The effect of primary organic particles on emergency hospital admissions among the elderly in 3 US cities.

Background: Fine particle (PM2.5) pollution related to combustion sources has been linked to a variety of adverse health outcomes. Although poorly understood, it is possible that organic carbon (OC) species, particularly those from combustion-related sources, may be partially responsible for the observed toxicity of PM2.

Laterally moved, coronally advanced flap for the treatment of a single Stillman's cleft. A 5-year follow-up.

Background: The treatment of gingival recessions is one of the important branches of periodontics related to esthetics. However, no surgical technique has been reported for the treatment of a particular type of gingival recession called Stillman's cleft.

Methods: The technique proposed is a laterally moved, coronally advanced flap.

Comparing exposure metrics for the effects of fine particulate matter on emergency hospital admissions.

A crucial step in an epidemiological study of the effects of air pollution is to accurately quantify exposure of the population. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of the health effects estimates associated with short-term exposure to fine particulate matter with respect to three potential metrics for daily exposure: ambient monitor data, estimated values from a deterministic atmospheric chemistry model, and stochastic daily average human exposure simulation output. Each of these metrics has strengths and weaknesses when estimating the association between daily changes in ambient exposure to fine particulate matter and daily emergency hospital admissions.

Short-term exposure to particulate matter constituents and mortality in a national study of U.S. urban communities.

Background: Although the association between PM2.5 mass and mortality has been extensively studied, few national-level analyses have estimated mortality effects of PM2.5 chemical constituents.

Evidence on vulnerability and susceptibility to health risks associated with short-term exposure to particulate matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Although there is strong evidence that short-term exposure to particulate matter is associated with health risks, less is known about whether some subpopulations face higher risks. We identified 108 papers published after 1995 and summarized the scientific evidence regarding effect modification of associations between short-term exposure to particulate matter and the risk of death or hospitalization. We performed a meta-analysis of estimated mortality associations by age and sex.

Central insulin-angiotensin II interaction in blood pressure regulation in fructose overloaded rats.

The aim of the present study was to determine if insulin is able to modulate the pressor response to intracerebroventricularly administered angiotensin II in insulin resistant fructose overloaded rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: 1) Control group (C) with tap water to drink for 6 weeks (n=36); and 2) fructose treated (F), with fructose solution (10% w/v) to drink for 6 weeks (n=36). On the day of the experiment, anesthetized male C and F rats were intracerebroventricularly infused with insulin (12 mU/h, n=15) or Ringer's solution as vehicle (n=15) for 2h.

Acute effects of ambient ozone on mortality in Europe and North America: results from the APHENA study.

The "Air Pollution and Health: A Combined European and North American Approach" (APHENA) project is a collaborative analysis of multi-city time-series data on the association between air pollution and adverse health outcomes. The main objective of APHENA was to examine the coherence of findings of time-series studies relating short-term fluctuations in air pollution levels to mortality and morbidity in 125 cities in Europe, the US, and Canada. Multi-city time-series analysis was conducted using a two-stage approach.

Heat-related emergency hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in the Medicare population.

Rationale: The heat-related risk of hospitalization for respiratory diseases among the elderly has not been quantified in the United States on a national scale. With climate change predictions of more frequent and more intense heat waves, it is of paramount importance to quantify the health risks related to heat, especially for the most vulnerable.

Objectives: To estimate the risk of hospitalization for respiratory diseases associated with outdoor heat in the U.

Model feedback in Bayesian propensity score estimation.

Methods based on the propensity score comprise one set of valuable tools for comparative effectiveness research and for estimating causal effects more generally. These methods typically consist of two distinct stages: (1) a propensity score stage where a model is fit to predict the propensity to receive treatment (the propensity score), and (2) an outcome stage where responses are compared in treated and untreated units having similar values of the estimated propensity score. Traditional techniques conduct estimation in these two stages separately; estimates from the first stage are treated as fixed and known for use in the second stage.

A preliminary comparison of the effect of 0.3% versus 0.2% chlorhexidine mouth rinse on de novo plaque formation: a monocentre randomized double-blind crossover trial.

Objective: Chlorhexidine (CHX) is considered the gold standard against gram-negative microorganisms. Little has been written about the simultaneous influence that both time and concentration could have on antiplaque formation effectiveness of CHX. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical and microbiological effectiveness of two different CHX concentrations and time applications in a 4-day plaque regrowth study model.

Effect of air pollution control on life expectancy in the United States: an analysis of 545 U.S. counties for the period from 2000 to 2007.

Background: In recent years (2000-2007), ambient levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) have continued to decline as a result of interventions, but the decline has been at a slower rate than previous years (1980-2000). Whether these more recent and slower declines of PM2.

Beyond muscular effects: depression of spinal recurrent inhibition after botulinum neurotoxin A.

The natural target of the botulinum neurototoxin type A (BoNT-A) is the neuromuscular junction. When injected into a muscle, BoNT-A is internalized by motoneurone terminals where it functions as an endopeptidase, cleaving protein components of the synaptic machinery responsible for vesicle docking and exocytosis. As a result, BoNT-A induces a characteristic flaccid paralysis of the affected muscle.

Comprehensive smoking bans and acute myocardial infarction among Medicare enrollees in 387 US counties: 1999-2008.

Restrictions on smoking in public places have become increasingly widespread in the United States, particularly since the year 2005. National-scale studies in Europe and local-scale studies in the United States have found decreases in hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) following smoking bans. The authors analyzed AMI admission rates for the years 1999-2008 in 387 US counties that enacted comprehensive smoking bans across 9 US states, using a study population of approximately 6 million Medicare enrollees aged 65 years or older.

Upregulation of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2/angiotensin-(1-7)/Mas receptor axis in the heart and the kidney of growth hormone receptor knock-out mice.

Objective: Growth hormone (GH) resistance leads to enhanced insulin sensitivity, decreased systolic blood pressure and increased lifespan. The aim of this study was to determine if there is a shift in the balance of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) towards the ACE2/Ang-(1-7)/Mas receptor axis in the heart and the kidney of a model of GH resistance and retarded aging, the GH receptor knockout (GHR-/-) mouse.

Design: RAS components were evaluated in the heart and the kidney of GHR-/- and control mice by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting (n=12 for both groups).

Statistical approaches for identifying air pollutant mixtures associated with aircraft departures at Los Angeles International Airport.

Aircraft departures emit multiple pollutants common to other near-airport sources, making it challenging to determine relative source contributions. While there may not be unique tracers of aircraft emissions, examination of multipollutant concentration patterns in combination with flight activity can facilitate source attribution. In this study, we examine concentrations of continuously monitored air pollutants measured in 2008 near a departure runway at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), considering single-pollutant associations with landing and takeoff (LTO) of the aircraft (LTO activity, weighted by LTO cycle fuel burn), as well as multipollutant predictors of binary LTO activity.

The Mas receptor mediates modulation of insulin signaling by angiotensin-(1-7).

Angiotensin (Ang)-(1-7) stimulates proteins belonging to the insulin signaling pathway and ameliorates the Ang II negative effects at this level. However, up to date, receptors involved and mechanisms behind these observations remain unknown. Accordingly, in the present study, we explored the in vivo effects of antagonism of the Ang-(1-7) specific Mas receptor on insulin signal transduction in rat insulin-target tissues.

Evaluation of the efficacy of an hyaluronic acid-based biogel on periodontal clinical parameters. A randomized-controlled clinical pilot study.

Unlabelled: Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an ubiquitous form of non-sulphated glycosaminoglycan of the extracellular matrix of all mammalian connective tissues. It is mainly present during tissue's formation or during most of initial tissue's repair processess. Cell migration, adhesion and differentiation are only part of several unique biological characteristics of HA which have been under investigation in the past decades.

A meta-analysis and multisite time-series analysis of the differential toxicity of major fine particulate matter constituents.

Health risk assessments of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM(2.5)) often assume that all constituents of PM(2.

Angiotensin-(1-7) attenuates diabetic nephropathy in Zucker diabetic fatty rats.

Angiotensin (ANG)-(1-7) is known to attenuate diabetic nephropathy; however, its role in the modulation of renal inflammation and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetes is poorly understood. Thus in the present study we evaluated the renal effects of a chronic ANG-(1-7) treatment in Zucker diabetic fatty rats (ZDF), an animal model of type 2 diabetes and nephropathy. Sixteen-week-old male ZDF and their respective controls [lean Zucker rats (LZR)] were used for this study.

Nebivolol: impact on cardiac and endothelial function and clinical utility.

Endothelial dysfunction is a systemic pathological state of the endothelium characterized by a reduction in the bioavailability of vasodilators, essentially nitric oxide, leading to impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation, as well as disarrangement in vascular wall metabolism and function. One of the key factors in endothelial dysfunction is overproduction of reactive oxygen species which participate in the development of hypertension, atherosclerosis, diabetes, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, ischemia-reperfusion injury, and stroke. Because impaired endothelial activity is believed to have a major causal role in the pathophysiology of vascular disease, hypertension, and heart failure, therapeutic agents which modify this condition are of clinical interest.

Bayesian effect estimation accounting for adjustment uncertainty.

Model-based estimation of the effect of an exposure on an outcome is generally sensitive to the choice of which confounding factors are included in the model. We propose a new approach, which we call Bayesian adjustment for confounding (BAC), to estimate the effect of an exposure of interest on the outcome, while accounting for the uncertainty in the choice of confounders. Our approach is based on specifying two models: (1) the outcome as a function of the exposure and the potential confounders (the outcome model); and (2) the exposure as a function of the potential confounders (the exposure model).

Geographic disparities in the incidence and outcomes of hospitalized myocardial infarction: does a rising tide lift all boats?

Background: Improvements in prevention have led to declines in incidence and mortality of myocardial infarction (MI) in selected populations. However, no studies have examined regional differences in recent trends in MI incidence, and few have examined whether known regional disparities in MI care have narrowed over time.

Methods And Results: We compared trends in incidence rates of MI, associated procedures and mortality for all US Census Divisions (regions) in Medicare fee-for-service patients between 2000-2008 (292 773 151 patient-years).

Household concentrations and exposure of children to particulate matter from biomass fuels in The Gambia.

Particulate matter (PM) is an important metric for studying the health effects of household air pollution. There are limited data on PM exposure for children in homes that use biomass fuels, and no previous study has used direct measurement of personal exposure in children younger than 5 years of age. We estimated PM(2.