A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Use of Tobacco, Attempts on Cessation, and Locus of Control Among College Students.

Background Socio-cultural considerations (such as drug availability) and psychological traits play a significant role in predicting whether a person will use drugs in the future and dependency on the drugs. Second-, third-, and fourth-hand smoking and E-cigarettes are influencing factors for the use of tobacco in college students. This study conducted research to ascertain whether there is a potential relationship between tobacco consumption and various factors, including internal and external control sites and demographics.

Evaluation of Position of Mental Foramen in Dentulous Population by Digital Panoramic Radiography.

Need For The Study: The mental branch of the trigeminal nerve, which supplies sensation to the lower lip, originates in the mandibular canal, making it an essential anatomical structure for dentists and oral surgeons to access. It is not well known that there is a spectrum of normal that includes variants in which there may be more than one nerve entry site, which means that if the mental foramen is not protected, normal feeling in the lower lip may be lost permanently. The diagnostic value of global radiographic landmarks like the mandibular trench and the dental foramen in identifying skeletal problems has been investigated.

The effect of baking and enzymatic treatment on the structural properties of wheat starch.

In this study, bread was baked with and without the addition of α-amylase. Starch was extracted from the baked bread and its molecular properties were characterized using (1)H NMR and asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) connected to multi-angle light scattering (MALS) and other detectors. The approach allows determination of molar mass, root- mean-square radius and apparent density as well as the average degree of branching of amylopectin.

Usefulness of 64-detector computed tomographic angiography for diagnosing in-stent restenosis in native coronary arteries.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of detector computed tomographic angiographic qualitative and quantitative analyses for the detection of in-stent restenosis (ISR) Previous studies have used qualitative analyses exclusively and have excluded "unevaluable" stents. Multidetector computed tomographic angiography (MDCT) was performed before quantitative coronary angiography in 67 patients with 132 stents that were evaluated by 2 techniques: (1) qualitative, on the basis of degree of visual hypodensity, and (2) quantitative, comparing in-stent with prestent Hounsfield units. All stents were evaluated, irrespective of image quality.

Hepatitis C in a Los Angeles public hepatitis clinic: demographic and biochemical differences associated with race-ethnicity.

Background & Aims: The goal of this study was to uncover possible racial-ethnic differences in hepatitis C presentation in an urban hepatitis clinic.

Methods: We surveyed the clinic summary cards of patients with antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV) seen from 1993 to 2000 for demographic and laboratory data.

Results: A total of 1271 HCV patients were categorized into 4 major racial-ethnic groups consisting of 95 Asian, 232 African American, 323 Caucasian, and 621 Latino patients.

The effect of ethnicity on survival in male veterans referred for electrocardiography and treadmill testing.

Background: Ethnic differences in the relationship between access to health care and survival are difficult to define because of many confounding factors, such as socioeconomic status and baseline differences in health. Because the Veterans Affairs health care system offers health care largely without financial considerations, it provides an ideal setting in which to identify and understand ethnic differences in health outcomes. Previous studies in this area have lacked clinical and cardiovascular data with which to adjust for baseline differences in patients' health.

Electrocardiographic findings in patients with chronic spinal cord injury.

Objective: To demonstrate the prevalence and prognostic value of electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with chronic spinal cord injury.

Methods: All electrocardiographs obtained in the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center since 1987 have been digitally recorded and stored in a computerized database. For this study, only the first electrocardiograph was considered for analysis.

The prognostic value of exercise testing in elderly men.

Purpose: Our purposes were to compare the responses to exercise testing in elderly (> or =65 years of age) and younger men, and to investigate whether exercise testing has similar prognostic value in the two age groups.

Methods: We included all elderly (n = 1185) and younger (n = 2789) male veterans without established coronary heart disease who underwent routine clinical exercise testing between 1987 and 2000 at two academically affiliated Veteran's Affairs medical center laboratories. Measurements included a standardized medical history, exercise testing, and all-cause mortality.

Exercise capacity and mortality among men referred for exercise testing.

Background: Exercise capacity is known to be an important prognostic factor in patients with cardiovascular disease, but it is uncertain whether it predicts mortality equally well among healthy persons. There is also uncertainty regarding the predictive power of exercise capacity relative to other clinical and exercise-test variables.

Methods: We studied a total of 6213 consecutive men referred for treadmill exercise testing for clinical reasons during a mean (+/-SD) of 6.