Large-scale analysis of association between polymorphisms in the transforming growth factor beta 1 gene (TGFB1) and osteoporosis: the GENOMOS study.

Introduction: The TGFB1 gene which encodes transforming growth factor beta 1, is a strong candidate for susceptibility to osteoporosis and several studies have reported associations between bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporotic fractures and polymorphisms of TGFB1, although these studies have yielded conflicting results.

Methods: We investigated associations between TGFB1 polymorphisms and BMD and fracture in the GENOMOS study: a prospective multicenter study involving 10 European research studies including a total of 28,924 participants. Genotyping was conducted for known TGFB1 polymorphisms at the following sites: G-1639-A (G-800-A, rs1800468), C-1348-T (C-509-T, rs1800469), T29-C (Leu10Pro, rs1982073), G74-C (Arg25Pro, rs1800471) and C788-T (Thr263Ile, rs1800472).

Timing of default from tuberculosis treatment: a systematic review.

Objectives: To provide a systematic assessment of the timing of default from tuberculosis (TB) treatment which could help to quantify the potential contribution of new shorter duration TB drugs to global TB control.

Methods: We performed a systematic review following QUOROM guidelines. MEDLINE was searched from 1998 to the present using the terms TB and default or drop-out or compliance or adherence and therapy.

Association of non-specific inflammatory activation with early mortality in patients with ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome treated with primary angioplasty.

Background: The association of inflammatory markers with mortality in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remains controversial, so in the present study the relationships of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), total white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil (N) and lymphocyte (L) counts and the N/L ratio with occurrence of in-hospital mortality were assessed in patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI.

Methods And Results: Inflammatory parameters were assessed on admission in 1,078 consecutive, unselected patients with STEMI admitted for primary PCI. In-hospital death occurred in 6.

Amphetamine-induced anxiety-related behavior in animal models.

The purpose of this study was to examine the anxiety-related effects of acute and repeated amphetamine administration using the elevated plus maze (EPM) and light/dark box tests in mice. D-amphetamine (2 mg/kg ip, 30 min after injection) had a significant anxiogenic effect only in the EPM test, as shown by specific decreases in the percentage of time spent in the open arms as well as in the percentage of open arm entries. Tolerance to this anxiogenic action developed after 8 days of daily d-amphetamine administration (2 mg/kg, ip).

Influenza vaccination in secondary prevention from coronary ischaemic events in coronary artery disease: FLUCAD study.

Aims: To evaluate the effect of influenza vaccination on the coronary events in patients with confirmed coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods And Results: Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study. We included 658 optimally treated CAD patients; 477 men, mean age 59.

Immobilization of selected heavy metals in sewage sludge by natural zeolites.

This contribution presents the possibility of application of natural sorbent (Transcarpathian clinoptylolite (KL)) for immobilization of selected heavy metals in the sewage sludge. The influence of ion-exchange parameters (e.g.

Equity of skilled birth attendant utilization in developing countries: financing and policy determinants.

Objectives: Developing countries with higher health care spending have greater overall utilization of maternal health services than do countries with lower spending. However, the rich tend to disproportionately use these services. We assessed whether redistributive government policies in the context of higher levels of health spending were associated with more-equitable use of skilled birth attendants (doctors, nurses, or midwives) between rich and poor.

Assessing health system performance in developing countries: a review of the literature.

With the setting of ambitious international health goals and an influx of additional development assistance for health, there is growing interest in assessing the performance of health systems in developing countries. This paper proposes a framework for the assessment of health system performance and reviews the literature on indicators currently in use to measure performance using online medical and public health databases. This was complemented by a review of relevant books and reports in the grey literature.

Economic evaluation of surgically trained assistant medical officers in performing major obstetric surgery in Mozambique.

Objective: To compare the training and deployment costs and surgical productivity of surgically trained assistant medical officers (técnicos de cirurgia) and specialist physicians (surgeons and obstetrician/gynaecologists) in Mozambique in order to inform health human resource planning in a developing country with low availability of obstetric care and severe physician shortages. Técnicos de cirurgia have been previously shown to have quality of care outcomes comparable to physicians.

Design: Economic evaluation of costs and productivity of surgically trained assistant medical officers and specialist physicians.

Calcium channel antagonists suppress cross-tolerance to the anxiogenic effects of D-amphetamine and nicotine in the mouse elevated plus maze test.

The purpose of the current experiments was to examine the anxiety-related effects of repeated amphetamine and nicotine administration using the mouse elevated plus maze (EPM). d-amphetamine was administered daily for 8 days (2 mg/kg, i.p.

Health care financing and utilization of maternal health services in developing countries.

Background: The Millennium Development Goals call for a 75% reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015. Skilled birth attendance and emergency obstetric care, including Caesarean section, are two of the most important interventions to reduce maternal mortality. Although international pressure is rising to increase donor assistance for essential health services in developing countries, we know less about whether government or the private sector is more effective at financing these essential services in developing countries.

Intravascular ultrasonic study of gender differences in ruptured coronary plaque morphology and its associated clinical presentation.

Coronary plaque rupture is a phenomenon underlying most acute coronary events. Although gender is an important determinant of the incidence and clinical course of coronary atherosclerosis, its relation to plaque rupture is unknown. Therefore, we assessed gender differences in native artery plaque rupture characteristics and their related clinical presentations.

Pore size tailoring in large-pore SBA-15 silica synthesized in the presence of hexane.

Large-pore SBA-15 silicas were synthesized using poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymer Pluronic P123 as a template and hexane as a micelle expander. The reaction was initially carried out at 15 degrees C, followed by the heating of the synthesis gel at temperatures from 40 to 130 degrees C. Small-angle X-ray scattering data indicate that highly ordered two-dimensional hexagonal material (SBA-15 structure) formed at 15 degrees C and was preserved even after 5 days of heating at 130 degrees C.

The relation between intermittent dosing and adherence: preliminary insights.

Background: The past few years have seen a rapid increase in the introduction of drugs with intermittent dosing schedules (ie, dosed less than once daily). Many of these agents were developed on the assumption that less-frequent dosing would be more convenient for patients and thus contribute to improved adherence, with the potential for improvements in the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy and a reduction in the costs of non-adherence. However, the effect on adherence of intermittent dosing regimens has not been studied.

Comparison of prognostic value of epicardial blood flow and early ST-segment resolution after primary coronary angioplasty. ANIN--Myocardial Infarction Registry.

Background: TIMI scale is commonly used for angiographic assessment of reperfusion effectiveness and early risk stratification in patients treated with primary angioplasty for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). Since ST-resolution analysis allows a noninvasive insight into the reperfusion status at the myocardial tissue level, it may be a better predictor of outcome after primary angioplasty.

Aim: To compare the prognostic value of the reperfusion effectiveness evaluation based on either the epicardial blood flow assessment according to the TIMI scale, or ST-segment resolution analysis in patients treated with primary coronary angioplasty for STEMI.

Comparison of different methods of ST segment resolution analysis for prediction of 1-year mortality after primary angioplasty for acute myocardial infarction.

Background: Resolution of ST segment elevation corresponds with myocardial tissue reperfusion and correlates with clinical outcome after ST elevation myocardial infarction. Simpler method evaluating the extent of maximal deviation persisting in a single ECG lead was an even stronger mortality predictor. Our aim was to evaluate and compare prognostic accuracy of different methods of ST segment elevation resolution analysis after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in a real-life setting.

[Acne rosacea--diagnostic challenge].

Acne rosacea is a common skin disorder which affects adults, usually women. Erythema, papules, pustules and telangiectases, the main clinical manifestations of the disease are located on the face. Currently opinions dealing with pathogenesis and clinical forms of rosacea are presented.

Serum tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 and higher risk features of coronary plaque: a volumetric multivessel intravascular ultrasound study.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between higher-risk features of coronary plaque and serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family enzymes in the stable angina patients.

Methods And Results: In 36 patients, 75 coronary lesions were assessed by intravascular ultrasound. For each of the plaques remodelling index, mean calcium arc and plaque burden were measured.

The association between common vitamin D receptor gene variations and osteoporosis: a participant-level meta-analysis.

Background: Polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene have been implicated in the genetic regulation of bone mineral density (BMD). However, the clinical impact of these variants remains unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the relation between VDR polymorphisms, BMD, and fractures.

White blood cell count adds prognostic information to the thrombolysis in myocardial infarction risk index in patients following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (ANIN Myocardial Infarction Registry).

Aims: To determine the relationship between baseline white blood cell (WBC) count, Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk index, and 30-day mortality in unselected patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary mechanical reperfusion (PCI).

Methods And Results: 903 patients from prospective registry admitted for primary PCI to a tertiary cardiological center. Both baseline WBC count and TIMI risk index data were dichotomized about the respective medians.

Synthesis of mesoporous carbons using ordered and disordered mesoporous silica templates and polyacrylonitrile as carbon precursor.

Mesoporous carbons were synthesized from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) using ordered and disordered mesoporous silica templates and were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, and thermogravimetry. The pores of the silica templates were infiltrated with carbon precursor (PAN) via polymerization of acrylonitrile from initiation sites chemically bonded to the silica surface. This polymerization method is expected to allow for a uniform filling of the template with PAN and to minimize the introduction of nontemplated PAN, thus mitigating the formation of nontemplated carbon.

Synthesis of FDU-1 silica with narrow pore size distribution and tailorable pore entrance size in the presence of sodium chloride.

Ordered silicas with large (9-15 nm), uniform, cagelike mesopores were synthesized under acidic aqueous conditions from tetraethyl orthosilicate in the presence of sodium chloride using poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(butylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer B50-6600 (EO39BO47EO39, Dow Chemicals) as a supramolecular template. Except for the use of NaCl in our case, the synthesis mixture composition was the same as that originally reported by Zhao et al. for the synthesis of FDU-1 silica, which was later shown to exhibit a cubic close-packed (Fm3m) structure with stacking faults related to the occurrence of hexagonal close-packed stacking sequences.

Intravascular ultrasound assessment of the spatial distribution of ruptured coronary plaques in the left anterior descending coronary artery.

Background: Plaque rupture is a substrate for thrombosis, occlusion, and myocardial infarction. The left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) subtends the largest amount of myocardium; therefore, the location of LAD plaque rupture is of particular importance in detecting vulnerable plaques. The aim of our study was to assess the location of ruptured atherosclerotic plaques in the LAD.

Acid-base equilibria in 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)chlorin: Role of conformational flexibility.

The acid-base equilibria in 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)chlorin were studied in aqueous solution and compared with the respective data for the corresponding porphyrin. The reduction of the pyrrole ring in the tetrapyrrolic macrocycle noticeably influences both free base/monoprotonated and mono-/diprotonated species equilibria. In strong acidic solutions protonation of 4-sulfonatophenyl groups takes place in addition to protonation of the macrocycle core.