Effect of Phoxilium on prognostic predictors in patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration.

Background: Phosphorus-containing dialysis solution is used to prevent hypophosphatemia in patients undergoing continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF). This study evaluated the effect of phosphorus-containing dialysis solution on mortality in patients undergoing CVVHDF based on changes in phosphorus and red cell distribution width-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV) levels.

Methods: We included 272 patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) who underwent CVVHDF at the medical intensive care unit from 2017 to 2019 and classified them according to Phoxilium (Baxter Healthcare Ltd.

The Effect of Convergence Gamification Training in Community-Dwelling Older People: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: It is necessary to improve the health of older adults through exercise, but there is no concrete way to implement it or an environment in which they can exercise continuously. Our objective was to confirm the safety and efficacy of information technology (IT) convergence gamification exercise equipment for older adults. We tried to demonstrate equivalence to conventional exercise by comparing the functional improvement.

Association between Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Risk of Osteoporosis in Korean Premenopausal Women.

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as a risk factor for osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture in Korean women after controlling for basic confounding factors and considering detailed demographic and clinical information.

Subjects And Methods: We performed a nationwide population-based retrospective cohort analysis and matched every IBS case with a non-IBS case at a 1:4 frequency ratio based on age. The population consisted of female patients with data in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database from 2002 to 2010.

The Analysis of Electroencephalography Changes Before and After a Single Neurofeedback Alpha/Theta Training Session in University Students.

The underlying mechanisms of alpha/theta neurofeedback training have not been fully determined. Therefore, this study aimed to test the changes in the brain state feedback during the alpha/theta training. Twenty-seven healthy participants were trained during a single session of the alpha/theta protocol, and the resting quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was assessed before and after training.

Alterations in transcranial Doppler indices of pregnant women with complicated preeclampsia.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate alterations in transcranial Doppler indices (TCD) of the cerebral arteries between normotensive and preeclampsia (PE) pregnancies according to the presence of cerebral symptoms.

Study Design: This cross-sectional study included 48 PE and 20 normotensive pregnancies, respectively. Doppler indices of the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries (ACA, MCA, and PCA, respectively) were compared between the PE and normotensive group.

Bruch's membrane opening-minimum rim width and visual field loss in glaucoma: a broken stick analysis.

Aim: To determine the Bruch's membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) tipping point where corresponding visual field (VF) damages become detectable.

Methods: A total of 85 normal subjects and 83 glaucoma patients (one eye per participant) were recruited for the study. All of the patients had VF examinations and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to measure the BMO-MRW.

Addition of nonalbumin proteinuria to albuminuria improves prediction of type 2 diabetic nephropathy progression.

Background: Albuminuria is generally accepted as a sensitive marker of diabetic nephropathy but has limitations in predicting its progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of nonalbumin proteinuria in addition to albuminuria for predicting the progression of type 2 diabetic nephropathy.

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and the nonalbumin protein-to-creatinine ratio (NAPCR) were measured in 325 patients with type 2 diabetes and estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) ≥30 mL/min/1.

Benzimidazolone as potent chymase inhibitor: modulation of reactive metabolite formation in the hydrophobic (P1) region.

A new class of chymase inhibitor featuring a benzimidazolone core with an acid side chain and a P(1) hydrophobic moiety is described. Incubation of the lead compound with GSH resulted in the formation of a GSH conjugate on the benzothiophene P(1) moiety. Replacement of the benzothiophene with different heterocyclic systems such as indoles and benzoisothiazole is feasible.

Impact of left ventricular longitudinal diastolic functional reserve on clinical outcome in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Left ventricular longitudinal diastolic functional reserve (DFR), as assessed by the change in early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') during exercise, is abnormal in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). However, the impact of left ventricular longitudinal DFR on clinical outcome has not been explored. This study evaluated the incremental prognostic value of left ventricular DFR in patients with type 2 DM without overt heart disease.

Clinical outcomes of exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension in subjects with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction: implication of an increase in left ventricular filling pressure during exercise.

Objective: To investigate clinical outcomes of exercise-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) and implications of an increase in left ventricular (LV) filling pressure during exercise in subjects with preserved LV ejection fraction.

Design: Longitudinal follow-up study.

Setting: Subjects who were referred for diastolic stress echocardiography.

Relationship between serum biochemical markers of myocardial fibrosis and diastolic function at rest and with exercise in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background And Objectives: Recent studies have demonstrated the usefulness of biochemical markers of collagen turnover as markers of myocardial fibrosis in various diseases. In this study, we hypothesized that increased collagen markers in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were correlated with diastolic function at rest and diastolic functional reserve during exercise.

Subjects And Methods: Thirty-six patients with HCM and 21 controls with normal left ventricular thickness were studied.

Gender-related difference in left ventricular diastolic elastance during exercise in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: Because the ratio of mitral inflow and annular velocity to stroke volume has been reported as an index of diastolic elastance (Ed), the hypothesis tested in the present study was that Ed during exercise would be more abnormal in female than in male patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods And Results: Ed was measured at rest and during graded supine bicycle exercise (25W, 3-min increments) in 53 patients (27 males, mean age 53+/-14 years) with type 2 diabetes and 53 age- and gender-matched controls. The patients with diabetes were divided into 2 groups by gender.

Baicalein stimulates osteoblast differentiation via coordinating activation of MAP kinases and transcription factors.

The identification of anabolic agents that directly stimulate bone formation has recently attracted greater interest. Here, baicalein was identified as a natural compound that stimulates the differentiation of mouse osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 subclone 4 cells. Baicalein induced the activation of NF-kappaB in the initiation stage of osteoblast differentiation, and it activated the MAP kinase/NF-kappaB signaling pathway and induced the expression of osteoblast differentiation markers in the early stage.

Gender-related difference in arterial elastance during exercise in patients with hypertension.

Exercise intolerance and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction are common in females. Recently, arterial stiffness has been suggested to be a significant contributor in the development of heart failure. How gender difference affects arterial stiffening and its response to exercise is not well known.

Effects of pericardiectomy on early diastolic mitral annular velocity in patients with constrictive pericarditis.

Background: In patients with constrictive pericarditis (CP), early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') is usually normal or exaggerated due to limitation of lateral expansion by the constricting pericardium. Although pericardiectomy is the treatment of choice for CP, it is difficult to evaluate its effectiveness. Theoretically, E' may decrease after successful pericardiectomy.

Time course of recovery of left ventricular filling pressure after exercise in healthy subjects.

Background: It has been recently demonstrated that the hemodynamic consequences of exercise-induced increase in left ventricular (LV) filling pressure can be demonstrated noninvasively with supine bicycle exercise Doppler echocardiography. One of the practical drawbacks of Doppler echocardiography for assessing LV filling during exercise is the technical difficulty obtaining adequate signals for meaningful analysis during the rapid heart rates achieved during exercise. The purpose of this study was to assess LV filling pressures during the recovery period, as well as at rest, in healthy subjects to establish reference values of Doppler LV filling indices during recovery after exercise.

Incremental value of left ventricular diastolic function reserve index for predicting exercise capacity in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The changes of left ventricular diastolic function during exercise are heterogeneous in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We sought to investigate whether exertional changes of mitral annular velocities and plasma N-terminal-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentration are associated with exercise capacity in patients with HCM. After a comprehensive echocardiographic study, 32 patients with HCM performed symptom-limited graded supine bicycle exercise.

Incremental value of combining systolic mitral annular velocity and time difference between mitral inflow and diastolic mitral annular velocity to early diastolic annular velocity for differentiating constrictive pericarditis from restrictive cardiomyopathy.

Although normal or exaggerated early diastolic mitral annular velocity (E') provides an excellent specificity for differentiating constrictive pericarditis (CP) from restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM), its sensitivity has been shown to be lower, especially in patients with CP who had underlying myocardial abnormality. This study sought to evaluate the incremental value of systolic mitral annular velocity (S') and time difference between onset of mitral inflow and onset of E' (T(E'-E)) for differentiation between CP and RCM. This study included 44 participants (28 male, 16 female; mean age 47 years, range 10-76): 17 patients with CP, 12 with RCM, and 15 control subjects.

Abnormal left ventricular longitudinal functional reserve in patients with diabetes mellitus: implication for detecting subclinical myocardial dysfunction using exercise tissue Doppler echocardiography.

Background: Subclinical myocardial dysfunction occurs in a significant number of patients with type 2 diabetes. Assessment of ventricular long-axis function by measuring mitral annular velocities using tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) is thought to provide a more sensitive index of systolic and diastolic function. We hypothesised that augmentation of left ventricular (LV) longitudinal contraction and relaxation during exercise would be blunted in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Abnormal longitudinal myocardial functional reserve assessed by exercise tissue Doppler echocardiography in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Previous studies have shown that mitral annular velocities are reduced in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the response of systolic and diastolic velocities of the mitral annulus to exercise in patients with HCM has not been explored previously. Because pathologic left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is associated with myocardial fibrosis, particularly in the subendocardium, we hypothesized that mitral annular systolic and diastolic velocities during exercise and at rest would be abnormal in patients with HCM.

Maternal serum and amniotic fluid inhibin A levels in women who subsequently develop severe preeclampsia.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether maternal serum (MS) and amniotic fluid (AF) inhibin A levels are elevated in patients who subsequently develop severe preecalmpsia, and to investigate the correlation between MS and AF inhibin A levels in the second trimester. The study included 40 patients who subsequently developed severe preecalmpsia and 80 normal pregnant women. Inhibin A levels in MS and AF were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Tissue Doppler-derived indices predict exercise capacity in patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Although impaired left ventricular (LV) diastolic function is a prominent feature of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), diastolic function and its relation to exercise capacity in apical HCM (ApHCM) has not been explored previously. This study was sought to determine the relationship between diastolic mitral annular velocities combined with conventional Doppler indexes and exercise capacity in patients with ApHCM.

Patients: Twenty-nine patients with ApHCM (24 men; mean age +/- SD, 57 +/- 10 years) underwent supine bicycle exercise with simultaneous respiratory gas analysis and two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic study.

Differentiation of endothelial cells from human umbilical cord blood AC133-CD14+ cells.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) participate in neovascularization and are consistent with postnatal vasculogenesis. In vitro, they differentiate into endothelial cells (ECs). Prior reports have suggested that circulating human AC133(+) cells have the capacity to differentiate into ECs as progenitor cells.

Del(18p) syndrome with increased nuchal translucency in prenatal diagnosis.

We report a de novo translocation between chromosome 15 and 18 resulting in monosomy 18p in prenatal diagnosis. The patient was referred for amniocentesis due to increased nuchal translucency (INT) (5 mm) at 13.6 weeks of gestation.