Fragmentation-Rearrangement of Peptide Backbones Mediated by the Air Pollutant NO2 (.).

The fragmentation-rearrangement of peptide backbones mediated by nitrogen dioxide, NO2 (.) , was explored using di-, tri-, and tetrapeptides 8-18 as model systems. The reaction, which is initiated through nonradical N-nitrosation of the peptide bond, shortens the peptide chain by the expulsion of one amino acid moiety with simultaneous fusion of the remaining molecular termini through formation of a new peptide bond.

A comparison of outcome for stroke patients in Barbados and South London.

Background And Aims: Little is known about the poststroke outcome in Caribbean populations. We investigated differences in the activities of daily living, level of social activities, living circumstances and survival for stroke patients in Barbados and London.

Methods: Data were collected from the South London Stroke Register and the Barbados Register of Strokes for patients with a first-ever stroke registered between January 2001 and December 2004.

Caribbean Wellness Day: mobilizing a region for chronic noncommunicable disease prevention and control.

The member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have the highest prevalence of chronic noncommunicable diseases (CNCDs) in the Americas. The CARICOM heads of government issued the Port-of-Spain Declaration "Uniting to Stop the Epidemic of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in the Caribbean," mandating intersectoral, population-based approaches and commemoration of the summit on the second Saturday in September as "Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD)." CWD, inaugurated in September 2008, is designed to strengthen public, private, and civil society partnerships and to promote multicountry, multisectoral activities in support of wellness.

A comparison of acute and long-term management of stroke patients in Barbados and South London.

Background: To compare health care utilisation between stroke patients living in a middle-income country with similar patients in a high-income country in terms of the type and amount of health care received following a stroke.

Methods: Data were collected from the population-based South London Stroke Register (SLSR) and the Barbados Register of Strokes (BROS) from January 2001 to December 2004. Differences in management and diagnostic procedures used in the acute phase were adjusted for age, sex, ethnic group, living conditions pre-stroke and socio-economic status by multivariable logistic regression.

All-cause mortality after diabetes-related amputation in Barbados: a prospective case-control study.

Objective: To determine the mortality rate after diabetes-related lower-extremity amputation (LEA) in an African-descent Caribbean population.

Research Design And Methods: We conducted a prospective case-control study. We recruited case subjects (with diabetes and LEA) and age-matched control subjects (with diabetes and no LEA) between 1999 and 2001.

Differences in risk factors between black Caribbean patients with stroke in Barbados and South london.

Background And Purpose: Risk of stroke is higher in black Caribbeans in the United Kingdom compared with black Caribbeans in their country of origin. We investigated if these differences were caused by variations in prior-to-stroke risk factors.

Summary Of Report: Data were collected from the South London Stroke Register (SLSR) and the Barbados Register of Strokes (BROS).

Exercise, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels in a Caribbean population.

This study used a population-based sample of 407 Seventh-day Adventists in Barbados to determine the relationship between physical activity, blood sugar, hypertension, and cholesterol levels. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select participants: 37.6% were male and 62.

Misperceptions, inactivity and maternal factors may drive obesity among Barbadian adolescents.

Objectives: To describe (1) the prevalence of overweight and obesity and their association with physical activity; (2) the effect of different cut-off points for body mass index (BMI) on weight status categorisation; and (3) associations of weight status with perceptions of body size, health and diet quality.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: Secondary schools in Barbados.

Estimation of the risk of stroke in black populations in Barbados and South London.

Background And Purpose: The incidence of stroke in black populations is a public health issue, but how risk varies between black communities is unclear.

Methods: Population-based registers in South London (SLSR) and Barbados (Barbados Register of Strokes [BROS]). Stroke incidence estimated by age group, gender and stroke subtype from January 1995 to December 2002 (SLSR), and October 2001 to September 2003 (BROS).

Poststroke survival for black-Caribbean populations in barbados and South london.

Background And Purpose: There are variations in mortality rates for stroke in black communities, but the factors associated with survival remain unclear.

Methods: The authors studied population-based stroke registers with follow up in South London (270 participants, 1995 to 2002) and Barbados (578 participants, 2001 to 2003). Differences in sociodemographic factors, stroke risk factors and their management, case severity, and acute management between London and Barbados were studied.

Prevalence and risk factors associated with obesity in the elderly in Barbados.

This article's objective is to examine the epidemiology of obesity in the urban elderly population of Barbados. A random sample of adults >/= 60 years underwent comprehensive interviews and measurement of their weight, height, and waist circumference (WC). Outcomes of interest were obesity (body mass index [BMI] > 30 kg/m2), high-risk WC (men >/= 102 cm; women >/= 88 cm), and high risk of disease comorbidity (from BMI and WC criteria).

A family history of diabetes is related to abnormal insulin sensitivity in African-Caribbean girls of low birth weight: is catch-up weight important?

This retrospective cohort study examined the relationship of birth weight, family history of diabetes (FamHx), and current weight to insulin resistance in Black girls and boys on the Caribbean island of Barbados. A cohort of 56 low birth weight (LBW) and 120 normal birth weight (NBW) adolescents born between January 1, 1986, and December 31, 1988, were recruited for study participation in 2002. FamHx was ascertained by questionnaire.

Historical and current predictors of self-reported health status among elderly persons in Barbados.

Objective: To understand the relative contribution of past events and of current experiences as determinants of health status among the elderly in the Caribbean nation of Barbados, in order to help develop timely public health interventions for that population.

Methods: The information for this prevalence study was collected in Barbados between December 1999 and June 2000 as part of the "SABE project," a multicenter survey in seven urban areas of Latin America and the Caribbean that evaluated determinants of health and well-being in elderly populations (persons 60 and older). We used ordinal logistic regression to model determinants of self-reported health status, and we assessed the relative contribution of historical socioeconomic indicators and of three current modifiable predictor groups (current socioeconomic indicators, lifestyle risk factors, and disease indicators), using simple measures of association and model fit.

Dialysis in Barbados: the cost of hemodialysis provision at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the health service cost of hemodialysis delivered at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in St. Michael, Barbados.

Methods: A cost analysis was performed from the viewpoint of the tertiary hospital studied here, using treatment protocols based on current practice for establishing vascular access sites (surgical set-up) and dialysis maintenance.

The relationship of internalized racism to body fat distribution and insulin resistance among African adolescent youth.

This study examined the relationship of internalized racism (INR) and hostility to body fat distribution and insulin resistance in black adolescent children age 14-16 years on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Questionnaire data on psychosocial variables and anthropometric measurements, together with a fasting blood sample, were obtained from 53 low-birthweight and 119 normal-birthweight adolescents. Insulin resistance was calculated using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA).

Explanations for the high risk of diabetes-related amputation in a Caribbean population of black african descent and potential for prevention.

Objective: Diabetes-related lower-extremity amputation (LEA) rates are elevated in blacks compared with whites in the U.S., but are lower in African Caribbeans in the U.

Incidence and case fatality rates of first-ever stroke in a black Caribbean population: the Barbados Register of Strokes.

Background And Purpose: Estimation of stroke incidence among black populations outside the USA and the UK has been hampered by the lack of community-based studies. We aimed to document the incidence of first-ever stroke in Barbados, a Caribbean island with a population of 268,000 people.

Methods: A national community-based prospective register of first-ever strokes, using multiple overlapping sources of notification, was established.

Diabetes in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Rates of diabetes mellitus in the English-speaking Caribbean have been rising in recent years, and they are projected to continue climbing in the new millennium. Prevalence rates across countries of the African diaspora mirror levels of Western acculturation, and available data emphasize the importance of obesity as a modifiable risk factor. The population-based Barbados Eye Studies have provided new information about the burden of ocular complications of diabetes such as retinopathy and lens opacities.

Genetic influences on the increase in blood pressure with age in normotensive subjects in Barbados.

The authors tested the single and combined effects of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA genotypes on the phenotypes of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and weight, and their changes over 5 years in normotensive subjects living in Barbados. The nuclear genotypes were gender (Y chromosome), haptoglobin (HP), and group specific component (Gc). A mitochondrial genotype was chosen as a marker for maternal lineage.

Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and vegetarian status among Seventh-Day Adventists in Barbados: preliminary results.

A population-based sample of Seventh-Day Adventists was studied to determine the relationship between vegetarian status, body mass index (BMI), obesity, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension, in order to gain a better understanding of factors influencing chronic diseases in Barbados. A systematic sampling from a random start technique was used to select participants for the study. A standard questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic and lifestyle characteristics, to record anthropometrics and blood pressure measurements, and to ascertain the hypertension and diabetes status of participants.

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of product R, a peptide-nucleic acid immunomodulator, in the treatment of adults infected with HIV.

Objective: The efficacy of Product R, a nontoxic peptide-nucleic acid, was tested in 43 HIV-infected adults naïve to antiretroviral therapy.

Method: Patients were randomized to receive Product R (21 patients) or placebo (22 patients). Dosage was two 1 mL subcutaneous injections daily on days 1-14, followed by 1 mL daily on days 22-28, 36-42, and 50-56.