicrobial activity (MIC value of 0.05mg/ml) against Propionibacterium acnes. Similarly

SU-E-T-16: A Comparison of Expected Dwell Times and Dose Variations for NAMD Patients Treated with An Episcleral Brachytherapy Device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamilton, R [Univ Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Patel, P; Balaggan, K; Restori, M; Ilginis, T [Moorfields Eye Hospital, London (United Kingdom); Drew, M; McGovern, M; Vitali, J; Marsteller, L [Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc., Tucson, AZ (United States)

2015-06-15

. Study was sponsored by Salutaris Medical Devices, Ltd., a subsidiary of Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. Hamilton and Marsteller are founders of Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. Drew, McGovern and Vitali are minor equity holders in Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc.

SU-E-T-16: A Comparison of Expected Dwell Times and Dose Variations for NAMD Patients Treated with An Episcleral Brachytherapy Device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamilton, R; Patel, P; Balaggan, K; Restori, M; Ilginis, T; Drew, M; McGovern, M; Vitali, J; Marsteller, L

2015-01-01

. Study was sponsored by Salutaris Medical Devices, Ltd., a subsidiary of Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. Hamilton and Marsteller are founders of Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc. Drew, McGovern and Vitali are minor equity holders in Salutaris Medical Devices, Inc

Surgical management and hypermetabolic modulation of pediatric burns

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barret Nerín, Juan Pedro

2002-01-01

The purpose of the present thesis is to test the hypothesis that immediate burn wound excision of massive pediatric burns is safe and efficacious, presenting with negligible postoperative complications and with salutary effects on the inflammatory and catabolic response after burn injury.

Killing two birds with one stone: successful opioid monotherapy in intractable migraine-triggered epilepsy, a case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Derakhshan, Iraj

2017-01-01

The novel concept explored in this case series is the primacy of headaches in generating seizures in those patients who suffer from migraine-triggered epilepsy. In this series, once the migraine headaches were fully suppressed, via daily scheduled opioid therapy, the seizures also stopped. Seizures returned, however, after the patients stopped the opiate regimen for any reason. The above pharmacological scenario is reminiscent of a similar but naturalistic course of events reported on the salutary effects of ketogenic diet, or changes in life style, in similar cases of migraine-triggered epilepsy. The primacy of migraine in treating what has been named 'seizure headaches' is seen in two other scenarios (i.e. the salutary effect of ketogenic diet and lifestyle changes resulting in restoration of one's sleeping pattern) thus stopping the migraine as well as the seizures associated with the same. This case series recounts the same phenomenon via utilizing around-the-clock maintenance opioid therapy.

The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics. NBER Working Paper No. 15794

Science.gov (United States)

Angrist, Joshua; Pischke, Jorn-Steffen

2010-01-01

This essay reviews progress in empirical economics since Leamer'rs (1983) critique. Leamer highlighted the benefits of sensitivity analysis, a procedure in which researchers show how their results change with changes in specification or functional form. Sensitivity analysis has had a salutary but not a revolutionary effect on econometric practice.…

Strategies towards sustainable bark sourcing as raw material for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SARAH

2017-07-31

Jul 31, 2017 ... Warbugia salutaris bark is used to treat opportunistic ... local communities and households (Shackleton,. 2015). ... tree size are necessary for analysis of the impact of ... due to human influence, it is alternated with a mosaic of ... hardness” to be removed from wood were noted. ..... flow and poor water supply.

Boosting the economy with energy efficiency financing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-07-01

From the New Deal to responses to blackouts, history teaches us that crisis times can result in salutary reforms. Recent international economic developments -- namely the international financial and economic crisis, combined with the volatility of energy prices -- threaten to jeopardise our economic well being and our ability to address other goals like climate change mitigation.

National League of Cities v. Usery: The Tenth Amendment Is Alive and Doing Well

Science.gov (United States)

Percy, Billups P.

1976-01-01

The Usery decision invalidated an act of Congress as exceeding the commerce power--extension of minimum wage and maximum hour provisions to virtually all employees of states and their political subdivisions. The ruling is a salutary one if it heralds the Supreme Court's recognition that a significant degree of political and economic autonomy for…

Treatment with acarbose, an alpha-glucosidase inhibitor, reduces increased albumin excretion in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, M P; Vasselli, J R; Neuman, R G; Witt, J

1995-10-01

1. We examined the effect of the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor acarbose on urinary albumin excretion (UAE) in streptozotocin diabetic rats. 2. Treatment with acarbose for 8 weeks after induction of diabetes prevented the significant increase in UAE observed in untreated diabetic rats relative to nondiabetic controls. 3. Acarbose significantly reduced integrated glycemia, which correlated with albumin excretion rates, and exerts a salutary effect on diabetic renal dysfunction.

Salutary value of haruan, the striped snakehead Channa striatus – a review

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Mohammed Abdul Kader Haniffa

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Murrel namely Channa striatus or haruan contains all essential elements to maintain good health and to recover the lost energy after prolonged illness. The fatty acid composition (% of total fatty acid indicated the abundant presence of C16:0 fatty acid as 30% and the other major fatty acids were C22:6 (15%, C20:4 (19%, C18:1 (12% and C18:0 (15%. Haruan contains arachidonic acid (C20:4 as 19.0%, a precursor for prostaglandin and thromboxane biosyntheses. Both fatty and amino acids are important components for wound healing processes. Both the fillet and mucus extracts of haruan were found to exhibit a concentration dependent antinociceptive activity. In vitro antioxidant activity was higher in Channa roe protein hydrolysate than in Labeo roe protein hydrolysate in both DPPH radical scavenging and ferric reducing power. Protein content of roe concentrates (RPC was found to be 90.2% (Channa and 82.5% (Lates. Water absorption, oil absorption, foam capacity, stability and emulsifying capacity were found to be higher in Channa RPC than in Lates RPC. Characterization of protein hydrolysates from muscle and myofibrillar samples of haruan showed different kinetic and proteolytic activities. The skin extract of haruan influences the serotonergic receptor system thus they can function as an anti-depressant. Thus, haruan is the best example for food as medicine.

Faith, Food and Fettle: Is Individual and Neighborhood Religiosity/Spirituality Associated with a Better Diet?

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Min-Min Tan

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Diet is an important contributor to many non-communicable diseases. Religion and spirituality (R/S has a salutary effect on physical health, and one of the possible links between R/S and positive health outcomes is a better diet. Religious neighborhoods might also play a role in influencing the adoption of a healthier diet. Suggestions for future research in R/S and diet are included.

Religion and Healthy Eating among Seventh-Day Adventists in West Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Tan, Min Min

2017-01-01

Introduction: Religion/Spirituality has been shown to be salutary on health, and a possible link between religion and positive health outcomes is diet. Research has shown that religiosity is associated with better diet but most studies were conducted in a multi-denominational context, which might be confounded with theological differences. Thus, the first aim of this study was to examine the relationship between individual religiosity and diet within a homogenous group of be...

Bulletin No. 16-17/2010

CERN Multimedia

Lefevre, C

2010-01-01

Titles: HEP gets INSPIREd Hats off to the particle suppliers LHC status report When particles hit the headlines Renewing our green spaces Puzzling antimatter A trendy approach to education! The person behind much of your reading matter The beauty of the physical world Win a lift to the future! A salutary exercise Film showing - Higgs: into the heart of imagination A young Russian choir at CERN Library news François Louis (1928-2010)

The Salutary Influence of Forest Bathing on Elderly Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

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Genxiang Mao

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract: The aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that forest bathing would be beneficial for elderly patients with chronic heart failure (CHF as an adjunctive therapy. Two groups of participants with CHF were simultaneously sent to the forest or an urban control area for a four-day trip, respectively. Subjects exposed to the forest site showed a significant reduction of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP in comparison to that of the city group and their own baseline levels. The values for the cardiovascular disease related pathological factors, including endothelin-1 (ET-1, and constituents of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS, including renin, angiotensinogen (AGT, angiotensin II (ANGII, and ANGII receptor type 1 or 2 (AT1 or AT2 in subjects exposed to the forest environment were lower than those in the urban control group. Obviously, a decreased level of inflammatory cytokines and improved antioxidant function was observed in the forest group rather than in the city group. The assessment of the profile of mood states (POMS indicated that the negative emotional mood state was alleviated after forest bathing. As anticipated, a better air quality in the forest site was observed according to the detection of PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5 μm and negative ions. These results provided direct evidence that forest bathing has a beneficial effect on CHF patients, and thus may pave the way for potential development of forest bathing as an effective adjunctive therapy on cardiovascular disorders.

Salutary effects of high-intensity interval training in persons with elevated cardiovascular risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleg, Jerome L

2016-01-01

Although moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) has been the traditional model for aerobic exercise training for over four decades, a growing body of literature has demonstrated equal if not greater improvement in aerobic capacity and similar beneficial effects on body composition, glucose metabolism, blood pressure, and quality of life from high-intensity interval training (HIIT). An advantage of HIIT over MICT is the shorter time required to perform the same amount of energy expenditure. The current brief review summarizes the effects of HIIT on peak aerobic capacity and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy adults and those with various cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, and post heart transplantation.

Authors and Their ‘Mischievous’ Books: The Salutary Experience of Southey v Sherwood

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Megan Richardson

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In the 1817 case of Southey v Sherwood Lord Eldon LC denied an injunction against the pirating of Robert Southey’s potentially ‘mischievous’ Wat Tyler, setting the tone for judgments in cases to come. The judges’ approach gave little account to the concerns of the authors whose interests in controlling their pirates lay in preserving their reputations and maintaining their livelihoods. The upshot was that the pirates prospered, large numbers of possibly seditious, blasphemous, defamatory and obscene books were published in England, and authors and judges were publicly excoriated. Eventually, judges had to reconsider their failed approach while authors looked for new ways to control their status and sources of income – as well as formulating some sharper distinctions between their public and private lives.

Religiousness, Physical Activity and Obesity among Older Cancer Survivors: Results from the Health and Retirement Study 2000–2010

OpenAIRE

Nathenson, Sophia Lyn; Wen, Ming

2012-01-01

The health behaviors of cancer survivors are an important research agenda in light of mounting evidence that aspects of health such as diet and exercise have salutary effects both mentally and physically for cancer survivors, a rapidly growing population in the United States and elsewhere. This paper analyzes data from the Health and Retirement Study 2000–2010 to determine if religious salience impacts the likelihood of obesity, changes in body mass index, and weekly vigorous activity. Two th...

Host plant use among closely related Anaea butterfly species (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Charaxinae

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QUEIROZ J. M.

2002-01-01

Full Text Available There is a great number of Charaxinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae species in the tropics whose larvae feed on several plant families. However the genus Anaea is almost always associated with Croton species (Euphorbiaceae. This work describes patterns of host plant use by immature and adult abundance on different vertical strata of sympatric Anaea species in a forest of Southeastern Brazil. Quantitative samples of leaves were taken in April/1999 and May/2000 to collect eggs and larvae of four Anaea species on C.alchorneicarpus, C. floribundus and C. salutaris in a semideciduous forest. Sampled leaves were divided into three classes of plant phenological stage: saplings, shrubs and trees. The results showed that the butterfly species are segregating in host plant use on two scales: host plant species and plant phenological stages. C. alchorneicarpus was used by only one Anaea species, whereas C. floribundus was used by three species and C. salutaris by four Anaea species. There was one Anaea species concentrated on sapling, another on sapling/shrub and two others on shrub/tree leaves. Adults of Anaea were more frequent at canopy traps but there were no differences among species caught in traps at different vertical positions. This work supplements early studies on host plant use among Charaxinae species and it describes how a guild of closely related butterfly species may be organized in a complex tropical habitat.

Past and present energy societies. How energy connects politics, technologies and cultures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moellers, Nina; Zachmann, Karin (eds.)

2012-07-01

Abundant, salutary, problematic - energy makes history. As a symbol, resource and consumer good, it shapes technologies, politics, societies and cultural world views. Focussing on a range of energy types, from electricity and oil to bioenergy, this volume analyzes the social, cultural and political concepts and discourses of energy and their implementation and materialization within technical systems, applications, media representations and consumer practice. By examining and connecting production, mediation and consumption aspects from an international and interdisciplinary perspective, the book offers an innovative view on how energy is imagined, discussed, staged and used.

Numerical Study on Self-Cleaning Canister Filter With Add-On Filter Cap

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Mohammed Akmal Nizam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Filtration in a turbo machinery system such as a gas turbine will ensure that the air entering the inlet is free from contaminants that could bring damage to the main system. Self-cleaning filter systems for gas turbines are designed for continuously efficient flow filtration. A good filter would be able to maintain its effectiveness over a longer time period, prolonging the duration between filter replacements and providing lower pressure drop over its operating lifetime. With this goal in mind, the current study is focused on the difference in pressure loss of the benchmark Salutary Avenue Self-cleaning filter in comparison to a new design with an add-on filter cap. Geometry for the add-on filter cap will be based from Salutary Avenue Manufacturing Sdn.Bhd. SOLIDWORKS software was used to model the geometry of the filter, while simulation analysis on the flow through the filter was done using Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD software. The simulations are based on a low velocity condition, in which the parameter for the inlet velocity are set at 0.032 m/s, 0.063 m/s, 0.094 m/s and 0.126 m/s respectively. From the simulation data obtained for the inlet velocities considered, the pressure drop reduction of the modified filter compared to the benchmark was found to be between 7.59% and 30.18%. All in all, the modification of the filter cap produced a lower pressure drop in comparison with the benchmark filter; an improvement of 27.02% for the total pressure drop was obtained.

PARTICULARITĂŢILE MANAGEMENTULUI FIRMELOR DE TURISM ŞI SERVICII ŞI PRINCIPALELE TENDINŢE ÎN TURISMUL INTERN ŞI INTERNAŢIONAL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona BUTA

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Being the most important industry in the world, tourism is often seen as a salutary solution for helping the economic development of a country leading to an increase in the life standards. We try to define and to present shortly the main tendencies of the national and international tourism The development of the tourism and activity of the firms of tourism can not be possible realised without a suitable projection system’s management, what system presents a series of differences against traditional management, of industrial type.

The pitfalls of treating anorectal conditions after radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Thornhill, J A

2012-03-01

We present a salutary lesson learned from three cases with significant complications that followed anorectal intervention in the presence of radiation proctitis due to prior radiotherapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. After apparent routine rubber band ligation for painful haemorrhoids, one patient developed a colo-cutaneous fistula. Following laser coagulation for radiation proctitis, one patient required a pelvic exenteration for a fistula, while another developed a rectal stenosis. Those diagnosing and treating colonic conditions should be mindful of the increased prevalence of patients who have had radiotherapy for prostate cancer and the potential for complications in treating these patients.

Sequential Extraction as Novel Approach to Compare 12 Medicinal Plants From Kenya Regarding Their Potential to Release Chromium, Manganese, Copper, and Zinc.

Science.gov (United States)

Mogwasi, R; Zor, S; Kariuki, D K; Getenga, M Z; Nischwitz, V

2018-04-01

This study is focusing on a novel approach to screen a large number of medicinal plants from Kenya regarding their contents and availability of selected metals potentially relevant for treatment of diabetes patients. For this purpose, total levels of zinc, chromium, manganese, and copper were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry as well as BCR sequential extraction to fractionate the elemental species in anti-diabetic medicinal plants collected from five natural locations in two sub counties in Nyamira County, Kenya. Solanum mauense had the highest zinc level of 123.0 ± 3.1 mg/kg while Warburgia ugandensis had the lowest level of 13.9 ± 0.4 mg/kg. The highest level of copper was in Bidens pilosa (29.0 ± 0.6 mg/kg) while the lowest was in Aloe vera (3.0 ± 0.1 mg/kg). Croton macrostachyus had the highest manganese level of 1630 ± 40 mg/kg while Clerodendrum myricoides had the lowest (80.2 ± 1.2 mg/kg). The highest level of chromium was in Solanum mauense (3.20 ± 0.06 mg/kg) while the lowest (0.04 ± 0.01 mg/kg) were in Clerodendrum myricoides and Warburgia ugandesis among the medicinal plants from Nyamira and Borabu, respectively. The levels of the elements were statistically different from that of other elements while the level of a given element was not statistically different in the medicinal plants from the different sub counties. Sequential extraction was performed to determine the solubility and thus estimate the bioavailability of the four investigated essential and potentially therapeutically relevant metals. The results showed that the easily bioavailable fraction (EBF) of chromium, manganese, zinc, and copper ranged from 6.7 to 13.8%, 4.1 to 10%, 2.4 to 10.2%, and 3.2 to 12.0% while the potentially bioavailable fraction (PBF) ranged from 50.1 to 67.6%, 32.2 to 48.7%, 23.0 to 41.1%, and 34.6 to 53.1%, respectively. Bidens pilosa, Croton macrostachyus, Ultrica dioica

Revisiting Our Reappraisal of the (Surprisingly Few) Benefits of High Self-Esteem.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumeister, Roy F; Vohs, Kathleen D

2018-03-01

Our 2003 article clashed with conventional wisdom by concluding that high self-esteem has only a couple of benefits, notably high initiative (based on trusting one's own judgment) and feeling good. Its high citation rate reflects not only the novel conclusions but also widespread interest in self-esteem both among researchers and in the broader society. Psychology may have lost some credibility by advocating efforts to raise self-esteem that were based on correlational evidence, which may be a salutary lesson for the field. There is still much to learn about self-esteem, but future work can improve by noting weaknesses in self-report data and correcting for confounds.

Numerical study of canister filters with alternatives filter cap configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammed, A. N.; Daud, A. R.; Abdullah, K.; Seri, S. M.; Razali, M. A.; Hushim, M. F.; Khalid, A.

2017-09-01

Air filtration system and filter play an important role in getting a good quality air into turbo machinery such as gas turbine. The filtration system and filter has improved the quality of air and protect the gas turbine part from contaminants which could bring damage. During separation of contaminants from the air, pressure drop cannot be avoided but it can be minimized thus helps to reduce the intake losses of the engine [1]. This study is focused on the configuration of the filter in order to obtain the minimal pressure drop along the filter. The configuration used is the basic filter geometry provided by Salutary Avenue Manufacturing Sdn Bhd. and two modified canister filter cap which is designed based on the basic filter model. The geometries of the filter are generated by using SOLIDWORKS software and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software is used to analyse and simulates the flow through the filter. In this study, the parameters of the inlet velocity are 0.032 m/s, 0.063 m/s, 0.094 m/s and 0.126 m/s. The total pressure drop produce by basic, modified filter 1 and 2 is 292.3 Pa, 251.11 Pa and 274.7 Pa. The pressure drop reduction for the modified filter 1 is 41.19 Pa and 14.1% lower compared to basic filter and the pressure drop reduction for modified filter 2 is 17.6 Pa and 6.02% lower compared to the basic filter. The pressure drops for the basic filter are slightly different with the Salutary Avenue filter due to limited data and experiment details. CFD software are very reliable in running a simulation rather than produces the prototypes and conduct the experiment thus reducing overall time and cost in this study.

Dehydroepiandrosterone restores hepatocellular function and prevents liver damage in estrogen-deficient females following trauma and hemorrhage.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuebler, J F; Jarrar, D; Wang, P; Bland, K I; Chaudry, I H

2001-05-15

Recent studies have shown that administration of the sex steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in males following trauma-hemorrhagic shock has salutary effects on the depressed cardiovascular and immunological functions under those conditions. Since the effects of sex steroids are gender specific, we examined whether administration of DHEA has any beneficial effects on hepatocellular function in female rats with low estrogen levels following trauma-hemorrhage. Ovariectomy was performed in female Sprague-Dawley rats 14 days prior to the experiments. The animals then underwent a 5-cm midline laparotomy and were subjected to hemorrhagic shock (40 mm Hg for 90 min). This was followed by fluid resuscitation (Ringer's lactate over 60 min) and administration of DHEA (30 mg/kg BW) or vehicle subcutaneously at the end of resuscitation. At 24 h after resuscitation hepatocellular function, i.e., clearance of indocyanine green (ICG), and hepatocyte damage (serum alanine aminotransferase) were measured. Plasma levels of DHEA and 17beta-estradiol were also assayed. Vehicle-treated rats had significantly reduced hepatocellular function, increased ALT activity, and decreased levels of 17beta-estradiol following trauma-hemorrhage compared to sham-operated animals (P trauma-hemorrhage, hepatocellular function and ALT activity were similar to those of shams. However, administration of DHEA did not influence the plasma levels of 17beta-estradiol. Administration of DHEA following trauma-hemorrhage restored hepatocellular function and reduced hepatic damage that was observed in ovariectomized female rats under such conditions. This salutary effect of DHEA did not appear to be due to elevated levels of plasma 17beta-estradiol. We therefore propose that DHEA should be considered a novel, safe, and useful adjunct in the treatment of trauma-induced hepatocellular dysfunction in ovariectomized and postmenopausal females. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Estradiol improves cardiac and hepatic function after trauma-hemorrhage: role of enhanced heat shock protein expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Szalay, László; Shimizu, Tomoharu; Suzuki, Takao; Yu, Huang-Ping; Choudhry, Mashkoor A; Schwacha, Martin G; Rue, Loring W; Bland, Kirby I; Chaudry, Irshad H

2006-03-01

Although studies indicate that 17beta-estradiol administration after trauma-hemorrhage (T-H) improves cardiac and hepatic functions, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Because the induction of heat shock proteins (HSPs) can protect cardiac and hepatic functions, we hypothesized that these proteins contribute to the salutary effects of estradiol after T-H. To test this hypothesis, male Sprague-Dawley rats ( approximately 300 g) underwent laparotomy and hemorrhagic shock (35-40 mmHg for approximately 90 min) followed by resuscitation with four times the shed blood volume in the form of Ringer lactate. 17beta-estradiol (1 mg/kg body wt) was administered at the end of the resuscitation. Five hours after T-H and resuscitation there was a significant decrease in cardiac output, positive and negative maximal rate of left ventricular pressure. Liver function as determined by bile production and indocyanine green clearance was also compromised after T-H and resuscitation. This was accompanied by an increase in plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and liver perfusate lactic dehydrogenase levels. Furthermore, circulating levels of TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-10 were also increased. In addition to decreased cardiac and hepatic function, there was an increase in cardiac HSP32 expression and a reduction in HSP60 expression after T-H. In the liver, HSP32 and HSP70 were increased after T-H. There was no change in heart HSP70 and liver HSP60 after T-H and resuscitation. Estradiol administration at the end of T-H and resuscitation increased heart/liver HSPs expression, ameliorated the impairment of heart/liver functions, and significantly prevented the increase in plasma levels of ALT, TNF-alpha, and IL-6. The ability of estradiol to induce HSPs expression in the heart and the liver suggests that HSPs, in part, mediate the salutary effects of 17beta-estradiol on organ functions after T-H.

Dataset of the use of tannin of néré (parkia-biglobosa as a solution for the sustainability of the soil constructions in West Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sinko Banakinao

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Soil is the main material of construction in African rural areas. Sustainability of construction with soil is a thorny problem to any builder. Finding ways to improve the durability of soil is not only essential but also salutary for the African rural community that mostly lives in soil-built houses that are very often short-lived. The present data assessed the resistance to simple compression and the resistance to bad weather by simulating rainfall alternations through a test of cycles of alternate watering and drying of blocks built from four types of different soils without binder, along with blocks built from the same soils. Keywords: Parkia-biglobosa, Bipinnateleaves, Mimosaceae

Relationship between urban sprawl and physical activity, obesity, and morbidity - update and refinement.

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Reid; Meakins, Gail; Hamidi, Shima; Nelson, Arthur C

2014-03-01

This study aims to model multiple health outcomes and behaviors in terms of the updated, refined, and validated county compactness/sprawl measures. Multiple health outcomes and behaviors are modeled using multi-level analysis. After controlling for observed confounding influences, both original and new compactness measures are negatively related to BMI, obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Indices are not significantly related to physical activity, perhaps because physical activity is not defined broadly to include active travel to work, shopping, and other destinations. Developing urban and suburban areas in a more compact manner may have some salutary effect on obesity and chronic disease trends. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

From hypothetical scenario to tragic reality: A salutary lesson in risk communication and the Victorian 2009 bushfires.

Science.gov (United States)

Burns, Robin; Robinson, Priscilla; Smith, Penelope

2010-02-01

To investigate the ways that the risk of a bushfire emergency and communication strategies are perceived by different community segments. A brief questionnaire preceded focus group discussion of a bushfire scenario with four communications from different sources. Groups were recruited to represent different community segments within a bushfire-prone peri-urban Shire in Victoria. Four groups (28 participants) were recruited. Bushfire experience was highest in the over 40-year-olds, who would use a variety of information sources, preferred to receive information from trusted local sources, such as emergency services and the council, and were more likely to be a member of a local organisation than the under 40s. Younger people used television, local papers, and friends, family and neighbours as information sources. Young parents felt disempowered through lack of local knowledge, and trusted government departments less than older residents. All wanted clear, current, specific local information about ground conditions and actions to be taken during a fire outbreak. Knowledge of and preparedness for bushfire is unequally spread throughout a bushfire community. There is a need in public health risk and emergency situations to focus on community development, information and consultation. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 Public Health Association of Australia.

Statins for progression of aortic valve stenosis and the best evidence for making decisions in health care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciana Thiago

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In the Western world, calcified aortic valve stenosis is the most common form of valvular heart disease, affecting up to 3% of adults over the age of 75 years. It is a gradually progressive disease, characterized by a long asymptomatic phase that may last for several decades, followed by a short symptomatic phase associated with severe restriction of the valve orifice. Investigations on treatments for aortic valve stenosis are still in progress. Thus, it is believed that calcification of aortic valve stenosis is similar to the process of atherosclerosis that occurs in coronary artery disease. Recent studies have suggested that cholesterol lowering through the use of statins may have a salutary effect on the progression of aortic valve stenosis

THE EPISTEMOLOGY BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THOUGHTS ON THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Brett H

2017-07-01

This essay is concerned with the epistemological complications of the interface between psychoanalysis and "scientific" disciplines and methodologies-in particular, with respect to theories of knowledge and conceptualizations of subjectivity appropriate to psychoanalysis. The author suggests that there is in such interface the potential for an untheorized scientism in empiricist prescriptions for the reform and rescue of psychoanalysis, and revisits the notion that subjectivity as conceived psychoanalytically, grounded in lived experience, is irreducible in ways that are unique and existentially abiding. The author explores the problem through the lens of philosophical hermeneutics and cautions against merging psychoanalysis, under the guise of a salutary pluralism, with disciplines guided by a systematized empiricism and its attendant epistemological commitments. © 2017 The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Inc.

Salutary effects of high-intensity interval training in persons with elevated cardiovascular risk [version 1; referees: 3 approved

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Jerome L. Fleg

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Although moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT has been the traditional model for aerobic exercise training for over four decades, a growing body of literature has demonstrated equal if not greater improvement in aerobic capacity and similar beneficial effects on body composition, glucose metabolism, blood pressure, and quality of life from high-intensity interval training (HIIT. An advantage of HIIT over MICT is the shorter time required to perform the same amount of energy expenditure. The current brief review summarizes the effects of HIIT on peak aerobic capacity and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy adults and those with various cardiovascular diseases, including coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure, and post heart transplantation.

Salutary effects of an attention bias modification mobile application on biobehavioral measures of stress and anxiety during pregnancy.

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Dennis-Tiwary, Tracy A; Denefrio, Samantha; Gelber, Shari

2017-07-01

Stress and anxiety during pregnancy are associated with a range of adverse health outcomes, but there is an unmet need for low-barrier treatments that target stress and anxiety. One such treatment approach, attention bias modification training (ABMT), targets the anxiety-related threat bias, a disruption in attention to and neural processing of threat-related information. It remains unclear, however, whether reducing treatment barriers via mobile delivery of ABMT is effective and whether ABMT efficacy varies depending on individual differences in neural processing of threat. The present study tested whether mobile, gamified ABMT reduced prenatal threat bias, anxiety and stress, and whether ABMT efficacy varied with individual differences in neural responses to threat. Participants were 29 women in their 19th-29th week of pregnancy, randomized to four weeks of an ABMT or placebo training (PT) version of the mobile app using a double-blind design. Self-report of anxiety, depression, and stress were obtained; salivary cortisol was collected at home and in lab in response to stressors to index biological stress reactivity. Threat bias was measured using a computerized attention assay during which EEG was recorded to generate event-related potentials (ERPs) to threat cues. Results showed lower levels of lab cortisol following ABMT versus PT. Although the main effect of ABMT on subjective anxiety was not significant, the magnitude of cortisol reduction was correlated with lower levels of subjective anxiety and threat bias. Those receiving ABMT also reported less anxiety when showing smaller ERPs to threat (P1, P2) prior to training, but, conversely reported more anxiety when showing larger ERPs to threat. Use of gamified, mobile ABMT reduced biobehavioral indices of prenatal stress and anxiety, but effects on anxiety varied with individual differences in cortisol response and neurocognitive indices of early attention to threat. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tunneling spectra of graphene on copper unraveled

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Xin; Stradi, Daniele; Liu, Lei

2016-01-01

mechanisms, etc. The interpretation of the spectra can be complicated, however. Specifically for graphene grown on copper, there have been conflicting reports of tunneling spectra. A clear understanding of the mechanisms behind the variability is desired. In this work, we have revealed that the root cause...... of the variability in tunneling spectra is the variation in graphene-substrate coupling under various experimental conditions, providing a salutary perspective on the important role of 2D material-substrate interactions. The conclusions are drawn from measured data and theoretical calculations for monolayer, AB......-stacked bilayer, and twisted bilayer graphene coexisting on the same substrates in areas with and without intercalated oxygen, demonstrating a high degree of consistency. The Van Hove singularities of the twisted graphene unambiguously indicate the Dirac energy between them, lending strong evidence to our...

Religiosity, dietary habit, intake of fruit and vegetable, and vegetarian status among Seventh-Day Adventists in West Malaysia.

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Tan, Min-Min; Chan, Carina K Y; Reidpath, Daniel D

2016-08-01

Religion has been shown to be salutary on health, and a possible link between religion and positive health outcomes is diet. Research has shown that religiosity is associated with better diet but most studies were conducted in a multi-denominational context, which might be confounded with theological differences. This study examined the relationship between religiosity and diet within a homogenous group of believers. Data from survey of 574 Seventh-Day Adventists residing in West Malaysia, aged 18-80, were analyzed using multiple regressions. While none of the religious variables were significantly associated with fruit and vegetable intake, a higher level of religiosity was associated with a better dietary habit and vegetarian status. The mixed relationship between religiosity and diet suggest that further research is needed to explore how religion might influence the diet of adherents.

Catalytic production of metal carbonyls from metal oxides

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Sapienza, Richard S.; Slegeir, William A.; Foran, Michael T.

1984-01-01

This invention relates to the formation of metal carbonyls from metal oxides and specially the formation of molybdenum carbonyl and iron carbonyl from their respective oxides. Copper is used here in admixed form or used in chemically combined form as copper molybdate. The copper/metal oxide combination or combined copper is utilized with a solvent, such as toluene and subjected to carbon monoxide pressure of 25 atmospheres or greater at about 150.degree.-260.degree. C. The reducing metal copper is employed in catalytic concentrations or combined concentrations as CuMoO.sub.4 and both hydrogen and water present serve as promoters. It has been found that the yields by this process have been salutary and that additionally the catalytic metal may be reused in the process to good effect.

Herbal Medicine and Vaginal Candidiasis in Iran: A Review

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Sedigheh Sheidaei

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Candidiasis is the second most common vaginal infection. Given the frequent recurrence of the disease, many women tend to use herbal remedies. Thus, the present study aimed to review the association between vaginal candidiasis and herbal medicines in Iran. In this review, we retrieved articles published from 2001 to 2016. Then, the results were expressed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In this study, nine articles were reviewed, which had investigated thyme, garlic, garlic-thyme, olive oil, propolis, myrtus, Nigella sativa (black cumin, and Bunium perscicum boiss (black zira. Subsequently, each of these plants was thoroughly dealt with. The studies on black cumin, garlic, and thyme reported positive effects for these herbs, and they were widely produced for therapeutic purposes. In addition, myrtus was found to have a salutary impact on vaginal candidiasis.

Shared and unique predictors of post-traumatic growth and distress.

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Dekel, Sharon; Mandl, Christine; Solomon, Zahava

2011-03-01

This prospective longitudinal study compared pretraumatic, peritraumatic, and post-traumatic predictors of post-traumatic growth (PTG) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A total of 103 Israeli former prisoners of the Yom Kippur War were followed over 30 years. Sociodemographic variables, trauma exposure, reactions in captivity, world assumptions, social support, and personality factors were assessed in 1991, and PTG and PTSD symptoms in 2003. Hierarchical regression modeling showed that although some predictors, namely, loss of control and active coping during captivity, predicted both PTG and PTSD, others predicted one outcome and not the other. Self-controllability predicted PTG while sociodemographic factors predicted PTSD when controlling for PTSD and PTG, respectively. The findings indicate that salutary and pathogenic trauma outcomes share some but not all precursors, underscoring their multifaceted relationship. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

'C'estoit comme songe et mocquerie de parler de pardon.' Obstructie bij een pacificatiemaatregel (1566-1567

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V. Soen

2004-01-01

Full Text Available ‘C’estoit comme songe et mocquerie de parler de pardon.’ Blocking a peace initiative (1566-1567After the Compromise of the Nobles and a spurt of iconoclasm in 1566, a general pardon — a collective amnesty — was repeatedly proposed as a strategy to pacify the Low Countries and reaffirm royal power. This article describes how and why the suggestion to issue a general pardon provoked policymakers in Brussels and Madrid to place major obstacles in its path, even though the collective amnesty was in fact drawn up as a salutary measure. Alternate reactions from key players such as Philip II, Margarita de Parma, the Duke of Alba and Cardinal Granvelle actually corresponded to well-defined patterns and conceptions of issuing a pardon.

Glucocorticoids enhance muscle endurance and ameliorate Duchenne muscular dystrophy through a defined metabolic program

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Morrison-Nozik, Alexander; Anand, Priti; Zhu, Han

2015-01-01

in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic muscle-wasting disease. A defined molecular basis underlying these performance-enhancing properties of GCs in skeletal muscle remains obscure. Here, we demonstrate that ergogenic effects of GCs are mediated by direct induction of the metabolic transcription......Classic physiology studies dating to the 1930s demonstrate that moderate or transient glucocorticoid (GC) exposure improves muscle performance. The ergogenic properties of GCs are further evidenced by their surreptitious use as doping agents by endurance athletes and poorly understood efficacy...... factor KLF15, defining a downstream pathway distinct from that resulting in GC-related muscle atrophy. Furthermore, we establish that KLF15 deficiency exacerbates dystrophic severity and muscle GC-KLF15 signaling mediates salutary therapeutic effects in the mdx mouse model of DMD. Thus, although...

Acute Vagal Nerve Stimulation Lowers α2 Adrenoceptor Availability

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Landau, Anne M.; Dyve, Suzan; Jakobsen, Steen

2015-01-01

Background Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) emerged as an anti-epileptic therapy, and more recently as a potential antidepressant intervention. Objective/hypothesis We hypothesized that salutary effects of VNS are mediated, at least in part, by augmentation of the inhibitory effects of cortical...... monoaminergic neurotransmission at appropriate receptors, specifically adrenoceptors. Our objective was to measure the effect of acute VNS on α2 adrenoceptor binding. Methods Using positron emission tomography (PET), we measured changes in noradrenaline receptor binding associated with acute VNS stimulation...... electrode in minipigs before and within 30 min of the initiation of 1 mA stimulation. Kinetic analysis with the Logan graphical linearization generated tracer volumes of distribution for each condition. We used an averaged value of the distribution volume of non-displaceable ligand (VND), to calculate...

A 41-year-old man with polyarthritis and severe autonomic neuropathy

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Matthew E Bourcier

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Matthew E Bourcier, Aaron I VinikEastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USAAbstract: Orthostasis due to autonomic neuropathy can cause severe debilitation and prove refractory to treatment. This report describes a case of severe sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic dysfunction as a consequence of acetylcholine receptor antibodies and Sjogren’s syndrome. Symptomatic management, plasma fluid expanders, and IVIG therapy failed to offer a salutary response to the condition. Etanercept therapy provided improvement of the orthostasis and autonomic function measured as high and low frequency respiratory effects on heart rate variability as well as enhancement of skin blood flow using Laser Doppler. It would be of considerable interest to determine the effectiveness of etanercept in other autoimmune neuropathies.Keywords: autonomic neuropathy, etanercept, IntraEpidermal Nerve Fibers (IENF, acetylcholine receptor antibodies, laser doppler skin blood flow, orthostasis

Overweight and obesity: can we reconcile evidence about supermarkets and fast food retailers for public health policy?

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Viola, Deborah; Arno, Peter S; Maroko, Andrew R; Schechter, Clyde B; Sohler, Nancy; Rundle, Andrew; Neckerman, Kathryn M; Maantay, Juliana

2013-08-01

The aim of this study is to determine whether access to fast food outlets and supermarkets is associated with overweight and obesity in New York City neighborhoods. We use a Bayesian ecologic approach for spatial prediction. Consistent with prior research, we find no association between fast food density and overweight or obesity. Consistent with prior research, we find that supermarket access has a salutary impact on overweight and obesity. Given the lack of empirical evidence linking fast food retailers with adverse health outcomes, policymakers should be encouraged to adopt policies that incentivize the establishment of supermarkets and the modification of existing food store markets and retailers to offer healthier choices. Reaching within neighborhoods and modifying the physical environment and public health prevention and intervention efforts based on the characteristics of those neighborhoods may play a key role in creating healthier communities.

Directions in locational conflict research: Voting on the location of nuclear waste disposal facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shelley, F.M.; Murauskas, G.T.

1985-01-01

It is clear from empirical evidence that currently significant locational conflicts concerning the siting of nuclear waste disposal facilities cannot be modeled under the standard noxious facility location paradigm that views locational conflict as conflict between regions. Rather, local populations are characterized by sharp disagreements as to whether the proposed facility is in fact salutary or noxious. Thus, conflict concerning nuclear waste disposal must be understood as a conflict among preferences and values, rather than among competing, areally defined interest groups. This has significant implications for the outcomes of political processes leading to siting decisions, as indicated in this paper. Whether intransivity occurs depends on the location and proportion of persons with different preference orderings concerning possible outcomes. Further research on this issue can and should be directed to further mathematical specification of these conditions along with empirical analysis where appropriate

Aging, Atherosclerosis, and IGF-1

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Higashi, Yusuke; Sukhanov, Sergiy; Anwar, Asif; Shai, Shaw-Yung

2012-01-01

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is an endocrine and autocrine/paracrine growth factor that circulates at high levels in the plasma and is expressed in most cell types. IGF-1 has major effects on development, cell growth and differentiation, and tissue repair. Recent evidence indicates that IGF-1 reduces atherosclerosis burden and improves features of atherosclerotic plaque stability in animal models. Potential mechanisms for this atheroprotective effect include IGF-1–induced reduction in oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, proinflammatory signaling, and endothelial dysfunction. Aging is associated with increased vascular oxidative stress and vascular disease, suggesting that IGF-1 may exert salutary effects on vascular aging processes. In this review, we will provide a comprehensive update on IGF-1's ability to modulate vascular oxidative stress and to limit atherogenesis and the vascular complications of aging. PMID:22491965

Emotional intelligence, teamwork effectiveness, and job performance: the moderating role of job context.

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Farh, Crystal I C Chien; Seo, Myeong-Gu; Tesluk, Paul E

2012-07-01

We advance understanding of the role of ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) and its subdimensions in the workplace by examining the mechanisms and context-based boundary conditions of the EI-performance relationship. Using a trait activation framework, we theorize that employees with higher overall EI and emotional perception ability exhibit higher teamwork effectiveness (and subsequent job performance) when working in job contexts characterized by high managerial work demands because such contexts contain salient emotion-based cues that activate employees' emotional capabilities. A sample of 212 professionals from various organizations and industries indicated support for the salutary effect of EI, above and beyond the influence of personality, cognitive ability, emotional labor job demands, job complexity, and demographic control variables. Theoretical and practical implications of the potential value of EI for workplace outcomes under contexts involving managerial complexity are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

An efficient method for qualitative screening of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria.

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Mehta, S; Nautiyal, C S

2001-07-01

An efficient protocol was developed for qualitative screening of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, based upon visual observation. Our results indicate that, by using our formulation containing bromophenol blue, it is possible to quickly screen on a qualitative basis the phosphate-solubilizing bacteria. Qualitative analysis of the phosphate solubilized by various groups correlated well with grouping based upon quantitative analysis of bacteria isolated from soil, effect of carbon, nitrogen, salts, and phosphate solubilization-defective transposon mutants. However, unlike quantitative analysis methods that involve time-consuming biochemical procedures, the time for screening phosphate-solubilizing bacteria is significantly reduced by using our simple protocol. Therefore, it is envisaged that usage of this formulation based upon qualitative analysis will be salutary for the quick screening of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria. Our results indicate that the formulation can also be used as a quality control test for expeditiously screening the commercial bioinoculant preparations, based on phosphate solubilizers.

Effect of major lifestyle risk factors, independent and jointly, on life expectancy with and without cardiovascular disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

O'Doherty, Mark G.; Cairns, Karen; O'Neill, Vikki

2016-01-01

-state Markov models to calculate the independent and joint effects of smoking, physical activity, obesity and alcohol consumption on LE with and without CVD. Men and women aged 50 years who have a favourable lifestyle (overweight but not obese, light/moderate drinker, non-smoker and participates in vigorous......-free” years, though a healthy lifestyle was also associated with extra years lived after a CVD event. There are sizeable benefits to LE without CVD and also for survival after CVD onset when people favour a lifestyle characterized by salutary behaviours. Remaining a non-smoker yielded the greatest extra years...... physical activity) lived between 7.4 (in Tromsø men) and 15.7 (in ESTHER women) years longer than those with an unfavourable lifestyle (overweight but not obese, light/moderate drinker, smoker and does not participate in physical activity). The greater part of the extra life years was in terms of “disease...

Comparison of effects of ATP-MgCl2 and adenosine-MgCl2 on renal function following ischemia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumpio, B.E.; Hull, M.J.; Baue, A.E.; Chaudry, I.H.

1987-01-01

ATO-MgCl 2 administration had been shown to accelerate the recovery of renal function following warm ischemia. However, since the major breakdown product of ATP is adenosine, the relative contribution of ATP vs. adenosine in improving renal function following ischemia remains to be determined. To study this, kidneys were subjected to 45 min of normothermic ischemia and then perfused at 100 mmHg with oxygenated Krebs-HCO 3 buffer containing albumin, [ 3 H]inulin, substrates, and either 0.3 mM ATP-MgCl 2 or adenosine-MgCl 2 for 110 min. Perfusate and timed urine samples were collected and analyzed for radioactivity and [Na + ]. The functional parameters indicated that although adenosine-MgCl 2 treatment provided a transient improvement, it failed to provided a sustained improvement in renal function or attain control valued compared with ATP-MgCl 2 treatment. Thus, the salutary effects of ATP-MgCl 2 following warm ischemia in the kidney are not mediated by adenosine

Dynamic Determinants of Korean Productivity Changes: with Emphasis on Trade

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Sangho Kim

2005-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the relationship between trade and economic growth in Korea during the period 1980~2003. The empirical results suggest the existence of Granger causality running from imports to total factor productivity (TFP growth, and the relatively weak causal relationship between exports and TFP. In light of this causal relationship between imports and TFP growth, TFP growth is regressed on various trade variables, along with R&D investments and government size. The results indicate that imports have significant positive effects on TFP but that exports do not. The results also indicate that the salutary impact of imports on TFP growth stems not only from competitive pressure and new knowledge acquired from foreign rivals in the context of increased imports of final goods but also from technological transfers embodied by imports from developed countries. Most of the empirical results still hold when TFP growth is replaced with GDP growth.

Tactics and Strategies for Managing Ebola Outbreaks and the Salience of Immunization

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Wayne M. Getz

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We present a stochastic transmission chain simulation model for Ebola viral disease (EVD in West Africa, with the salutary result that the virus may be more controllable than previously suspected. The ongoing tactics to detect cases as rapidly as possible and isolate individuals as safely as practicable is essential to saving lives in the current outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Equally important are educational campaigns that reduce contact rates between susceptible and infectious individuals in the community once an outbreak occurs. However, due to the relatively low R0 of Ebola (around 1.5 to 2.5 next generation cases are produced per current generation case in naïve populations, rapid isolation of infectious individuals proves to be highly efficacious in containing outbreaks in new areas, while vaccination programs, even with low efficacy vaccines, can be decisive in curbing future outbreaks in areas where the Ebola virus is maintained in reservoir populations.

Tactics and strategies for managing Ebola outbreaks and the salience of immunization.

Science.gov (United States)

Getz, Wayne M; Gonzalez, Jean-Paul; Salter, Richard; Bangura, James; Carlson, Colin; Coomber, Moinya; Dougherty, Eric; Kargbo, David; Wolfe, Nathan D; Wauquier, Nadia

2015-01-01

We present a stochastic transmission chain simulation model for Ebola viral disease (EVD) in West Africa, with the salutary result that the virus may be more controllable than previously suspected. The ongoing tactics to detect cases as rapidly as possible and isolate individuals as safely as practicable is essential to saving lives in the current outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Equally important are educational campaigns that reduce contact rates between susceptible and infectious individuals in the community once an outbreak occurs. However, due to the relatively low R 0 of Ebola (around 1.5 to 2.5 next generation cases are produced per current generation case in naïve populations), rapid isolation of infectious individuals proves to be highly efficacious in containing outbreaks in new areas, while vaccination programs, even with low efficacy vaccines, can be decisive in curbing future outbreaks in areas where the Ebola virus is maintained in reservoir populations.

Bilateral Malar Reconstruction Using Patient-Specific Polyether Ether Ketone Implants in Treacher-Collins Syndrome Patients With Absent Zygomas.

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Sainsbury, David C G; George, Alan; Forrest, Christopher R; Phillips, John H

2017-03-01

The authors performed bilateral malar reconstruction using polyether ether ketone implants in 3 patients with Treacher-Collins syndrome with absent, as opposed to hypoplastic, zygomata. These patient-specific implants were fabricated using computed-aided design software reformatted from three-dimensional bony preoperative computed tomography images. The first time the authors performed this procedure the implant compressed the globe resulting in temporary anisocoria that was quickly recognized intraoperatively. The implant was immediately removed and the patient made a full-recovery with no ocular disturbance. The computer-aided design and manufacturing process was adjusted to include periorbital soft-tissue boundaries to aid in contouring the new implants. The same patient, and 2 further patients, subsequently underwent malar reconstruction using this soft tissue periorbital boundary fabrication process with an additional 2 mm relief removed from the implant's orbital surface. These subsequent procedures were performed without complication and with pleasing aesthetic results. The authors describe their experience and the salutary lessons learnt.

Upregulation of circulating IL-15 by treadmill running in healthy individuals: is IL-15 an endocrine mediator of the beneficial effects of endurance exercise?

Science.gov (United States)

Tamura, Yoshiaki; Watanabe, Keiichi; Kantani, Tomomi; Hayashi, Junichi; Ishida, Nobuhiko; Kaneki, Masao

2011-01-01

The beneficial effects of endurance exercise include insulin-sensitization and reduction of fat mass. Limited knowledge is available about the mechanisms by which endurance exercise exerts the salutary effects. Myokines, cytokines secreted by skeletal muscle, have been recognized as a potential mediator. Recently, a role of skeletal muscle-derived interleukin-15 (IL-15) in improvement of fat-lean body mass composition and insulin sensitivity has been proposed. Yet, previous studies have reported that endurance training does not increase production or secretion of IL-15 in skeletal muscle. Here, we show that in opposition to previous findings, 30-min treadmill running at 70% of age-predicted maximum heart rate resulted in a significant increase in circulating IL-15 level in untrained healthy young men. These findings suggest that IL-15 might play a role in the systemic anti-obesogenic and insulin-sensitizing effects of endurance exercise, not only as a paracrine and autocrine but also as an endocrine factor.

Alcohol and Cardiovascular Disease—Modulation of Vascular Cell Function

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Paul A. Cahill

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Alcohol is a commonly used drug worldwide. Epidemiological studies have identified alcohol consumption as a factor that may either positively or negatively influence many diseases including cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and dementia. Often there seems to be a differential effect of various drinking patterns, with frequent moderate consumption of alcohol being salutary and binge drinking or chronic abuse being deleterious to one’s health. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms mediating the many effects of alcohol consumption is beginning to emerge, as well as a clearer picture as to whether these effects are due to the direct actions of alcohol itself, or caused in part by its metabolites, e.g., acetaldehyde, or by incidental components present in the alcoholic beverage (e.g., polyphenols in red wine. This review will discuss evidence to date as to how alcohol (ethanol might affect atherosclerosis that underlies cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, and the putative mechanisms involved, focusing on vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cell effects.

The Neuroendocrinology of Social Isolation

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Cacioppo, John T.; Cacioppo, Stephanie; Capitanio, John P.; Cole, Steven W.

2016-01-01

Social isolation has been recognized as a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality in humans for more than a quarter of a century. Although the focus of research has been on objective social roles and health behavior, the brain is the key organ for forming, monitoring, maintaining, repairing, and replacing salutary connections with others. Accordingly, population-based longitudinal research indicates that perceived social isolation (loneliness) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality independent of objective social isolation and health behavior. Human and animal investigations of neuroendocrine stress mechanisms that may be involved suggest that (a) chronic social isolation increases the activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical axis, and (b) these effects are more dependent on the disruption of a social bond between a significant pair than objective isolation per se. The relational factors and neuroendocrine, neurobiological, and genetic mechanisms that may contribute to the association between perceived isolation and mortality are reviewed. PMID:25148851

A 1-year, three-couple expedition as a crew analog for a Mars mission.

Science.gov (United States)

Leon, Gloria R; Atlis, Mera M; Ones, Deniz S; Magor, Graeme

2002-09-01

This study assessed the intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning of a three-couple expedition group that included a 2 1/2-year-old child which was ice-locked on a boat in the High Arctic during a major portion of the expedition. Personality assessment indicated that team members were generally well adjusted, scoring relatively higher on well-being and achievement and relatively lower on stress reactivity. Weekly mood ratings showed that the group exhibited significantly higher positive than negative affect. Reported negative events were relatively most frequent at the beginning of the Arctic stay and toward the end of the darkness period and were lowest during the initial darkness interval. The period of darkness had both a salutary and negative impact. A highly important means of coping with stress was seeking emotional support from one's partner. Selection of couples with strong bonds with their partner appears to be one viable approach for crew selection for long-duration missions.

Salutogenic Education? Movement and Whole Child Health in a Waldorf (Steiner) School.

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Sobo, Elisa J

2015-06-01

Waldorf education, an independent alternative to public schooling, aims to produce holistically healthy graduates in a formulation that rejects the conventional distinction between education and health. Also striving to bridge that divide, this article characterizes the pedagogically salutogenic techniques Waldorf teachers use in pre-kindergarten (pre-K) and lower grade classes and explicates the ethnomedical understandings underlying them. Waldorf teachers position children as budding participants in a unified field of spiritual and other forces, prioritizing whole-child activities that keep these forces healthfully motile. Their work entails a critique not only of mainstream public schooling's ostensibly pathogenic "head-to-head" focus, but also of the biomedical approach to pediatric health. My analysis of this conjoined critique takes into account the cultural, structural, and existential realities within which Waldorf education's salutary pedagogy is daily framed and fabricated. Further, it explores the implications for anthropology of attending to movement as a key feature of healthful human experience. © 2014 by the American Anthropological Association.

Unbelievable?! Theistic/Epistemological Viewpoint Affects Religion-Health Relationship.

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Speed, David

2017-02-01

Research suggests that Religion/Spirituality promotes a variety of positive health outcomes. However, despite reporting lower levels of Religion/Spirituality, non-believers report comparable levels of health to believers. The current study tested the hypothesis that Religion/Spirituality does not have a uniform effect on health for all persons, and tested theological/epistemological categories as moderators. Using the 2012 and 2014 General Social Survey (N = 2670), the relationship between Religion/Spirituality and happiness and self-rated health was investigated. Results indicated that Gnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality more positively than their peers did; Agnostic Theists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did; and Negative Atheists experienced Religion/Spirituality less positively than their peers did. These findings suggested that Religion/Spirituality is not associated with salutary effects for all persons, and that whether a person believes in god(s) and how confident he/she was in god(s)' existence, influenced his/her experience with Religion/Spirituality.

Positive Adjustment Among American Repatriated Prisoners of the Vietnam War: Modeling the Long-Term Effects of Captivity.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Daniel W; King, Lynda A; Park, Crystal L; Lee, Lewina O; Kaiser, Anica Pless; Spiro, Avron; Moore, Jeffrey L; Kaloupek, Danny G; Keane, Terence M

2015-11-01

A longitudinal lifespan model of factors contributing to later-life positive adjustment was tested on 567 American repatriated prisoners from the Vietnam War. This model encompassed demographics at time of capture and attributes assessed after return to the U.S. (reports of torture and mental distress) and approximately 3 decades later (later-life stressors, perceived social support, positive appraisal of military experiences, and positive adjustment). Age and education at time of capture and physical torture were associated with repatriation mental distress, which directly predicted poorer adjustment 30 years later. Physical torture also had a salutary effect, enhancing later-life positive appraisals of military experiences. Later-life events were directly and indirectly (through concerns about retirement) associated with positive adjustment. Results suggest that the personal resources of older age and more education and early-life adverse experiences can have cascading effects over the lifespan to impact well-being in both positive and negative ways.

Subjective well-being and national satisfaction: findings from a worldwide survey.

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Morrison, Mike; Tay, Louis; Diener, Ed

2011-02-01

We examined the relationship between satisfaction with one's country (national satisfaction) and subjective well-being utilizing data from a representative worldwide poll. National satisfaction was a strong positive predictor of individual-level life satisfaction, and this relationship was moderated by household income, household conveniences, residential mobility, country gross domestic product per capita, and region (Western vs. non-Western country). When individuals are impoverished or more bound to their culture and surroundings, national satisfaction more strongly predicts life satisfaction. In contrast, reverse trends were found in analyses predicting life satisfaction from satisfaction in other domains (health, standard of living, and job). These patterns suggest that people are more likely to use proximate factors to judge life satisfaction where conditions are salutary, or individualism is salient, but are more likely to use perceived societal success to judge life satisfaction where life conditions are difficult, or collectivism predominates. Our findings invite new research directions and can inform quality-of-life therapies.

A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors Stan Taylor and Nigel Beasley A Handbook for Doctoral Supervisors Routledge 256 £24.99 0415335450 0415335450 [Formula: see text].

Science.gov (United States)

2006-07-01

It can often be an enlightening affair to be made aware of the limitations of one's knowledge on a subject in which one is gainfully employed - having read this book, I am grateful for such a salutary experience. As a doctoral supervisor, I feel justified in considering myself better informed and equipped to perform a role for which, there is very little contemporary literature available. The manner in which Taylor and Beasley have comprehensively tackled this omission, going beyond the usual checklist for supervisors, is a huge strength of the book, bringing to life the real world of doctoral supervision. This text is a timely publication given the momentous changes of the past decade in terms of the doctorate, modes and methods of study, the candidate population and new demands upon supervisors. Although the book appears to be primarily written for a UK audience it is relevant to all those involved in helping the doctoral candidate achieve their goal.

The neuroendocrinology of social isolation.

Science.gov (United States)

Cacioppo, John T; Cacioppo, Stephanie; Capitanio, John P; Cole, Steven W

2015-01-03

Social isolation has been recognized as a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality in humans for more than a quarter of a century. Although the focus of research has been on objective social roles and health behavior, the brain is the key organ for forming, monitoring, maintaining, repairing, and replacing salutary connections with others. Accordingly, population-based longitudinal research indicates that perceived social isolation (loneliness) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality independent of objective social isolation and health behavior. Human and animal investigations of neuroendocrine stress mechanisms that may be involved suggest that (a) chronic social isolation increases the activation of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical axis, and (b) these effects are more dependent on the disruption of a social bond between a significant pair than objective isolation per se. The relational factors and neuroendocrine, neurobiological, and genetic mechanisms that may contribute to the association between perceived isolation and mortality are reviewed.

ombrófila mista montana no período entre 1979 e 2000

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Luciano Budant Schaaf

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The floristic and structure alterations were studied in an Ombrophyllous Mixed Forest located in São João do Triunfo (Paraná State - Brazil. Nine plots of 1ha, first evaluated in 1979, were recovered and, measured in 2000. In 1979, all the trees with dbh ≥ 20 cm were identified and tagged, and they had their commercial height and diameter measured. In 2000, based on the same criteria described before, the trees which had not been counted in 1979 were considered as ingrowth, and the missing ones were considered mortality. In 1979, 2133 individuals, 51 species and 29 families were found and in the 2000 survey, 2202 individuals, 55 species and 31 families ware journal. In both surveys, the families Araucariaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Lauraceae, Sapindaceae, Myrtaceae and Canellaceae were the most represented in terms of quantity of individuals. Although in both times more than 50 species were counted, in 1979 only 7 species (Araucaria angustifolia, Ilex dumosa, Matayba elaeagnoides, Ocotea porous, Capsicodendron dinisii, Nectandra grandiflora and Campomanesia xanthocarpa represented 80.4% of the individuals and, in 2000, the same 7 species plus Ocotea corymbosa covered 80.9% of the total number of individuals. Hovenia dulcis, exotic specie, based on the number of adult and regeneration individuals, became to be seen as a threat to the autocnons species. All the structural indicators which were analyzed showed that the community has become more mature during the studied period and that the Araucaria angustifolia increased its dominance. There was a sensible increase of the occupancy grade, indicated by the absolutely dominance that changes from 23.52 m2/ha in 1979, to 28.53 m2/ha, in 2000, an increase of 21.3%. These results indicate that this community is still in development, and has not yet found its equilibrium. It also demonstrates that the Araucaria dominance increased in this period, suggesting that this profile can even increase future in the

Mario Bunge: Physicist and Philosopher

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Matthews, Michael R.

Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War.He learnt atomic physics and quantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taught himself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised - it is salutary to see the fruits of one person's pursuit of the Big'' scientific and philosophical picture.

Reoperative Heller myotomy: more pain, less gain.

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Wood, Thomas W; Ross, Sharona B; Ryan, Carrie E; Bowman, Ty A; Jacobi, Benjamin L; Konstantinidis, Michael G; Rosemurgy, Alexander S

2015-06-01

Heller myotomy provides durable and effective treatment of achalasia. Due to recurrence or persistence of symptoms, a small subset of patients seeks reoperation. This study was undertaken to determine if reoperative Heller myotomy provides salutary amelioration of symptoms. 609 patients undergoing laparoscopic Heller myotomy between 1992 to 2013 were prospectively followed; 38 underwent reoperative myotomy. Patients graded their symptom frequency and severity before and after myotomy on a Likert scale. Median data are reported. Patients undergoing reoperative myotomy, when compared to those undergoing their first myotomy, experienced a higher conversion rate to an "open" myotomy (8% vs 1%, P myotomy led to improvement in symptoms, but the magnitude of improvement in symptoms (e.g., dysphagia, choking, and coughing) was less than for patients undergoing their first myotomy (all P Heller myotomy were less likely to report symptoms occurring once per month or less (83% vs 56%, P myotomy note improvement in symptoms, although to a lesser extent than patients undergoing their first myotomy. Patients undergoing reoperative Heller myotomy can expect to experience less improvement of symptoms, denoting the importance of the first myotomy.

Menu labeling as a potential strategy for combating the obesity epidemic: a health impact assessment.

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Kuo, Tony; Jarosz, Christopher J; Simon, Paul; Fielding, Jonathan E

2009-09-01

We conducted a health impact assessment to quantify the potential impact of a state menu-labeling law on population weight gain in Los Angeles County, California. We utilized published and unpublished data to model consumer response to point-of-purchase calorie postings at large chain restaurants in Los Angeles County. We conducted sensitivity analyses to account for uncertainty in consumer response and in the total annual revenue, market share, and average meal price of large chain restaurants in the county. Assuming that 10% of the restaurant patrons would order reduced-calorie meals in response to calorie postings, resulting in an average reduction of 100 calories per meal, we estimated that menu labeling would avert 40.6% of the 6.75 million pound average annual weight gain in the county population aged 5 years and older. Substantially larger impacts would be realized if higher percentages of patrons ordered reduced-calorie meals or if average per-meal calorie reductions increased. Our findings suggest that mandated menu labeling could have a sizable salutary impact on the obesity epidemic, even with only modest changes in consumer behavior.

Deterministic Encapsulation of Human Cardiac Stem Cells in Variable Composition Nanoporous Gel Cocoons To Enhance Therapeutic Repair of Injured Myocardium.

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Kanda, Pushpinder; Alarcon, Emilio I; Yeuchyk, Tanya; Parent, Sandrine; de Kemp, Robert A; Variola, Fabio; Courtman, David; Stewart, Duncan J; Davis, Darryl R

2018-04-20

Although cocooning explant-derived cardiac stem cells (EDCs) in protective nanoporous gels (NPGs) prior to intramyocardial injection boosts long-term cell retention, the number of EDCs that finally engraft is trivial and unlikely to account for salutary effects on myocardial function and scar size. As such, we investigated the effect of varying the NPG content within capsules to alter the physical properties of cocoons without influencing cocoon dimensions. Increasing NPG concentration enhanced cell migration and viability while improving cell-mediated repair of injured myocardium. Given that the latter occurred with NPG content having no detectable effect on the long-term engraftment of transplanted cells, we found that changing the physical properties of cocoons prompted explant-derived cardiac stem cells to produce greater amounts of cytokines, nanovesicles, and microRNAs that boosted the generation of new blood vessels and new cardiomyocytes. Thus, by altering the physical properties of cocoons by varying NPG content, the paracrine signature of encapsulated cells can be enhanced to promote greater endogenous repair of injured myocardium.

Factors influencing hand/eye synchronicity in the computer age.

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Grant, A H

1992-09-01

In using a computer, the relation of vision to hand/finger actuated keyboard usage in performing fine motor-coordinated functions is influenced by the physical location, size, and collective placement of the keys. Traditional nonprehensile flat/rectangular keyboard applications usually require a high and nearly constant level of visual attention. Biometrically shaped keyboards would allow for prehensile hand-posturing, thus affording better tactile familiarity with the keys, requiring less intense and less constant level of visual attention to the task, and providing a greater measure of freedom from having to visualize the key(s). Workpace and related physiological changes, aging, onset of monocularization (intermittent lapsing of binocularity for near vision) that accompanies presbyopia, tool colors, and background contrast are factors affecting constancy of visual attention to task performance. Capitas extension, excessive excyclotorsion, and repetitive strain injuries (such as carpal tunnel syndrome) are common and debilitating concomitants to computer usage. These problems can be remedied by improved keyboard design. The salutary role of mnemonics in minimizing visual dependency is discussed.

Left ventricular function abnormalities as a manifestation of silent myocardial ischemia.

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Lambert, C R; Conti, C R; Pepine, C J

1986-11-01

A large body of evidence exists indicating that left ventricular dysfunction is a common occurrence in patients with severe coronary artery disease and represents silent or asymptomatic myocardial ischemia. Such dysfunction probably occurs early in the time course of every ischemic episode in patients with coronary artery disease whether symptoms are eventually manifested or not. The pathophysiology of silent versus symptomatic left ventricular dysfunction due to ischemia appears to be identical. Silent ischemia-related left ventricular dysfunction can be documented during spontaneous or stress-induced perturbations in the myocardial oxygen supply/demand ratio. It also may be detected by nitroglycerin-induced improvement in ventricular function or by salutary changes in wall motion following revascularization. Silent left ventricular dysfunction is a very early occurrence during ischemia and precedes electrocardiographic abnormalities. In this light, its existence should always be kept in mind when dealing with patients with ischemic heart disease. It can be hypothesized that because silent ischemia appears to be identical to ischemia with symptoms in a pathophysiologic sense, prognosis and treatment in both cases should be the same.

Glucocorticoids enhance muscle endurance and ameliorate Duchenne muscular dystrophy through a defined metabolic program.

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Morrison-Nozik, Alexander; Anand, Priti; Zhu, Han; Duan, Qiming; Sabeh, Mohamad; Prosdocimo, Domenick A; Lemieux, Madeleine E; Nordsborg, Nikolai; Russell, Aaron P; MacRae, Calum A; Gerber, Anthony N; Jain, Mukesh K; Haldar, Saptarsi M

2015-12-08

Classic physiology studies dating to the 1930s demonstrate that moderate or transient glucocorticoid (GC) exposure improves muscle performance. The ergogenic properties of GCs are further evidenced by their surreptitious use as doping agents by endurance athletes and poorly understood efficacy in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a genetic muscle-wasting disease. A defined molecular basis underlying these performance-enhancing properties of GCs in skeletal muscle remains obscure. Here, we demonstrate that ergogenic effects of GCs are mediated by direct induction of the metabolic transcription factor KLF15, defining a downstream pathway distinct from that resulting in GC-related muscle atrophy. Furthermore, we establish that KLF15 deficiency exacerbates dystrophic severity and muscle GC-KLF15 signaling mediates salutary therapeutic effects in the mdx mouse model of DMD. Thus, although glucocorticoid receptor (GR)-mediated transactivation is often associated with muscle atrophy and other adverse effects of pharmacologic GC administration, our data define a distinct GR-induced gene regulatory pathway that contributes to therapeutic effects of GCs in DMD through proergogenic metabolic programming.

The Role of Nature in Coping with Psycho-Physiological Stress: A Literature Review on Restorativeness

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Rita Berto

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Physical settings can play a role in coping with stress; in particular experimental research has found strong evidence between exposure to natural environments and recovery from physiological stress and mental fatigue, giving support to both Stress Recovery Theory and Attention Restoration Theory. In fact, exposure to natural environments protects people against the impact of environmental stressors and offer physiological, emotional and attention restoration more so than urban environments. Natural places that allow the renewal of personal adaptive resources to meet the demands of everyday life are called restorative environments. Natural environments elicit greater calming responses than urban environments, and in relation to their vision there is a general reduction of physiological symptoms of stress. Exposure to natural scenes mediates the negative effects of stress reducing the negative mood state and above all enhancing positive emotions. Moreover, one can recover the decrease of cognitive performance associated with stress, especially reflected in attention tasks, through the salutary effect of viewing nature. Giving the many benefits of contact with nature, plans for urban environments should attend to restorativeness.

The obligation of double record of the plea agreement and the access by technical defense

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Luiz Antonio Borri

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This article aims to discuss the relevant subject of double record of plea agreement, as well as the possibility of withholding access to one of the registration forms from the investigated/accused person. The matter is highlighted notably in face of the article writing 4, §13, of Law 12.850 / 13, which provides that, whenever possible, should promote the registration record by audiovisual means, indicating expressly of registration of the statements collected in collaboration. In addition, current data indicate the existence of a significant number of new technologies, endowed with skillful mechanisms to promote the registration of declarations by the means provided by law, indicating that the legal authorities have the onus to justify the reasons that lead to the unavailability of audiovisual record of the award-winning collaborator testimony. Finally, it is salutary to make available to defense all forms of registration of the declarations obtained in the case of delation, mainly because the Public Prosecutor's Office has knowledge of such elements, so that the restriction of access implies violation of parity of arms.

Making Nothing Happen: Yeats, Heidegger, Pessoa, and the Emergence of Post-Romanticism

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James Corby

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Through close readings of the work of two major poets of the twentieth century—W.B. Yeats and Fernando Pessoa—this paper identifies and attempts to make sense of an important shift in European modernism away from a broadly Romantic aesthetic toward what might be called “post-Romanticism.” Taking its cue from W.H. Auden’s “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” where having stated that “poetry makes nothing happen” he asserts that it survives as “a way of happening,” and drawing on the philosophy of Heidegger and Jean-Luc Nancy, this paper argues that this shift from Romanticism to post-Romanticism hinges on a deep metaphysical reconceptualization of poetry understood as poiesis. In light of this reassessment of the aesthetics and philosophical affinities of poetic modernism, it is argued that post-Romanticism should be understood as offering a modest, salutary, phenomenological re-acquaintance with our involvement with the everyday world, in sharp contrast to the transcendental ambitions of the Romantic aesthetic that preceded it.

Mario Bunge: Physicist, philosopher and defender of science

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Michael R. Matthews

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in the final year of the First World War. He learnt atomic physics andquantum mechanics from an Austrian refugee who had been a student of Heisenberg. Additionally he taughthimself modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater. He was the first SouthAmerican philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology,sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise onPhilosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of theEnlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planksof the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, rationality, and respect forindividuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy ofscience, educational research and science teaching are recognised – it is salutary to see the fruits of one person’spursuit of the ‘Big’ scientific and philosophical picture.

Narrating your life after 65 (or: to tell or not to tell, that is the question).

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Lieblich, Amia

2014-01-01

This chapter examines differential circumstances whereby aging individuals construct their selves as a narrative or, alternatively, seem to prefer other routes to manifest their identity. The preliminary exploration of questions about the characteristics of those aged who prefer to tell and those who do not, as well as the salutary role of telling, is based on two studies of 65-80-year-old well-functioning Israeli-Jewish seniors. While approximately half of them were willing to conduct a life review, the other half constructed their robust identity through activities and a here-and-now focus. Historical circumstances that involve seeing one's life story as heroic or having an important historical message, as opposed to a series of haphazard events, are considered a major factor in the preference to tell or not to tell. The chapter concludes that there are different strategies for identity management, with an emphasis on either past events or present activities. Neither of these preferences can simply indicate success or failure in aging well. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Short term effects of milrinone on biomarkers of necrosis, apoptosis, and inflammation in patients with severe heart failure

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Lanfear, David E; Hasan, Reema; Gupta, Ramesh C; Williams, Celeste; Czerska, Barbara; Tita, Cristina; Bazari, Rasha; Sabbah, Hani N

2009-01-01

Introduction Inotropes are associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF), raising concern they may accelerate myocardial injury. Whether biomarkers of myocardial necrosis, inflammation and apoptosis change in response to acute milrinone administration is not well established. Methods Ten patients with severe HF and reduced cardiac output who were to receive milrinone were studied. Blood samples were taken just before initiation of milrinone and after 24 hours of infusion. Dosing was at the discretion of the patient's attending physician (range 0.25–0.5 mcg/kg/min). Plasma measurements of troponin, myoglobin, N-terminal-pro-BNP, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, soluble Fas, and soluble Fas-ligand were performed at both time points. Results Troponin was elevated at baseline in all patients (mean 0.1259 ± 0.17 ng/ml), but there was no significant change after 24 hours of milrinone (mean 0.1345 ± 0.16 ng/ml, p = 0.44). There were significant improvements in interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, soluble Fas, and soluble Fas-ligand (all p milrinone did not result in exacerbation of myocardial injury but instead was associated with salutary effects on other biomarkers. PMID:19640280

Discrepant Results of Experimental Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy after Myocardial Infarction: Are Animal Models Robust Enough?

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Melina C den Haan

Full Text Available Human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs have been reported to preserve cardiac function in myocardial infarction (MI models. Previously, we found a beneficial effect of intramyocardial injection of unstimulated human MSCs (uMSCs on cardiac function after permanent coronary artery ligation. In the present study we aimed to extend this research by investigating the effect of intramyocardial injection of human MSCs pre-stimulated with the pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon-gamma (iMSCs, since pro-inflammatory priming has shown additional salutary effects in multiple experimental disease models.MI was induced in NOD/Scid mice by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Animals received intramyocardial injection of uMSCs, iMSCs or PBS. Sham-operated animals were used to determine baseline characteristics. Cardiac performance was assessed after 2 and 14 days using 7-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging and pressure-volume loop measurements. Histology and q-PCR were used to confirm MSC engraftment in the heart.Both uMSC and iMSC therapy had no significant beneficial effect on cardiac function or remodelling in contrast to our previous studies.Animal models for cardiac MSC therapy appear less robust than initially envisioned.

Granisetron ameliorates acetic acid-induced colitis in rats.

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Fakhfouri, Gohar; Rahimian, Reza; Daneshmand, Ali; Bahremand, Arash; Rasouli, Mohammad Reza; Dehpour, Ahmad Reza; Mehr, Shahram Ejtemaei; Mousavizadeh, Kazem

2010-04-01

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronically relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, of which the definite etiology remains ambiguous. Considering the adverse effects and incomplete efficacy of currently administered drugs, it is indispensable to explore new candidates with more desirable therapeutic profiles. 5-HT( 3) receptor antagonists have shown analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro and in vivo. This study aims to investigate granisetron, a 5-HT( 3) receptor antagonist, in acetic acid-induced rat colitis and probable involvement of 5-HT(3) receptors. Colitis was rendered by instillation of 1 mL of 4% acetic acid (vol/vol) and after 1 hour, granisetron (2 mg/kg), dexamethasone (1 mg/kg), meta-chlorophenylbiguanide (mCPBG, 5 mg/kg), a 5-HT( 3) receptor agonist, or granisetron + mCPBG was given intraperitoneally. Twenty-four hours following colitis induction, animals were sacrificed and distal colons were assessed macroscopically, histologically and biochemically (malondialdehyde, myeloperoxidase, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-6). Granisetron or dexamethasone significantly (p granisetron were reversed by concurrent administration of mCPBG. Our data suggests that the salutary effects of granisetron in acetic acid colitis could be mediated by 5-HT(3) receptors.

The Nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway and its implications for Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction

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Chirinos, Julio A.; Zamani, Payman

2016-01-01

The pathogenesis of exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is likely multifactorial. In addition to cardiac abnormalities (diastolic dysfunction, abnormal contractile reserve, chronotropic incompetence), several peripheral abnormalities are likely to be involved. These include abnormal pulsatile hemodynamics, abnormal arterial vasodilatory responses to exercise, and abnormal peripheral O2 delivery, extraction and utilization. The nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway is emerging as a potential target to modify key physiologic abnormalities, including late systolic LV load from arterial wave reflections (which has deleterious short- and long-term consequences for the LV), arterial vasodilatory reserve, muscle O2 delivery, and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function. In a recently completed randomized trial, the administration of a single dose of exogenous inorganic nitrate has been shown exert various salutary arterial hemodynamic effects, ultimately leading to enhanced aerobic capacity in patients with HFpEF. These effects have the potential for both immediate improvements in exercise tolerance and for long-term “disease-modifying” effects. In this review, we provide an overview of key mechanistic contributors to exercise intolerance in HFpEF, and of the potential therapeutic role of drugs that target the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway. PMID:26792295

Dr Charles Morehead MD (Edinburgh), FRCP (1807-1882): Pioneer in medical education.

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Pandya, Sunil K

2015-05-01

Charles Morehead studied medicine in Edinburgh and Paris. Among his teachers were George Jardine (1742-1827) (moral philosophy), Professor William Pulteney Alison (1790-1859) (medicine), Pierre Louis (1787-1872) and René Laennec (1781-1826). He joined as Assistant Surgeon in the Bombay Medical Service of the East India Company and was appointed to the staff of Governor Sir Robert Grant (1779-1838). Grant and Morehead founded the Grant Medical College and Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy (1811-1877) Hospital in Bombay. Morehead established standards of medical education at these institutions far superior to those in Calcutta and Madras and, in some ways, to those in Britain. His emphasis on discipline, regular attendance, learning medicine at the bedside, the maintenance of detailed records on all patients and thorough evaluation of the progress made by students were salutary. While in London to recover his health, he wrote his classic book Clinical Researches on Disease in India for Indian doctors and those from Britain entering the Indian Medical Services. He lived in Edinburgh after retirement from India but continued to help teachers and students at his institutions in Bombay. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Prospective Associations between Religiousness/Spirituality and Depression and Mediating Effects of Forgiveness in a Nationally Representative Sample of United States Adults.

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Toussaint, Loren L; Marschall, Justin C; Williams, David R

2012-01-01

The present investigation examines the prospective associations of religiousness/spirituality with depression and the extent to which various dimensions of forgiveness act as mediating mechanisms of these associations. Data are from a nationally representative sample of United States adults who were first interviewed in 1998 and reinterviewed six months later. Measures of religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness, and various sociodemographics were collected. Depression was assessed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview administered by trained interviewers. Results showed that religiousness/spirituality, forgiveness of oneself and others, and feeling forgiven by God were associated, both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with depressive status. After controlling for initial depressive status, only forgiveness of oneself and others remained statistically significant predictors of depression. Path analyses revealed that religiousness/spirituality conveyed protective effects, prospectively, on depression by way of an indirect path through forgiveness of others but not forgiveness of oneself. Hence, forgiveness of others acts as a mechanism of the salutary effect of religiousness/spirituality, but forgiveness of oneself is an independent predictor. Conclusions regarding the continued development of this type of research and for the treatment of clients with depression are offered.

Olives and olive oil are sources of electrophilic fatty acid nitroalkenes.

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Marco Fazzari

Full Text Available Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO and olives, key sources of unsaturated fatty acids in the Mediterranean diet, provide health benefits to humans. Nitric oxide (•NO and nitrite (NO2 (--dependent reactions of unsaturated fatty acids yield electrophilic nitroalkene derivatives (NO2-FA that manifest salutary pleiotropic cell signaling responses in mammals. Herein, the endogenous presence of NO2-FA in both EVOO and fresh olives was demonstrated by mass spectrometry. The electrophilic nature of these species was affirmed by the detection of significant levels of protein cysteine adducts of nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA-cysteine in fresh olives, especially in the peel. Further nitration of EVOO by NO2 (- under acidic gastric digestive conditions revealed that human consumption of olive lipids will produce additional nitro-conjugated linoleic acid (NO2-cLA and nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA. The presence of free and protein-adducted NO2-FA in both mammalian and plant lipids further affirm a role for these species as signaling mediators. Since NO2-FA instigate adaptive anti-inflammatory gene expression and metabolic responses, these redox-derived metabolites may contribute to the cardiovascular benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet.

The Neuroprotective Disease-Modifying Potential of Psychotropics in Parkinson's Disease

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Edward C. Lauterbach

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Neuroprotective treatments in Parkinson's disease (PD have remained elusive. Psychotropics are commonly prescribed in PD without regard to their pathobiological effects. The authors investigated the effects of psychotropics on pathobiological proteins, proteasomal activity, mitochondrial functions, apoptosis, neuroinflammation, trophic factors, stem cells, and neurogenesis. Only findings replicated in at least 2 studies were considered for these actions. Additionally, PD-related gene transcription, animal model, and human neuroprotective clinical trial data were reviewed. Results indicate that, from a PD pathobiology perspective, the safest drugs (i.e., drugs least likely to promote cellular neurodegenerative mechanisms balanced against their likelihood of promoting neuroprotective mechanisms include pramipexole, valproate, lithium, desipramine, escitalopram, and dextromethorphan. Fluoxetine favorably affects transcription of multiple genes (e.g., MAPT, GBA, CCDC62, HIP1R, although it and desipramine reduced MPTP mouse survival. Haloperidol is best avoided. The most promising neuroprotective investigative priorities will involve disease-modifying trials of the safest agents alone or in combination to capture salutary effects on H3 histone deacetylase, gene transcription, glycogen synthase kinase-3, α-synuclein, reactive oxygen species (ROS, reactive nitrogen species (RNS, apoptosis, inflammation, and trophic factors including GDNF and BDNF.

Relationships among Blood Pressure, Triglycerides and Verbal Learning in African Americans

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Sims, Regina C.; Madhere, Serge; Gordon, Shalanda; Clark, Elijah; Abayomi, Kobi A.; Callender, Clive O.; Campbell, Alfonso L.

2013-01-01

Background Individuals at greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) display poorer cognitive functioning across various cognitive domains. This finding is particularly prevalent among older adults; however, few studies examine these relationships among younger adults or among African Americans. Purpose The objective was to examine the relationships among 2 cardiovascular risk factors, elevated blood pressure and elevated triglycerides, and verbal learning in a community-based sample of African Americans. Methods Measurements of blood pressure and triglycerides were obtained in 121 African-American adults and compared to performance on 3 domains of the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II). Results Blood pressure was not related to CVLT-II performance. Triglyceride levels were inversely related to CVLT-II performance. Higher triglyceride levels were associated with poorer immediate, short delay and long delay recall. Conclusions Consistent with studies involving older participants, the current investigation shows that in a nonelderly sample of African Americans, triglyceride levels may be related to cognitive functioning. Because early detection and intervention of vascular-related cognitive impairment may have a salutary effect, future studies should include younger adults to highlight the impact of cardiovascular risk on cognition. PMID:18942281

Chelation therapy to prevent diabetes-associated cardiovascular events.

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Diaz, Denisse; Fonseca, Vivian; Aude, Yamil W; Lamas, Gervasio A

2018-05-24

For over 60 years, chelation therapy with disodium ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA, edetate) had been used for the treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) despite lack of scientific evidence for efficacy and safety. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) was developed and received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to ascertain the safety and efficacy of chelation therapy in patients with CVD. This pivotal trial demonstrated an improvement in outcomes in postmyocardial infarction (MI) patients. Interestingly, it also showed a particularly large reduction in CVD events and all-cause mortality in the prespecified subgroup of patients with diabetes. The TACT results may support the concept of metal chelation to reduce metal-catalyzed oxidation reactions that promote the formation of advanced glycation end products, a precursor of diabetic atherosclerosis. In this review, we summarize the epidemiological and basic evidence linking toxic metal accumulation and diabetes-related CVD, supported by the salutary effects of chelation in TACT. If the ongoing NIH-funded TACT2, in diabetic post-MI patients, proves positive, this unique therapy will enter the armamentarium of endocrinologists and cardiologists seeking to reduce the atherosclerotic risk of their diabetic patients.

Does concomitant anterior fundoplication promote dysphagia after laparoscopic Heller myotomy?

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Tapper, Donovan; Morton, Connor; Kraemer, Emily; Villadolid, Desiree; Ross, Sharona B; Cowgill, Sarah M; Rosemurgy, Alexander S

2008-07-01

Concerns for gastroesophageal reflux after laparoscopic Heller myotomy for achalasia justify considerations of concomitant anterior fundoplication. This study was undertaken to determine if concomitant anterior fundoplication reduces symptoms of reflux after myotomy without promoting dysphagia. From 1992 to 2004, 182 patients underwent laparoscopic Heller myotomy without fundoplication. After a prospective randomized trial justified its concomitant application, anterior fundoplication was undertaken with laparoscopic Heller myotomy in 171 patients from 2004 to 2007. All patients have been prospectively followed. Pre and postoperatively, patients scored the frequency and severity of symptoms of achalasia (including dysphagia, choking, vomiting, regurgitation, chest pain, and heartburn) using a Likert Scale (0 = never/not bothersome to 10 = always/very bothersome). Before myotomy, symptoms of achalasia were frequent and severe for all patients. After myotomy, the frequency and severity of all symptoms of achalasia significantly decreased for all patients (P Heller myotomy alone, concomitant anterior fundoplication led to significantly less frequent and severe heartburn after myotomy (P Heller myotomy reduces the frequency and severity of symptoms of achalasia. Concomitant anterior fundoplication decreases the frequency and severity of heartburn and dysphagia after laparoscopic Heller myotomy. Concomitant anterior fundoplication promotes salutary relief in the frequency and severity of symptoms after myotomy and is warranted.

Diminishing self-disclosure to maintain security in partners' care.

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Lemay, Edward P; Melville, Michael C

2014-01-01

Six studies demonstrate that perceivers' desire to bond with targets motivates perceivers to misconstrue their own self-disclosure in ways that maintain perceivers' security in targets' care and commitment. Perceivers who strongly valued relationships with targets reported high levels of global self-disclosure, consistent with many findings suggesting salutary effects of disclosure. However, these same perceivers reported low self-disclosure of needs and desires in hypothetical (Study 1) and actual (Study 2) situations characterized by targets' unresponsive behavior. Similarly, in daily report (Study 3) and behavioral observation (Study 4) studies, perceivers who valued relationships with targets perceived high levels of self-disclosure when targets were responsive, but they perceived low self-disclosure when targets were unresponsive, and these perceptions seemed partly illusory. In turn, these perceptions of low self-disclosure in situations characterized by partners' unresponsive behavior predicted decreased perceptions of diagnosticity of targets' behavior (Studies 1-3) and buffered the negative affective and interpersonal effects of unresponsive behavior (Study 4). Experimental manipulations (Studies 5 and 6) demonstrated the motivational nature of perceived self-disclosure. Collectively, the results suggest that a desire to bond with targets motivates perceivers to downplay the diagnosticity of targets' unresponsive behavior through diminishing their self-disclosure, in turn preserving perceivers' trust in targets' care and commitment.

Psychiatric disorders and cardiac anxiety in exercising and sedentary coronary artery disease patients: a case-control study

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A. Sardinha

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Regular physical exercise has been shown to favorably influence mood and anxiety; however, there are few studies regarding psychiatric aspects of physically active patients with coronary artery disease (CAD. The objective of the present study was to compare the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and cardiac anxiety in sedentary and exercising CAD patients. A total sample of 119 CAD patients (74 men were enrolled in a case-control study. The subjects were interviewed to identify psychiatric disorders and responded to the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire. In the exercise group (N = 60, there was a lower prevalence (45 vs 81%; P < 0.001 of at least one psychiatric diagnosis, as well as multiple comorbidities, when compared to the sedentary group (N = 59. Considering the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire, sedentary patients presented higher scores compared to exercisers (mean ± SEM = 55.8 ± 1.9 vs 37.3 ± 1.6; P < 0.001. In a regression model, to be attending a medically supervised exercise program presented a relevant potential for a 35% reduction in cardiac anxiety. CAD patients regularly attending an exercise program presented less current psychiatric diagnoses and multiple mental-related comorbidities and lower scores of cardiac anxiety. These salutary mental effects add to the already known health benefits of exercise for CAD patients.

Association between alcohol consumption and symptom severity and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia.

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Kim, Chul H; Vincent, Ann; Clauw, Daniel J; Luedtke, Connie A; Thompson, Jeffrey M; Schneekloth, Terry D; Oh, Terry H

2013-03-15

Although alcohol consumption is a common lifestyle behavior with previous studies reporting positive effects of alcohol on chronic pain and rheumatoid arthritis, no studies to this date have examined alcohol consumption in patients with fibromyalgia. We examined the association between alcohol consumption and symptom severity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with fibromyalgia. Data on self-reported alcohol consumption from 946 patients were analyzed. Subjects were grouped by level of alcohol consumption (number of drinks/week): none, low (≤ 3), moderate (>3 to 7), and heavy (>7). Five hundred and forty-six subjects (58%) did not consume alcohol. Low, moderate, and heavy levels of alcohol consumption were reported for 338 (36%), 31 (3%), and 31 patients (3%), respectively. Employment status (P fibromyalgia symptoms and better physical QOL than nondrinkers. Our study demonstrates that low and moderate alcohol consumption was associated with lower fibromyalgia symptoms and better QOL compared to no alcohol consumption. The reasons for these results are unclear. Since recent studies have demonstrated that γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) levels are low in fibromyalgia, and alcohol is known to be a GABA-agonist, future studies should examine whether alcohol could have a salutary effect on pain and other symptoms in fibromyalgia.

Enhancement of myocardial regeneration through genetic engineering of cardiac progenitor cells expressing Pim-1 kinase.

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Fischer, Kimberlee M; Cottage, Christopher T; Wu, Weitao; Din, Shabana; Gude, Natalie A; Avitabile, Daniele; Quijada, Pearl; Collins, Brett L; Fransioli, Jenna; Sussman, Mark A

2009-11-24

Despite numerous studies demonstrating the efficacy of cellular adoptive transfer for therapeutic myocardial regeneration, problems remain for donated cells with regard to survival, persistence, engraftment, and long-term benefits. This study redresses these concerns by enhancing the regenerative potential of adoptively transferred cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) via genetic engineering to overexpress Pim-1, a cardioprotective kinase that enhances cell survival and proliferation. Intramyocardial injections of CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 were given to infarcted female mice. Animals were monitored over 4, 12, and 32 weeks to assess cardiac function and engraftment of Pim-1 CPCs with echocardiography, in vivo hemodynamics, and confocal imagery. CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 showed increased proliferation and expression of markers consistent with cardiogenic lineage commitment after dexamethasone exposure in vitro. Animals that received CPCs overexpressing Pim-1 also produced greater levels of cellular engraftment, persistence, and functional improvement relative to control CPCs up to 32 weeks after delivery. Salutary effects include reduction of infarct size, greater number of c-kit(+) cells, and increased vasculature in the damaged region. Myocardial repair is significantly enhanced by genetic engineering of CPCs with Pim-1 kinase. Ex vivo gene delivery to enhance cellular survival, proliferation, and regeneration may overcome current limitations of stem cell-based therapeutic approaches.

Natural molecules for the therapy of hyperandrogenism and metabolic disorders in PCOS.

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Cappelli, V; Musacchio, M C; Bulfoni, A; Morgante, G; De Leo, V

2017-06-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy of women of reproductive age and a complex endocrine condition, due to its heterogeneity and uncertainty about its etiology. However, PCOS is also associated with other metabolic abnormalities such as insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, and diabetes. There are few medications that are approved for the most common symptoms of PCOS, leading to the off-label use of medications that were approved for other indications. One of the most common medications being used off label for PCOS is metformin. Research of other effective therapeutic options has included the utility of inositol. A systematic literature search of PubMed was performed using the following combination of terms: 'PCOS', 'hyperandrogenism' 'inositol', 'natural molecules'. Only papers published between 2000 and 2016 were included in our analysis. The present review analyzes all aspects of the choice of natural molecules in the treatment of hyperandrogenism and metabolic disorders in PCOS women. The rationale underlying the use of inositols as a therapeutic application in PCOS derives from their activities as insulin mimetic agents and their salutary effects on metabolism and hyperandrogenism without side effects. In this review will discuss the role of a number of natural associations between inositol and different substances in the treatment of hyperandrogenic symptoms in PCOS women.

Study the Effect of Some Prebiotics on Physicochemical and Sensory Properties of Dietary Orange Juice

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Sara Sohrabvandi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Background and objectives: Fortification of beverages with new functional ingredients such as prebiotics is one of the recent progresses in the field of juice production. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of adding some prebiotics such as Inulin and Tagatose on physicochemical and sensory properties of orange juice. Methods: The prebiotic compounds (Inulin and Tagatose along with sucrose were added to orange juice in specific proportions and then pasteurized at 90°C. Orange juice treated samples were kept at 4°C (refrigerator temperature and 25°C (room temperature for 3 months. Physicochemical (Brix, acidity, sucrose content and pH and sensory properties of treated samples were evaluated within time intervals of one month. Results: The results showed that storage temperature had no significant effect on pH, Brix and acidity of all treatments (P>0.05. On the other hand, total sugar content of all treatments had decreased significantly during storage (P0.05. Storage of treatments at room temperature had decreased the acceptance of flavors significantly (P<0.05. Conclusion: The result of this study showed that Inulin in combination with sucrose and Tagatose could be used to produce salutary juice with desirable sensory properties.

Where the Wild Things Go: Tourism and Ethnic Longing in the Theatre of Rodolfo Santana

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Vicky Unruh

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Tapping into the performative intricacies of tourist activity and showcasing the negotiations of performed ethnicity in the implicit contrasts between tourists and the people they travel to see, Latin American and U.S. Latino theatre artists use the tourist character or theme to investigate the cultural negotiations marking contemporary social life. This work parallels critical theory that investigates the tourist as an improvisatory player in trans-regional interactions and unpacks the tourist-“native” binary to revise conceptions of people and cultures that travel. As exemplified in two plays by Rodolfo Santana (Venezuela, artists deploy the tourist theme to critique culturalism, that is, to use the term coined by Arjun Appadurai, “identity politics at the level of the nation-state” (15. Santana’s plays Mirando al tendido (1992 and Influencia turística en la inclinación de la Torre de Pisa (1996 highlight the interaction of tourism with its designated other, the ethnic, to critique the concept of abolengo, or nation-based ancestry or blood-line, as the authenticating mechanism of a particular cultural practice or group. Santana’s work—along with that of his cohort—also proposes that staging tourism harbors insights into the everyday that might generate more salutary social arrangements.

Work in progress: transcatheter embolization of renal cell carcinoma with radioactive infarct particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lang, E.K.; Sullivan, J.; DeKernion, J.B.

1983-01-01

Treatment by radioactive infarct implant is advocated for patients who have renal cell carcinoma with distant metastases. The radioactive infarct implants were placed into the primary tumor, and when feasible into metastases, by transcatheter embolization. Metastases to the skeleton, liver, lungs, adrenals, and retroperitoneal muscles were also seeded; metastases to the central nervous system, pancreas, and spleen, as well as most pulmonary metastases, proved inaccessible to this approach. The effectiveness of this treatment modality was shown by improved cumulative survival rates (59% for patients with metastases and at risk at two years and 50% for those at risk at five years). The best results were obtained when treating patients who had skeletal metastases (90% survival of those at risk at two years and 60% at five years). Measurable palliation factors, such as decrease in the size of the primary lesion, weight gain, and control of bleeding and pain, were indicators of treatment response and were observed in the majority of patients. Remissions were signaled by weight gain, normalization of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and disappearance or decrease of tumor markers. Some evidence suggests that the salutary results may be based on significant reduction of tumor burden, temporary local control of tumor, and improved general immunocompetence

An integrated lipidomics and metabolomics reveal nephroprotective effect and biochemical mechanism of Rheum officinale in chronic renal failure

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Zhang, Zhi-Hao; Vaziri, Nosratola D.; Wei, Feng; Cheng, Xian-Long; Bai, Xu; Zhao, Ying-Yong

2016-01-01

Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a major public health problem worldwide. Earlier studies have revealed salutary effects of rhubarb extracts in CRF. In this study, we employed lipidomic and metabolomic approaches to identify the plasma biomarkers and to determine the effect of treatment with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts of rhubarb in a rat model of CRF with adenine-induced chronic tubulointerstitial nephropathy. In addition, clinical biochemistry, histological evaluation and pro-fibrotic protein expression were analyzed. Significant changes were found between the CRF and control groups representing characteristic phenotypes of rats with CRF. Treatment with the three rhubarb extracts improved renal injury and dysfunction, either fully or partially reversed the plasma metabolites abnormalities and attenuated upregulation of pro-fibrotic proteins including TGF-β1, α-SMA, PAI-1, CTGF, FN and collagen-1. The nephroprotective effect of ethyl acetate extract was better than other extracts. The differential metabolites were closely associated with glycerophospholipid, fatty acid and amino acid metabolisms. The results revealed a strong link between renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis and glycerophospholipid metabolism and L-carnitine metabolism in the development of CRF. Amelioration of CRF with the three rhubarb extracts was associated with the delayed development and/or reversal the disorders in key metabolites associated with adenine-induced CRF. PMID:26903149

The well-being of community-dwelling near-centenarians and centenarians in Hong Kong: a qualitative study.

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Wong, Wai-Ching Paul; Lau, Hi-Po Bobo; Kwok, Chun-Fong Noel; Leung, Yee-Man Angela; Chan, Man-Yee Grace; Chan, Wai-Man; Cheung, Siu-Lan Karen

2014-05-13

Hong Kong has one of the highest life expectancy rankings in the world. The number of centenarians and near-centenarians has been increasing locally and internationally. The relative growth of this population is a topic of immense importance for population and health policy makers. Living long and living well are two overlapping but distinct research topics. We previously conducted a quantitative study on 153 near-centenarians and centenarians to explore a wide range of biopsychosocial correlates of health and "living long". This paper reports a follow-up qualitative study examining the potential correlates of "living well" among near-centenarians and centenarians in Hong Kong. Six cognitively, physically, and psychologically sound community-dwelling elders were purposively recruited from a previous quantitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Four major themes related to living long and well emerged from the responses of the participants: (a) Positive relations with others, (b) Positive events and happiness, (c) Hope for the future, and (d) Positive life attitude. Specifically, we found that having good interpersonal relationships, possessing a collection of positive life events, and maintaining salutary attitudes towards life are considered as important to psychological well-being by long-lived adults in Hong Kong. Most participants perceived their working life as most important to their life history and retired at very old ages. These findings also shed light on the relationships between health, work, and old age.

Short term effects of milrinone on biomarkers of necrosis, apoptosis, and inflammation in patients with severe heart failure

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Tita Cristina

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Inotropes are associated with adverse outcomes in heart failure (HF, raising concern they may accelerate myocardial injury. Whether biomarkers of myocardial necrosis, inflammation and apoptosis change in response to acute milrinone administration is not well established. Methods Ten patients with severe HF and reduced cardiac output who were to receive milrinone were studied. Blood samples were taken just before initiation of milrinone and after 24 hours of infusion. Dosing was at the discretion of the patient's attending physician (range 0.25–0.5 mcg/kg/min. Plasma measurements of troponin, myoglobin, N-terminal-pro-BNP, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, soluble Fas, and soluble Fas-ligand were performed at both time points. Results Troponin was elevated at baseline in all patients (mean 0.1259 ± 0.17 ng/ml, but there was no significant change after 24 hours of milrinone (mean 0.1345 ± 0.16 ng/ml, p = 0.44. There were significant improvements in interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, soluble Fas, and soluble Fas-ligand (all p Conclusion In conclusion, among patients with severe HF and low cardiac output, ongoing myocardial injury is common, and initiation of milrinone did not result in exacerbation of myocardial injury but instead was associated with salutary effects on other biomarkers.

Six psychotropics for pre-symptomatic & early Alzheimer's (MCI, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease modification

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Edward C Lauterbach

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The quest for neuroprotective drugs to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs, including Alzheimer's disease (AD, Parkinson's disease (PD, and Huntington's disease (HD, has been largely unrewarding. Preclinical evidence suggests that repurposing quetiapine, lithium, valproate, fluoxetine, donepezil, and memantine for early and pre-symptomatic disease-modification in NDDs may be promising and can spare regulatory barriers. The literature of these psychotropics in early stage and pre-symptomatic AD, PD, and HD is reviewed and propitious findings follow. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI phase of AD: salutary human randomized controlled trial findings for low-dose lithium and, in selected patients, donepezil await replication. Pre-symptomatic AD: human epidemiological data indicate that lithium reduces AD risk. Animal model studies (AMS reveal encouraging results for quetiapine, lithium, donepezil, and memantine. Early PD: valproate AMS findings show promise. Pre-symptomatic PD: lithium and valproate AMS findings are encouraging. Early HD: uncontrolled clinical data indicate non-progression with lithium, fluoxetine, donepezil, and memantine. Pre-symptomatic HD: lithium and valproate are auspicious in AMS. Many other promising findings awaiting replication (valproate in MCI; lithium, valproate, fluoxetine in pre-symptomatic AD; lithium in early PD; lithium, valproate, fluoxetine in pre-symptomatic PD; donepezil in early HD; lithium, fluoxetine, memantine in pre-symptomatic HD are reviewed. Dose- and stage-dependent effects are considered. Suggestions for signal-enhancement in human trials are provided for each NDD stage.

Through the looking glass on Cuba

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Jean Stubbs

2008-12-01

Full Text Available [First paragraph] State Resistance to Globalisation in Cuba. Antonio Carmona Báez. Sterling VA: Pluto Press, 2004. vii + 264 pp. (Paper US$ 29.95 La Lucha for Cuba: Religion and Politics on the Streets of Miami. Miguel A. de la Torre. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003. xi + 181 pp. (Paper US$ 21.95 By Heart/De Memoria: Cuban Women’s Journeys in and out of Exile. María de los Angeles Torres (ed.. Philadelphia PA: Temple University Press, 2003. vii + 192 pp. (Paper US$ 19.95 Looking at Cuba: Essays on Culture and Civil Society. Rafael Hernández. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003. vii + 145 pp. (Cloth US$ 24.95 In the politically charged world of scholarship on Cuba, it is salutary to comment in one review essay on four quite different volumes, each complementing the others. Three are single-authored, two on island Cuba (by Antonio Carmona Báez and Rafael Hernández and one on Miami (by Miguel A. de la Torre. All three draw on theory and concepts and are male-authored and place-centric (Cuba/Miami. The fourth (by María de los Angeles Torres is an edited collection of the personal testimonies of women seeking a place in between the hardened politics of Cuba and Miami.

A trajetória e a funcionalidade da universidade pública brasileira

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Júnia Maria Zandonade Falqueto

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper aims at a reflection on the management model of the Brazilian federal universities. The main objective is to analyze the influence of two important models of public administration (bureaucracy and managerialism on university management in the country. Initially, the history of the university in Latin America is brought under appreciation, emphasizing the history of Brazil. Next the influence of the bureaucratic model will come under close scrutiny. Finally, this paper addresses the managerial logic as regards Brazilian higher education, assuming it is a new paradigm to the university management. It starts with a theoretical apparatus that subsidizes the development of critical thinking about the trajectory and functionality of these institutions. The results show that Brazilian universities are managed from bureaucratic structures, leading to a scenario which proves low-achieving and conducive to conflicts in decision making, although the literature and the daily life of these organizations alike already mirror the managerialist discourse which assumes the adjustment of universities to the logic of management as viewed in the private sector. There is no advocating here that public universities should be veered into the privatization-minded logic of the public, good and free, nor deprived of their autonomy. However, it might prove salutary to rethink the struggle against such characteristics harmful to the management of them as corporatism, the excess of rules and rigidity.

Mechanisms of HO-1 mediated attenuation of renal immune injury: a gene profiling study.

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Duann, Pu; Lianos, Elias A

2011-10-01

Using a mouse model of immune injury directed against the renal glomerular vasculature and resembling human forms of glomerulonephritis (GN), we assessed the effect of targeted expression of the cytoprotective enzyme heme oxygenase (HO)-1. A human (h) HO-1 complementary DNAN (cDNA) sequence was targeted to glomerular epithelial cells (GECs) using a GEC-specific murine nephrin promoter. Injury by administration of antibody against the glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) to transgenic (TG) mice with GEC-targeted hHO-1 was attenuated compared with wild-type (WT) controls. To explore changes in the expression of genes that could mediate this salutary effect, we performed gene expression profiling using a microarray analysis of RNA isolated from the renal cortex of WT or TG mice with or without anti-GBM antibody-induced injury. Significant increases in expression were detected in 9 major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-class II genes, 2 interferon-γ (IFN-γ)-inducible guanosine triphosphate (GTP)ases, and 3 genes of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The increase in MHC-class II and proteasome gene expression in TG mice with injury was validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or Western blot analysis. The observations point to novel mechanisms underlying the cytoprotective effect of HO-1 in renal immune injury. Copyright © 2011. Published by Mosby, Inc.

Politics, welfare regimes, and population health: controversies and evidence.

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Muntaner, Carles; Borrell, Carme; Ng, Edwin; Chung, Haejoo; Espelt, Albert; Rodriguez-Sanz, Maica; Benach, Joan; O'Campo, Patricia

2011-09-01

In recent years, a research area has emerged within social determinants of health that examines the role of politics, expressed as political traditions/parties and welfare state characteristics, on population health. To better understand and synthesise this growing body of evidence, the present literature review, informed by a political economy of health and welfare regimes framework, located 73 empirical and comparative studies on politics and health, meeting our inclusion criteria in three databases: PubMed (1948-), Sociological Abstracts (1953-), and ISI Web of Science (1900-). We identified two major research programmes, welfare regimes and democracy, and two emerging programmes, political tradition and globalisation. Primary findings include: (1) left and egalitarian political traditions on population health are the most salutary, consistent, and substantial; (2) the health impacts of advanced and liberal democracies are also positive and large; (3) welfare regime studies, primarily conducted among wealthy countries, find that social democratic regimes tend to fare best with absolute health outcomes yet consistently in terms of relative health inequalities; and (4) globalisation defined as dependency indicators such as trade, foreign investment, and national debt is negatively associated with population health. We end by discussing epistemological, theoretical, and methodological issues for consideration for future research. © 2011 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2011 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Intrinsic Religiosity and Hypertension Among Older North American Seventh-Day Adventists.

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Charlemagne-Badal, Sherma J; Lee, Jerry W

2016-04-01

A unique lifestyle based on religious beliefs has been associated with longevity among North American Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs); however, little is known about how religion is directly associated with hypertension in this group. Identifying and understanding the relationship between hypertension and its predictors is important because hypertension is responsible for half of all cardiovascular-related deaths and one in every seven deaths in the USA. The relationship between intrinsic religiosity and hypertension is examined. Cross-sectional data from the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study (N = 9581) were used. The relationship between intrinsic religiosity and hypertension when controlling for demographics, lifestyle variables, and church attendance was examined using binary logistic regression. While lifestyle factors such as vegetarian diet and regular exercise were important predictors of reduced rates of hypertension, even after controlling for these, intrinsic religiosity was just as strongly related to lower hypertension rates as the lifestyle factors. This study is the first to examine the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and hypertension among North American SDAs and demonstrates that in addition to the positive effects of lifestyle choices on health noted in the group, religion may offer direct salutary effects on hypertension. This finding is particularly important because it suggests that religiosity and not just lifestyle is related to lower risk of hypertension, a leading cause of death in the USA.

Media Hyping and the "Herceptin Access Story": An Analysis of Canadian and UK Newspaper Coverage.

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Abelson, Julia; Collins, Patricia A

2009-02-01

In May 2005, preliminary trial results pronouncing the effectiveness of Herceptin (trastuzumab) for treatment of early-stage breast cancer were disseminated at a high-profile scientific meeting. Herceptin was subsequently approved for use in the public healthcare systems of Canada and the United Kingdom, although the differences between the two decision timelines were stark. The authors compared UK and Canadian newspaper coverage of the Herceptin story to assess how it may have been "hyped" in each country. They analyzed a diverse sample of newspapers and coded clippings for reporters' framing of the drug's efficacy, costs and funding approval process. Canadian news coverage preceded formal publication of the trial results, while UK coverage mirrored major national events. Reporters in both countries used predominantly individualistic perspectives and framed Herceptin's efficacy in salutary terms. Framing of costs was more neutral in Canadian than in UK newspapers. Funding approval framing focused on inequitable access in the UK and timeliness in Canada. News coverage of drug access stories varies across jurisdictions in terms of intensity and some aspects of framing. Such variations likely reflect different journalistic practices and dominant political rhetoric. Greater attention should be given to the role that news coverage of drug access plays in shaping public opinion and policy action, especially when this coverage precedes scientific debate. Copyright © 2009 Longwoods Publishing.

Characterization of radiation-induced emesis in the ferret

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, G.L.

1988-01-01

Forty-eight ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) were individually head-shielded and radiated with bilateral 60 Co gamma radiation at 100 cGy min-1 at doses ranging between 49 and 601 cGy. The emetic threshold was observed at 69 cGy, the ED50 was calculated at 77 cGy, and 100% incidence of emesis occurred at 201 cGy. With increasing doses of radiation, the latency to first emesis after radiation decreased dramatically, whereas the duration of the prodromal period increased. Two other sets of experiments suggest that dopaminergic mechanisms play a minor role in radiation-induced emesis in the ferret. Twenty-two animals were injected either intravenously or subcutaneously with 30 to 300 micrograms/kg of apomorphine. Fewer than 50% of the animals vomited to 300 micrograms/kg apomorphine; central dopaminergic receptor activation was apparent at all doses. Another eight animals received 1 mg/kg domperidone prior to either 201 (n = 4) or 401 (n = 4) cGy radiation and their emetic responses were compared with NaCl-injected-irradiated controls (n = 8). At 201 cGy, domperidone significantly reduced only the total time in emetic behavior. At 401 cGy, domperidone had no salutary effect on radiation-induced emesis. The emetic responses of the ferret to radiation and apomorphine are compared with these responses in other vomiting species

Life Satisfaction and Hemodynamic Reactivity to Mental Stress.

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Schwerdtfeger, Andreas; Gaisbachgrabner, Kerstin; Traunmüller, Claudia

2017-06-01

Satisfaction with life has been considered a health-protective variable, which could impact cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. However, few studies have examined the physiological pathways involved in the potentially salutary effect of life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that life satisfaction should be associated with a cardiovascular response profile that signals challenge (i.e., higher cardiac output, lower peripheral resistance), rather than threat during a mental stress task. A sample of 75 healthy, medication-free men without clinical signs of psychological disorders who worked full-time and occupied highly demanding positions participated in this study. They performed two mental stress tasks (n-back) with varying degrees of difficulty. The tasks were embedded between a baseline and a recovery period. Cardiovascular and hemodynamic variables (heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance) were recorded by means of impedance cardiography. Individuals who were more satisfied with their life displayed higher cardiac output and lower peripheral resistance levels during the stress tasks, indicating a challenge rather than a threat profile. Findings were robust when controlled for physical activity, smoking, age, and depressive symptoms. Life satisfaction could be positively correlated with beneficial hemodynamic stress reactivity, indicating that individuals with higher levels of life satisfaction can more adaptively cope with stress. Increased cardiac output and decreased peripheral resistance during stress may constitute one route through which life satisfaction can benefit health.

Meditation Awareness Training for the Treatment of Sex Addiction: A Case Study.

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Van Gordon, William; Shonin, Edo; Griffiths, Mark D

2016-06-01

Background Sex addiction is a disorder that can have serious adverse functional consequences. Treatment effectiveness research for sex addiction is currently underdeveloped, and interventions are generally based on the guidelines for treating other behavioral (as well as chemical) addictions. Consequently, there is a need to clinically evaluate tailored treatments that target the specific symptoms of sex addiction. It has been proposed that second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs) may be an appropriate treatment for sex addiction because in addition to helping individuals increase perceptual distance from craving for desired objects and experiences, some SG-MBIs specifically contain meditations intended to undermine attachment to sex and/or the human body. The current study conducts the first clinical investigation into the utility of mindfulness for treating sex addiction. Case presentation An in-depth clinical case study was conducted involving an adult male suffering from sex addiction that underwent treatment utilizing an SG-MBI known as Meditation Awareness Training (MAT). Following completion of MAT, the participant demonstrated clinically significant improvements in addictive sexual behavior, as well as reductions in depression and psychological distress. The MAT intervention also led to improvements in sleep quality, job satisfaction, and non-attachment to self and experiences. Salutary outcomes were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Discussion and conclusion The current study extends the literature exploring the applications of mindfulness for treating behavioral addiction, and findings indicate that further clinical investigation into the role of mindfulness for treating sex addiction is warranted.

Humor in psychiatric healing.

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Saper, B

1988-01-01

The oft-quoted aphorism that "laughter is the best medicine" is examined. Specifically, three big drops in the shower of claims regarding the benefits of humor in treating physical and mental disorders are evaluated. First, studies of the effects of mirth and laughter on the physiology of the body reveal both good and bad news. The meager evidence of the salutary effects of positive emotions on the cardiovascular, respiratory, immune and neuroendocrine systems, though apparently supportable on more or less scientific, rational and subjective grounds, needs much better verification from more extensive, replicable, and empirical research. Second, despite numerous claims, in the context of behavioral or psychosomatic medicine, that a joyful, optimistic, or humorous attitude can render a salubrious effect, almost to the extent of preventing illness and curing physical disease, the jury is still out and issuing dire warnings regarding too ready acceptance of this largely anecdotal evidence. Much careful "clinical trial" research needs to be mounted to determine the conditions under which humor works best, if at all. The type of patient, the kind of humor, the type and severity of illness, the psychosocial contexts-all of these factors should be considered. Third, the infusion of humor into psychotherapy is great news for some therapists and awful news for others. A number of more balanced approaches point up the probability that when mirth is incorporated into therapy judiciously, appropriately, and meaningfully it can be of value.

Mario Bunge, Systematic Philosophy and Science Education: An Introduction

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Matthews, Michael R.

2012-10-01

Mario Bunge was born in Argentina in 1919 and is now in his mid-90s. He studied atomic physics and quantum mechanics with Guido Beck (1903-1988), an Austrian refugee and student of Heisenberg. Additionally he studied modern philosophy in an environment that was a philosophical backwater becoming the first South American philosopher of science to be trained in science. His publications in physics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and the foundations of biology, are staggering in number, and include a massive 8-volume Treatise on Philosophy. The unifying thread of his scholarship is the constant and vigorous advancement of the Enlightenment Project, and criticism of cultural and academic movements that deny or devalue the core planks of the project: namely its naturalism, the search for truth, the universality of science, the value of rationality, and respect for individuals. At a time when specialisation is widely decried, and its deleterious effects on science, philosophy of science, educational research and science teaching are recognised, and at a time when `grand narratives' are thought both undesirable and impossible—it is salutary to appraise the fruits of one person's pursuit of the `Big' scientific and philosophical picture or grand narrative. In doing so this special issue brings together philosophers, physicists, biologists, sociologists, logicians, cognitive scientists, economists and mathematicians to examine facets of Mario Bunge's systematic philosophy and to appraise its contribution to important issues in current philosophy and, by implication, education.

Modal and polarization qubits in Ti:LiNbO3 photonic circuits for a universal quantum logic gate.

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Saleh, Mohammed F; Di Giuseppe, Giovanni; Saleh, Bahaa E A; Teich, Malvin Carl

2010-09-13

Lithium niobate photonic circuits have the salutary property of permitting the generation, transmission, and processing of photons to be accommodated on a single chip. Compact photonic circuits such as these, with multiple components integrated on a single chip, are crucial for efficiently implementing quantum information processing schemes.We present a set of basic transformations that are useful for manipulating modal qubits in Ti:LiNbO(3) photonic quantum circuits. These include the mode analyzer, a device that separates the even and odd components of a state into two separate spatial paths; the mode rotator, which rotates the state by an angle in mode space; and modal Pauli spin operators that effect related operations. We also describe the design of a deterministic, two-qubit, single-photon, CNOT gate, a key element in certain sets of universal quantum logic gates. It is implemented as a Ti:LiNbO(3) photonic quantum circuit in which the polarization and mode number of a single photon serve as the control and target qubits, respectively. It is shown that the effects of dispersion in the CNOT circuit can be mitigated by augmenting it with an additional path. The performance of all of these components are confirmed by numerical simulations. The implementation of these transformations relies on selective and controllable power coupling among single- and two-mode waveguides, as well as the polarization sensitivity of the Pockels coefficients in LiNbO(3).

The management of bovine reproduction in elite herds.

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Sheldon, I Martin; Wathes, D Claire; Dobson, Hilary

2006-01-01

The management of bovine reproduction is the cornerstone of health provision in elite herds. Aims and objectives for reproductive performance should be herd specific and data to monitor progress should not only be frequently collected, but also analysed and reported. Strategic monitoring of animals should include a vaginal examination for evidence of uterine disease, as well as transrectal ultrasonography of the genital tract. There has been considerable advancement in our ability to intervene in the reproduction of cattle during the last 50 years. However, it is salutary to note that during this time fertility has consistently declined, despite increasing veterinary intervention. Most elite herds use artificial insemination and success depends on accurate detection of oestrus expression, but this appears to be less overt than 25 years ago. In addition, half the cattle have abnormal oestrous cycles after parturition and conception rates are decreasing by 1% per year. Risk factors for abnormal oestrous cycles include puerperal problems, negative energy balance, which can be evaluated by body condition scoring, and uterine disease. Bacterial contamination of the uterus is ubiquitous after parturition in cattle and disease disrupts ovarian follicle growth and function. Reproduction is also disrupted by stress associated with clinical disease, pain or a sub-optimal environment. The challenge for veterinarians providing reproduction control programmes to elite herds is to transfer our knowledge of the problems underlying subfertility to the farm, in order to provide effective solutions.

Sarcopenia in hiding: The risk and consequence of underestimating muscle dysfunction in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

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Bhanji, Rahima A; Narayanan, Praveena; Allen, Alina M; Malhi, Harmeet; Watt, Kymberly D

2017-12-01

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. Up to one third of individuals with NAFLD will develop nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is associated with progression to cirrhosis and is rapidly becoming the leading indication for liver transplantation. Sarcopenia is defined as a progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass, strength, and function. It is observed in up to 60% of patients with end-stage liver disease and portends a poor prognosis. Recent studies have shown that sarcopenia is a novel risk factor for developing NAFLD. Pathophysiological mechanisms relating sarcopenia and NASH may include insulin resistance (IR) and increased inflammation. IR leads to accumulation of triglycerides in both muscle tissue and the liver. It also exacerbates proteolysis and leads to muscle depletion. Chronic inflammation leads to liver injury and progression of fibrosis. The inflammatory milieu also stimulates protein catabolism. Viewing skeletal muscle as an endocrine organ that secretes various salutary myokines may help us understand its role in the development of steatosis. A better understanding of the pathophysiology will aid in developing physical and pharmacological therapeutic interventions. In this review, we will explore the complex inter-relationships between sarcopenia and NASH. We will discuss the impact of sarcopenia in patients with NASH and therapeutic options for the management of sarcopenia. (Hepatology 2017;66:2055-2065). © 2017 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980-2015.

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Bor, Jacob; Cohen, Gregory H; Galea, Sandro

2017-04-08

Income inequality in the USA has increased over the past four decades. Socioeconomic gaps in survival have also increased. Life expectancy has risen among middle-income and high-income Americans whereas it has stagnated among poor Americans and even declined in some demographic groups. Although the increase in income inequality since 1980 has been driven largely by soaring top incomes, the widening of survival inequalities has occurred lower in the distribution-ie, between the poor and upper-middle class. Growing survival gaps across income percentiles since 2001 reflect falling real incomes among poor Americans as well as an increasingly strong association between low income and poor health. Changes in individual risk factors such as smoking, obesity, and substance abuse play a part but do not fully explain the steeper gradient. Distal factors correlated with rising inequality including unequal access to technological innovations, increased geographical segregation by income, reduced economic mobility, mass incarceration, and increased exposure to the costs of medical care might have reduced access to salutary determinants of health among low-income Americans. Having missed out on decades of income growth and longevity gains, low-income Americans are increasingly left behind. Without interventions to decouple income and health, or to reduce inequalities in income, we might see the emergence of a 21st century health-poverty trap and the further widening and hardening of socioeconomic inequalities in health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of long-term AA attendance and spirituality on the course of depressive symptoms in individuals with alcohol use disorder.

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Wilcox, Claire E; Pearson, Matthew R; Tonigan, J Scott

2015-06-01

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with depression. Although attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings predicts reductions in drinking, results have been mixed about the salutary effects of AA on reducing depressive symptoms. In this single-group study, early AA affiliates (n = 253) were recruited, consented, and assessed at baseline, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. Lagged growth models were used to investigate the predictive effect of AA attendance on depression, controlling for concurrent drinking and treatment attendance. Depression was measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and was administered at baseline 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Additional predictors of depression tested included spiritual gains (Religious Background and Behavior questionnaire [RBB]) and completion of 12-step work (Alcoholics Anonymous Inventory [AAI]). Eighty-five percent of the original sample provided follow-up data at 24 months. Overall, depression decreased over the 24 month follow-up period. AA attendance predicted later reductions in depression (slope = -3.40, p = .01) even after controlling for concurrent drinking and formal treatment attendance. Finally, increased spiritual gains (RBB) also predicted later reductions in depression (slope = -0.10, p = .02) after controlling for concurrent drinking, treatment, and AA attendance. In summary, reductions in alcohol consumption partially explained decreases in depression in this sample of early AA affiliates, and other factors such as AA attendance and increased spiritual practices also accounted for reductions in depression beyond that explained by drinking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Health related quality of life and influencing factors among welders.

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Jingxiang Qin

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Occupational exposure to welding fumes is a serious occupational health problem all over the world. Welders are exposed to many occupational hazards; these hazards might cause some occupational diseases. The aim of the study was to assess the health related quality of life (HRQL of electric welders in Shanghai China and explore influencing factors to HRQL of welders. METHODS: 301 male welders (without pneumoconiosis and 305 non-dust male workers in Shanghai were enrolled in this study. Short Form-36 (SF-36 health survey questionnaires were applied in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic, working and health factors were also collected. Multiple stepwise regress analysis was used to identify significant factors related to the eight dimension scores. RESULTS: Six dimensions including role-physical (RP, bodily pain (BP, general health (GH, validity (VT, social function (SF, and mental health (MH were significantly worse in welders compared to non-dust workers. Multiple stepwise regress analysis results show that native place, monthly income, quantity of children, drinking, sleep time, welding type, use of personal protective equipment (PPE, great events in life, and some symptoms including dizziness, discomfort of cervical vertebra, low back pain, cough and insomnia may be influencing factors for HRQL of welders. Among these factors, only sleep time and the use of PPE were salutary. CONCLUSIONS: Some dimensions of HRQL of these welders have been affected. Enterprises which employ welders should take measures to protect the health of these people and improve their HRQL.

Statins Prevent Dextrose-Induced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Oxidative Stress in Endothelial and HepG2 Cells.

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Kojanian, Hagop; Szafran-Swietlik, Anna; Onstead-Haas, Luisa M; Haas, Michael J; Mooradian, Arshag D

Statins have favorable effects on endothelial function partly because of their capacity to reduce oxidative stress. However, antioxidant vitamins, unlike statins, are not as cardioprotective, and this paradox has been explained by failure of vitamin antioxidants to ameliorate endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. To determine whether statins prevent dextrose-induced ER stress in addition to their antioxidative effects, human umbilical vein endothelial cells and HepG2 hepatocytes were treated with 27.5 mM dextrose in the presence of simvastatin (lipophilic statin that is a prodrug) and pravastatin (water-soluble active drug), and oxidative stress, ER stress, and cell death were measured. Superoxide generation was measured using 2-methyl-6-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dihydroimidazo[1,2-A]pyrazin-3-one hydrochloride. ER stress was measured using the placental alkaline phosphatase assay and Western blot of glucose-regulated protein 75, c-jun-N-terminal kinase, phospho-JNK, eukaryotic initiating factor 2α and phospho-eIF2α, and X-box binding protein 1 mRNA splicing. Cell viability was measured by propidium iodide staining. Superoxide anion production, ER stress, and cell death induced by 27.5 mM dextrose were inhibited by therapeutic concentrations of simvastatin and pravastatin. The salutary effects of statins on endothelial cells in reducing both ER stress and oxidative stress observed with pravastatin and the prodrug simvastatin suggest that the effects may be independent of cholesterol-lowering activity.

A burn prevention program as a long-term investment: trends in burn injuries among Jews and Bedouin children in Israel.

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Shani, E; Bahar-Fuchs, S A; Abu-Hammad, I; Friger, M; Rosenberg, L

2000-03-01

In order to broaden our long-term intervention efforts in elementary schools in Israel (underway since 1988) and to set priorities for further population-specific actions, we compared the pattern of burn injuries among two age groups (0-4; 5-14) of two ethnic groups of Jews and Bedouins admitted to a regional hospital between 1986 and 1995 (n = 1050). The findings indicated a significant downward trend, though somewhat nonlinear, in burn admissions among the older age groups. A relatively less favorable trend was observed for the younger age groups. Consistently across years, burn rates in the younger group of Bedouin children were the highest. For the 10-year period, a significant season by ethnic group variation in burn admissions was observed, with a peak in the spring and in the wintertime for the Jews and Bedouins, respectively. A significant trend of decrease, mostly among older children, in average lengths of hospital stay, was also evident. Yet, regardless of age group and across years, Bedouin children stayed longer in the hospital than Jewish children. The overall leading causes of injury (for 1992-1995) were hot liquids (69%), fire (17%), chemicals (9.5%) and contact (2%). In our view, there is a need to address at-risk populations through environmental, community and family-oriented interventions and to venture beyond the pathogenic factors to the investigation of the salutary factors of health under diverse life conditions.

PARP Inhibition Attenuates Histopathological Lesion in Ischemia/Reperfusion Renal Mouse Model after Cold Prolonged Ischemia

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Raimundo M. G. del Moral

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We test the hypothesis that PARP inhibition can decrease acute tubular necrosis (ATN and other renal lesions related to prolonged cold ischemia/reperfusion (IR in kidneys preserved at 4°C in University of Wisconsin (UW solution. Material and Methods. We used 30 male Parp1+/+ wild-type and 15 male Parp10/0 knockout C57BL/6 mice. Fifteen of these wild-type mice were pretreated with 3,4-dihydro-5-[4-(1-piperidinylbutoxyl]-1(2H-isoquinolinone (DPQ at a concentration of 15 mg/kg body weight, used as PARP inhibitor. Subgroups of mice were established (A: IR 45 min/6 h; B: IR + 48 h in UW solution; and C: IR + 48 h in UW solution plus DPQ. We processed samples for morphological, immunohistochemical, ultrastructural, and western-blotting studies. Results. Prolonged cold ischemia time in UW solution increased PARP-1 expression and kidney injury. Preconditioning with PARP inhibitor DPQ plus DPQ supplementation in UW solution decreased PARP-1 nuclear expression in renal tubules and renal damage. Parp10/0 knockout mice were more resistant to IR-induced renal lesion. In conclusion, PARP inhibition attenuates ATN and other IR-related renal lesions in mouse kidneys under prolonged cold storage in UW solution. If confirmed, these data suggest that pharmacological manipulation of PARP activity may have salutary effects in cold-stored organs at transplantation.

Local food: benefits and failings due to modern agriculture

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Fábio Cunha Coelho

Full Text Available ABSTRACT: This paper aims to examine the issue raised by the consumption of locally produced food in all its various aspects, and in particular, addresses how this practice contributes to local and global sustainability. It analyzes the different definitions of local food, the strategies used, the implications of the distance traveled in the transportation of food to the consumer's table – food miles, the relationships between local food consumption and sustainability, farming practices that reduce carbon emissions, contribution of urban agriculture to local food, local trading of food produced by rural farmers, as well as a number of relationships between the consumption of local food and human nutrition and health, local food protection and the ability to support local food production for humanitarian actions in disaster situations. The promotion of “local food” is a complex problem covering environmental issues, the economy and health. Transportation is not the only factor that determines how efficient it is to consume local food. Often, the technologies used for agricultural production are those most responsible for the degree of sustainability in the production and supply of food to the population. Local production does not always mean lower emissions of greenhouse gases. In general, the consumption of local foods, produced in ways adapted to the local environment using technologies with an ecological basis, is something beneficial and salutary for the environment, economy and society in general.

Robotics in surgery: is a robot necessary? For what?

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Ross, Sharona B; Downs, Darrell; Saeed, Sabrina M; Dolce, John K; Rosemurgy, Alexander S

2017-02-01

Every operation can be categorized along a spectrum from "most invasive" to "least invasive", based on the approach(es) through which it is commonly undertaken. Operations that are considered "most invasive" are characterized by "open" approaches with a relatively high degree of morbidity, while operations that are considered "least invasive" are undertaken with minimally invasive techniques and are associated with relatively improved patient outcomes, including faster recovery times and fewer complications. Because of the potential for reduced morbidity, movement along the spectrum towards minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is associated with a host of salutary benefits and, as well, lower costs of patient care. Accordingly, the goal of all stakeholders in surgery should be to attain universal application of the most minimally invasive approaches. Yet the difficulty of performing minimally invasive operations has largely limited its widespread application in surgery, particularly in the context of complex operations (i.e., those requiring complex extirpation and/or reconstruction). Robotic surgery, however, may facilitate application of minimally invasive techniques requisite for particular operations. Enhancements in visualization and dexterity offered by robotic surgical systems allow busy surgeons to quickly gain proficiency in demanding techniques (e.g., pancreaticojejunostomy), within a short learning curve. That is not to say, however, that all operations undertaken with minimally invasive techniques require robotic technology. Herein, we attempt to define how surgeon skill, operative difficulty, patient outcomes, and cost factors determine when robotic technology should be reasonably applied to patient care in surgery.

Critical Analysis of the Efficacy of Meditation Therapies for Acute and Subacute Phase Treatment of Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review

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Jain, Felipe A.; Walsh, Roger N.; Eisendrath, Stuart J.; Christensen, Scott; Cahn, B. Rael

2014-01-01

Background Recently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, due to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, as well as theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression. We aimed to determine the state of the evidence supporting this application. Methods Randomized, controlled trials of techniques meeting the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) definition of meditation, for participants suffering from clinically diagnosed depressive disorders, not currently in remission, were selected. Meditation therapies were separated into praxis (i.e. how they were applied) components, and trial outcomes were reviewed. Results Eighteen studies meeting inclusionary criteria were identified, encompassing seven distinct techniques and 1173 patients, with Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy comprising the largest proportion. Studies including patients suffering from acute major depressive episodes (N = 10 studies), and those with residual subacute clinical symptoms despite initial treatment (N = 8), demonstrated moderate to large reductions in depression symptoms within group, and relative to control groups. There was significant heterogeneity of techniques and trial designs. Conclusions A substantial body of evidence indicates that meditation therapies may have salutary effects on patients suffering from clinical depressive disorders during the acute and subacute phases of treatment. Due to methodological deficiences and trial heterogeneity, large-scale, randomized controlled trials with well-described comparator interventions and measures of expectation are needed to clarify the role of meditation in the depression treatment armamentarium. PMID:25591492

Effect of Metformin-sustained Release Therapy on Low-density Lipoprotein Size and Adiponectin in the South Indian Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

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Kumar, D Rama Nagendra; Seshadri, Krishna G; Pandurangi, Monna

2017-01-01

The aim of the study is to compare surrogate markers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, such as adiponectin (APN) levels and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) size, before and after sustained release metformin (Met-SR) therapy in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Sixty women with PCOS and sixty age-matched controls in the age group 18-45 years were recruited after obtaining informed consent. Women with PCOS were initiated on Met-SR 1 g orally, which was increased to 1.5 g after 2 weeks and continued up to 24 weeks. Demographic data along with family history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, PCOS, and CVD were collected. Lipid profile plasma APN levels and LDL size were measured before and after therapy in the PCOS group. Data analysis was performed using the GraphPad Prism-5 software. Women with PCOS had greater dyslipidemia, lower APN level and LDL size, and increased lipid accumulating product index as compared to controls. After 6 months of Met-SR therapy, women with PCOS demonstrated significant increase in plasma APN levels and LDL size and significant decrease in weight, waist-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), and blood pressure (BP). A significant decrease was observed in body mass index (BMI) in the overweight and obese PCOS subgroups. Met-SR increases LDL size, APN concentration and decreases weight, WC, WHR, and BP in patients with PCOS. Met-SR may have salutary effects on LDL particle size through effects on APN levels in women with PCOS.

Effect of major lifestyle risk factors, independent and jointly, on life expectancy with and without cardiovascular disease: results from the Consortium on Health and Ageing Network of Cohorts in Europe and the United States (CHANCES).

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O'Doherty, Mark G; Cairns, Karen; O'Neill, Vikki; Lamrock, Felicity; Jørgensen, Torben; Brenner, Hermann; Schöttker, Ben; Wilsgaard, Tom; Siganos, Galatios; Kuulasmaa, Kari; Boffetta, Paolo; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Kee, Frank

2016-05-01

Seldom have studies taken account of changes in lifestyle habits in the elderly, or investigated their impact on disease-free life expectancy (LE) and LE with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Using data on subjects aged 50+ years from three European cohorts (RCPH, ESTHER and Tromsø), we used multi-state Markov models to calculate the independent and joint effects of smoking, physical activity, obesity and alcohol consumption on LE with and without CVD. Men and women aged 50 years who have a favourable lifestyle (overweight but not obese, light/moderate drinker, non-smoker and participates in vigorous physical activity) lived between 7.4 (in Tromsø men) and 15.7 (in ESTHER women) years longer than those with an unfavourable lifestyle (overweight but not obese, light/moderate drinker, smoker and does not participate in physical activity). The greater part of the extra life years was in terms of "disease-free" years, though a healthy lifestyle was also associated with extra years lived after a CVD event. There are sizeable benefits to LE without CVD and also for survival after CVD onset when people favour a lifestyle characterized by salutary behaviours. Remaining a non-smoker yielded the greatest extra years in overall LE, when compared to the effects of routinely taking physical activity, being overweight but not obese, and drinking in moderation. The majority of the overall LE benefit is in disease free years. Therefore, it is important for policy makers and the public to know that prevention through maintaining a favourable lifestyle is "never too late".

Microbial profile of a kefir sample preparations: grains in natura and lyophilized and fermented suspension

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Rafaela Strada de Oliveira Bergmann

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Probiotics are supplementary foods developed by microbial strains that improve animal health beyond basic nutrition. Probiotics are consumed orally, regardless of being considered as normal inhabitants of the intestines, able to survive in enzimatic and biliary secretions. Kefir is a probiotic originated from the old continent, fermented by several bacteria and yeasts, encapsulated in a polyssacharide matrix, and resembles jelly grains. Kefir is also presented as its sourish product both in sugary or milky suspensions containing vitamins, aminoacids, peptides, carbohydrates, ethanol, and volatile compounds. Kefir is known to have a diverse microbial content depending on the country and fermentative substrates, which cause distinct probiotic effects. In this sense, the purpose of this work was to isolate, identify, and quantify the microbial content of a native sugary kefir sample (fermented suspension and lyophilized natural grains. Serial dilutions were plated on Rogosa agar (AR and De Man, Rogosa and Sharpe (MRS, for Lactobacillus; Brain Heart Infusion (BHI, for total bacteria; Sabouraud-Dextrose-Agar (SDA, for yeasts and filamentous fungi; Thioglycolate Agar (TA, for Streptococcus, Acetobacteria and Leuconostoc; and Coconut Water Agar (CWA, and CWA supplemented with yeast extract (CWAY, for various genera. Genera and species for all strains were identified through biochemical reactions and specific API systems. The microbial profile of kefir was different from other sources of grains despite the presence of similar microorganisms and others which have not been reported yet. The data obtained with the CWA and CWAE media suggest that both substrates are alternative and salutary media for culture of kefir strains.

High School Start Times and the Impact on High School Students: What We Know, and What We Hope to Learn.

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Morgenthaler, Timothy I; Hashmi, Sarah; Croft, Janet B; Dort, Leslie; Heald, Jonathan L; Mullington, Janet

2016-12-15

Several organizations have provided recommendations to ensure high school starts no sooner than 08:30. However, although there are plausible biological reasons to support such recommendations, published recommendations have been based largely on expert opinion and a few observational studies. We sought to perform a critical review of published evidence regarding the effect of high school start times on sleep and other relevant outcomes. We performed a broad literature search to identify 287 candidate publications for inclusion in our review, which focused on studies offering direct comparison of sleep time, academic or physical performance, behavioral health measures, or motor vehicular accidents in high school students. Where possible, outcomes were combined for meta-analysis. After application of study criteria, only 18 studies were suitable for review. Eight studies were amenable to meta-analysis for some outcomes. We found that later school start times, particularly when compared with start times more than 60 min earlier, are associated with longer weekday sleep durations, lower weekday-weekend sleep duration differences, reduced vehicular accident rates, and reduced subjective daytime sleepiness. Improvement in academic performance and behavioral issues is less established. The literature regarding effect of school start time delays on important aspects of high school life suggests some salutary effects, but often the evidence is indirect, imprecise, or derived from cohorts of convenience, making the overall quality of evidence weak or very weak. This review highlights a need for higher-quality data upon which to base important and complex public health decisions. © 2016 American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Genetic modification of mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing CCR1 increases cell viability, migration, engraftment, and capillary density in the injured myocardium.

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Huang, Jing; Zhang, Zhiping; Guo, Jian; Ni, Aiguo; Deb, Arjun; Zhang, Lunan; Mirotsou, Maria; Pratt, Richard E; Dzau, Victor J

2010-06-11

Although mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation has been shown to promote cardiac repair in acute myocardial injury in vivo, its overall restorative capacity appears to be restricted mainly because of poor cell viability and low engraftment in the ischemic myocardium. Specific chemokines are upregulated in the infarcted myocardium. However the expression levels of the corresponding chemokine receptors (eg, CCR1, CXCR2) in MSCs are very low. We hypothesized that this discordance may account for the poor MSC engraftment and survival. To determine whether overexpression of CCR1 or CXCR2 chemokine receptors in MSCs augments their cell survival, migration and engraftment after injection in the infarcted myocardium. Overexpression of CCR1, but not CXCR2, dramatically increased chemokine-induced murine MSC migration and protected MSC from apoptosis in vitro. Moreover, when MSCs were injected intramyocardially one hour after coronary artery ligation, CCR1-MSCs accumulated in the infarcted myocardium at significantly higher levels than control-MSCs or CXCR2-MSCs 3 days postmyocardial infarction (MI). CCR1-MSC-injected hearts exhibited a significant reduction in infarct size, reduced cardiomyocytes apoptosis and increased capillary density in injured myocardium 3 days after MI. Furthermore, intramyocardial injection of CCR1-MSCs prevented cardiac remodeling and restored cardiac function 4 weeks after MI. Our results demonstrate the in vitro and in vivo salutary effects of genetic modification of stem cells. Specifically, overexpression of chemokine receptor enhances the migration, survival and engraftment of MSCs, and may provide a new therapeutic strategy for the injured myocardium.

IGF-1: The Jekyll & Hyde of the aging brain.

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Gubbi, Sriram; Quipildor, Gabriela Farias; Barzilai, Nir; Huffman, Derek M; Milman, Sofiya

2018-05-08

The IGF-1 signaling pathway has emerged as a major regulator of the aging process, from rodents to humans. However, given the pleiotropic actions of IGF-1, its role in the aging brain remains complex and controversial. While IGF-1 is clearly essential for normal development of the central nervous system, conflicting evidence has emerged from preclinical and human studies regarding its relationship to cognitive function, as well as cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. This review delves into the current state of the evidence examining the role of IGF-1 in the aging brain, encompassing preclinical and clinical studies. A broad examination of the data indicates that IGF-1 may indeed play opposing roles in the aging brain, depending on the underlying pathology and context. Some evidence suggests that in the setting of neurodegenerative diseases that manifest with abnormal protein deposition in the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease, reducing IGF-1 signaling may serve a protective role by slowing disease progression and augmenting clearance of pathologic proteins to maintain cellular homeostasis. In contrast, inducing IGF-1 deficiency has also been implicated in dysregulated function of cognition and the neurovascular system, suggesting that some IGF-1 signaling may be necessary for normal brain function. Furthermore, states of acute neuronal injury, which necessitate growth, repair and survival signals to persevere, typically demonstrate salutary effects of IGF-1 in that context. Appreciating the dual, at times opposing "Dr. Jekyll" and "Mr. Hyde" characteristics of IGF-1 in the aging brain, will bring us closer to understanding its impact and devising more targeted IGF-1-related interventions.

Vismodegib suppresses TRAIL-mediated liver injury in a mouse model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

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Petra Hirsova

Full Text Available Hedgehog signaling pathway activation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of NASH. Despite this concept, hedgehog pathway inhibitors have not been explored. Thus, we examined the effect of vismodegib, a hedgehog signaling pathway inhibitor, in a diet-induced model of NASH. C57BL/6 mice were placed on 3-month chow or FFC (high saturated fats, fructose, and cholesterol diet. One week prior to sacrifice, mice were treated with vismodegib or vehicle. Mice fed the FFC diet developed significant steatosis, which was unchanged by vismodegib therapy. In contrast, vismodegib significantly attenuated FFC-induced liver injury as manifested by reduced serum ALT and hepatic TUNEL-positive cells. In line with the decreased apoptosis, vismodegib prevented FFC-induced strong upregulation of death receptor DR5 and its ligand TRAIL. In addition, FFC-fed mice, but not chow-fed animals, underwent significant liver injury and apoptosis following treatment with a DR5 agonist; however, this injury was prevented by pre-treatment with vismodegib. Consistent with a reduction in liver injury, vismodegib normalized FFC-induced markers of inflammation including mRNA for TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and a variety of macrophage markers. Furthermore, vismodegib in FFC-fed mice abrogated indices of hepatic fibrogenesis. In conclusion, inhibition of hedgehog signaling with vismodegib appears to reduce TRAIL-mediated liver injury in a nutrient excess model of NASH, thereby attenuating hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. We speculate that hedgehog signaling inhibition may be salutary in human NASH.

Adeno-associated Virus Serotype 9 - Driven Expression of BAG3 Improves Left Ventricular Function in Murine Hearts with Left Ventricular Dysfunction Secondary to a Myocardial Infarction.

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Knezevic, Tijana; Myers, Valerie D; Su, Feifei; Wang, JuFang; Song, Jianliang; Zhang, Xue-Qian; Gao, Erhe; Gao, Guofeng; Muniswamy, Madesh; Gupta, Manish K; Gordon, Jennifer; Weiner, Kristen N; Rabinowitz, Joseph; Ramsey, Frederick V; Tilley, Douglas G; Khalili, Kamel; Cheung, Joseph Y; Feldman, Arthur M

2016-12-01

The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that gene delivery of BCL2-Associated Athanogene 3 (BAG3) to the heart of mice with left ventricular dysfunction secondary to a myocardial infarction could enhance cardiac performance. BAG3 is a 575 amino acid protein that has pleotropic functions in the cell including pro-autophagy and anti-apoptosis. Mutations in BAG3 have been associated with both skeletal muscle dysfunction and familial dilated cardiomyopathy and BAG3 levels are diminished in non-familial heart failure. Eight-week-old C57/BL6 mice underwent ligation of the left coronary artery (MI) or sham surgery (Sham). Eight weeks later, mice in both groups were randomly assigned to receive either a retro-orbital injection of rAAV9-BAG3 (MI-BAG3 or Sham-BAG3) or rAAV9-GFP (MI-GFP or Sham GFP). Mice were sacrificed at 3 weeks post-injection and myocytes were isolated from the left ventricle. MI-BAG3 mice demonstrated a significantly (p BAG3 injection with further improvement in LVEF, fractional shortening and stroke volume at 3 weeks post-injection without changes in LV mass or LV volume. Injection of rAAV9-BAG3 had no effect on LVEF in Sham mice. The salutary benefits of rAAV9-BAG3 were also observed in myocytes isolated from MI hearts including improved cell shortening (pBAG3 gene therapy may provide a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of heart failure.

Adeno-associated Virus Serotype 9 – Driven Expression of BAG3 Improves Left Ventricular Function in Murine Hearts with Left Ventricular Dysfunction Secondary to a Myocardial Infarction

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Knezevic, Tijana; Myers, Valerie D.; Su, Feifei; Wang, JuFang; Song, Jianliang; Zhang, Xue-Qian; Gao, Erhe; Gao, Guofeng; Muniswamy, Madesh; Gupta, Manish K.; Gordon, Jennifer; Weiner, Kristen N.; Rabinowitz, Joseph; Ramsey, Frederick V.; Tilley, Douglas G.; Khalili, Kamel; Cheung, Joseph Y.; Feldman, Arthur M.

2016-01-01

Objectives The present study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that gene delivery of BCL2-Associated Athanogene 3 (BAG3) to the heart of mice with left ventricular dysfunction secondary to a myocardial infarction could enhance cardiac performance. Background BAG3 is a 575 amino acid protein that has pleotropic functions in the cell including pro-autophagy and anti-apoptosis. Mutations in BAG3 have been associated with both skeletal muscle dysfunction and familial dilated cardiomyopathy and BAG3 levels are diminished in non-familial heart failure. Methods Eight-week-old C57/BL6 mice underwent ligation of the left coronary artery (MI) or sham surgery (Sham). Eight weeks later, mice in both groups were randomly assigned to receive either a retro-orbital injection of rAAV9-BAG3 (MI-BAG3 or Sham-BAG3) or rAAV9-GFP (MI-GFP or Sham GFP). Mice were sacrificed at 3 weeks post-injection and myocytes were isolated from the left ventricle. Results MI-BAG3 mice demonstrated a significantly (p BAG3 injection with further improvement in LVEF, fractional shortening and stroke volume at 3 weeks post-injection without changes in LV mass or LV volume. Injection of rAAV9-BAG3 had no effect on LVEF in Sham mice. The salutary benefits of rAAV9-BAG3 were also observed in myocytes isolated from MI hearts including improved cell shortening (pBAG3 gene therapy may provide a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of heart failure. PMID:28164169

Self-affirmation increases defensiveness toward health risk information among those experiencing negative emotions: Results from two national samples.

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Ferrer, Rebecca A; Klein, William M P; Graff, Kaitlin A

2017-04-01

Self-affirmation can promote health behavior change and yield long-term improvements in health via its effect on receptiveness to risk information in behavior change interventions. Across 2 studies, we examined whether the emotional state of the person presented with health risk information moderates self-affirmation effectiveness. Data were collected from 2 U.S. national samples (n = 652, n = 448) via GfK, an Internet-based survey company. Female alcohol consumers completed an emotion induction (fear, anger, or neutral). They then completed a standard self-affirmation (or no-affirmation) essay-writing task, and subsequently received a health message linking alcohol to breast cancer. There was a significant interaction between emotion and self-affirmation conditions, such that self-affirmation reduced the specificity of health behavior change plans among those experiencing negative emotion (Study 1: B = -0.55, p emotion (or anger). Mediation analyses limited to the self-affirmation condition revealed an indirect effect of negative emotion condition on health behavior change plan specificity via self-affirmation ratings of essay content in Study 1: β = 0.04, p = .041. The salutary effect of self-affirmation on plan specificity was reversed with negative emotion. These findings may be attributed to disruption of the self-affirmation process. Individuals who enter interventions using self-affirmation in a negative emotion state may be less prepared to benefit from other intervention content, and may even be less likely to change health behaviors as a result of the intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Neural Signaling of Food Healthiness Associated with Emotion Processing.

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Herwig, Uwe; Dhum, Matthias; Hittmeyer, Anna; Opialla, Sarah; Scherpiet, Sigrid; Keller, Carmen; Brühl, Annette B; Siegrist, Michael

2016-01-01

The ability to differentiate healthy from unhealthy foods is important in order to promote good health. Food, however, may have an emotional connotation, which could be inversely related to healthiness. The neurobiological background of differentiating healthy and unhealthy food and its relations to emotion processing are not yet well understood. We addressed the neural activations, particularly considering the single subject level, when one evaluates a food item to be of a higher, compared to a lower grade of healthiness with a particular view on emotion processing brain regions. Thirty-seven healthy subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while evaluating the healthiness of food presented as photographs with a subsequent rating on a visual analog scale. We compared individual evaluations of high and low healthiness of food items and also considered gender differences. We found increased activation when food was evaluated to be healthy in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and precuneus in whole brain analyses. In ROI analyses, perceived and rated higher healthiness was associated with lower amygdala activity and higher ventral striatal and orbitofrontal cortex activity. Females exerted a higher activation in midbrain areas when rating food items as being healthy. Our results underline the close relationship between food and emotion processing, which makes sense considering evolutionary aspects. Actively evaluating and deciding whether food is healthy is accompanied by neural signaling associated with reward and self-relevance, which could promote salutary nutrition behavior. The involved brain regions may be amenable to mechanisms of emotion regulation in the context of psychotherapeutic regulation of food intake.

Association between alcohol consumption and symptom severity and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia

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2013-01-01

Introduction Although alcohol consumption is a common lifestyle behavior with previous studies reporting positive effects of alcohol on chronic pain and rheumatoid arthritis, no studies to this date have examined alcohol consumption in patients with fibromyalgia. We examined the association between alcohol consumption and symptom severity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with fibromyalgia. Methods Data on self-reported alcohol consumption from 946 patients were analyzed. Subjects were grouped by level of alcohol consumption (number of drinks/week): none, low (≤3), moderate (>3 to 7), and heavy (>7). Univariate analyses were used to find potential confounders, and analysis of covariance was used to adjust for these confounders. Tukey HSD pairwise comparisons were used to determine differences between alcohol groups. Results Five hundred and forty-six subjects (58%) did not consume alcohol. Low, moderate, and heavy levels of alcohol consumption were reported for 338 (36%), 31 (3%), and 31 patients (3%), respectively. Employment status (P FIQ total score (P = 0.01), physical function (P fibromyalgia symptoms and better physical QOL than nondrinkers. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that low and moderate alcohol consumption was associated with lower fibromyalgia symptoms and better QOL compared to no alcohol consumption. The reasons for these results are unclear. Since recent studies have demonstrated that γ-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) levels are low in fibromyalgia, and alcohol is known to be a GABA-agonist, future studies should examine whether alcohol could have a salutary effect on pain and other symptoms in fibromyalgia. PMID:23497427

Addition of DHA synergistically enhances the efficacy of regorafenib for kidney cancer therapy

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Kim, Jeffrey; Ulu, Arzu; Wan, Debin; Yang, Jun; Hammock, Bruce D; Weiss, Robert H.

2016-01-01

Kidney cancer is the 6th most common cancer in the US and its incidence is increasing. The treatment of this malignancy took a major step forward with the recent introduction of targeted therapeutics such as the kinase inhibitors. Unfortunately, kinase inhibition is associated with the onset of resistance after 1–2 years of treatment. Regorafenib, like many multi-kinase inhibitors, was designed to block the activities of several key kinase pathways involved in oncogenesis (Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK) and tumor angiogenesis (VEGF-receptors), and we have recently shown that it also possesses soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) inhibitory activity which may be contributing to its salutary effects in patients. Since sEH inhibition results in increases in the DHA-derived epoxydocosapentaenoic acids (EDPs) which we have previously described to possess anti-cancer properties, we asked whether the addition of DHA to a therapeutic regimen in the presence of regorafenib would enhance its beneficial effects in vivo. We now show that the combination of regorafenib and DHA results in a synergistic effect upon tumor invasiveness as well as p-VEGFR attenuation. In addition, this combination showed a reduction in tumor weights, greater than each agent alone, in a mouse xenograft model of human RCC, yielding the expected oxylipin profiles; this data was supported in several RCC cell lines which showed similar results in vitro. Since DHA is the predominant component of fish oil, our data suggest that this non-toxic dietary supplement could be administered with regorafenib during therapy for advanced RCC and could be the basis of a clinical trial. PMID:26921392

Testosterone receptor blockade after trauma-hemorrhage improves cardiac and hepatic functions in males.

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Remmers, D E; Wang, P; Cioffi, W G; Bland, K I; Chaudry, I H

1997-12-01

Although studies have shown that testosterone receptor blockade with flutamide after hemorrhage restores the depressed immune function, it remains unknown whether administration of flutamide following trauma and hemorrhage and resuscitation has any salutary effects on the depressed cardiovascular and hepatocellular functions. To study this, male rats underwent a laparotomy (representing trauma) and were then bled and maintained at a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 40 mmHg until the animals could not maintain this pressure. Ringer lactate was given to maintain a MAP of 40 mmHg until 40% of the maximal shed blood volume was returned in the form of Ringer lactate. The rats were then resuscitated with four times the shed blood volume in the form of Ringer lactate over 60 min. Flutamide (25 mg/kg) or an equal volume of the vehicle propanediol was injected subcutaneously 15 min before the end of resuscitation. Various in vivo heart performance parameters (e.g., maximal rate of the pressure increase or decrease), cardiac output, and hepatocellular function (i.e., the maximum velocity and the overall efficiency of indocyanine green clearance) were determined at 20 h after resuscitation. Additionally, hepatic microvascular blood flow (HMBF) was determined using a laser Doppler flowmeter. The results indicate that left ventricular performance, cardiac output, HMBF, and hepatocellular function decreased significantly at 20 h after the completion of trauma, hemorrhage, and resuscitation. Administration of the testosterone receptor blocker flutamide, however, significantly improved cardiac performance, HMBF, and hepatocellular function. Thus flutamide appears to be a novel and useful adjunct for improving cardiovascular and hepatocellular functions in males following trauma and hemorrhagic shock.

Belief in life after death, salivary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol, and well-being among older people without cognitive impairment dwelling in rural Japan.

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Imamura, Yoshiomi; Mizoguchi, Yoshito; Nabeta, Hiromi; Matsushima, Jun; Watanabe, Itaru; Kojima, Naoki; Kawashima, Toshiro; Yamada, Shigeto; Monji, Akira

2015-03-01

Research has found that spirituality/religiosity has a salutary association with mental/physical health. However, the association of belief in life after death with well-being has rarely been studied, and the same is true of its association with biological indices, such as monoamine transmitters. Therefore, we examined the associations between well-being and religiosity, salivary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (sMHPG), and demographic characteristics. The participants were 346 community-dwelling people, aged 65 years or older, without cognitive or mental deficits, in rural Japan. Measures of religiosity consisted of belief in life after death, attachment to life, and experiences related to death and religion. The measures were assessed by scales specifically suited for Japanese religious orientations. Participants' well-being was assessed by a life satisfaction scale containing two subscales. We also measured sMHPG, a major metabolite of noradrenaline that is thought to reflect certain psychological states, such as psychomotor retardation and effortful attention. One subscale of life satisfaction was positively associated with belief in life after death and sMHPG, and the other life satisfaction subscale was positively associated with education and death/religion-related experiences (e.g., visiting family graves or loss of a friend). Gender differences were found in afterlife beliefs and each life satisfaction subscale. These results suggest that religiosity, including belief in life after death and death/religion-related experiences, is salubriously associated with mental health among older people, especially women, living in rural Japan. The basal level of sMHPG was positively associated with life satisfaction, but not with belief in life after death. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A snapshot of the hepatic transcriptome: ad libitum alcohol intake suppresses expression of cholesterol synthesis genes in alcohol-preferring (P rats.

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Jonathon D Klein

Full Text Available Research is uncovering the genetic and biochemical effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol. One prime example is the J- or U-shaped relationship between the levels of alcohol consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Moderate alcohol consumption in humans (about 30 g ethanol/d is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease, while abstinence and heavier alcohol intake is linked to increased risk. However, the hepatic consequences of moderate alcohol drinking are largely unknown. Previous data from alcohol-preferring (P rats showed that chronic consumption does not produce significant hepatic steatosis in this well-established model. Therefore, free-choice alcohol drinking in P rats may mimic low risk or nonhazardous drinking in humans, and chronic exposure in P animals can illuminate the molecular underpinnings of free-choice drinking in the liver. To address this gap, we captured the global, steady-state liver transcriptome following a 23 week free-choice, moderate alcohol consumption regimen (∼ 7.43 g ethanol/kg/day in inbred alcohol-preferring (iP10a rats. Chronic consumption led to down-regulation of nine genes in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, including HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting step for cholesterol synthesis. These findings corroborate our phenotypic analyses, which indicate that this paradigm produced animals whose hepatic triglyceride levels, cholesterol levels and liver histology were indistinguishable from controls. These findings explain, at least in part, the J- or U-shaped relationship between cardiovascular risk and alcohol intake, and provide outstanding candidates for future studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms that underlie the salutary cardiovascular benefits of chronic low risk and nonhazardous alcohol intake.

Antidepressant stimulation of CDP-diacylglycerol synthesis does not require monoamine reuptake inhibition

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Aboukhatwa Marwa A

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent studies demonstrate that diverse antidepressant agents increase the cellular production of the nucleolipid CDP-diacylglycerol and its synthetic derivative, phosphatidylinositol, in depression-relevant brain regions. Pharmacological blockade of downstream phosphatidylinositide signaling disrupted the behavioral antidepressant effects in rats. However, the nucleolipid responses were resistant to inhibition by serotonin receptor antagonists, even though antidepressant-facilitated inositol phosphate accumulation was blocked. Could the neurochemical effects be additional to the known effects of the drugs on monoamine transmitter transporters? To examine this question, we tested selected agents in serotonin-depleted brain tissues, in PC12 cells devoid of serotonin transporters, and on the enzymatic activity of brain CDP-diacylglycerol synthase - the enzyme that catalyzes the physiological synthesis of CDP-diacylglycerol. Results Imipramine, paroxetine, and maprotiline concentration-dependently increased the levels of CDP-diacylglycerol and phosphatidylinositides in PC12 cells. Rat forebrain tissues depleted of serotonin by pretreatment with p-chlorophenylalanine showed responses to imipramine or maprotiline that were comparable to respective responses from saline-injected controls. With fluoxetine, nucleolipid responses in the serotonin-depleted cortex or hippocampus were significantly reduced, but not abolished. Each drug significantly increased the enzymatic activity of CDP-diacylglycerol synthase following incubations with cortical or hippocampal brain tissues. Conclusion Antidepressants probably induce the activity of CDP-diacylglycerol synthase leading to increased production of CDP-diacylglycerol and facilitation of downstream phosphatidylinositol synthesis. Phosphatidylinositol-dependent signaling cascades exert diverse salutary effects in neural cells, including facilitation of BDNF signaling and neurogenesis. Hence

Obesity--a disease with many aetiologies disguised in the same oversized phenotype: has the overeating theory failed?

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Stenvinkel, Peter

2015-10-01

Evolution has led to metabolic thrift in humans--a genetic heritage that, when exposed to the modern 'obesogenic' milieu with energy-dense food and a sedentary lifestyle, predisposes to obesity. The current paradigm that overeating of easily digestible carbohydrates and the resulting imbalance between energy in and out as the cause of overweight has recently been challenged. Indeed, studies suggest that the host response to various nutrients contributes to overeating and fat accumulation. Alterations in neurotransmitter functions, changes in the epigenome, dysbiosis of gut microbiota and effects of specific nutrients (or lack of such nutrients) on mitochondrial function and signalling pathways may promote fat accumulation independent of calories. Whereas nutrients that stimulate generation of uric acid (such as fructose and purine-rich food) cause insulin resistance and fat accumulation, other nutrients (such as antioxidants, plant food, probiotics, nuts, soy and omega-3) counteract the negative effects of a calorie-rich diet by salutary effects on mitochondrial biogenesis. Thus, the specific metabolic effects of different nutrients may be more important than its total energy content. By studying the impact of nutrients on mitochondrial health, as well as the trans-generational impact of nutrients during fetal life, and how specific bacterial species correlate with fat mass accumulation, new dietary targets for obesity management may emerge. Overeating and overshooting of calories could to a large extent represent a symptom rather than a cause of obesity; therefore, hypocaloric diets should probably not be the main, and certainly not the only, focus for treatment of the obese patient. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of ERA-EDTA. All rights reserved.

Tocopherols in the Prevention and Treatment of Atherosclerosis and Related Cardiovascular Disease.

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Mathur, Pankaj; Ding, Zufeng; Saldeen, Tom; Mehta, Jawahar L

2015-09-01

Oxidants/antioxidants play an important role in cellular homeostasis. The human body has endogenous molecules that work as antioxidants, such as glutathione, superoxide dismutase, peroxidases, and catalase. Exogenous substances in the diet, such as β-carotene, ascorbate, and vitamin E, are vital antioxidants. Of these, vitamin E is likely the most important antioxidant in the human diet, and many studies have been performed to elucidate its role in health and disease. Vitamin E is a family of several compounds, of which α-tocopherol is the most widely known analog. α-Tocopherol exhibits antioxidative property in vitro and inhibits oxidation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In addition, α-tocopherol shows anti-inflammatory activity and modulates expression of proteins involved in the uptake, transport, and degradation of atherogenic lipids. Though α-tocopherol exhibits important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiatherogenic features in vitro, α-tocopherol supplements have failed to consistently reduce atherosclerosis-related events in human trials. The conflicting results have led to reconsideration of the importance previously given to α-tocopherol and led to interest in other members of vitamin E family, especially γ-tocopherol, which exerts a much more potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardioprotective effect than α-tocopherol. This reconsideration has been backed by solid laboratory and clinical research. We suggest that the absence of γ-tocopherol in traditional preparations may be one reason for the lack of consistent salutary effects of vitamin E preparations in clinical trials. This review summarizes our current understanding of tocopherols as antioxidant molecules and emerging evidence of an important role of γ-tocopherol in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of hydroxyurea treatment for patients with hemoglobin SC disease.

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Luchtman-Jones, Lori; Pressel, Sara; Hilliard, Lee; Brown, R Clark; Smith, Mary G; Thompson, Alexis A; Lee, Margaret T; Rothman, Jennifer; Rogers, Zora R; Owen, William; Imran, Hamayun; Thornburg, Courtney; Kwiatkowski, Janet L; Aygun, Banu; Nelson, Stephen; Roberts, Carla; Gauger, Cynthia; Piccone, Connie; Kalfa, Theodosia; Alvarez, Ofelia; Hassell, Kathryn; Davis, Barry R; Ware, Russell E

2016-02-01

Although hemoglobin SC (HbSC) disease is usually considered less severe than sickle cell anemia (SCA), which includes HbSS and HbS/β(0) -thalassemia genotypes, many patients with HbSC experience severe disease complications, including vaso-occlusive pain, acute chest syndrome, avascular necrosis, retinopathy, and poor quality of life. Fully 20 years after the clinical and laboratory efficacy of hydroxyurea was proven in adult SCA patients, the safety and utility of hydroxyurea treatment for HbSC patients remain unclear. Recent NHLBI evidence-based guidelines highlight this as a critical knowledge gap, noting HbSC accounts for ∼30% of sickle cell patients within the United States. To date, only 5 publications have reported short-term, incomplete, or conflicting laboratory and clinical outcomes of hydroxyurea treatment in a total of 71 adults and children with HbSC. We now report on a cohort of 133 adult and pediatric HbSC patients who received hydroxyurea, typically for recurrent vaso-occlusive pain. Hydroxyurea treatment was associated with a stable hemoglobin concentration; increased fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV); and reduced white blood cell count (WBC), absolute neutrophil count (ANC), and absolute reticulocyte count (ARC). Reversible cytopenias occurred in 22% of patients, primarily neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. Painful events were reduced with hydroxyurea, more in patients >15 years old. These multicenter data support the safety and potentially salutary effects of hydroxyurea treatment for HbSC disease; however, a multicenter, placebo-controlled, Phase 3 clinical trial is needed to determine if hydroxyurea therapy has efficacy for patients with HbSC disease. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A randomized trial of fish oil omega-3 fatty acids on arterial health, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome in a young healthy population

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2013-01-01

Background Long chain omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils (O3) are known to have beneficial effects on a number of vascular risk factors in at-risk populations. The effects of a highly bioavailable emulsified preparation on an overweight young adult population are less well known. Methods Young adults, age 18–30, with body mass indices (BMIs) greater than 23 (average = 28.1) were administered 1.7 g of O3 per day (N = 30) or safflower oil placebo (N = 27) in an emulsified preparation (Coromega, Inc.) for 4 weeks in a double-blind randomized design. Blood was drawn and anthropometric measurements taken before and after dosing. Hemodynamic measures (central pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, and aortic systolic blood pressure), inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor-α), red blood cell and plasma phospholipid fatty acid profiles, fasting serum lipids, glucose, and C-reactive protein were measured. Results Red cell and plasma phospholipid eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid concentrations increased over the four weeks of dosing in the O3 group. Dosing with O3 did not affect central pulse wave velocity, augmentation index, or aortic systolic blood pressure. None of the five American Heart Association metabolic syndrome components improved over the dosing period. None of the inflammatory cytokines, C-reactive protein, or lipids (total or LDL cholesterol) improved over the dosing period. Conclusions No salutary effects of O3 were observed in hemodynamic, metabolic syndrome criteria or inflammatory markers as a result of this relatively short period of administration in this relatively overweight, but healthy young adult cohort. PMID:23565815

Therapeutic Efficacy of an ω-3-Fatty Acid-Containing 17-β Estradiol Nano-Delivery System against Experimental Atherosclerosis.

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Dipti Deshpande

Full Text Available Atherosclerosis and its consequences remain prevalent clinical challenges throughout the world. Initiation and progression of atherosclerosis involves a complex, dynamic interplay among inflammation, hyperlipidemia, and endothelial dysfunction. A multicomponent treatment approach targeted for delivery within diseased vessels could prove beneficial in treating atherosclerosis. This study was undertaken to evaluate the multimodal effects of a novel ω-3-fatty acid-rich, 17-β-estradiol (17-βE-loaded, CREKA-peptide-modified nanoemulsion system on experimental atherosclerosis. In vitro treatment of cultured human aortic endothelial cells (ECs with the 17-βE-loaded, CREKA-peptide-modified nanoemulsion system increased cellular nitrate/nitrite, indicating improved nitric oxide formation. In vivo, systemic administration of this nanoemulsion system to apolipoprotein-E knock out (ApoE-/- mice fed a high-fat diet significantly improved multiple parameters related to the etiology and development of occlusive atherosclerotic vasculopathy: lesion area, circulating plasma lipid levels, and expression of aortic-wall inflammatory markers. These salutary effects were attributed selectively to the 17-βE and/or ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid components of the nano-delivery system. At therapeutic doses, the 17-βE-loaded, CREKA-peptide modified nanoemulsion system appeared to be biocompatible in that it elicited no apparent adverse/toxic effects, as indexed by body weight, plasma alanine aminotransferase/aspartate aminotransferase levels, and liver and kidney histopathology. The study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of a novel, 17-βE-loaded, CREKA-peptide-modified nanoemulsion system against atherosclerosis in a multimodal fashion by reducing lesion size, lowering the levels of circulating plasma lipids and decreasing the gene expression of inflammatory markers associated with the disease.

Effects of Exercise Training and Weight Loss on Plasma Fetuin-A Levels and Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight Older Men

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Jacob B. Blumenthal

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Aerobic exercise training and weight loss (AEX+WL improves insulin sensitivity in overweight adults; however, the underlying pathways are incompletely understood. Fetuin-A, a hepatokine that inhibits insulin signaling, may be involved in the salutary effects of AEX+WL. Therefore, we examined the effects of 6-month AEX+WL on plasma fetuin-A levels (36–48 hours after the last bout of exercise, aerobic capacity (VO2max, body composition, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity (M in 16 sedentary, overweight-obese older men (age = 60 ± 2 years, BMI = 31 ± 1 kg/m2 with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes. At baseline, fetuin-A levels correlated directly with adiposity and had a borderline inverse correlation with M. After AEX+WL, body weight decreased by ~10 kg, while both VO2max and M increased by 16% (P<0.005 for all. Contrary to our hypothesis, plasma fetuin-A levels increased after AEX+WL (1.16 ± 0.10 g/L versus 1.70 ± 0.19 g/L, P=0.006. This increase was unrelated to changes in body composition or glucose metabolism, but directly correlated with changes in VO2max (r=0.57, P<0.05. Thus, in overweight-to-obese older men, AEX+WL appears to increase plasma fetuin-A levels. Although not associated with improvements in insulin sensitivity, this increase in fetuin-A was related to improvements in aerobic capacity and could be representative of the cardioprotective effects of AEX+WL in older men.

Effects of Exercise Training and Weight Loss on Plasma Fetuin-A Levels and Insulin Sensitivity in Overweight Older Men.

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Blumenthal, Jacob B; Gitterman, Anna; Ryan, Alice S; Prior, Steven J

2017-01-01

Aerobic exercise training and weight loss (AEX+WL) improves insulin sensitivity in overweight adults; however, the underlying pathways are incompletely understood. Fetuin-A, a hepatokine that inhibits insulin signaling, may be involved in the salutary effects of AEX+WL. Therefore, we examined the effects of 6-month AEX+WL on plasma fetuin-A levels (36-48 hours after the last bout of exercise), aerobic capacity (VO 2max ), body composition, glucose tolerance, and insulin sensitivity (M) in 16 sedentary, overweight-obese older men (age = 60 ± 2 years, BMI = 31 ± 1 kg/m 2 ) with no history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes. At baseline, fetuin-A levels correlated directly with adiposity and had a borderline inverse correlation with M. After AEX+WL, body weight decreased by ~10 kg, while both VO 2max and M increased by 16% ( P < 0.005 for all). Contrary to our hypothesis, plasma fetuin-A levels increased after AEX+WL (1.16 ± 0.10 g/L versus 1.70 ± 0.19 g/L, P = 0.006). This increase was unrelated to changes in body composition or glucose metabolism, but directly correlated with changes in VO 2max ( r = 0.57, P < 0.05). Thus, in overweight-to-obese older men, AEX+WL appears to increase plasma fetuin-A levels. Although not associated with improvements in insulin sensitivity, this increase in fetuin-A was related to improvements in aerobic capacity and could be representative of the cardioprotective effects of AEX+WL in older men.

Shear stress-induced mitochondrial biogenesis decreases the release of microparticles from endothelial cells.

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Kim, Ji-Seok; Kim, Boa; Lee, Hojun; Thakkar, Sunny; Babbitt, Dianne M; Eguchi, Satoru; Brown, Michael D; Park, Joon-Young

2015-08-01

The concept of enhancing structural integrity of mitochondria has emerged as a novel therapeutic option for cardiovascular disease. Flow-induced increase in laminar shear stress is a potent physiological stimulant associated with exercise, which exerts atheroprotective effects in the vasculature. However, the effect of laminar shear stress on mitochondrial remodeling within the vascular endothelium and its related functional consequences remain largely unknown. Using in vitro and in vivo complementary studies, here, we report that aerobic exercise alleviates the release of endothelial microparticles in prehypertensive individuals and that these salutary effects are, in part, mediated by shear stress-induced mitochondrial biogenesis. Circulating levels of total (CD31(+)/CD42a(-)) and activated (CD62E(+)) microparticles released by endothelial cells were significantly decreased (∼40% for both) after a 6-mo supervised aerobic exercise training program in individuals with prehypertension. In cultured human endothelial cells, laminar shear stress reduced the release of endothelial microparticles, which was accompanied by an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis through a sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)-dependent mechanism. Resveratrol, a SIRT1 activator, treatment showed similar effects. SIRT1 knockdown using small-interfering RNA completely abolished the protective effect of shear stress. Disruption of mitochondrial integrity by either antimycin A or peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α small-interfering RNA significantly increased the number of total, and activated, released endothelial microparticles, and shear stress restored these back to basal levels. Collectively, these data demonstrate a critical role of endothelial mitochondrial integrity in preserving endothelial homeostasis. Moreover, prolonged laminar shear stress, which is systemically elevated during aerobic exercise in the vessel wall, mitigates endothelial dysfunction by promoting

Expression of arf tumor suppressor in spermatogonia facilitates meiotic progression in male germ cells.

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Michelle L Churchman

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The mammalian Cdkn2a (Ink4a-Arf locus encodes two tumor suppressor proteins (p16(Ink4a and p19(Arf that respectively enforce the anti-proliferative functions of the retinoblastoma protein (Rb and the p53 transcription factor in response to oncogenic stress. Although p19(Arf is not normally detected in tissues of young adult mice, a notable exception occurs in the male germ line, where Arf is expressed in spermatogonia, but not in meiotic spermatocytes arising from them. Unlike other contexts in which the induction of Arf potently inhibits cell proliferation, expression of p19(Arf in spermatogonia does not interfere with mitotic cell division. Instead, inactivation of Arf triggers germ cell-autonomous, p53-dependent apoptosis of primary spermatocytes in late meiotic prophase, resulting in reduced sperm production. Arf deficiency also causes premature, elevated, and persistent accumulation of the phosphorylated histone variant H2AX, reduces numbers of chromosome-associated complexes of Rad51 and Dmc1 recombinases during meiotic prophase, and yields incompletely synapsed autosomes during pachynema. Inactivation of Ink4a increases the fraction of spermatogonia in S-phase and restores sperm numbers in Ink4a-Arf doubly deficient mice but does not abrogate γ-H2AX accumulation in spermatocytes or p53-dependent apoptosis resulting from Arf inactivation. Thus, as opposed to its canonical role as a tumor suppressor in inducing p53-dependent senescence or apoptosis, Arf expression in spermatogonia instead initiates a salutary feed-forward program that prevents p53-dependent apoptosis, contributing to the survival of meiotic male germ cells.

A study to evaluate the effect of nootropic drug-piracetam on DNA damage in leukocytes and macrophages.

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Singh, Sarika; Goswami, Poonam; Swarnkar, Supriya; Singh, Sheelendra Pratap; Wahajuddin; Nath, Chandishwar; Sharma, Sharad

2011-11-27

Piracetam is a nootropic drug that protects neurons in neuropathological and age-related diseases and the activation and modulation of peripheral blood cells in patients with neuropathological conditions is well known. Therefore, in the present study, in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro tests were conducted to investigate the effect of piracetam on leukocytes and macrophages. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) causes oxidative DNA damage; thus, in the present study, LPS was used as a tool to induce DNA damage. In vivo experiments were conducted on Sprague Dawley rats, and piracetam (600mg/kg, oral) was provided for five consecutive days. On the fifth day, a single injection of LPS (10mg/kg, i.p.) was administered. Three hours after LPS injection, blood leukocytes and peritoneal macrophages were collected and processed, and a variety of different assays were conducted. Ex vivo treatments were performed on isolated rat blood leukocytes, and in vitro experiments were conducted on rat macrophage cell line J774A.1. Cell viability and the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and DNA damage were estimated in untreated (control) and piracetam-, LPS- and LPS+piracetam-treated leukocytes and macrophages. In vivo experiments revealed that rats pretreated with piracetam were significantly protected against LPS-induced increases in ROS levels and DNA damage. Ex vivo isolated leukocytes and J774A.1 cells treated with LPS exhibited augmented ROS levels and DNA damage, which were attenuated with piracetam treatment. Thus, the present study revealed the salutary effect of piracetam against LPS-induced oxidative stress and DNA damage in leukocytes and macrophages. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sleep Loss in Resident Physicians: The Cause of Medical Errors?

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Milton eKramer

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This review begins with the history of the events starting with the death of Libby Zion that lead to the Bell Commission, that the studied her death and made recommendations for improvement that were codified into law in New York state as the 405 law that the ACGME essentially adopted in putting a cap on work hours and establishing the level of staff supervision that must be available to residents in clinical situations particularly the emergency room and acute care units. A summary is then provided of the findings of the laboratory effects of total sleep deprivation including acute total sleep loss and the consequent widespread physiologic alterations, and of the effects of selective and chronic sleep loss. Generally the sequence of responses to increasing sleep loss goes from mood changes to cognitive effects to performance deficits. In the laboratory situation, deficits resulting from sleep deprivation are clearly and definitively demonstrable. Sleep loss in the clinical situation is usually sleep deprivation superimposed on chronic sleep loss. An examination of questionnaire studies, the literature on reports of sleep loss, studies of the reduction of work hours on performance as well as observational and a few interventional studies have yielded contradictory and often equivocal results. The residents generally find they feel better working fewer hours but improvements in patient care are often not reported or do not occur. A change in the attitude of the resident toward his role and his patient has not been salutary. Decreasing sleep loss should have had a positive effect on patient care in reducing medical error, but this remains to be unequivocally demonstrated.

Beta Blockers Suppress Dextrose-Induced Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Oxidative Stress, and Apoptosis in Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells.

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Haas, Michael J; Kurban, William; Shah, Harshit; Onstead-Haas, Luisa; Mooradian, Arshag D

Beta blockers are known to have favorable effects on endothelial function partly because of their capacity to reduce oxidative stress. To determine whether beta blockers can also prevent dextrose-induced endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in addition to their antioxidative effects, human coronary artery endothelial cells and hepatocyte-derived HepG2 cells were treated with 27.5 mM dextrose for 24 hours in the presence of carvedilol (a lipophilic beta blockers with alpha blocking activity), propranolol (a lipophilic nonselective beta blockers), and atenolol (a water-soluble selective beta blockers), and ER stress, oxidative, stress and cell death were measured. ER stress was measured using the placental alkaline phosphatase assay and Western blot analysis of glucose regulated protein 78, c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), phospho-JNK, eukaryotic initiating factor 2α (eIF2α), and phospho-eIF2α and measurement of X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) mRNA splicing using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Superoxide (SO) generation was measured using the superoxide-reactive probe 2-methyl-6-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3,7-dihydroimidazo[1,2-A]pyrazin-3-one hydrochloride (MCLA) chemiluminescence. Cell viability was measured by propidium iodide staining method. The ER stress, SO production, and cell death induced by 27.5 mM dextrose were inhibited by all 3 beta blockers tested. The antioxidative and ER stress reducing effects of beta blockers were also observed in HepG2 cells. The salutary effects of beta blockers on endothelial cells in reducing both ER stress and oxidative stress may contribute to the cardioprotective effects of these agents.

Melatonin prevents secondary intra-abdominal hypertension in rats possibly through inhibition of the p38 MAPK pathway.

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Chang, Mingtao; Li, Yang; Liu, Dong; Zhang, Lianyang; Zhang, Hongguang; Tang, Hao; Zhang, Huayu

2016-08-01

Exogenous administration of melatonin has been demonstrated to down-regulate inflammatory responses and attenuate organ damage in various models. However, the salutary effect of melatonin against secondary intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) remains unclear. This study sought to test the influence of melatonin on secondary IAH in a pathophysiological rat model and the underlying mechanisms involved. Before resuscitation, male rats underwent a combination of induced portal hypertension, applying an abdominal restraint device, and hemorrhaging to mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 40mmHg for 2h. After blood reinfusion, the rats were treated with lactated Ringer solution (LR) (30mL/h), melatonin (50mg/kg) +LR, and SB-203580 (10μmol/kg)+LR. LR was continuously infused for 6h. MAP, the inferior vena cava pressure and urine output were monitored. Histopathological examination, immunofluorescence of tight junction proteins, and transmission electron microscopy were administered. Intestinal permeability, myeloperoxidase activity, malondialdehyde, glutathione peroxidase, and levels of TNF-a, IL-2, and IL-6, were assessed. The expression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, p38, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase, translocation of nuclear factor kappa B subunit, signal transducers and activators of transcription and tight junction proteins were detected by Western blot. We found that melatonin inhibited the inflammatory responses, decreased expression of p38 MAPK, attenuated intestinal injury, and prevented secondary IAH. Moreover, administration of SB203580 abolished the increase in p38 MAPK and also attenuated intestinal injury. These data indicate that melatonin exerts a protective effect in intestine in secondary IAH primarily by attenuating the inflammatory responses which are in part attributable to p38 MAPK inhibition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Can the measurement of brachial artery flow-mediated dilation be applied to the acute exercise model?

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Harris Ryan A

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract The measurement of flow-mediated dilation using high-resolution ultrasound has been utilized extensively in interventional trials evaluating the salutary effect of drugs and lifestyle modifications (i.e. diet or exercise training on endothelial function; however, until recently researchers have not used flow-mediated dilation to examine the role of a single bout of exercise on vascular function. Utilizing the acute exercise model can be advantageous as it allows for an efficient manipulation of exercise variables (i.e. mode, intensity, duration, etc. and permits greater experimental control of confounding variables. Given that the application of flow-mediated dilation in the acute exercise paradigm is expanding, the purpose of this review is to discuss methodological and physiological factors pertinent to flow-mediated dilation in the context of acute exercise. Although the scientific rationale for evaluating endothelial function in response to acute exercise is sound, few concerns warrant attention when interpreting flow-mediated dilation data following acute exercise. The following questions will be addressed in the present review: Does the measurement of flow-mediated dilation influence subsequent serial measures of flow-mediated dilation? Do we need to account for diurnal variation? Is there an optimal time to measure post-exercise flow-mediated dilation? Is the post-exercise flow-mediated dilation reproducible? How is flow-mediated dilation interpreted considering the hemodynamic and sympathetic changes associated with acute exercise? Can the measurement of endothelial-independent dilation affect the exercise? Evidence exists to support the methodological appropriateness for employing flow-mediated dilation in the acute exercise model; however, further research is warranted to clarify its interpretation following acute exercise.

G Protein-Coupled Receptor-G-Protein βγ-Subunit Signaling Mediates Renal Dysfunction and Fibrosis in Heart Failure.

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Kamal, Fadia A; Travers, Joshua G; Schafer, Allison E; Ma, Qing; Devarajan, Prasad; Blaxall, Burns C

2017-01-01

Development of CKD secondary to chronic heart failure (CHF), known as cardiorenal syndrome type 2 (CRS2), clinically associates with organ failure and reduced survival. Heart and kidney damage in CRS2 results predominantly from chronic stimulation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including adrenergic and endothelin (ET) receptors, after elevated neurohormonal signaling of the sympathetic nervous system and the downstream ET system, respectively. Although we and others have shown that chronic GPCR stimulation and the consequent upregulated interaction between the G-protein βγ-subunit (Gβγ), GPCR-kinase 2, and β-arrestin are central to various cardiovascular diseases, the role of such alterations in kidney diseases remains largely unknown. We investigated the possible salutary effect of renal GPCR-Gβγ inhibition in CKD developed in a clinically relevant murine model of nonischemic hypertrophic CHF, transverse aortic constriction (TAC). By 12 weeks after TAC, mice developed CKD secondary to CHF associated with elevated renal GPCR-Gβγ signaling and ET system expression. Notably, systemic pharmacologic Gβγ inhibition by gallein, which we previously showed alleviates CHF in this model, attenuated these pathologic renal changes. To investigate a direct effect of gallein on the kidney, we used a bilateral ischemia-reperfusion AKI mouse model, in which gallein attenuated renal dysfunction, tissue damage, fibrosis, inflammation, and ET system activation. Furthermore, in vitro studies showed a key role for ET receptor-Gβγ signaling in pathologic fibroblast activation. Overall, our data support a direct role for GPCR-Gβγ in AKI and suggest GPCR-Gβγ inhibition as a novel therapeutic approach for treating CRS2 and AKI. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Mechanism of estrogen-mediated attenuation of hepatic injury following trauma-hemorrhage: Akt-dependent HO-1 up-regulation.

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Hsu, Jun-Te; Kan, Wen-Hong; Hsieh, Chi-Hsun; Choudhry, Mashkoor A; Schwacha, Martin G; Bland, Kirby I; Chaudry, Irshad H

2007-10-01

Protein kinase B (Akt) is known to be involved in proinflammatory and chemotactic events in response to injury. Akt activation also leads to the induction of heme oxygenase (HO)-1. Up-regulation of HO-1 mediates potent, anti-inflammatory effects and attenuates organ injury. Although studies have shown that 17beta-estradiol (E2) prevents organ damage following trauma-hemorrhage, it remains unknown whether Akt/HO-1 plays any role in E2-mediated attenuation of hepatic injury following trauma-hemorrhage. To study this, male rats underwent trauma-hemorrhage (mean blood pressure, approximately 40 mmHg for 90 min), followed by fluid resuscitation. At the onset of resuscitation, rats were treated with vehicle, E2 (1 mg/kg body weight), E2 plus the PI-3K inhibitor (Wortmannin), or the estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist (ICI 182,780). At 2 h after sham operation or trauma-hemorrhage, plasma alpha-GST and hepatic tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, IL-6, TNF-alpha, ICAM-1, cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1, and MIP-2 levels were measured. Hepatic Akt and HO-1 protein levels were also determined. Trauma-hemorrhage increased hepatic injury markers (alpha-GST and MPO activity), cytokines, ICAM-1, and chemokine levels. These parameters were markedly improved in the E2-treated rats following trauma-hemorrhage. E2 treatment also increased hepatic Akt activation and HO-1 expression compared with vehicle-treated, trauma-hemorrhage rats, which were abolished by coadministration of Wortmannin or ICI 182,780. These results suggest that the salutary effects of E2 on hepatic injury following trauma-hemorrhage are in part mediated via an ER-related, Akt-dependent up-regulation of HO-1.

A snapshot of the hepatic transcriptome: ad libitum alcohol intake suppresses expression of cholesterol synthesis genes in alcohol-preferring (P) rats.

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Klein, Jonathon D; Sherrill, Jeremy B; Morello, Gabriella M; San Miguel, Phillip J; Ding, Zhenming; Liangpunsakul, Suthat; Liang, Tiebing; Muir, William M; Lumeng, Lawrence; Lossie, Amy C

2014-01-01

Research is uncovering the genetic and biochemical effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol. One prime example is the J- or U-shaped relationship between the levels of alcohol consumption and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Moderate alcohol consumption in humans (about 30 g ethanol/d) is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease, while abstinence and heavier alcohol intake is linked to increased risk. However, the hepatic consequences of moderate alcohol drinking are largely unknown. Previous data from alcohol-preferring (P) rats showed that chronic consumption does not produce significant hepatic steatosis in this well-established model. Therefore, free-choice alcohol drinking in P rats may mimic low risk or nonhazardous drinking in humans, and chronic exposure in P animals can illuminate the molecular underpinnings of free-choice drinking in the liver. To address this gap, we captured the global, steady-state liver transcriptome following a 23 week free-choice, moderate alcohol consumption regimen (∼ 7.43 g ethanol/kg/day) in inbred alcohol-preferring (iP10a) rats. Chronic consumption led to down-regulation of nine genes in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, including HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting step for cholesterol synthesis. These findings corroborate our phenotypic analyses, which indicate that this paradigm produced animals whose hepatic triglyceride levels, cholesterol levels and liver histology were indistinguishable from controls. These findings explain, at least in part, the J- or U-shaped relationship between cardiovascular risk and alcohol intake, and provide outstanding candidates for future studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms that underlie the salutary cardiovascular benefits of chronic low risk and nonhazardous alcohol intake.

Resilience of internal medicine house staff and its association with distress and empathy in an oncology setting.

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McFarland, Daniel C; Roth, Andrew

2017-10-01

Resilience is a beneficial trait for resident physicians who are exposed to adversity through their work with patients. Inpatient hematology-oncology produces vicarious trauma for physicians in training. Physician distress and empathy influence patient care and may be associated with respectively lower and greater levels of resilience. We collected measures of resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), distress (Impact of Events Scale - Revised), and rotation-specific information (e.g., number of death encounters, death stress, and meaning) at the end of a routine hematology-oncology ward rotation. Empathy (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) was measured both before and after the rotation. Fifty-six out of 96 residents completed the study with an overall response rate of 58%. Resilience was negatively correlated with distress (r = -0.306, p = 0.023) but not with empathy (r = 0.172, p = 0.204) and nor with change in empathy over the course of the rotation (r = -0.122, p = 0.374). When separated by sex, male resilience was negatively correlated with distress (r = -0.389, p = 0.04), but female resilience was not. Resident distress levels were in a clinically significant (76%) or posttraumatic stress disorder range (17%), and resident empathy decreased during the rotation (p = 0.018). Resilience levels were similar in those who reported that death events were the most stressful experiences of the rotation and those who derived a sense of meaning from working with dying patients. Resident physicians experienced clinically relevant distress and a decrease in empathy. Resilient resident physicians were less likely to experience distress. This study provides evidence for the salutary effects of resilience on physician distress. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dispelling dogma and misconceptions regarding the most pharmacologically targetable source of reactive species in inflammatory disease, xanthine oxidoreductase.

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Kelley, Eric E

2015-08-01

Xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR), the molybdoflavin enzyme responsible for the terminal steps of purine degradation in humans, is also recognized as a significant source of reactive species contributory to inflammatory disease. In animal models and clinical studies, inhibition of XOR has resulted in diminution of symptoms and enhancement of function in a number of pathologies including heart failure, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, hypertension and ischemia-reperfusion injury. For decades, XOR involvement in pathologic processes has been established by salutary outcomes attained from treatment with the XOR inhibitor allopurinol. This has served to frame a working dogma that elevation of XOR-specific activity is associated with enhanced rates of reactive species generation that mediate negative outcomes. While adherence to this narrowly focused practice of designating elevated XOR activity to be "bad" has produced some benefit, it has also led to significant underdevelopment of the processes mediating XOR regulation, identification of alternative reactants and products as well as micro-environmental factors that alter enzymatic activity. This is exemplified by recent reports: (1) identifying XOR as a nitrite reductase and thus a source of beneficial nitric oxide ((•)NO) under in vivo conditions similar to those where XOR inhibition has been assumed an optimal treatment choice, (2) describing XOR-derived uric acid (UA) as a critical pro-inflammatory mediator in vascular and metabolic disease and (3) ascribing an antioxidant/protective role for XOR-derived UA. When taken together, these proposed and countervailing functions of XOR affirm the need for a more comprehensive evaluation of product formation as well as the factors that govern product identity. As such, this review will critically evaluate XOR-catalyzed oxidant, (•)NO and UA formation as well as identify factors that mediate their production, inhibition and the resultant impact on inflammatory disease.

Suicide Prevention for Local Public and Volunteer Relief Workers in Disaster-Affected Areas.

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Wang, Xiao Lu; Yip, Paul S F; Chan, Cecilia L W

2016-01-01

Local workforces play a critical role in disaster relief and reconstruction. However, the mental health of local relief workers might be affected by disasters, threatening the sustainability of local workforces. In this study, we tried to address this concern by investigating the well-being of local relief workers and its association with suicidal ideation. A retrospective study was conducted. Surveys were designed to collect data from a purposive sample of local disaster relief workers who survived a disaster. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to test hypotheses. The study sample was from a population of local relief workers in the worst quake-hit regions in China in 2008. The respondents were local relief workers from a town in these regions. All of the 83 local relief workers were invited 11 months after the earthquake, and 70 joined the study, resulting in a response rate of 84.3%. The dependent variable was postdisaster suicidal ideation. The independent variables were bereavement, depression and posttraumatic stress, daily work hours, job burnout, work-family conflict, and work engagement. Approximately 21.4% of participants reported suicidal ideation after the earthquake in comparison with 7.1% before the earthquake. One potential risk factor was an interaction effect of job burnout and work-family conflict (odds ratio [OR] = 3.738; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.086-12.868). Potential protective factors included daily work hours (OR = 0.317; 95% CI, 0.106-0.952) and work engagement (OR = 0.297; 95% CI, 0.091-0.969). Findings suggest that for local relief workers who are also disaster survivors, meaningful engagement such as participation in disaster relief could be salutary to their mental health, but overwork and interference with personal life could be harmful and increase the risk of suicidal ideation. Discretion is needed in managing local workforces, particularly with long work hours and work-family balance.

High School Start Times and the Impact on High School Students: What We Know, and What We Hope to Learn

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Morgenthaler, Timothy I.; Hashmi, Sarah; Croft, Janet B.; Dort, Leslie; Heald, Jonathan L.; Mullington, Janet

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: Several organizations have provided recommendations to ensure high school starts no sooner than 08:30. However, although there are plausible biological reasons to support such recommendations, published recommendations have been based largely on expert opinion and a few observational studies. We sought to perform a critical review of published evidence regarding the effect of high school start times on sleep and other relevant outcomes. Methods: We performed a broad literature search to identify 287 candidate publications for inclusion in our review, which focused on studies offering direct comparison of sleep time, academic or physical performance, behavioral health measures, or motor vehicular accidents in high school students. Where possible, outcomes were combined for meta-analysis. Results: After application of study criteria, only 18 studies were suitable for review. Eight studies were amenable to meta-analysis for some outcomes. We found that later school start times, particularly when compared with start times more than 60 min earlier, are associated with longer weekday sleep durations, lower weekday-weekend sleep duration differences, reduced vehicular accident rates, and reduced subjective daytime sleepiness. Improvement in academic performance and behavioral issues is less established. Conclusions: The literature regarding effect of school start time delays on important aspects of high school life suggests some salutary effects, but often the evidence is indirect, imprecise, or derived from cohorts of convenience, making the overall quality of evidence weak or very weak. This review highlights a need for higher-quality data upon which to base important and complex public health decisions. Citation: Morgenthaler TI, Hashmi S, Croft JB, Dort L, Heald JL, Mullington J. High school start times and the impact on high school students: what we know, and what we hope to learn. J Clin Sleep Med 2016;12(12):1681–1689. PMID:27855730

High Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Negatively Associated with Daily Cortisol Output in Healthy Aging Men.

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Francesco Lucertini

Full Text Available Physical fitness has salutary psychological and physical effects in older adults by promoting neuroplasticity and adaptation to stress. In aging, however, the effects of fitness on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA axis are mixed. We investigated the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and HPA activity in healthy elderly men (n = 22, mean age 68 y; smokers, obese subjects, those taking drugs or reporting recent stressful events were excluded, by measuring in saliva: i daily pattern of cortisol secretion (6 samples: 30' post-awakening, and at 12.00, 15.00, 18.00, 21.00, 24.00 h; and ii the cortisol response to a mental challenge. Cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max was estimated using the Rockport Walking Test and the participants were assigned to high-fit (HF, ≥60°, n = 10 and low-fit (LF, ≤35°, n = 12 groups according to age-specific percentiles of VO2max distribution in the general population. At all daytimes, basal cortisol levels were lower in the HF than the LF group, most notably in the evening and midnight samples, with a significant main effect of physical fitness for cortisol levels overall; the area-under-the-curve for total daily cortisol output was significantly smaller in the HF group. Among the subjects who responded to mental stress (baseline-to-peak increment >1.5 nmol/L; n = 13, 5 LF, 8 HF, the amplitude of cortisol response and the steepness of recovery decline displayed an increasing trend in the HF subjects, although between-group differences failed to reach the threshold for significance. In conclusion, cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy aging men is negatively correlated with daily cortisol output and contributes to buffering the HPA dysregulation that occurs with advancing age, thus possibly playing a beneficial role in contrasting age-related cognitive and physical decline.

Integrating Social-Contextual and Intrapersonal Mechanisms of "Maturing Out": Joint Influences of Familial-Role Transitions and Personality Maturation on Problem-Drinking Reductions.

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Lee, Matthew R; Ellingson, Jarrod M; Sher, Kenneth J

2015-09-01

"Maturing out" of problem drinking is associated with both role transitions (e.g., getting married) and personality development. However, little is known concerning how these 2 mechanisms jointly influence problem-drinking desistance. This study investigated whether salutary effects of role transitions and personality occur at different points in young-adult development and whether they mediate one another's effects. Participants were initially recruited as first-year undergraduates, with family history of alcoholism overrepresented by design (N = 489). Using 4 waves of data at roughly ages 21, 25, 29, and 34, cross-lagged panel models estimated prospective relations among familial-role transitions (marriage or parenthood), personality (disinhibition, conscientiousness, and neuroticism), and problem drinking. Mixed support was found for the prediction of roles being more strongly associated with earlier maturing out of problem drinking and personality being more strongly associated with later maturing out. Regarding mediation, no evidence was found for the expectation that role effects would be mediated by personality. However, results did support mediation of personality effects by role transitions. Specifically, lower disinhibition and higher conscientiousness in emerging adulthood predicted role adoption, which, in turn, predicted later problem-drinking reductions. Family history of alcoholism also distally influenced these mediation processes. The differential timing of role and personality effects is consistent with the notion of decreasing contextual influences and increasing intrapersonal influences across development. In light of role incompatibility theory, results suggest that, over the course of development, the association of familial roles with problem drinking may increasingly reflect problem-drinking effects on role entry (i.e., role selection) and decreasingly reflect role entry effects on problem drinking (i.e., role socialization). As emerging

Inappropriate analysis does not reveal the ecological causes of evolution of stickleback armour: a critique of Spence et al. 2013.

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MacColl, Andrew D C; Aucott, Beth

2014-09-01

In a recent paper in this journal, Spence et al. (2013) sought to identify the ecological causes of morphological evolution in three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus, by examining phenotypic and environmental variation between populations on the island of North Uist, Scotland. However, by using simple qualitative assessments of phenotype and inappropriate measures of environmental variation, Spence et al. have come to a conclusion that is diametrically opposite to that which we have arrived at in studying the same populations. Our criticisms of their paper are threefold: (1) using a binomial qualitative measure of the variation in stickleback armour ("low" versus "minimal" (i.e., "normal" low-plated freshwater sticklebacks versus spineless and/or plateless fish)) does not represent the full range of phenotypes that can be described by quantitative measures of the individual elements of armour. (2) Their use of unspecified test kits, with a probable accuracy of 4 ppm, may not be accurate in the range of water chemistry on North Uist (1 to 30 ppm calcium). (3) Their qualitative assessment of the abundance of brown trout Salmo trutta as the major predator of sticklebacks does not accurately describe the variation in brown trout abundance that is revealed by catch-per-unit-effort statistics. Repeating Spence et al.'s analysis using our own measurements, we find, in direct contradiction to them, that variation in stickleback bony armour is strongly correlated with variation in trout abundance, and unrelated to variation in the concentration of calcium in the lochs in which they live. Field studies in ecology and evolution seldom address the same question in the same system at the same time, and it is salutary that in this rare instance two such studies arrived at diametrically opposite answers.

Application of energy conservation technologies in Indian industries

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Zubair, K.M.

1992-01-01

The quadrupling of oil prices in 1973 signaled the beginning of a crises period for the oil importing countries. It hampered the economic growth of developed and developing countries alike. The pace of industrialization slowed down, recession set in and the oil importing developing nations found their balance of payment situation steadily going worse. The second increase of oil prices in 1979 further compounded the problems. It did seem that the problem of economic growth and increasing debt burden was intractable as far as developing nations were concerned. Behind this turmoil were the faint stirrings of alternative actions that sought to wean the world from its oil and fossil fuel dominated economies. These alternatives ranged from harnessing renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and biomass to implementing end-use energy efficiency strategies. A major lesson of the oil crunch era was that energy efficiency is tangible resource by itself that competes economically with contemporary energy supply options. In addition to this, four major national priorities, viz, economic competitiveness, utilization of scare capital for development, environmental quality and energy security through oil dependence provided an urgent rationale for saving energy. While conservation consciousness has already taken roots in Pakistan industry, it needs to be nurtured and gains need to be consolidated. The need of the hour is to take stock of the situation elsewhere, particularly in similar geographical and socio-economic situations, and plan for an energy efficient tomorrow. This article attempts to delineate the notable developments that have taken place in the application of energy conservation technologies in the Indian industries. These efforts have had a salutary effect on the Indian value added sector which was saddled with old plant and machinery designed in the era of cheap energy. (author)

CT and MR imaging in diagnosis in and monitoring of treatment in lymphangioma

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Losowska-Kaniewska, D.; Bieganski, T.

2004-01-01

Chronic renal failure affects thyroid function in many ways. The aim of the study was to compare thyroid morphology, thyroid volume, and thyroid function (serum hormone levels) in patients on hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialyses (PD). The study was performed on 93 chronically hemodialyzed and 48 peritoneally dialyzed patients. Control group included 42 healthy volunteers. Thyroid examination was performed with 7.5 MHz probe.With ultrasound the echostructure of thyroid gland was established, and the volume of thyroid was calculated as well. Blood samples were examined for serum thyroid hormone levels in all patients.The samples were drawn in the morning to avoid circadian variations. In hemodialyzed patients samples were taken before the dialysis session and heparin administration. In peritoneally dialyzed patients samples were taken when patient appeared for routine office assessment of dialysis therapy after an overnight fast. In both studied groups the thyroid echostructure was similar to the general population. Goiter was diagnosed in most HD patients,and some PD patients. The thyroid volume was significantly higherb in HD patients than in the healthy volunteers. Serum TSH was within normal ranges in each group. In both groups of dialyzed patients FT4 were significantly lower than in the control group, whereas T3 in both groups of dialyzed patients and T4 in HD patients were significantly lower than in the healthy volunteers. No correlation between thyroid volume, TSH, and time on dialyses was observed. The prevalence of goiter in patients on renal replacement therapy is higher than in general population. Abnormalities in thyroid function tests are frequently encountered in remia, therefore biochemical results should be interpreted cautiously. Peritoneal dialyses do not have a salutary effect on the thyroid function and morphology in comparison to that of hemodialysis. (author)

Weekly iron folic acid supplementation plays differential role in maintaining iron markers level in non-anaemic and anaemic primigravida: A randomized controlled study

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Hari Shankar

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Anaemia during pregnancy is most commonly observed and highly prevalent in South-East Asia. Various effective programmes have been laid down for its management, mainly daily supplementation of iron folic acid (IFA tablets. Following the same, standard obstetrical practice has included the IFA supplementation without requiring the determination of iron deficiency. In this study, a total of 120 primigravida (N = 60; non-anaemic (Hb > 11 g/dl and N = 60 anaemic (Hb = 8–11 g/dl were selected among those attending the Antenatal Clinic in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India. They were supplemented with daily and weekly IFA tablets till 6 weeks postpartum. Corresponding changes in haemoglobin level on advance of pregnancy, side effects and compliance associated with daily and weekly IFA supplementation and its associations with iron status markers were studied. The inflammatory markers were also estimated. The statistical significance level (p < 0.05 between the groups were assessed by applying unpaired t-test using SPSS (version 16.0. The obtained results publicized the salutary role of daily IFA supplementation in improving the haemoglobin level and iron status markers in anaemic pregnant women though the levels could not reach up to the non-anaemic haemoglobin levels. However, weekly IFA supplementation seems to be a better approach in non-anaemic pregnant women where almost comparable results were obtained in terms of haematological parameters, gestation length and birth weight. Conclusion: Weekly IFA supplementation found to be as effective as daily supplementation in iron sufficient non-anaemic pregnant women whereas anaemic pregnant women should be prescribed daily IFA supplementation irrespective of iron replete/deplete state. Keywords: Anaemia, Iron folic acid supplementation, Iron status markers, Pregnancy

Novel protective role of endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4 receptors in heart failure.

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Yang, Tiehong; Shen, Jian-bing; Yang, Ronghua; Redden, John; Dodge-Kafka, Kimberly; Grady, James; Jacobson, Kenneth A; Liang, Bruce T

2014-05-01

Heart failure (HF), despite continuing progress, remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. P2X4 receptors (P2X4R) have emerged as potentially important molecules in regulating cardiac function and as potential targets for HF therapy. Transgenic P2X4R overexpression can protect against HF, but this does not explain the role of native cardiac P2X4R. Our goal is to define the physiological role of endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4R under basal conditions and during HF induced by myocardial infarction or pressure overload. Mice established with conditional cardiac-specific P2X4R knockout were subjected to left anterior descending coronary artery ligation-induced postinfarct or transverse aorta constriction-induced pressure overload HF. Knockout cardiac myocytes did not show P2X4R by immunoblotting or by any response to the P2X4R-specific allosteric enhancer ivermectin. Knockout hearts showed normal basal cardiac function but depressed contractile performance in postinfarct and pressure overload models of HF by in vivo echocardiography and ex vivo isolated working heart parameters. P2X4R coimmunoprecipitated and colocalized with nitric oxide synthase 3 (eNOS) in wild-type cardiac myocytes. Mice with cardiac-specific P2X4R overexpression had increased S-nitrosylation, cyclic GMP, NO formation, and were protected from postinfarct and pressure overload HF. Inhibitor of eNOS, L-N(5)-(1-iminoethyl)ornithine hydrochloride, blocked the salutary effect of cardiac P2X4R overexpression in postinfarct and pressure overload HF as did eNOS knockout. This study establishes a new protective role for endogenous cardiac myocyte P2X4R in HF and is the first to demonstrate a physical interaction between the myocyte receptor and eNOS, a mediator of HF protection. © 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.

Active tuberculosis is associated with worse clinical outcomes in HIV-infected African patients on antiretroviral therapy.

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Abraham M Siika

Full Text Available This cohort study utilized data from a large HIV treatment program in western Kenya to describe the impact of active tuberculosis (TB on clinical outcomes among African patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART.We included all patients initiating ART between March 2004 and November 2007. Clinical (signs and symptoms, radiological (chest radiographs and laboratory (mycobacterial smears, culture and tissue histology criteria were used to record the diagnosis of TB disease in the program's electronic medical record system.We assessed the impact of TB disease on mortality, loss to follow-up (LTFU and incident AIDS-defining events (ADEs through Cox models and CD4 cell and weight response to ART by non-linear mixed models.We studied 21,242 patients initiating ART-5,186 (24% with TB; 62% female; median age 37 years. There were proportionately more men in the active TB (46% than in the non-TB (35% group. Adjusting for baseline HIV-disease severity, TB patients were more likely to die (hazard ratio--HR = 1.32, 95% CI 1.18-1.47 or have incident ADEs (HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.19-1.45. They had lower median CD4 cell counts (77 versus 109, weight (52.5 versus 55.0 kg and higher ADE risk at baseline (CD4-adjusted odds ratio = 1.55, 95% CI: 1.31-1.85. ART adherence was similarly good in both groups. Adjusting for gender and baseline CD4 cell count, TB patients experienced virtually identical rise in CD4 counts after ART initiation as those without. However, the overall CD4 count at one year was lower among patients with TB (251 versus 269 cells/µl.Clinically detected TB disease is associated with greater mortality and morbidity despite salutary response to ART. Data suggest that identifying HIV patients co-infected with TB earlier in the HIV-disease trajectory may not fully address TB-related morbidity and mortality.

The Effect of Renal Denervation on Plasma Adipokine Profile in Patients with Treatment Resistant Hypertension

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Nina Eikelis

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: We previously demonstrated the effectiveness of renal denervation (RDN to lower blood pressure (BP at least partially via the reduction of sympathetic stimulation to the kidney. A number of adipocyte-derived factors are implicated in BP control in obesity.Aim: The aim of this study was to examine whether RDN may have salutary effects on the adipokine profile in patients with resistant hypertension (RH.Methods: Fifty seven patients with RH undergoing RDN program have been included in this study (65% males, age 60.8 ± 1.5 years, BMI 32.6 ± 0.7 kg/m2, mean ± SEM. Throughout the study, the patients were on an average of 4.5 ± 2.7 antihypertensive drugs. Automated seated office BP measurements and plasma concentrations of leptin, insulin, non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA, adiponectin and resistin were assessed at baseline and the 3 months after RDN.Results: There was a significant reduction in mean office systolic (168.75 ± 2.57 vs. 155.23 ± 3.17 mmHg, p < 0.001 and diastolic (90.68 ± 2.31 vs. 83.74 ± 2.36 mmHg, p < 0.001 BP 3 months after RDN. Body weight, plasma leptin and resistin levels and heart rate remained unchanged. Fasting insulin concentration significantly increased 3 months after the procedure (20.05 ± 1.46 vs. 29.70 ± 2.51 uU/ml, p = 0.002. There was a significant drop in circulating NEFA at follow up (1.01 ± 0.07 vs. 0.47 ± 0.04 mEq/l, p < 0.001. Adiponectin concentration was significantly higher after RDN (5,654 ± 800 vs. 6,644 ± 967 ng/ml, p = 0.024.Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate that RDN is associated with potentially beneficial effects on aspects of the adipokine profile. Increased adiponectin and reduced NEFA production may contribute to BP reduction via an effect on metabolic pathways.Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT00483808, NCT00888433.

Intractable diarrhea in hyperthyroidism: management with beta-adrenergic blockade.

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Bricker, L A; Such, F; Loehrke, M E; Kavanaugh, K

2001-01-01

To describe a patient with intractable diarrhea and thyrotoxic Graves' disease, for whom b-adrenergic blockade ultimately proved to be effective therapy for the diarrhea, and to review the types of hyperthyroidism-associated diarrhea. We present the clinical course of a young man with a prolonged siege of diarrhea that proved elusive to diagnostic inquiries and resistant to all means of management until its endocrine basis was discovered. Control of such cases with b-adrenergic blockade is discussed, as are the pathophysiologic bases of intestinal hypermotility in hyperthyroidism. A 26-year-old man with Down syndrome, and no prior gastrointestinal disorder, had insidious, chronic, constant diarrhea, which was associated with loss of 14 kg during a 5-month period. Numerous laboratory and imaging studies and endoscopic examinations failed to disclose the cause of the diarrhea. Furthermore, a broad range of antibiotics and other empiric remedies failed to control the problem. No other symptoms of hyperthyroidism were reported, but when the endocrinopathy was suspected and identified, the diarrhea was promptly controlled by treatment with propranolol. In patients with hyperthyroidism, two types of diarrheal disorders have been described-secretory diarrhea and steatorrhea; bile acid malabsorption may have a role in either of these settings. In addition to its capacity for blocking the peripheral effects of thyroid hormone on the heart and central nervous system, b-adrenergic blockade is effective in slowing intestinal transit time and ameliorating the uncommon diarrhea associated with hyperthyroidism. Thyroid hormone in excess, among its other possible effects on the gastrointestinal tract, may exert a stimulatory effect by means of intermediary sympathetic activation, as it does with the heart. Thus, sympathetic blockade can mimic the salutary effects on the gastrointestinal tract conventionally brought about by direct antithyroid therapy, and well before the

The effect of continuous positive airway pressure on post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and obstructive sleep apnea: a prospective study.

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El-Solh, Ali A; Vermont, Leah; Homish, Gregory G; Kufel, Thomas

2017-05-01

Previous retrospective studies have shown that continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) exerts salutary effect on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and nightmare distress. The relative magnitude of therapeutic benefits from CPAP and the strength of associations between duration of CPAP use and PTSD symptomatology are unknown. A prospective cohort design involving 47 combat veterans with PTSD and documented obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by overnight polysomnography. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score, PTSD checklist-Military (PCL-M), Nightmare Distress Questionnaire (NDQ), and Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) were administered at baseline and 3 months after CPAP therapy. Objective adherence was assessed at the 3-month follow-up. Twenty-two veterans with mild-to-moderate PTSD (PCL-M score 17-59) and 18 with severe-to-very-severe PTSD (PCL-M score 60-85) completed the study. There was a dose-dependent response of PCL-M to duration of CPAP usage (r = 0.45; p = 0.003). Veterans with severe-to-very-severe PTSD had a larger improvement in PTSD symptoms (d = 0.65; p = 0.004) compared with those with mild-to-moderate PTSD (d = 0.47; p = 0.04). CPAP usage was the only significant predictor of overall subjective improvement in PTSD symptoms (OR 10.5; p = 0.01). Significant changes in NDQ and NFQ scores following 3 months of treatment were observed in veterans adherent to CPAP, but the correlations with duration of CPAP use were not statistically significant (r = 0.24; p = 0.13 and r = 0.13; p = 0.4, respectively). Improvement of PTSD symptoms in veterans with OSA was more pronounced with prolonged use of CPAP. Adherence to treatment was linked to abatement in nightmare distress and frequency. Future investigation of multimodal treatment, including behavioral intervention combined with CPAP, is warranted. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Nine weeks of supplementation with a multi-nutrient product augments gains in lean mass, strength, and muscular performance in resistance trained men

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lemieux Robert

2010-12-01

. Studies designed to confirm these results and clarify the molecular mechanisms by which SOmaxP exerts the observed salutary effects have begun. Both SOmaxP and the CP were well-tolerated, and no supplement safety issues were identified.

Belonging to Christ and Belonging to the Church: The Story of Every Christian. An Ecclesiological Reflection on the Sacrament of Baptism

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Prokop Brož

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the sacrament of baptism in three perspectives. First it shows how baptism is incorporated in the historical existence of a Christian and constitutes the foundational event not only of the history of the human person in general, but of the history of salvation of every human person. The second perspective develops the soteriological character of baptism. In light of Christ’s salutary work seen within the so called “soteriological arch” (H. U. von Balthasar the scope of transformation of the human subject is shown. The third part perceives the human subject incorporated by the Holy Spirit in the whole of the Church which is sacramentally ordered. The conclusion summarizes the basic theses of the paper. Patřit Kristu a patřit do církve: příběh každého křesťana. Ekleziologická reflexe nad svátostí křtu Článek pojednává o svátosti křtu ve trojí perspektivě. Nejprve ukazuje, jak se křest začleňuje do dějinné existence křesťana a vytváří základní událost nejen obecně dějin lidské osoby, ale dějin spásy každé lidské osoby. Druhá perspektiva rozvádí soteriologický rys křtu. Ve světle Kristova spásného díla, nahlédnutého v rámci tzv. soteriologického oblouku (H. U. von Balthasar je ukázán dosah proměny lidského subjektu. Třetí část nahlíží lidský subjekt Duchem svatým začleněný do celku církve, jež je uspořádána jako svátostný řád. Závěr shrnuje základní teze článku.

Science, humanism, judgement, ethics: person-centered medicine as an emergent model of modern clinical practice.

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Miles, Andrew

2013-01-01

in addition to his/her physical needs. MUP, in assimilating such arguments and introducing person-centered medicine teaching into the University, is engaged in a notable and laudable initiative which will function as a salutary example to other medical schools within Europe and elsewhere.

Internet surveillance, regulation, and chilling effects online: a comparative case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathon W. Penney

2017-05-01

-cyberbullying laws may have a salutary impact on women’s willingness to share content online suggesting, contrary to critics, that such laws may lead to more speech and sharing, than less. The findings also offer evidence of secondary chilling effects— where users’ online activities are chilled even when not they, but others in their social networks receive legal processes.

Evolução da aptidão física e capacidade funcional de mulheres ativas acima de 50 anos de idade de acordo com a idade cronológica, na cidade de Santos Evolution of physical fitness and functional capacity in active elderly women over 50 years of age according to chronological age in Santos city

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Carlos Lopes Penha

2012-01-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a evolução da aptidão física, capacidade funcional e densidade mineral óssea de mulheres fisicamente ativas durante um ano. Métodos: A amostra consistiu de 78 mulheres de 50 a 79 anos de idade (c: 62,4 ± 7,1 anos, participantes de um programa de exercícios aeróbicos, duas vezes por semana, 50 minutos por sessão durante 3,4 anos e divididas em três grupos: A: 5059 (n: 38; B: 6069 (n: 28; C: 7079 (n:12. Os resultados foram comparados usando ANOVA Two Way com "post-hoc" Bonferroni e delta percentual (*pThe scope of this study was to compare the evolution of physical fitness, functional capacity and bone mineral density in active elderly women over a one-year period. The sample consisted of 78 women from 50 to 79 years of age (c:62.4 ± 7.1 participating in an aerobic program, twice a week, 50 minutes per session during 3.4 years and divided into three age groups: A: 50-59 (n:38; B: 60-69 (n:28; C: 70-79 (n:12. Results were compared using Two Way ANOVA, "post-hoc" Bonferroni and delta (D% variations (*p<.o1. The velocity of rising from a chair and gait speed revealed a significant difference in the three groups ranging from -14.3% to -45.5%; there was a significant improvement in A and B groups in walking speed (-12.1% to -13.9%, and also in maximum gait speed (-15.4% to -18.5%, elbow flexion in all the groups (18.9% to 24.1%, vertical jump (22.5% to 43.9% in groups B and C, and rising from a chair in 30 seconds (25.2% to 30.8% in groups A and B, the flexibility test showed an increase in group A (16.2% to 33.3% and stationary walking in the three groups of (16,4% 30.0% and bone mineral density (BMD presented a significant increase (3.1% to 10.2%. The results indicate the salutary effect of regular physical activity.

Hypoxia and Its Acid-Base Consequences: From Mountains to Malignancy.

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Swenson, Erik R

Hypoxia, depending upon its magnitude and circumstances, evokes a spectrum of mild to severe acid-base changes ranging from alkalosis to acidosis, which can alter many responses to hypoxia at both non-genomic and genomic levels, in part via altered hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) metabolism. Healthy people at high altitude and persons hyperventilating to non-hypoxic stimuli can become alkalotic and alkalemic with arterial pH acutely rising as high as 7.7. Hypoxia-mediated respiratory alkalosis reduces sympathetic tone, blunts hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and hypoxic cerebral vasodilation, and increases hemoglobin oxygen affinity. These effects and others can be salutary or counterproductive to tissue oxygen delivery and utilization, based upon magnitude of each effect and summation. With severe hypoxia either in the setting of profound arterial hemoglobin desaturation and reduced O2 content or poor perfusion (ischemia) at the global or local level, metabolic and hypercapnic acidosis develop along with considerable lactate formation and pH falling to below 6.8. Although conventionally considered to be injurious and deleterious to cell function and survival, both acidoses may be cytoprotective by various anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic mechanisms which limit total hypoxic or ischemic-reperfusion injury. Attempts to correct acidosis by giving bicarbonate or other alkaline agents under these circumstances ahead of or concurrent with reoxygenation efforts may be ill advised. Better understanding of this so-called "pH paradox" or permissive acidosis may offer therapeutic possibilities. Rapidly growing cancers often outstrip their vascular supply compromising both oxygen and nutrient delivery and metabolic waste disposal, thus limiting their growth and metastatic potential. However, their excessive glycolysis and lactate formation may not necessarily represent oxygen insufficiency, but rather the Warburg effect-an attempt to provide a large amount

Making a personal connection in the medical interview.

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Sessions, Donald G

2009-01-01

The medical interview is an access point for contacting patients at the core of their being. Patients with concernfull medical problems initially and unreflectively grasp these conflicted situations directly in terms of their meaning for the self. The situation and the self can become fused transparently. Physicians can facilitate patients awareness of their core self which is separate from their medical issue, by creating an opportunity for patients to experience the core of being that they mutually share. In the medical interview the possibility of making a personal connection with the patient is already present in the context of the presupposed shared history of a caring relationship between patients and physicians. The physician's gift of presence, of riveted attention and silence as the patient describes her concerns, can create an opening for awareness of their mutual involvement in a common web of concerns at a profound level. Being attuned initially can be reinforced by attending to perceptual domains. The hearing that listens and the seeing that can result in vision can allow for inspiration. Touching with gentleness is a primal mode of knowing and understanding. Words themselves can have great salutary power. Who has not wondered at the "tingle" that occurs during the reading of a powerful poem? What if you do make a personal connection with patients? What if you don't? Even though there is little scientific evidence or statistics to ground the assertion that there is value in a profound relationship I maintain that it is a way to follow the path you have chosen. It is the distinction between a job and a calling. It also lightens the burden we carry in our continual conflict with the increasing pressure of technology, third parties, and the other which is 'other.' Making a personal connection with patients is not about the "trickle down" of humanity from physicians to patients. Personal connection is inspiring to physicians and patients and enlightening

Nebulized fluticasone propionate, a viable alternative to systemic route in the management of childhood moderate asthma attack: A double-blind, double-dummy study.

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Demirca, Beyza Poplata; Cagan, Hasret; Kiykim, Ayca; Arig, Ulku; Arpa, Medeni; Tulunay, Aysin; Ozen, Ahmet; Karakoc-Aydiner, Elif; Baris, Safa; Barlan, I B

2015-09-01

moderate acute asthma attack, nebulized CS (2000 mcg daily) was found to be as effective as systemic route with regard to clinical improvement. In addition, immunological parameters were more in favor of nebulized route which may imply a salutary effect of local CS usage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Perforation of hollow organs in the abdominal contusion: diagnostic features and prognostic factors of death].

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Nicolau, A E; Merlan, V; Dinescu, G; Crăciun, M; Kitkani, A; Beuran, M

2012-01-01

under 6 hours. Hollow viscus perforations due to abdominal contusions have a high mortality, early diagnosis is difficult, repeated abdominal CT and the selective use of diagnostic laparoscopy for haemodynamic stable patients with ambiguous clinical examination and diagnostic imaging are salutary. Prognostic factors for death were the ISS value and associated craniocerebral trauma.

Happy Family Kitchen II: a cluster randomized controlled trial of a community-based positive psychology family intervention for subjective happiness and health-related quality of life in Hong Kong.

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Ho, Henry C Y; Mui, Moses; Wan, Alice; Ng, Yin-Lam; Stewart, Sunita M; Yew, Carol; Lam, Tai Hing; Chan, Sophia S

2016-07-29

gathering session in improving subjective happiness (β = .00, p = .990, d = .00) or mental (β = 1.20, p = 1.000, d = -.04) and physical quality of life (β = .15, p = 1.000, d = -.01). The analyses extend previous findings of salutary effects on family well-being by showing that positive psychology family interventions can improve subjective happiness. Suggestions for future research are proposed. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01796275 . Retrospectively registered 19 February 2013.

Medieval Iceland, Greenland, and the New Human Condition: A case study in integrated environmental humanities

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Hartman, Steven; Ogilvie, A. E. J.; Ingimundarson, Jón Haukur; Dugmore, A. J.; Hambrecht, George; McGovern, T. H.

2017-09-01

foregrounded in the present special issue. This conception admits human agency's role in altering the conditions for life on earth, in large measure negatively, while acknowledging the potential of this self-same agency, if effectively harnessed and properly directed, to sustain essential planetary conditions through a salutary transformation of human perception, understanding and remedial action. The paper concludes that more long-term historical analyses of cultures and environments need to be undertaken at various scales. Past cases do not offer perfect analogues for the future, but they can contribute to a better understanding of how resilience and vulnerability occur, as well as how they may be compromised or mitigated.

Sin as an Ailment of Soul and Repentance as the Process of Its Healing. The Pastoral Concept of Penitentials as a Way of Dealing with Sin, Repentance, and Forgiveness in the Insular Church of the Sixth to the Eighth Centuries

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Kursawa Wilhelm

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Although the advent of the Kingdom of God in Jesus contains as an intrinsic quality the opportunity for repentance (metanoia as often as required, the Church of the first five-hundred years shows serious difficulties with the opportunity of conversion after a relapse in sinning after baptism. The Church allowed only one chance of repentance. Requirement for the reconciliation were a public confession and the acceptance of severe penances, especially after committing the mortal sin of apostasy, fornication or murder. As severe as this paenitentia canonica appears, its entire conception especially in the eastern part of the Church, the Oriental Church, is a remedial one: sin represents an ailment of the soul, the one, who received the confession, is called upon to meet the confessing person as a spiritual physician or soul-friend. Penance does not mean punishment, but healing like a salutary remedy. Nevertheless, the lack of privacy led to the unwanted practice of postponing repentance and even baptism on the deathbed. An alternative procedure of repentance arose from the sixth century onwards in the Irish Church as well as the Continental Church under the influence of Irish missionaries and the South-West-British and later the English Church (Insular Church. In treatises about repentance, called penitentials, ecclesiastical authorities of the sixth to the eight centuries wrote down regulations, how to deal with the different capital sins and minor trespasses committed by monks, clerics and laypeople. Church-representatives like Finnian, Columbanus, the anonymous author of the Ambrosianum, Cummean and Theodore developed a new conception of repentance that protected privacy and guaranteed a discrete, an affordable as well as a predictable penance, the paenitentia privata. They not only connected to the therapeutic aspect of repentance in the Oriental Church by adopting basic ideas of Basil of Caesarea and John Cassian, they also established an

Dose response of fish oil versus safflower oil on graft arteriosclerosis in rabbit heterotopic cardiac allografts.

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Yun, K L; Fann, J I; Sokoloff, M H; Fong, L G; Sarris, G E; Billingham, M E; Miller, D C

1991-01-01

With the advent of cyclosporin A, accelerated coronary arteriosclerosis has become the major impediment to the long-term survival of heart transplant recipients. Due to epidemiologic reports suggesting a salutary effect of fish oil, the dose response of fish oil on graft coronary arteriosclerosis in a rabbit heterotopic cardiac allograft model was assessed using safflower oil as a caloric control. Seven groups of New Zealand White rabbits (n = 10/group) received heterotropic heart transplants from Dutch-Belted donors and were immunosuppressed with low-dose cyclosporin A (7.5 mg/kg/day). Group 1 animals were fed a normal diet and served as control. Group 2, 3, and 4 animals received a daily supplement of low- (0.25 mL/kg/day), medium- (0.75 mL/kg/day), and high- (1.5 mL/kg/day) dose fish oil (116 mg n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid/mL), respectively. Group 5, 6, and 7 animals were supplemented with equivalent dose of safflower oil (i.e., 0.25, 0.75, and 1.5 mL/kg/day). Oil-supplemented rabbits were pretreated for 3 weeks before transplantation and maintained on the same diet for 6 weeks after operation. The extent of graft coronary arteriosclerosis was quantified using computer-assisted, morphometric planimetry. When the animals were killed, cyclosporin A was associated with elevated plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the control group. While safflower oil prevented the increase in plasma lipids at all dosages, fish oil ameliorated the cyclosporin-induced increase in total cholesterol only with high doses. Compared to control animals, there was a trend for more graft vessel disease with increasing fish oil dose, as assessed by mean luminal occlusion and intimal thickness. A steeper trend was observed for increasing doses of safflower oil; compared to the high-dose safflower oil group, animals supplemented with low-dose safflower oil had less mean luminal occlusion (16.3% +/- 5.9% versus 41.4% +/- 7.6%, p less than 0.017) and intimal thickness (7

Making better use of research reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1964-01-01

Some 250 research reactors are in operation in the world today, and there are problems in putting them to the most fruitful use. The difficulties - of trained manpower, of auxiliary equipment, of satisfactory research programmes, of co-ordination, between the various disciplines - are common to all users. But as is only to be expected, they press more heavily on the newly-established centres, particularly those in the developing countries which are lacking in long experience in research and usually severely limited as to technical manpower and money. The IAEA has been turning its attention to this question for the past three or four years - ever since, in fact, its early assistance missions and other field operations brought it into close contact with the operations of numerous Member States. The task of providing assistance and advice in this matter is growing. Many centres have been building research reactors under bilateral arrangements; with the completion of their projects this form of aid usually ends, and they look to IAEA for help in operating the reactors. Although some critics consider that difficulties have been caused by premature construction of research reactors, before well-founded programmes of nuclear research had been developed in the countries concerned, several valid motives have led to the establishment of some of these centres at an early stage. A research reactor often provides an effective stimulant for scientific research in the country. It is a remarkably versatile tool for workers in many fields of science and technology. There have been instances where the establishment of a research reactor has had a great impact on the scientific education of a country and has led to a salutary reappraisal and reforms. A reactor is sometimes considered to be a particularly effective means of retaining in the country men trained in the nuclear field. This particular problem is common to most countries. In fact, it is a feature of the present age that

AN EMPIRICAL METHOD FOR MATERIALITY: WOULD CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES CHANGE PATIENT DECISIONS?

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Spece, Roy; Yokum, David; Okoro, Andrea-Gale; Robertson Christopher

2014-01-01

significantly less likely to follow the cardiologist's recommendation of surgical implantation of a drug-eluting stent when he disclosed a financial conflict of interest, regardless of whether the disclosure was standard or enhanced. We also found that the mock patients were more likely to choose the treatment when they faced greater risk without it. We did not, however, find that the disclosure made patients more discerning about the appropriateness of the procedure. We discuss the implications for law and policy. Mock patients seem likely to act upon such information, declining the low-value healthcare when conflicts are disclosed. This finding suggests that the information is material to such transactions, and that disclosures may be salutary for medical decisions. Arguably, therefore, physicians already have a duty under the common law to disclose the financial relationships they choose to accept. Other regulators and policymakers should recognize and clarify this duty, and courts should embrace this form of evidence. Methodologically, although this empirical approach has limits, it reduces speculation by fact finders and policymakers, by at least focusing their attention on the right questions.

Development of an evidence vase for therapeutic nuclear medicine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, J.H.

2003-01-01

having one crucial deficiency in that the design is not an experimental one. It may however be deemed desirable that each patient's treatment is deliberately chosen by their physician, rather than randomly assigned. Conversely, in RCT, each patients's treatment is assigned according to the play of chance. It is a paradox, that unpredictability is introduced into the design of clinical trials by using random allocation to protect against the unpredictability of the extent of bias in the results of non-randomised clinical trials. It is salutary to note that when researchers could influence the way patients were assigned to treatment they often did, on the pretext that 'Doctors know what's best for their patients'. In fact, most of the time they only select patients for treatment who they think will benefit, thereby eliminating all poor-prognosis patients. Pharmaceutical companies carefully review phase transitions during drug development usually including a full summary of data and scientific presentation at the end of phase II, which may be made available to regulatory agencies. This creates ethical issues in large RCT studies since, with all the data of a phase II study to hand, it is very difficult to defend the presentation of an informed consent form to a patient about to be enrolled in a phase III placebo-controlled trial

G-Protein-coupled receptors as potential drug candidates in preeclampsia: targeting the relaxin/insulin-like family peptide receptor 1 for treatment and prevention.

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Conrad, Kirk P

2016-09-01

expected to (i) enhance endothelial nitric oxide synthesis and bioactivity, as well as directly reduce vascular smooth muscle cytosolic calcium, thus promoting vasodilation; (ii) improve the local angiogenic balance by augmenting arterial vascular endothelial and placental growth factor (VEGF and PLGF) activities; (iii) ameliorate vascular inflammation; (iv) enhance placental peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha (PCG1α) expression, and hence, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) activity and (v) confer cytotrophoblast and endothelial cytoprotection. Insofar as impaired endometrial maturation (decidualization) predisposes to the development of preeclampsia, relaxin administration in the late secretory phase and during early pregnancy would be anticipated to improve decidualization, and hence trophoblast invasion and spiral artery remodeling, thereby reducing the risk of preeclampsia. Relaxin has a favorable safety profile both in the non-pregnant condition and during pregnancy. There is a strong scientific rationale for RXFP1 activation in severe preeclampsia by administration of relaxin, relaxin analogs or small molecule mimetics, in order to mollify the disease pathogenesis for safe prolongation of pregnancy, thus allowing time for more complete fetal maturation, which is a primary therapeutic endpoint in treating the disease. In light of recent data implicating deficient or defective decidualization as a potential etiological factor in preeclampsia and the capacity of relaxin to promote endometrial maturation, the prophylactic application of relaxin to reduce the risk of preeclampsia is a plausible therapeutic approach to consider. Finally, given its pleiotropic and beneficial attributes particularly in the cardiovascular system, relaxin, although traditionally considered as a 'pregnancy' hormone, is likely to prove salutary for several disease indications in the non-pregnant population. © The Author 2016

Faculty Experience Teaching in an Interdisciplinary First-Year Seminar Program: The Case of the University of Guelph

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Jacqueline Murray

2016-06-01

Full Text Available First-year seminar programs have been a feature on the landscape of post-secondary teaching and learning in the United States, since they first appeared in the 1880s at Boston University (Mamrick, 2005. More recently, they have begun to appear at Canadian universities. For example, first-year seminars were introduced a decade ago at the University of Guelph, as a campus-wide initiative. To recognize the first decade that these unique, interdisciplinary seminars have been offered, faculty were surveyed to understand better the impact of the program on those teaching in it, as well as their perceptions of their students. The experience of the University of Guelph suggests first-year seminar programs can have a significant influence on the teaching and professional experience of faculty and encourages them to extend their networks beyond the department and across the campus. Significantly, seminars serve as sites for pedagogical experimentation that can influence departmental curricula. Faculty who teach a first-year seminar have high satisfaction and report myriad benefits to morale, teaching, and research. The salutary effects of a first-year seminar program are not local but would be transferable across post-secondary institutions. Aux États-Unis, on a beaucoup parlé des programmes de séminaires de première année dans le paysage de la pédagogie dans l’enseignement supérieur, depuis leur première apparition dans les années 1880 à l’Université de Boston (Mamrick, 2005. Plus récemment, ils ont commencé à apparaître dans les universités canadiennes. Par exemple, des séminaires de première année ont été introduits il y a dix ans à l’Université de Guelph en tant qu’initiative à l’échelle du campus. Afin de marquer la première décennie au cours de laquelle ces séminaires interdisciplinaires uniques ont été offerts, une enquête a été menée auprès des professeurs pour mieux comprendre les effets du programme

Paradigmas, valores e educação Paradigms, values and education

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Denis Domeneghetti Badia

2009-08-01

speak of the archetypical induction of the notions, and Durand's anthropology of the imaginary would conclude for the archetypical induction of the concept by the image. That was the unveiling of the unconscious substrate of ideations, of a substrate governed by the vectorialized cathexis translated into values as the kernel of ideations. It is the famous emotive a priori. The text therefore questions two myths, mainstays of classical science: the myth of scientific objectivity, and that of axiological neutrality. It brings forward the fallacy of the existence of an epistemological rupture between science and ideology. Henceforth, ideations become ideologies, particularly in the sciences of Man and in the sciences of education which, in addition to that, are made to give support to a hidden ideological struggle in which the knowledge strategies, in a "cognitive colonialism", conceal those of prejudice. At any rate, assuming the reality of this phantasmanalytic and ideological support allows a salutary educative task: paradigms become fantasies and, in this critical relativization, can be used as a field of collective transitional objects in a cultural and educative gameness. In the polyculturalism of contemporary society, Weber's "polytheism of values" becomes an "epistemological polytheism" governed by Feyerabend's "ontological relativism" and by an ethics of pragmatism. Articulating culture, organization and education, the anthropology of educational organizations and the group culturanalysis of Paula Carvalho represent the heuristics of this transitional dialectics.

El anillo verde de Vitoria-Gasteiz

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Marañón, Blanca

2001-10-01

Full Text Available Basically, the purpose of this initiative was to resolve the environmental problems of a number of areas of high ecological value which, located on the outskirts of the city, and subjected to many forms of aggression, coexisted with other degraded and marginal spaces that had been formed as a result of urban and industrial expansion. The restoration of the ecology and landscaping of these areas and their preparation for use by the public, have allowed the formation of a "multifunctional green ring" around the city which is providing rnajor environmental, social and economic benefits. The green ring has allowed nature to integrate with the life of the city distributing the offer of green areas equally among al1 the districts of the city and favouring the connection between green urban spaces and the surrounding agricultura1 land. This has also favoured the development of new leisure and recreational activities as well as those associated with training, education and environmental awareness; activities which, on the one hand, have represented a salutary lesson for the environmental business community as well as the integration into society and the job market of certain social groups, and on the other, have contributed to the conservation of these spaces, as their users have become their most fervent defenders and guardians. The use of some of these spaces for storm water management purposes in times of heavy rainfall and in order to resolve the problem of flooding in industrial areas, is another example of the added value obtained by un overall approach to this problem. The excellent results obtained after 9 years of work show the technical and economic viability and the social benefits of this project - eloquent proof of the determination of this municipality to advance towards a sustainable model of a city fully integrated in the surrounding natural milieu.La finalidad de esta iniciativa iba básicamente enfocada a solucionar algunos problemas

Determinação do número de bolores e leveduras no queijo Minas comercializado na região metropolitana de Salvador - Bahia

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T. C. N. Martinez

2005-03-01

: Queijo, qualidade, colores e leveduras SUMMARY: The milk is esteemed as a salutary food. However, It´s necessary a good quality control to this food may be a food indicated as primordial for human health. Productivity in the industry of cheese only is achieved through technological quality and rationalization of the manufacture stage. Considerable prejudice are motivated for deteriorated products due to undesidered molds growth. Six collect were accomplished, an total of 24 (75% samples of " Minas frescal" cheese were analyzed of seven differents marks, eight (33,33% of the mark B, five (20,83% of the mark C, four (16,66% of the mark D, three (12,50% of the mark E, two (8,33% of the mark F, one (4,16% of the mark G and one (4,16% of the mark H while were accomplished and analyzed six (25% samples of " Minas padrão" cheese, of three differents marks an total of three (50% samples of the mark A1, two (33,33% of the mark A2 and one (16,66% of the mark A3, dissolved and seeding in potato dextrose agar in Petri plate, pH=3,55 and incubated (21o C in stove B.O. D by 05 days. In the " Minas padrão" cheese samples one showed 1,42 X 103 of molds and yeasts (CFU/g, moreover, seven samples of cheese " Minas frescal" studied 18 (75% showed, on the average, significant for level of molds and yeasts, > 102, the which denote inadequate manufacturing and storage. The samples analyzed of the trade of the metropolitan area of Salvador/Ba were found samples of "Minas" cheese in incorrect conditions for consume, because the levels of molds and yeasts were significant and common, causing troubles of public helth, a risk for the human health. KEYWORDS : Cheese, quality, molds and yeasts

EDITORIAL: Very little is new in nanoscience Very little is new in nanoscience

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, David L.

2009-07-01

In conceiving a special section for European Journal of Physics, a number of selection criteria will usually operate. Primarily, the chosen theme needs to be a subject area that is sufficiently broad to offer a range of opportunities for pedagogic exploration. Although the teaching of science must always lag a little behind forefront research, many of the most exciting developments occur just as the wisdom in a new subject area is consolidated and systematized. At such a juncture, as new topics are being added to the curriculum, there is fresh scope to reflect on how best to approach the art of instruction, and to consider what principles might be conveyed in any new course of lectures. The result is often a double bonus; the pleasure of introducing new material reflecting current developments and imminent technologies is compounded by the discovery of new contexts for the delivery and grounding of fundamental concepts. The compilation of papers that follows, focusing on nanoscience and technology, amply illustrates these principles. Here is a topical area within which much is decidedly new, reflecting technical possibilities that have in the past been impossible to achieve. Techniques such as dip-pen nanolithography [1] and atomic/molecular force microscopy [2], which have provided us with the technical capability of manipulating matter at nanoscale dimensions, are already being supplemented by newer optical methods [3]. It is nonetheless salutary to reflect that the actual existence of nanoparticles is nothing new. Buckminsterfullerene, that most iconic molecule heralding the arrival of nanoscience, has proved to be present in a wide range of natural materials including different types of soot [4]. Metallic nanoparticles are also now known to be responsible for a curious red hue, exhibited by a famous ancient Roman glass vase on its illumination from within [5]. The recent surge of interest in nanoscientific topics has come to pass not only because of the