Cardiovascular Disease Death Before Age 65 in 168 Countries Correlated Statistically with Biometrics, Socioeconomic Status, Tobacco, Gender, Exercise, Macronutrients, and Vitamin K.

Background: Nutrition researchers recently recognized that deficiency of vitamin K2 (menaquinone: MK-4-MK-13) is widespread and contributes to cardiovascular disease (CVD). The deficiency of vitamin K2 or vitamin K inhibition with warfarin leads to calcium deposition in the arterial blood vessels.

Methods: Using publicly available sources, we collected food commodity availability data and derived nutrient profiles including vitamin K2 for people from 168 countries.

Deep venous thrombosis: The valve cusp hypoxia thesis and its incompatibility with modern orthodoxy.

The valve cusp hypoxia thesis (VCHT) of the aetiology of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was adumbrated in this journal in 1977 and fully articulated in 2008, the original hypothesis having been strongly corroborated by experiments published in 1981 and 1984. It presents a unitary account of the pathogenesis of venous thrombosis and embolism that is rooted in the pathophysiological tradition of Hunter, Virchow, Lister, Welch and Aschoff, a tradition traceable back to Harvey. In this paper we summarise the thesis in its mature form, consider its compatibility with recent advances in the DVT field, and ask why it has not yet been assimilated into the mainstream literature, which during the past half century has been dominated by a haematology-orientated 'consensus model'.

Hysterical paralysis and premature burial: a medieval Persian case, fear and fascination in the West, and modern practice.

Premature burial (taphophobia) is an ancient fear, but it became especially common in 18th and 19th century Europe and may have a modern-day counterpart. Examination of a well-documented case from medieval Persia reveals the importance of funeral practices in the risk of actual premature burial and sheds light on the question of why taphophobia became so prevalent in Europe during the early industrial revolution period. The medieval Persian case was attributed to hysterical paralysis (conversion).

Leonardo da Vinci's studies of the heart.

Leonardo da Vinci's detailed drawings are justly celebrated; however, less well known are his accounts of the structures and functions of the organs. In this paper, we focus on his illustrations of the heart, his conjectures about heart and blood vessel function, his experiments on model systems to test those conjectures, and his unprecedented conclusions about the way in which the cardiovascular system operates. In particular, da Vinci seems to have been the first to recognize that the heart is a muscle and that systole is the active phase of the pump.

Cranioplasty in medieval Persia and the potential spread of this knowledge to Europe.

Introduction: Skull trepanation is an ancient and often religious act found in remains from around the world. However, cranioplasty for the surgical treatment of skull pathologies is a relatively recent phenomenon. In this paper, we focus on the account of skull injury and cranioplasty in medieval Persia.

Rabi Rashidi (Rashidi Quarters): a late thirteen to early fourteenth century Middle Eastern Medical School.

Introduction: Following the Mongolian invasion of the Middle East in the thirteenth century, a regional power called the Ilkhanid emerged and was ruled by the heirs of Temujin from Mongolia. Embracing present-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, areas of Russia, Turkey, and Pakistan, and nearby Middle Eastern territories, the Ilkhanid state patronized medicine and various other professions. Centered in Tabriz (Tauris), a city in the northwest of present-day Iran, was a non-profit-making educational and medical complex founded by Grand Minister Rashid al-Din Fazlollah Hamadani.

Experimental Validation of Methods for Prophylaxis against Deep Venous Thrombosis: A Review and Proposal.

The experimental procedure by which the valve cusp hypoxia (VCH) hypothesis of the etiology of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) was confirmed lends itself to testing of methods of prophylaxis. Similar animal experiments could end the present exclusive reliance on statistical analysis of data from large patient cohorts to evaluate prophylactic regimes. The reduction of need for such (usually retrospective) analyses could enable rationally-based clinical trials of prophylactic methods to be conducted more rapidly, and the success of such trials would lead to decreased incidences of DVT-related mortality and morbidity.

Analytic theories of allometric scaling.

During the 13 years since it was first advanced, the fractal network theory (FNT), an analytic theory of allometric scaling, has been subjected to a wide range of methodological, mathematical and empirical criticisms, not all of which have been answered satisfactorily. FNT presumes a two-variable power-law relationship between metabolic rate and body mass. This assumption has been widely accepted in the past, but a growing body of evidence during the past quarter century has raised questions about its general validity.

Sulfur mustard toxicity: history, chemistry, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics.

Sulfur mustard (SM) and similar bifunctional agents have been used as chemical weapons for almost 100 years. Victims of high-dose exposure, both combatants and civilians, may die within hours or weeks, but low-dose exposure causes both acute injury to the eyes, skin, respiratory tract and other parts of the body, and chronic sequelae in these organs are often debilitating and have a serious impact on quality of life. Ever since they were first used in warfare in 1917, SM and other mustard agents have been the subjects of intensive research, and their chemistry, pharmacokinetics and mechanisms of toxic action are now fairly well understood.

The role of the renin--angiotensin system in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms.

Introduction: Recent work has begun to elucidate the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms (IA) and has shown that many genes are involved in the risk for this condition. There has also been increasing research interest in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in the brain and it involvement in a range of cardiovascular and neurological disorders. The possibility that the RAS is implicated in the pathogenesis of IA merits further investigation.

Legacy of Avicenna and evidence-based medicine.

Although the term 'evidence-based medicine' (EBM) is of recent origin, its roots are generally agreed to lie in earlier times. Several writers have suggested that the 11th century CE physician and philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) formulated an approach to EBM that broadly resembles modern-day principles and practice. The aim of this paper is to explore the origins and influence of Avicenna's version of EBM.

Mustard gas toxicity: the acute and chronic pathological effects.

Ever since it was first used in armed conflict, mustard gas (sulfur mustard, MG) has been known to cause a wide range of acute and chronic injuries to exposure victims. The earliest descriptions of these injuries were published during and in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, and a further series of accounts followed the Second World War. More recently, MG has been deployed in warfare in the Middle East and this resulted in large numbers of victims, whose conditions have been studied in detail at hospitals in the region.

Diet as prophylaxis and treatment for venous thromboembolism?

Background: Both prophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE: deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary emboli (PE)) with anticoagulants are associated with significant risks of major and fatal hemorrhage. Anticoagulation treatment of VTE has been the standard of care in the USA since before 1962 when the U.S.

The sub-peritoneal arterial plexus of Sir William Turner.

Sir William Turner (1832-1916) was Professor of Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh. His classic paper of 1863 on the anastomoses between the parietal and visceral branches of the abdominal aorta, later known as the sub-peritoneal arterial plexus of Turner, has mostly been forgotten. Located in the retroperitoneum and surrounding the kidneys and other adjacent structures, this plexus is an important route of collateral circulation.

Editorial: hypotheses about protein folding--the proteomic code and wonderfolds.

Theoretical biology journals can contribute in many ways to the progress of knowledge. They are particularly well-placed to encourage dialogue and debate about hypotheses addressing problematical areas of research. An online journal provides an especially useful forum for such debate because of the option of posting comments within days of the publication of a contentious article.

The flux-summation theorem and the 'evolution of dominance'.

The flux-summation theorem (FST) is a central principle of metabolic control analysis. It describes how the control of flux through any metabolic pathway of arbitrary complexity is distributed among the component reaction steps. Two issues concerning the FST are discussed in this paper.

Hypothesis: intracellular acidification contributes to infertility in varicocele.

We suggest that varicocele leads to male factor infertility by a mechanism involving underperfusion of the testis, a shortfall in glucose supply to the tissue, decreased flux through the pentose phosphate pathway, lowering of the reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate/oxidized nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate ratio and the supply of glutathione to the antioxidant systems, increased levels of reactive oxygen species, peroxidation of spermatozoon membrane lipids, and the consequent generation of acidic degradation products and sequestering of spermine. Acidification of the seminal plasma impairs sperm motility and also inhibits most antioxidant enzymes, exacerbating the accumulation of reactive oxygen species and the resultant lowering of pH.

Piezoelectricity and prostate cancer: proposed interaction between electromagnetic field and prostatic crystalloids.

There is evidence that electromagnetic fields (EMF) play some part in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer, but the pathogenic mechanism remains unknown. The normal prostate gland and both benign and malignant prostate lesions contain abundant calcium/phosphorus crystalloids with various morphologies, which seem to be heterogeneously and diffusely distributed within the gland. We hypothesize that an environmental EMF may result in simultaneous, multidirectional and diffuse compression or expansion of these crystalloids (a piezoelectric effect).

Cell mechanics and stress: from molecular details to the 'universal cell reaction' and hormesis.

The 'universal cell reaction' (UCR), a coordinated biphasic response to external (noxious and other) stimuli observed in all living cells, was described by Nasonov and his colleagues in the mid-20th century. This work has received no attention from cell biologists in the West, but the UCR merits serious consideration. Although it is non-specific, it is likely to be underpinned by precise mechanisms and, if these mechanisms were characterized and their relationship to the UCR elucidated, then our understanding of the integration of cellular function could be improved.

Metabolic scaling: consensus or controversy?

Background: The relationship between body mass (M) and standard metabolic rate (B) among living organisms remains controversial, though it is widely accepted that in many cases B is approximately proportional to the three-quarters power of M.

Results: The biological significance of the straight-line plots obtained over wide ranges of species when B is plotted against log M remains a matter of debate. In this article we review the values ascribed to the gradients of such graphs (typically 0.