Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels in relation to blood pressure in a cross-sectional study in older Chinese men.

Vitamin D status, parathyroid hormone (PTH) level and their associations with blood pressure in Chinese population are unknown. This study examined these associations in older Chinese men. Blood pressure, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) and PTH was measured in 939 community-dwelling Chinese men aged 65 years and older.

Human papillomavirus type 16 E6 induces cervical cancer cell migration through the p53/microRNA-23b/urokinase-type plasminogen activator pathway.

Deregulation of microRNA (miRNA or miR) expression in human cervical cancer is associated frequently with human papillomavirus (HPV) integration. miR-23b is often downregulated in HPV-associated cervical cancer. Interestingly, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), the miR-23b target, is detected in cervical cancer, but not in normal cervical tissues.

Prediction of bone loss in elderly female subjects by MR perfusion imaging and spectroscopy.

Objective: To determine whether MR perfusion indices or marrow fat content at baseline can predict areal bone mineral density (BMDa) loss.

Methods: Repeat dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the hip was performed in female subjects at 2 years (n = 52) and 4 years (n = 45) following baseline MR perfusion imaging and spectroscopy of the hip.

Results: Percentage reduction in femoral neck BMDa at 4 years post-baseline was greater in subjects with below median acetabulum enhancement slope (E(slope)) (-5.

A randomized placebo controlled trial of homocysteine lowering to reduce cognitive decline in older demented people.

Introduction: Whether homocysteine lowering by B vitamins can reduce cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia patients is unclear.

Methods And Materials: 140 subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease or vascular dementia were randomly assigned to take 1 mg of methylcobalamin and 5 mg of folic acid, or placebo once daily for 24 months. The primary outcome was Mattis dementia rating scale (MDRS).

How online crowds influence the way individual consumers answer health questions: an online prospective study.

Objective: To investigate whether strength of social feedback, i.e. other people who concur (or do not concur) with one's own answer to a question, influences the way one answers health questions.

Frequency and predictors of proxy-confirmed post-stroke cognitive complaints in lacunar stroke patients without major depression.

Objective: Many lacunar stroke patients complained of cognitive decline after stroke. This study aims to investigate the factors underlying post-stroke cognitive complaints in these patients.

Methods: Seventy-five consecutive lacunar stroke patients without major depression were recruited for the study.

The preparedness of Hong Kong medical students towards advance directives and end-of-life issues.

Objectives: To explore the preparedness of medical students towards advance directives and related end-of-life issues, and to examine background factors such as knowledge, attitudes, and experience concerning advance directives and related end-of-life issues.

Methods: In 2007, 448 medical students in years 3 to 5 were surveyed at the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Their knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of advance directives and related end-of-life issues, and their self-perceived preparedness to discuss these matters with patients were evaluated.

The effect of diabetes mellitus on age-associated lean mass loss in 3153 older adults.

Aims: Diabetes mellitus may be associated with excessive lean mass loss. Other diabetes-related conditions may also play a role. We assessed body composition changes associated with diabetes in older adults with adjustment for diabetes-related co-morbidities.

Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and psychological health in older Chinese men in a cohort study.

Background: Few studies evaluated the association between vitamin D and psychological health in Chinese. This study examined these associations in Chinese older men in Hong Kong.

Methods: Baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), depression and cognitive function were assessed in 939 community-dwelling Chinese men aged >65.

HPV-16 E6 upregulation of DNMT1 through repression of tumor suppressor p53.

The HPV-16 early proteins E6 and E7 are considered to function as oncoproteins in cervical cancer. DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) is one of the enzymes involved in epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressor genes. In the present study, the functional role and regulation of DNMT1 in HPV-16 E6 associated cervical cancer development were examined.

Depression among Chinese stroke survivors six months after discharge from a rehabilitation hospital.

Aim And Objective: The primary aim was to examine the prevalence of poststroke depression in Chinese stroke survivors six months after discharge from a rehabilitation hospital. A second aim was to determine whether six-month poststroke depression was associated with psychological, social and physical outcomes and demographic variables.

Background: There has been increasing recognition of the influence of depression on poststroke recovery.

European bone mineral density loci are also associated with BMD in East-Asian populations.

Most genome-wide association (GWA) studies have focused on populations of European ancestry with limited assessment of the influence of the sequence variants on populations of other ethnicities. To determine whether markers that we have recently shown to associate with Bone Mineral Density (BMD) in Europeans also associate with BMD in East-Asians we analysed 50 markers from 23 genomic loci in samples from Korea (n = 1,397) and two Chinese Hong Kong sample sets (n = 3,869 and n = 785). Through this effort we identified fourteen loci that associated with BMD in East-Asian samples using a false discovery rate (FDR) of 0.

Association of SRD5A2 variants and serum androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol glucuronide concentration in Chinese elderly men.

Background: Results of recent studies have demonstrated that genetic variants of the enzyme steroid 5α reductase type II (SRD5A2) are associated with serum concentrations of major androgen metabolites such as conjugates of androstane-3α,17β-diol-glucuronide (3α-diol-G). However, this association was not consistently found among different ethnic groups. Thus, we aimed to determine whether the association with SRD5A2 genetic variations exists in a cohort of healthy Chinese elderly men, by examining 2 metabolite conjugates: androstane-3α,l7β-diol-3-glucuronide (3α-diol-3G) and androstane-3α,17β-diol-17-glucuronide (3α-diol-17G).

Executive dysfunction and left frontal white matter hyperintensities are correlated with neuropsychiatric symptoms in stroke patients with confluent white matter hyperintensities.

Background/aims: This study aimed to determine the clinical and neuroimaging correlates of the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in stroke patients with age-related confluent white matter hyperintensities (WMH).

Methods: The Neuropsychiatric Inventory was utilized to detect the presence of 12 symptoms. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify clinical and neuroimaging correlates of the presence of symptoms.

The influence of crowds on consumer health decisions: an online prospective study.

This paper presents an online prospective study investigating whether the strength of social feedback, i.e. the proportion of persons who concur or do not concur with one's own answer to a question, influences the way one answers health-related questions.

Effects of height loss on morbidity and mortality in 3145 community-dwelling Chinese older women and men: a 5-year prospective study.

Background: height loss beginning in mid-life and post-menopausal period was associated with adverse health outcomes. However, height loss occurring after old age has been little studied. We examined how height loss was related to bone mineral density (BMD) change, fracture incidence and cause-specific mortality in older adults.

Histological grading of breast cancer on needle core biopsy: the role of immunohistochemical assessment of proliferation.

Aims: Histological grade assessed on needle core biopsy (NCB) moderately concurs with the grade in the surgical excision specimen (SES) (kappa-values between 0.35 and 0.65).

Helicobacter pylori exploits cholesterol-rich microdomains for induction of NF-kappaB-dependent responses and peptidoglycan delivery in epithelial cells.

Infection with Helicobacter pylori cag pathogenicity island (cagPAI)-positive strains is associated with more destructive tissue damage and an increased risk of severe disease. The cagPAI encodes a type IV secretion system (TFSS) that delivers the bacterial effector molecules CagA and peptidoglycan into the host cell cytoplasm, thereby inducing responses in host cells. It was previously shown that interactions between CagL, present on the TFSS pilus, and host α(5)β(1) integrin molecules were critical for CagA translocation and the induction of cytoskeletal rearrangements in epithelial cells.

Abuse of older Chinese with dementia by family caregivers: an inquiry into the role of caregiver burden.

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and risk factors for elder abuse in older Chinese with dementia by their family caregivers in Hong Kong.

Methods: A sample of 122 family caregivers of older persons with dementia was conveniently recruited from local community centers for the elderly. Participants provided information on their demographic characteristics, care recipients' physical functioning and agitated behavior, caregiver burden, and whether they had directed any abusive behavior at the care recipients in the previous month.

Psoriasis and multiple sclerosis: is there a link?

Background: psoriasis and multiple sclerosis (MS) are both autoimmune T cell-mediated diseases. Some case series have suggested an association.

Objective: to investigate the potential relationship between psoriasis and MS based on a systematic review of the literature.

Both the p33 and p55 subunits of the Helicobacter pylori VacA toxin are targeted to mammalian mitochondria.

Helicobacter pylori infection causes peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. A major toxin secreted by H. pylori is the bipartite vacuolating cytotoxin A, VacA.

AF1q enhancement of gamma irradiation-induced apoptosis by up-regulation of BAD expression via NF-kappaB in human squamous carcinoma A431 cells.

BAD (BCL-2 antagonist of cell death) is a pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of apoptotic response. This study presents direct evidence that AF1q increased the radiation-induced apoptosis through up-regulation of BAD in human squamous carcinoma A431 cells and the key transcription factor involved is NF-kappaB. The minimal promoter sequence of BAD was identified; the activity was increased in AF1q stable transfectants and decreased upon AF1q siRNA transfection.

A semiparametric Bayesian approach for structural equation models.

In the development of structural equation models (SEMs), observed variables are usually assumed to be normally distributed. However, this assumption is likely to be violated in many practical researches. As the non-normality of observed variables in an SEM can be obtained from either non-normal latent variables or non-normal residuals or both, semiparametric modeling with unknown distribution of latent variables or unknown distribution of residuals is needed.

Fast query for exemplar-based image completion.

In this paper, we present a fast algorithm for filling unknown regions in an image using the strategy of exemplar-matching. Unlike the original exemplar-based method using exhaustive search, we decompose exemplars into the frequency coefficients and select fewer coefficients which are the most significant to evaluate the matching score. We have also developed a local gradient-based algorithm to fill the unknown pixels in a query image block.

ACE inhibitor use was associated with lower serum dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations in older men.

Context: Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity may influence the production of adrenal androgen precursors and testosterone. Use of ACE inhibitors may therefore have an influence on serum sex hormone concentrations in older men.

Design And Methods: 1486 out of 2,000 community-dwelling Chinese men aged 65years who participated in a cohort study were randomly selected to have archived fasting morning serum analyzed for androgen precursors and sex hormones.