A Twin Study of Metabolic Syndrome and Autonomic Tone

One possible mechanism of higher cardiovascular mortality associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) may be through abnormal modulation in autonomic tone

Impact of Anatolian Motorway on Large Mammals: Quantifying the Permeability and Impact Zones

Roads are one of the major structures that cause habitat fragmentation all over the world. Motorways and highways especially create a greater disturbance due to their size and extent, not only by increasing the fragmentation but also by resulting in edge effect. Large mammals, due to their need for extensive areas for resources, have large home-ranges, which are more easily fragmented by roads acting as barriers. Motorways and highways may further act as total barriers for certain species, dividing their populations. Turkey is home, still, to a great diversity of large mammals. However, being a developing country, an extensive amount of infrastructure projects have been under way in an increasing fashion during the last two decades. Roads have been built in excessive amounts, serving as the main infrastructural elements to connect new and enlarged settlements and resource extraction sites such as mines and dams. A total of 17,000 kms of highways were built in Turkey during the last decade. Unfortunately, the effects of roads on wildlife have not been assessed. This study is the first one evaluating the road's effects on wildlife in Turkey. In order to evaluate the effects of roads on wildlife, a 100 km. segment of the Anatolian motorway, connecting Ankara and İstanbul, is monitored for two years, using 200+ camera traps located at every underpass. The surrounding forest areas were monitored using additional 55 camera traps utilizing systematic grids at 1,5 x 1,5 kms. A total of 2068 red fox, 1926 golden jackal, 934 wolf, 692 wild boar, 168 brown bear, 32 lynx, 10 red deer and 3 roe deer passing events recorded (filtered by hour). Out of three types of underpasses - culvert, multi-use underpass, viaduct - herbivores used only the viaducts. The heights of underpasses - but not the length or width - significantly affect the preference of all carnivores except red fox. An additional effect of the road on the use of large mammals at varying distances from the road is determined: the use of roadside areas were lower than average use in the 0-500 m. zone while it peaked in 500-1500 m. zone, and undulating around average use at 1500-5000 m. zone on both sides of the road. Such a pattern, caused by the effect of road was also determined in several other studies.peerReviewe

Intracorporeal pneumatic shock application for the treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis: a randomized, double blind prospective clinical trial

This pilot study showed that IPST is an effective and safe method of treatment of patients with chronic PF not responding to conservative measures. IPST application should be considered before surgical intervention when the extracorporeal shock devices are not available for daily practice. However, further evaluation of this novel treatment is necessary to understand the exact mechanism of action

A twin study of metabolic syndrome and autonomic tone.

Introduction: One possible mechanism of higher cardiovascular mortality associated with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) may be through abnormal modulation in autonomic tone. Methods and Results: We examined the association between the MetS and autonomic tone as measured by heart rate variability (HRV) among 288 twins from the Twins Heart Study (THS). Of the 288 participants, 151 (52%) had the MetS. The MetS was associated with decreased HRV across all frequency ranges, and each additional MetS risk factor was associated with lower HRV. After adjustment for several potential confounders, very-low frequency (P < 0.001), low frequency (P < 0.001), and total power (P = 0.02) spectra of HRV remained significantly lower in twins with a progressively higher number of MetS components (18–50% decrease comparing twins with 5 risk factors to those with no risk factors). Among 87 twin pairs who were discordant for the number of MetS components, a one-unit increment in MetS components was associated with an 8% smaller very-low frequency (p = 0.03) and a 15% smaller low frequency spectrum (P = 0.002) comparing each twin with his brother. Conclusion: MetS was associated with lower HRV in a well-characterized sample of middle-aged male twins. This association persisted even after controlling for genetic and shared environmental factors accounted for by comparison within twin pairs. Abnormalities of autonomic tone, as evidenced by lower HRV, may be partly responsible for the higher rate of atrial fibrillation, coronary heart disease, cardiac death, and overall mortality seen in patients with the MetS

Regulation of Tumor Angiogenesis by Ezh2

Although VEGF-targeted therapies are showing promise, new angiogenesis targets are needed to make additional gains. Here, we show that increased Zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) expression in either tumor cells or in tumor vasculature is predictive of poor clinical outcome. The increase in endothelial EZH2 is a direct result of VEGF stimulation by a paracrine circuit that promotes angiogenesis by methylating and silencing vasohibin1 (vash1). Ezh2 silencing in the tumor-associated endothelial cells inhibited angiogenesis mediated by reactivation of VASH1, and reduced ovarian cancer growth, which is further enhanced in combination with ezh2 silencing in tumor cells. Collectively, these data support the potential for targeting ezh2 as an important therapeutic approach.WoSScopu

30-Day Morbidity and Mortality of Bariatric Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Multinational Cohort Study of 7704 Patients from 42 Countries.

BACKGROUND There are data on the safety of cancer surgery and the efficacy of preventive strategies on the prevention of postoperative symptomatic COVID-19 in these patients. But there is little such data for any elective surgery. The main objectives of this study were to examine the safety of bariatric surgery (BS) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and to determine the efficacy of perioperative COVID-19 protective strategies on postoperative symptomatic COVID-19 rates. METHODS We conducted an international cohort study to determine all-cause and COVID-19-specific 30-day morbidity and mortality of BS performed between 01/05/2020 and 31/10/2020. RESULTS Four hundred ninety-nine surgeons from 185 centres in 42 countries provided data on 7704 patients. Elective primary BS (n = 7084) was associated with a 30-day morbidity of 6.76% (n = 479) and a 30-day mortality of 0.14% (n = 10). Emergency BS, revisional BS, insulin-treated type 2 diabetes, and untreated obstructive sleep apnoea were associated with increased complications on multivariable analysis. Forty-three patients developed symptomatic COVID-19 postoperatively, with a higher risk in non-whites. Preoperative self-isolation, preoperative testing for SARS-CoV-2, and surgery in institutions not concurrently treating COVID-19 patients did not reduce the incidence of postoperative COVID-19. Postoperative symptomatic COVID-19 was more likely if the surgery was performed during a COVID-19 peak in that country. CONCLUSIONS BS can be performed safely during the COVID-19 pandemic with appropriate perioperative protocols. There was no relationship between preoperative testing for COVID-19 and self-isolation with symptomatic postoperative COVID-19. The risk of postoperative COVID-19 risk was greater in non-whites or if BS was performed during a local peak