The effect of diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) group inclusion in p-cyanophenyl end-capped oligothiophene used as a dopant in P3HT:PCBM BHJ solar cells.

In this work, two p-cyanophenyl end-capped oligothiophenes, and , were compared as dopants in the P3HT:PC60BM bulk heterojunction (BHJ) layer of inverted organic solar cells. Inclusion of significantly increased the average efficiency of the solar cells, while the increase using doping in the cell efficiency was minor. In the BHJ photoactive layer, the dopant molecules are close to and interact with P3HT and PC60BM molecules.

Gemfibrozil in the treatment of dyslipidemia: an 18-year mortality follow-up of the Helsinki Heart Study.

Background: The Helsinki Heart Study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled primary prevention trial among 4081 dyslipidemic middle-aged men to test the efficacy of gemfibrozil in the prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD). After the 5-year trial, the participants were notified of their treatment group and invited to continue or start gemfibrozil therapy free of charge through 1995. Approximately two thirds of participants in both groups chose gemfibrozil therapy.

Serum iron, infection and inflammation; effects on coronary risk.

Objectives: To explore the potential pathways of association between serum iron and coronary heart disease, with major emphasis on factors related to infections and inflammation.

Design: A nested case-control study with 215 cases (myocardial infarction or coronary death) and 215 matched controls over 8.5 years.

Antibodies to human heat shock protein 60, hypertension and dyslipidemia. A study of joint effects on coronary risk.

Objective: High IgA-class (but not IgG-class) Anti-Heat-shock-protein 60 antibody level is a predictor of coronary risk in dyslipidemic middle-aged men. In this paper we studied the joint effects of high Anti-Hsp60-antibody level and the classical coronary risk factors.

Methods: We used nested case-control design and logistic regression analyses.

Synergistic effect of persistent Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, autoimmunity, and inflammation on coronary risk.

Background: Given the role of chronic infections, autoimmunity, and inflammation in atherosclerosis, we studied the joint effect of chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, persistently elevated human heat-shock protein 60 (hHsp60) antibodies, and C-reactive protein (CRP) on coronary risk.

Methods And Results: The participants for this prospective nested case-control study were obtained from the Helsinki Heart Study, during which 241 nonfatal myocardial infarctions or coronary deaths occurred among 4081 dyslipidemic middle-aged men. Serum samples taken at baseline and 3 to 6 months before the coronary events that occurred during the 8.

Autoimmunity to human heat shock protein 60, Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, and inflammation in predicting coronary risk.

Heat shock protein 60 (Hsp60) and Chlamydia pneumoniae infection have both been associated with cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to study the role of Hsp60 antibodies as coronary risk predictors and their association with C pneumoniae infection and inflammation. This was a prospective, nested, case-control study.

Joint effects of C-reactive protein and other risk factors on acute coronary events.

Background: Elevated serum C-reactive protein (CRP) is a predictor of coronary heart disease in population samples. We studied the contribution of the simultaneous presence (joint effects) of elevated CRP and the classic as well as some new risk factors on acute coronary events.

Methods: With a nested case-control design and logistic regression analyses, we measured baseline and pre-event CRP levels in patients who had myocardial infarction or coronary death (cases) during an 8.

Infections, inflammation, and the risk of coronary heart disease.

Background: The role of infections and inflammation in the pathophysiology of coronary heart disease is emerging. We studied the independent and joint effects of these 2 components on coronary risk.

Methods And Results: We measured baseline levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and antibodies to adenovirus, enterovirus, cytomegalovirus, and herpes simplex virus as well as to Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) and Helicobacter pylori in 241 subjects who suffered either myocardial infarction or coronary death during the 8.

Joint effects of an aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) gene polymorphism and classic risk factors on risk of myocardial infarction.

Background: The -344C allele of a 2-allele (C or T) polymorphism in the promoter of the gene encoding aldosterone synthase (CYP11B2) is associated with increased left ventricular size and mass and with decreased baroreflex sensitivity, known risk factors for morbidity and mortality associated with myocardial infarction (MI). We hypothesized that this polymorphism was a risk factor for MI.

Methods And Results: We used a nested case-control design to investigate the relationships between this polymorphism and the risk of nonfatal MI in 141 cases and 270 matched controls from the Helsinki Heart Study, a coronary primary prevention trial in dyslipidemic, middle-aged men.

Prediction of myocardial infarction in dyslipidemic men by elevated levels of immunoglobulin classes A, E, and G, but not M.

Background: Immune mechanisms have been suggested to play an important role in the development of coronary atherosclerosis and its thrombotic complications. We evaluated the predictive value of the levels of various serum immunoglobulin classes in middle-aged men at increased risk of myocardial infarction.

Methods: Using nested case-control design and logistic regression analysis, we estimated the association between serum immunoglobulins and the risk of coronary end points (nonfatal or fatal myocardial infarction or sudden cardiac death) in dyslipidemic men (levels of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol >5.

Antibodies to prothrombin crossreact with plasminogen in patients developing myocardial infarction.

In a prospective study on healthy middle-aged men, high level of antibodies to prothrombin implied a risk of myocardial infarction. The possible mechanism(s) of these antibodies in coronary thrombosis are not known. Because prothrombin belongs to the kringle proteins and shares structural homology with a fibrinolytic kringle protein plasminogen, we studied whether antibodies to prothrombin crossreact with plasminogen.

QT dispersion as a risk factor for sudden cardiac death and fatal myocardial infarction in a coronary risk population.

Objective: To test in a prospective study the hypothesis that increased QT dispersion in resting 12-lead ECG is a predictor of sudden cardiac death.

Design: A nested case-control study during a mean (SD) follow up time of 6.5 (2.

How to define coronary heart disease in register-based follow-up studies: experience from the Helsinki Heart Study.

Information on coronary heart disease (CHD) obtained from the Finnish Hospital Discharge and Cause-of-Death Registers was compared with that collected in the Helsinki Heart Study (HHS) during an 8.5-year follow-up. The purpose of the comparison was two-fold, firstly, to study the accuracy of registration of CHD and secondly, to find out what diagnostic codes to use for CHD in register-based follow-up studies.

Alcohol and coronary heart disease: the roles of HDL-cholesterol and smoking.

Objectives: To study the role of HDL-cholesterol (HDLc) in the causal pathway mediating the effect of alcohol on coronary heart disease (CHD).

Design: Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare the relative CHD risks in various HDLc-smoking categories.

Setting: A prospective, multicentre, placebo-controlled, double-blind CHD primary prevention trial with gemfibrozil in primary (occupational) health care units, the Helsinki Heart Study.

A study to determine the response of coronary atherosclerosis to raising low high density lipoprotein cholesterol with a fibric-acid derivative in men after coronary bypass surgery. The rationale, design, and baseline characteristics of the LOCAT Study. Lopid Coronary Angiography Trial.

Several clinical trials have shown that reducing serum cholesterol levels retards the progression of coronary atherosclerosis assessed by serial angiography. By contrast, as yet no studies have addressed the impact of increasing high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels on progression of coronary artery disease (CAD). As HDL cholesterol is inversely related to the risk of CAD, we hypothesize that an intervention that raises low HDL cholesterol concentrations may have a beneficial effect on the course of CAD.

Antibodies to prothrombin imply a risk of myocardial infarction in middle-aged men.

Antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with "antiphospholipid syndrome" may be directed at least in part against plasma phospholipid-binding proteins, such as beta 2-glycoprotein I or prothrombin, which are involved in the control of thrombosis and haemostasis. IgG-class antibodies against prothrombin and beta 2-glycoprotein I were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay in initially healthy middle-aged dyslipidaemic men (non-high-density lipoprotein > 5.2 mml/l).

Some coronary risk factors related to the insulin resistance syndrome and treatment with gemfibrozil. Experience from the Helsinki Heart Study.

Background: Coronary risk factors related to the insulin resistance syndrome tend to cluster in the same individual. Our previous studies have shown that the dyslipidemia characteristic of this syndrome--low HDL cholesterol and high triglyceride (TG) levels--responds well to treatment with gemfibrozil. Most factors related to insulin-resistance syndrome decrease fibrinolytic capacity, whereas a recent study showed that gemfibrozil improves it and thus may attenuate thrombotic events.

Effects of hypertension and dyslipidemia on the decline in renal function.

Experimental evidence suggests that in addition to hypertension, serum lipids might also accelerate the decline in renal function. We tested this hypothesis in 2702 dyslipidemic middle-aged men without renal disease participating in the Helsinki Heart Study, a coronary primary prevention trial. The decline in renal function was estimated from linear regression slopes based on reciprocals of 10 serum creatinine determinations over the study period.

Antihypertensive therapy in dyslipidemic men. Effects on coronary heart disease incidence and total mortality.

To investigate the influence of antihypertensive therapy and the success of blood pressure control on coronary heart disease incidence and total mortality, we studied dyslipidemic middle-aged men participating in the placebo arm of the Helsinki Heart Study, a randomized coronary primary prevention trial with gemfibrozil. Based on blood pressure level and the presence of antihypertensive therapy at study entry, the participants were classified into four categories. Relative risks of coronary heart disease (nonfatal myocardial infarction or cardiac death) and total mortality during the 5-year trial period were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models.

Anti-cardiolipin antibodies and risk of myocardial infarction in a prospective cohort of middle-aged men.

Background: Data concerning the relation between antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies and myocardial infarction in subjects without evidence of overt autoimmune disease are conflicting. All published studies have been performed on survivors of myocardial infarction or in patients with established coronary heart disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the presence of aPL antibodies, namely, anti-cardiolipin (aCL) antibodies, carries a risk for myocardial infarction in a prospective cohort.

The triglyceride issue revisited. Findings from the Helsinki Heart Study.

Background: In clinical practice, high triglyceride level is recognized as an indicator of increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), while most epidemiological studies have shown that triglyceride level is not an independent risk factor for CHD. In an effort to explain this discrepancy we reanalyzed the Helsinki Heart Study data in the light of findings from recent clinical studies related to the insulin resistance syndrome.

Methods: The log-linear modeling technique was used to study the pattern of cross-sectional interdependence of triglyceride level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, blood pressure, and blood glucose level.

HDL cholesterol and mortality in Finnish men with special reference to alcohol intake.

Background: There is substantial evidence that a low serum level of HDL cholesterol (HDLC) is a risk factor for coronary deaths. However, data on older people are scarce, and previous studies have not examined this association in relation to alcohol intake.

Methods And Results: Coronary mortality, all-cause mortality, and mortality due to alcohol and violence were related to HDLC levels among 7052 male smokers 50 to 69 years old in south and west Finland enrolled from 1984 to 1988 in the ATBC (AT, alpha-tocopherol; BC, beta-carotene) Study placebo group.