Publications by authors named "B Dwight Culver"

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has negatively affected the delivery of respiratory diagnostic services across the world due to the potential risk of disease transmission during lung function testing. Community prevalence, reoccurrence of COVID-19 surges and the emergence of different variants of SARS-CoV-2 have impeded attempts to restore services. Finding consensus on how to deliver safe lung function services for both patients attending and for staff performing the tests are of paramount importance.

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Background: Appropriate interpretation of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) involves the classification of observed values as within/outside the normal range based on a reference population of healthy individuals, integrating knowledge of physiological determinants of test results into functional classifications and integrating patterns with other clinical data to estimate prognosis. In 2005, the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) jointly adopted technical standards for the interpretation of PFTs. We aimed to update the 2005 recommendations and incorporate evidence from recent literature to establish new standards for PFT interpretation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Alzheimer's disease (AD) is linked to cardiovascular issues, and a study revealed that low activity of the enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) correlates with cardiac dysfunction in elderly AD patients.* -
  • Researchers created a mouse model to study the effects of overexpressing ALDH2 on heart function and found that it significantly reduced cognitive deficits and cardiac abnormalities associated with AD.* -
  • The ALDH2 transgene effectively counteracted harmful processes such as lipid peroxidation and inflammation in heart cells triggered by amyloid-beta (Aβ), showcasing its potential protective role in AD-related cardiac dysfunction.*
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Ample clinical evidence suggests a high incidence of cardiovascular events in Alzheimer's disease (AD), although neither precise etiology nor effective treatment is available. This study was designed to evaluate cardiac function in AD patients and APP/PS1 mutant mice, along with circulating levels of melatonin, mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) and autophagy. AD patients and APP/PS1 mice displayed cognitive and myocardial deficits, low levels of circulating melatonin, ALDH2 activity, and autophagy, ultrastructural, geometric (cardiac atrophy and interstitial fibrosis) and functional (reduced fractional shortening and cardiomyocyte contraction) anomalies, mitochondrial injury, cytosolic mtDNA buildup, apoptosis, and suppressed autophagy and mitophagy.

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