The Effect of Testosterone Replacement Therapy on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Older Hypogonadal Men.

Context: Male hypogonadism is associated with visceral obesity and the metabolic syndrome: factors important for the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The Testosterone Trials (The T Trials) showed testosterone (T) treatment compared with placebo in older hypogonadal men was associated with decreases in cholesterol and insulin levels suggesting that T treatment may improve NAFLD.

Objective: Compare effects of T vs placebo treatment on NAFLD scores and liver scans in elderly hypogonadal men.

Tissue perfusion pressure enables continuous hemodynamic evaluation and risk prediction in the intensive care unit.

Treatment of circulatory shock in critically ill patients requires management of blood pressure using invasive monitoring, but uncertainty remains as to optimal individual blood pressure targets. Critical closing pressure, which refers to the arterial pressure when blood flow stops, can provide a fundamental measure of vascular tone in response to disease and therapy, but it has not previously been possible to measure this parameter routinely in clinical care. Here we describe a method to continuously measure critical closing pressure in the systemic circulation using readily available blood pressure monitors and then show that tissue perfusion pressure (TPP), defined as the difference between mean arterial pressure and critical closing pressure, provides unique information compared to other hemodynamic parameters.

Non-Invasive Evaluation of a Carotid Arterial Pressure Waveform Using Motion-Tolerant Ultrasound Measurements During the Valsalva Maneuver.

This work details the non-invasive evaluation of a carotid arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform during the Valsalva maneuver. Unfocused and wide acoustic beams are insonated on the carotid artery to achieve motion-tolerant measurements with a simple two-element ultrasound scanner. Arterial flow and distension waveforms are reliably estimated from spectral Doppler and M-mode ultrasound images whose qualities are consistently maintained in different phases of the maneuver despite possible displacements of the artery.

Monitoring of Pulse Pressure and Arterial Pressure Waveform Changes during the Valsalva Maneuver by a Portable Ultrasound System.

This work presents non-invasive evaluation of the arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform during the Valsalva maneuver. Ultrasound scanning is conducted to acquire blood flow and arterial distension signals. Motion-tolerant ultrasound measurement schemes are employed by using two wide rectangular transducers.

A Column-Row-Parallel Ultrasound Imaging Architecture for 3D Plane-wave Imaging and Tx 2nd-Order Harmonic Distortion (HD2) Reduction.

We propose a Column-Row-Parallel imaging frontend architecture for integrated and low-power 3D medical ultrasound imaging. The Column-Row-Parallel architecture offers linear-scaling interconnection, acquisition and programming time with row-by-row or column-by-column operations, while supporting volumetric imaging functionality and fault-tolerance against possible transducer element defects with per-element controls. The combination of column-parallel selection logic, row-parallel selection logic, and per-element selection logic reaches a balance between flexible imaging aperture definition and manageable imaging data / control interface to a 2D array.

A Column-Row-Parallel Ultrasound Imaging Architecture for 3-D Plane-Wave Imaging and Tx Second-Order Harmonic Distortion Reduction.

We propose a column-row-parallel imaging front-end architecture for integrated and low-power 3-D medical ultrasound imaging. The column-row-parallel architecture offers linear-scaling interconnection, acquisition, and programming time with row-by-row or column-by-column operations, while supporting volumetric imaging functionality and fault-tolerance against possible transducer element defects with per-element controls. The combination of column-parallel selection logic, row-parallel selection logic, and per-element selection logic reaches a balance between flexible imaging aperture definition and manageable imaging data/control interface to a 2-D array.

Motion Tolerant Unfocused Imaging of Physiological Waveforms for Blood Pressure Waveform Estimation Using Ultrasound.

This paper details unfocused imaging using single-element ultrasound transducers for motion tolerant arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform estimation. The ABP waveform is estimated based on pulse wave velocity and arterial pulsation through Doppler and M-mode ultrasound. This paper discusses approaches to mitigate the effect of increased clutter due to unfocused imaging on blood flow and diameter waveform estimation.

A Wearable Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound Phased Array System.

Objective: Practical deficiencies related to conventional transcranial Doppler (TCD) sonography have restricted its use and applicability. This work seeks to mitigate several such constraints through the development of a wearable, electronically steered TCD velocimetry system, which enables noninvasive measurement of cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) for monitoring applications with limited operator interaction.

Materials And Methods: A highly-compact, discrete prototype system was designed and experimentally validated through flow phantom and preliminary human subject testing.

Integrated microHall magnetometer to measure the magnetic properties of nanoparticles.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are widely used in biomedical and clinical applications, including medical imaging, therapeutics, and biological sample processing. Rapid characterization of MNPs, notably their magnetic moments, should facilitate optimization of particle synthesis and accelerate assay development. Here, we report a compact and low-cost magnetometer for fast, on-site MNP characterization.

Carotid arterial blood pressure waveform monitoring using a portable ultrasound system.

This work presents a non-invasive arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform monitoring technique using ultrasound. A portable ultrasound system to excite ultrasound transducers and acquire data is designed with off-the-shelf components. The insonation angles are identified using a vector Doppler technique based on the cosine dependency of the Doppler signals.

Noninvasive arterial blood pressure waveform monitoring using two- element ultrasound system.

This work details noninvasive arterial blood pressure (ABP) waveform estimation based on an arterial vessel cross-sectional area measurement combined with an elasticity measurement of the vessel, represented by pulse wave velocity (PWV), using a two-element ultrasound system. The overall ABP waveform estimation is validated in a custom-designed experimental setup mimicking the heart and an arterial vessel segment with two single element transducers, assuming a constant hemodynamic system. The estimation of local PWV using the flow-area method produces unbiased elasticity estimation of the tube in a pressure waveform comparison.

trans-Caryophyllene is a natural agonistic ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α.

Intake of dietary aroma compounds may regulate cellular lipid metabolism. We demonstrated that trans-caryophyllene, a flavor compound in plant foods and teas, activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α through direct interaction with the ligand-binding domain of PPAR-α. The agonistic activity of trans-caryophyllene was investigated by the luciferase reporter assay, surface plasmon resonance, and time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay.

A case of type B lactic acidosis in acute leukemia.

Type B lactic acidosis is a rare condition in patients with solid tumors or hematological malignancies. Although there have been several theories to explain its mechanism, the exact cause of lactic acidosis remains to be discovered. Lactic acidosis is usually related to increased tumor burden in patients with malignancy.

Clinical observation of 12 farmers who believe themselves to have suffered from chronic pesticide intoxication.

Background/aim: We assessed twelve cases of suspected chronic pesticide intoxication, with medically unexplained physical symptoms.

Methods: Complete blood cell count (CBC), blood chemistry, routine urinalysis, chest X-ray, ECG, gastrofiberscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, neuroselective sensory nerve conduction threshold, and psychological assessment were performed on 12 farmers who believe themselves to have suffered from chronic pesticide intoxication.

Results: No specific abnormalities were observed on CBC, routine urinalysis, chest X-ray, ECG, gastroscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, or peripheral nerve conduction velocity test.