Markers Of Cardiometabolic Risk And Thyroid Dysfunction In U.s. Adolescents: Nhanes Iii

The global prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its associated components (high fasting glucose, waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, and low HDL) have increased over the past few decades. In addition, abnormal thyroid hormone levels have been found to manifest in a cascade of metabolic dysfunction, which may be linked to MetS in youth. PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to investigate the association between MetS, its components, and markers of thyroid function in a nationally-representative sample of adolescents. METHODS: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) collected data on the components of metabolic syndrome and thyroid function in 1,322 adolescents aged 12-18.9 years (613 males and 709 females). Participants were grouped based on MetS status, number of MetS components, and markers of thyroid function using age- and sex-specific reference values (including thyroid stimulating hormone [TSH], thyroxine [T4], antimicrosomal antibody [AMA], and anti-thyroglobulin antibody [TgAb]. Logistic models were used to predict the status of the thyroid markers (as high/low) from MetS status, controlling for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: In males MetS prevalence was 6.1% (16.7% had at least 2 MetS components). In females, MetS prevalence was 4.8% (22% had at least 2 MetS components). Males with ≥2 MetS components had significantly higher odds of being TPOAb positive (OR = 7.9, 95%CI [1.7,36.8]) and were not likely to be TgAb positive (OR = 0.7 95%CI [0.1,6.4]). Females with ≥2 MetS components were 1.8 times more likely to be TPOAb positive (OR = 1.8 95%CI [0.5,6.5]) and 1.3 times more likely to be TgAb positive (OR = 1.3 95%CI [0.4-4.3]). In males, TG, WC, HDL-C, and DBP were significantly increased in the elevated TPOAb group (all P\u3c0.05). No significant differences were observed in females. Odds ratios for MetS components were calculated according to TSH decile. Male subjects in the top decile of TSH had significantly higher odds of elevated TG; females were less likely to have increased BP (both P\u3c0.05). Males in the bottom TSH decile were unlikely to present with elevated fasting glucose while females are unlikely to have elevated TG, WC, or fasting glucose (all P\u3c0.05). CONCLUSION: Covert thyroid dysfunction often accompanies many components of MetS. Therefore, we encourage future researchers to investigate the clinical utility of restoring thyroid function as a component in the consolidation of treatment for MetS. The present study is unable to explain the effect of TPOAb on MetS, although we do believe there is a link. Research should be conducted on the biochemical processes in which TPOAb may influence MetS. Plausibly, the present study and studies conducted prior to ours suggest a bidirectional relationship between MetS and thyroid dysfunctio

Strong Violations of Bell-type Inequalities for Path-Entangled Number States

We show that nonlocal correlation experiments on the two spatially separated modes of a maximally path-entangled number state may be performed and lead to a violation of a Clauser-Horne Bell inequality for any finite photon number N. We present also an analytical expression for the two-mode Wigner function of a maximally path-entangled number state and investigate a Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell inequality for such states. We test other Bell-type inequalities. Some are violated by a constant amount for any N.Comment: 6 pages, LaTex; revised version accepted for publication in PR

Foreign Direct Investment in Eastern Europe: Applying Traditional Models of FDI to the Transitional Countries of Eastern Europe

An empirical analysis is used to determine whether the factors that normally explain FDI flows to developing countries are also suitable to explain FDI flows to the developing countries of Eastern Europe for the years 1988-1992. It was found that a typical set of explanatory variables which explain FDI flows to non Eastern Europe developing countries very well, is not a useful set of determinants for FDI flows to Eastern Europe. Conclusions are drawn concerning the extent to which these results reflect the current state of political and economic transition taking place in Eastern Europe

SECURITY, DEVELOPMENT, AND (IM)MOBILITY: THE UNEVEN GEOGRAPHY OF MIGRATION AND BORDER MANAGEMENT IN UKRAINE

As a country of origin, transit, and destination for migrants that now borders four European Union (EU) member countries, Ukraine has seen future integration possibilities with the EU become, in part, conditional upon its willingness to cooperate in controlling cross-border migration. The EU is now “externalizing” aspects of migration and border control to Ukraine through making investments in Ukraine’s capacity to selectively “manage” cross-border flows in line with EU security and economy priorities. In the context of this emerging spatial arrangement of EU externalization, this thesis analyzes how, by whom, and to what effect migration is being managed in and through Ukraine. Policies of migration and border management are now materializing in Ukraine in relation to actors and discourses that incorporate imperatives for security and development in their approaches to governance. Therefore, this thesis investigates migration and border management at the geopolitical nexus of development, security, and migrant (im)mobility. It does this with a critical concern for those migrants whose exclusion from the EU is subject to humanitarian management in Ukraine

Radial versus femoral access for rotational atherectomy: A UK observational study of 8622 patients

Background—Rotational atherectomy (RA) is an important interventional tool for heavily calcified coronary lesions. We compared the early clinical outcomes in patients undergoing RA using radial or femoral access. Methods and Results—We identified all patients in England and Wales who underwent RA between January 1, 2005, and March 31, 2014. Eight thousand six hundred twenty-two RA cases (3069 radial and 5553 femoral) were included in the analysis. The study primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Propensity scores were calculated to determine the factors associated with treatment assignment to radial or femoral access. Multivariable logistic regression analysis, using the calculated propensity scores, was performed. Thirty-day mortality was 2.2% in the radial and 2.3% in the femoral group (P=0.76). Radial access was associated with equivalent 30-day mortality (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77–1.46; P=0.71), procedural success (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.84–1.29; P=0.73), major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.80–1.38; P=0.72), and net adverse clinical events (OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.71–1.15; P=0.41), but lower rates of in-hospital major bleeding (OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.40–0.98; P=0.04) and major access site complications (OR, 0.05; 95% CI, 0.01–0.38; P=0.004), compared with femoral access. Conclusions—In this large real-world study of patients undergoing RA, radial access was associated with equivalent 30-day mortality and procedural success, but reduced major bleeding and access site complications, compared with femoral access

An Investigation into the Relationship Between the Subjective Descriptor Aggressive and the Universal Audio 1176 FET Compressor

In popular music productions, the lead vocal is often the main focus of the mix and engineers will work hard to impart creative colouration on this source. This paper conducts listening experiments to test if there is a correlation between perceived distortion and the descriptor “aggressive” which is often used to describe the sonic signature of the Universal Audio 1176. The results from this study show compression settings that impart audible distortion are perceived as aggressive by the listener and. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between the subjective scores for distortion and aggressive. eIt was also shown that there is a strong correlation between compression settings measured rated to have 0.5% THD and above were rated as both the most distorted and most aggressive. high aggressive scores and the audio feature roughness

Beyond Legal Realism?: Cultural Analysis, Cultural Studies, and the Situation of Legal Scholarship

Everywhere it seems that culture is in ascendance. More and more social groups are claiming to have distinctive cultures and are demanding recognition of their cultural distinctiveness. Identity politics has merged with cultural politics, so that to have an identity one must now also have a culture. Those who fail to establish their culture risk having their truth missed by the myriad of authorities--courts, admissions committees, draft boards-whose judgments help determine life fates. As a result, it sometimes seems as if almost every ethnic, religious, or social group seeks to have its culture recognized, and for precisely this reason the cultural itself has become a subject of political discourse to a much greater extent than in the past. Yet despite the growing sense that culture must be recognized, there is little consensus on what the boundaries of the cultural are, let alone how to read it in any particular instance. Moreover, the backlash against the proliferation of cultures and identities, and the politics of recognition, has been vehement. Politicians declare culture wars in an effort to reassert both the meaning and centrality of certain allegedly transcendent human values. Debates about the meaning and significance of culture become arguments about civilization itself, in which acknowledgment of cultural pluralism and its accompanying decanonization of the sacred Western texts are treated as undermining national unity, national purpose, and the meaning of being American. Political contests are increasingly fought over values and symbols, with different parties advancing competing cultural programs. With the decline of ideology as an organizing force in international relations, culture seems to provide another vantage point from which to understand new polarities.\u27 In addition, the cache of the cultural is increasingly resonant in public policy, where traditional goals like reducing crime and poverty are giving way to cultural goals like reducing the fear of crime, and eliminating the culture of dependency. The cultural is the implicit and explicit space of intervention for popular new strategies like community policing and workfare, which promise to address objective problems by altering the attitudes and experiences of the subjects of policing and welfare. Government and other formal organizations believe that it is essential to have cultural strategies in order to govern their employees and customers more effectively and manage their popular images

Fall And Rise: Changes In The Fish Community Of Triplett Creek Following Restoration Of A Channelized Reach

In the early 1970s, Triplett Creek in Morehead, Kentucky, was straightened, deepened, and widened, resulting in a rather homogenous aquatic habitat, varying little in depth, flow, and substrate. In summer of 2018, a section of the stream was “restored” in order to alleviate the bank instability and flooding problems created by the 1970s channelization, restore the health of its aquatic community, and improve recreational opportunities. Our goal was to examine changes in the fish population resulting from the extensive changes to the channel and substrate during the restoration. We studied the fish populations at four sites (two sites in the restored area and two unaltered reference sites) in June of 2018, just before the restoration work occurred, and then four times after the work occurred, in October 2018, June 2019, October 2019, and October 2020. Fishes were qualitatively sampled using backpack electrofishing and seining. Encountered fishes were identified and counted, which allowed us to assess the fish community health using the Kentucky Index of Biotic Integrity (KIBI). In June 2018, prior to any restoration work, the four sites had KIBI scores between 59 and 70, all of which rated as “good”. The two sites in the restored area had a higher proportion of nonnative species, and fewer darters compared to the reference sites. In October 2018 and June 2019, after the restoration work, the restored sites declined slightly in KIBI scores, had reduced number of species detected, especially species considered “intolerant” by KIBI, and had reduced number of darter species, while the control sites showed little change. However, in October 2019 and October 2020, KIBI metrics had greatly improved in the restored sites, becoming similar to, or surpassing, KIBI metrics in the reference sites. However, the restored sites still have considerably more nonnative species than do the reference sites, perhaps because riparian vegetation and large woody debris has yet to be established in the restored sites.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2021/1003/thumbnail.jp