114 research outputs found
Relationship of Blood and Urinary Manganese Levels with Cognitive Function in Elderly Individuals in the United States by Race/Ethnicity, NHANES 2011–2014
No full textManganese (Mn) is an essential metal with a biphasic relationship with health outcomes. High-level exposure to Mn is associated with manganism, but few data explore the effects of chronic, lower-level Mn on cognitive function in adults. We sought to determine the relationship between blood/urinary manganese levels and cognitive function in elderly individuals using 2011–2014 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Weighted multivariate regression models were used to determine correlations, adjusting for several covariates. Blood Mn was inversely associated with the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) immediate learning of new verbal information (p-value = 0.04), but lost significance after adjusting for medical history (p-value = 0.09). In addition, blood Mn was inversely associated with Animal Fluency scores after adjusting for all covariates. Urinary Mn was inversely associated with CERAD immediate learning after adjusting for all covariates (p-value = 0.01) and inversely associated with the Digit Symbol Substitution Test scores (p-value = 0.0002), but lost significance after adjusting for medical history (p-value = 0.13). Upon stratifying by race/ethnicity, other Races and Non-Hispanic (NH)-Blacks had significantly higher blood Mn levels when compared to NH-Whites. Collectively, these findings suggest that increased blood and urinary Mn levels are associated with poorer cognitive function in an elderly US population
Vitamin D status and coronary flow reserve measured by positron emission tomography : a co-twin control study
No full textContext: Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular events in the general population. Additionally, low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is associated with endothelial dysfunction and arterial stiffness. However, little is known about the association between serum 25(OH)D level and myocardial blood flow. Objective: Our objective was to examine the association between serum 25(OH)D levels and coronary flow reserve (CFR) measured by N-positron emission tomography in asymptomatic middle-aged male twins. Design: The Emory Twin Study is a cross-sectional study of soldiers from the Vietnam Era Registry. Setting: The study was conducted at the General Clinical Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Participants: A total of 368 middle-aged male twins were enrolled for the study. Serum 25(OH)D levels were measured in all subjects and classified as vitamin D insufficiency [25(OH)D <30 ng/ml] or sufficiency [25(OH)D ≥30 ng/ml]. Positron emission tomography with [ N]ammonia was used to evaluate myocardial blood flow at rest and after adenosine stress. CFR was measured as the ratio of maximum to rest myocardial blood flow. Main Outcome Measure: Primary outcome was CFR measurement. Results: Mean overall serum 25(OH)D concentration was 37.0 ± 21.4 ng/ml; 167 twins (45%) were vitamin D insufficient. CFR was significantly lower in subjects with vitamin D insufficiency compared with subjects with vitamin D sufficiency (2.41 vs. 2.64; P = 0.007), even after adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, serum PTH, calcium, and phosphorus levels, and season. An abnormal CFR (CFR <2) was more prevalent in subjects with vitamin D insufficiency than with vitamin D sufficiency (31 vs. 20%; P = 0.03). In addition, in vitamin D status-discordant twin pairs, CFR was significantly lower in the vitamin D-insufficient twin than in the vitamin D-sufficient co-twin (2.35 vs. 2.58; P = 0.037). Conclusion: Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with lower CFR in men. This association may help explain some of the increased cardiovascular risk reported in individuals with vitamin D insufficiency
Prediction of Driver’s Stress Affection in Simulated Autonomous Driving Scenarios
No full textWe investigate the task of predicting stress affection from physiological data of users experiencing simulations of autonomous driving. We approach this task on two levels of granularity, depending on whether the prediction is performed at the end of the simulation, or along the simulation. In the former, denoted as coarse-grained prediction, we employed Decision Trees. In the latter, denoted as fine-grained prediction, we employed Echo State Networks, a Recurrent Neural Network that allows efficient learning from temporal data and hence is suitable for pervasive environments. We conduct experiments on a private dataset of physiological data from people participating in multiple driving scenarios simulating different stress-inducing events. The results show that the proposed model is capable of detecting event-related stress reactions, proving the existence of a correlation between stress-inducing events and the physiological data
Usefulness of Serum High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Level as an Independent Predictor of One-Year Mortality After Percutaneous Coronary Interventions
No full textLow levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol are a marker of coronary artery disease progression and are associated with cardiovascular events. However, whether low HDL cholesterol is a useful prognostic indicator after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not known. In a sample of 4,088 patients who underwent PCI we evaluated 1-year mortality and repeat revascularization as a function of baseline HDL levels classified into approximate quartiles of very low (35 mg-dl), low (35 to 40 mg-dl), medium (41 to 47 mg-dl) and high (48 to 120 mg-dl) HDL cholesterol. Decreasing levels of HDL cholesterol were associated with younger age, male gender, smoking, diabetes mellitus, and a history of bypass surgery (p 0.0001 for all). One-year mortality and coronary revascularization were significantly higher in the very low HDL cholesterol group compared with the other groups (very low HDL cholesterol 6.5percent and 25.4percent, respectively; low HDL cholesterol 3.1percent and 20.8percent; medium HDL cholesterol 4.3percent and 22.7percent; high HDL cholesterol 3.1percent and 20.6percent, p = 0.0001 and p = 0.007). One-year mortality was significantly higher in men with an HDL cholesterol level 33 mg-dL and in women with an HDL cholesterol level 38 mg-dL. In multivariable analysis, very low HDL was associated with nearly twofold the risk of death after adjusting for other independent predictors of outcome. In conclusion, in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing PCI, a baseline HDL cholesterol level 35mg-dl is an important prognostic indicator. Baseline HDL cholesterol levels 33 mg-dl for men and 38 mg-dl were associated with higher one-year mortality after PCI. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Barter P, 2007, NEW ENGL J MED, V357, P1301, DOI 10.1056-NEJMoa064278; CASTELLI WP, 1977, CIRCULATION, V55, P767; CASTELLI WP, 1986, JAMA-J AM MED ASSOC, V256, P2835, DOI 10.1001-jama.256.20.2835; Cole JH, 2003, J AM COLL CARDIOL, V41, P521, DOI 10.1016-S0735-1097(03)02862-0; Cui YD, 2001, ARCH INTERN MED, V161, P1413, DOI 10.1001-archinte.161.11.1413; Goldenberg I, 2006, AM J CARDIOL, V97, P466, DOI 10.1016-j.amjcard.2005.09.078; GORDON DJ, 1989, CIRCULATION, V79, P8; GORDON T, 1977, AM J MED, V62, P707, DOI 10.1016-0002-9343(77)90874-9; Grant RW, 2007, DIABETES CARE, V30, P479, DOI 10.2337-dc06-1961; Haffner Steven M, 2004, Diabetes Care, V27 Suppl 1, pS68; JACOBS DR, 1990, AM J EPIDEMIOL, V131, P32; Lundstam U, 2002, J INTERN MED, V251, P111, DOI 10.1046-j.1365-2796.2002.00937.x; Okamura T, 2006, ATHEROSCLEROSIS, V184, P143, DOI 10.1016-j.atherosclerosis.2005.03.042; Olsson AG, 2005, EUR HEART J, V26, P890, DOI 10.1093-eurheartj-ehi186; THOMPSON P, 1978, J AM GERIATR SOC, V26, P440; Weintraub WS, 2003, CIRCULATION, V107, P1271, DOI 10.1161-01.CIR.0000053642.34528.D913111
La Grande Serbia di Slobodan Milošević
No full textLo Stato jugoslavo nacque nel secondo dopoguerra in seguito alla liberazione del paese da parte delle forze partigiane guidate da Josip Broz, detto Tito. La Jugoslavia di Tito avrebbe rappresentato il primo tentativo di applicazione del “modello sovietico”, dato che avrebbe cercato di imitare l’URSS in campo politico, economico e culturale. Dal “socialismo in un solo paese”, quello di Stalin, si passò ad una prima duplicazione del modello. Lo stato organizzato in senso federale con sei repubbliche (Slovenia, Croazia, Serbia, Bosnia ed Erzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia) e due province autonome (Vojvodina e Kosovo) avrebbe potenziato le nazionalità che fino ad allora erano state escluse dal panorama politico, visto che i macedoni ottennero una loro identità ed una loro repubblica, i montenegrini videro ripristinati gli antichi confini mentre i bosniaci, e tra essi soprattutto i musulmani, vennero trasformati in una nazionalità definita da un termine puramente religioso, venendo ufficialmente riconosciuti come Musulmani. Le minoranze etniche ottennero per la prima volta il diritto a sviluppare le loro culture e le loro lingue. Una delle caratteristiche della costituzione del 1946 era il carattere federativo dello Stato ma, nonostante ciò, il sistema politico assunse da subito una forma centralizzata. L’altra caratteristica dello Stato jugoslavo fu l’indipendenza da Mosca: Tito riuscì a mantenere una certa autonomia dall’Urss rifiutando, nonostante le pressioni esercitate da Stalin, nel 1948 un’integrazione nel blocco continentale. Lo scisma di Tito, condannato da Stalin, consentì alla Jugoslavia negli anni successivi di tentare la costruzione di una forma originale di socialismo e di assumere una posizione di “non allineamento” nella politica internazionale
An Algorithm for Classification of Opening Snaps and Third Heart Sounds Based on Wavelet Decomposition
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Development of nanosecond range light sources for calibration of astroparticle cherenkov detectors
No full textIn this thesis the development of light emitting diodes (LED) is reviewed. The emphasis is put on devices emitting at the blue region of the spectrum. The physical characteristics of these devices are considered. The main interest is based around the ability of blue LEDs to generate nanosecond range optical flashes. The fast pulsing electronic circuits capable of driving the devices are also reviewed. These are complemented by the potentially exploitable techniques that could provide further benefits for required fast optical pulse generation. The simple, compact and inexpensive electronic oscillator for producing nanosecond range pulses is developed. The circuitry is adapted for generation of pulses necessary to switch on and assist with the turn off of blue InGaN based LEDs. The resulting nanosecond range blue optical pulses are suitable for, but not limited to, the calibration of scintillation counters. These devices used in neutrino detection experiments could provide a better understanding of cosmology and particle physics
PCV6 LONG-TERM COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF EARLY AND SUSTAINED DUAL ORAL ANTIPLATELET THERAPY WITH CLOPIDOGREL FOLLOWING PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTION (CREDO TRIAL): A FOUR-EUROPEAN COUNTRY ANALYSIS
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Platelet Activation in Ischemic Heart Disease: Role of Modulators and New Therapies
No full textIHD results when the oxygen demand of the myocardium cannot be met due to an inadequate blood supply. The most common cause of myocardial ischemia is atherosclerosis of epicardial coronary arteries. The major risk factors for atherosclerosis, and therefore IHD, are dyslipidemia (i.e., elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and/or low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cigarette smoking, poor dietary habits, and lack of physical activity. These risk factors, particularly when more than one co-exists, can progressively damage the vascular endothelium, causing dysregulation of its antiinflammatory and anti-thrombotic functions. The associated proliferation of underlying fibroblasts and vascular myocytes, together with the accumulation of extracellular matrix and lipids, result in the formation of what are known as atherosclerotic plaques that lead to a reduction in the luminal diameter. Some of the risk factors for atherosclerosis facilitate the development of atherosclerotic plaques, while others sustain or accelerate their formation, producing the clinical manifestations of IHD (Parthasarathy 2008, Garelnabi 2010)
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