Preventing liver disease with policy measures to tackle alcohol consumption and obesity: The HEPAHEALTH II study.

Background & Aims: Chronic liver disease (CLD) causes 1.8% of all deaths in Europe, many of them from liver cancer. We estimated the impact of several policy interventions in France, the Netherlands, and Romania.

How Could Different Obesity Scenarios Alter the Burden of Type 2 Diabetes and Liver Disease in Saudi Arabia?

Introduction: Obesity is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and liver disease, and obesity-attributable liver disease is a common indication for liver transplant. Obesity prevalence in Saudi Arabia (SA) has increased in recent decades. SA has committed to the WHO "halt obesity" target to shift prevalence to 2010 levels by 2025.

Perinatal deaths and low birthweight in an urban health centre in the Gambia: A prospective cohort study.

Perinatal deaths (stillbirths after 28 weeks gestation and early neonatal deaths) are rarely reported separately but are the deaths most closely associated with complications during pregnancy, birth and the first days of life. We conducted a prospective cohort study to report perinatal deaths, late neonatal deaths and low birthweight babies as they occur. This cohort of birth outcomes from The Gambia was conducted between 2012 and 2016 and followed 1611 women attending a government-supported health center from the first antenatal visit to 28 days post-delivery.

Determinants of compliance with the World Health Organisation recommendations for pregnant women in an urban health centre in The Gambia.

In 2001 the World Health Organization drew up recommendations for pregnant women in order to reduce maternal mortality: the first visit to the antenatal clinic to be in the first trimester, at least four visits in total and delivery with a trained birth attendant. This study reports the extent to which pregnant women attending a health centre in The Gambia complied with the recommendations. A cohort of 1611 consecutive pregnant women was recruited.

Preoperative statins and acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery: utilization of a consensus definition of acute kidney injury.

Background: Previous trials investigating preoperative statin use for prevention of acute kidney injury following cardiovascular surgery were limited to patients undergoing a specific procedure and many used nonconsensus definitions of acute kidney injury.

Objective: To use a consensus definition of acute kidney injury for evaluating the association of preoperative statin use with the development of acute kidney injury following cardiac surgery utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated a cohort of 667 patients ≥18 years who underwent any cardiac surgery on cardiopulmonary bypass between April 2007 and May 2009 at Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA.

Improving diabetes care using a multitiered quality improvement model.

The authors report the results of implementing a diabetes mellitus guideline in a group practice in which uniform, technology-generated care processes were produced for patients, clinical staff, and providers. The objective was to increase the annual rate of recommended tests and examinations for patients with diabetes and to reduce levels of glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A process change for type 2 diabetes mellitus was implemented that included changes in office visit structure, protocol-driven electronic prompts for nursing and physician staffs, clinical decision support built into a new electronic medical record form, and audit with feedback.

Optical system design and integration of the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), developed for the 2009 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, is designed to measure the Moon's topography via laser ranging. A description of the LOLA optical system and its measured optical performance during instrument-level and spacecraft-level integration and testing are presented.

Enoxaparin dosing in the elderly using adjusted body weight.

We prospectively compared anti-Xa activity in 61 elderly (>65 years) subjects receiving enoxaparin according to standard or adjusted body weight (ABW) dosing. In the ABW dosing group, mean patient age was 76 years, mean weight 80 kg, mean serum creatinine 1.0 mg/dl, and mean CrCl 48 ml/min.

Prevalence of blindness in people over 40 years in the volta region of ghana.

SummaryIn 2001, we conducted a population-based cluster survey of the prevalence of blindness and glaucoma in three districts of the Volta region of Ghana, West Africa. A secondary purpose was to assess the presenting visual acuities of individuals who had undergone extracapsular cataract extraction with an intraocular lens implant (ECCE/IOL) and intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE). The target population consisted of 2400 adults, aged 40 years and older, of whom, 2298 (95.

Small-incision manual extracapsular cataract surgery in Ghana, West Africa.

Purpose: To evaluate the results of small-incision manual extracapsular cataract extraction surgery (ECCE) in a district hospital in West Africa.

Setting: Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital, Ghana, West Africa.

Methods: This prospective study consisted of 200 eyes of 193 patients who had small-incision manual ECCE between January 1999 and May 2000.

Effect of topical diclofenac and ketorolac on patient discomfort and corneal sensitivity.

Purpose: To determine if at clinical dosages, the topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs diclofenac and ketorolac decrease corneal sensitivity, and if there is a difference in discomfort on instillation.

Methods: In a double-masked study, 30 patients were randomized to receive two of three topical drops, Endosol, diclofenac sodium, and ketorolac tromethamine. A microaesthesiometer was used to evaluate corneal sensation.

Effects of oxytocin and vasopressin on retrieval of passive avoidance response in melatonin-treated and/or pinealectomized male rats.

The role of the pineal gland and its hormone-melatonin-as to the impact of vasopressin (VP) and/or oxytocin (OT) on the regulation of behavior was studied, the passive avoidance task being chosen as an experimental model. The results showed that VP facilitated the avoidance latency during the first retention trial; after pinealectomy, however, VP was ineffective in this regard. Intraperitoneal application of OT was ineffective in modifying the passive avoidance latency when compared with respective saline-treated animals.

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and oxytocin response to hyperosmotic stimulation: in vitro study.

It was shown previously that luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) affects the neurohypophysial oxytocin release in water-deprived rats. However, the detailed mechanisms by which LHRH modifies the oxytocin response to hyperosmotic stimulation have not been explained so far. Using the isolated hypothalamo-neurohypophysial explants obtained from euhydrated rats, the effect of LHRH on the oxytocin secretion was studied under conditions of direct osmotic (i.

The effect of melatonin on vasopressin release under stress conditions in pinealectomized male rats.

The findings here reported showed that the response of vasopressinergic neurons to immobilization stress is augmented by melatonin. The effectiveness of melatonin in functional modification of these neurons' activity under conditions of stress changes after pineal removal.

Luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone and function of the magnocellular vasopressinergic system.

Mechanisms by which luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) affects vasopressin secretion were investigated using the isolated rat hypothalamo-neurohypophysial explants. LHRH in a concentration of 4 x 10(-7)M inhibited both the basal and K(+)-stimulated vasopressin release from explants isolated from euhydrated rats. When, however, the tissue was obtained from animals previously salt-loaded, the inhibitory effect of LHRH was completely abolished, thus implying a decrease in the sensitivity to LHRH.

The pineal and oxytocin synthesis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pineal removal on oxytocin synthesis in the hypothalamus using the colchicine method. To this end, rats were injected intracerebroventricularly (i.c.

The effect of vehicle on corneal penetration of triturated ketoconazole and itraconazole.

Background And Objectives: Triturated (crushed and suspended) ketoconazole has been recommended for the treatment of fungal keratitis when commercial antifungal eyedrops are unobtainable. The authors evaluated the in vivo corneal stromal concentration with different vehicles in the eyes of adult rabbits.

Materials And Methods: Ketoconazole and itraconazole tablets were triturated to 20 mg/ml in four vehicles: polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), boric acid, olive oil, and balanced salt solution (BSS).

Rabbit Streptococcus pneumoniae keratitis model and topical therapy.

Purpose: To develop a model for experimental Streptococcus pneumoniae keratitis and to evaluate the chemotherapeutic efficacy of 12 common topical antibiotics in vivo.

Methods: Five-hundred (CFUs of log-phase S. pneumoniae were injected into the central corneal stroma of 36 eyes of 18 rabbits.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone affects the oxytocin, vasopressin and prolactin release in female rats during midlactation: relation to suckling.

The effect of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH; 200 ng i.c.v.

Clinical and radiologic lacrimal testing in patients with epiphora.

Objective: The purpose of the study is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of selected clinical and radiologic lacrimal tests in patients with epiphora.

Design: The study design was a prospective clinical trial.

Participants: Fifteen patients with epiphora (N = 27 eyes) were studied.

Effects of methylphenidate on oxytocin and vasopressin levels in pinealectomized rats during light-dark cycle.

Although previous reports have shown that methylphenidate (MPH), in addition to its known behavioral effect, can influence the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis by increasing the plasma ACTH, the pineal gland seems to be involved in neuroendocrinological processes too, e.g., in hypothalamic synthesis and release of oxytocin (OXY) and vasopressin (AVP).

Effect of pinealectomy and melatonin on vasopressin-potentiated passive avoidance in rats.

The pineal indoleamine, melatonin, and the hypothalamic neuropeptide, vasopressin, facilitate passive avoidance behaviour in rats. The similarity of the effects suggest that interaction might occur between the two substances. Therefore, the effect of intraperitoneally applied vasopressin and/or melatonin on one-trial learning passive avoidance behaviour was studied in pinealectomized rats.