Effect of chronic renal failure on high-density lipoprotein kinetics

Plasma lipid and lipoprotein concentration and high density lipoprotein (HDL) kinetics were determined in control subjects and patients with chronic renal failure (CRF). Results demonstrated that plasma triglyceride (TG) concentration was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) in patients with CRF, associated with a significant increase in plasma VLDL-cholesterol (P less than 0.002) and a significant decrease (P less than 0.05) in plasma HDL-cholesterol concentration. The rate of removal of 125I-apoAI/HDL from plasma was slower (P less than 0.001) in the patients with CRF, resulting in an increase in the residence time of 125I-apoAI/HDL (P less than 0.001) and a decrease in the fractional catabolic rate (P less than 0.001). Since plasma apoAI concentration was lower in patients with CRF, total apoAI/HDL synthetic rate was also significantly (P less than 0.05) decreased. These data provide support for the view that low plasma HDL-cholesterol concentrations in patients with CRF are related to decreases in the synthetic rate of apoAI/HDL.     

The Kinmen women-health investigation (KIWI): a menopausal study of a population aged 40-54

OBJECTIVES: This paper aims to report the methodology of a study of a cohort of middle-aged women in Taiwan, their age at menopause, and related factors and prevalence of menopausal symptoms, and to examine the relationships between symptoms and sociodemographic variables. METHODS: An epidemiological study of neuropsychological change during the menopausal transition among Chinese women aged 40-54 years old on the islet of Kinmen. RESULTS: Of a targeted population of 2256 individuals, 1497 (66%) participated in the study. The mean age at menarche was 15.6 years and that at menopause was 48 years. The hormone use rate at the time of study was 23% in surgical menopausal women, and 9% were past users. After excluding surgical menopausal and premenopausal women, 6% reported a current use of estrogen replacement therapy and 6% were past users. The most frequently reported discomforts for those women aged >45 were troubled sleep, backaches, and joint pain. Four symptom clusters: musculoskeletal, non-specific somatic complaints, urogenital, and vasomotor, were identified. After adjustment for age, the urogenital and vasomotor symptoms were significantly associated with menopausal status. CONCLUSIONS: The age at menopause did not differ much from Western studies, but the menopausal symptoms, especially the vasomotor symptoms, were much lower in our study population. Nevertheless, vasomotor symptoms were still significantly associated with menopausal status.     

Determination of flunarizine in rat brain by liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry

A rapid liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-ES-MS) assay for the determination of flunarizine (FZ) in rat brain has been developed. A C18 column and an isocratic elution were employed for the separation. Using post-column split, 64% of the eluent was introduced into the ES-MS system for detection. The [M+H]+ (m/z 406) and a fragmented ion (m/z 203) were detected using selected ion monitoring. The linear range of this assay was good, ranging from 0.05 to 5 microM (r2=0.99). The intra- and inter-day precisions showed relative standard deviations ranging from 1.4% to 2.0% and 1.3% to 2.9%, respectively. The application of this newly developed method was demonstrated by examining the pharmacokinetics of FZ in rat brain.     

The “Other” Headaches: Primary Cough,Exertion, Sex,and Primary Stabbing Headaches

Primary cough headache, primary exertional headache, primary sexual headache, and idiopathic stabbing headache are included in “Other Primary Headaches” (Group 4) in the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition (ICHD-II). Headaches provoked by cough, exertion, and sex have different age distributions, but they do share some clinical and pathogenic characteristics. The triggering activities frequently involve Valsalva-like maneuvers, which may explain part of the pathogenesis. Primary stabbing headache is common and characterized by ultra-short stabbing headaches. All these headache disorders respond well to indomethacin, and they are commonly comorbid with migraine except for primary cough headache. Of note, some patients with sexual headache had reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndromes. Recent large-scaled studies have revealed that the ICHD-II criteria of these four headache disorders cannot be completely fulfilled. Further revisions for the ICHD-II criteria are required based on these results of the evidence-based studies.     

Biomechanical analysis of occlusal modes on the periodontal ligament while orthodontic force applied

Clinical Oral Investigations - The study objective was to investigate four common occlusal modes by using the finite element (FE) method and to conduct a biomechanical analysis of the periodontal...     

Variation of fasting plasma glucose: a predictor of mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to examine whether time-dependent annual fasting plasma glucose (FPG) variation, as represented by coefficient of variation (CV), can predict mortality in subsequent all-cause, expanded, and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease-related mortality independent of mean FPG, renal function, mean hemoglobin A₁C (HbA_1C), HbA_1C variation, and other risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes.MethodsA computerized database of all patients with type 2 diabetes aged 30 years and over (n = 5008) enrolled in the Diabetes Care Management Program of China Medical University Hospital before 2007 was used in a time-dependent Cox proportional hazard regression model.ResultsThe mortality rates were 8.64, 12.71, and 30.82 per 1000 person-years in groups of first, second, and third tertiles of baseline FPG-CV, respectively. Among these patients with type 2 diabetes, 336, 1191, 914, 585, and 1979 patients provided 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 or more years of annual FPG-CV measurements, respectively. After adjusting for mean FPG, mean HbA_1C, HbA_1C variation, and other risk factors, annual FPG-CV was independently associated with all-cause mortality and mortality due to expanded and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease, and the corresponding hazard ratios for third versus first tertile of annual FPG-CV were 5.53 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.85-7.94), 3.21 (95% CI, 2.00-5.15), and 9.45 (95% CI, 5.37-16.63), respectively.ConclusionsTime-dependent variation of FPG was a strong predictor of all-cause, expanded, and nonexpanded cardiovascular disease-related mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that glucose variation may become a measure in clinical practice for the goal in the management of these patients.     

How to Evaluate Three Dimensional Angle Error From Plain Radiographs

Evaluating three-dimensional angle error is necessary because we cannot get every patient's CT or MRI at all times. Creating a method that can calculate angle error from plain radiographs is therefore important. Using vector and trigonometric mathematics, we gradually deduct our formula which can calculate angle error from goal angles (the angles we plan to achieve before operation) to result angles (the angles we get after operation) by two perpendicular radiographs. We also encode it into Micorsoft Excel (Redmond Campus, Redmond, Washington, U.S.) so that it becomes more user-friendly. We hope this tool can be used when evaluating TKR, corrective osteotomy, fracture fixation, and so on.