Reservoir-Excess Pressure Parameters Independently Predicts Cardiovascular Events in Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes.

The parameters derived from reservoir-excess pressure analysis have prognostic utility in several populations. However, evidence in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) remains scarce. We determined if these parameters were associated with T2DM and whether they would predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM. We studied 306 people with T2DM with cardiovascular disease (CVD; DMCVD, 70.4±7.8 years), 348 people with T2DM but without CVD (diabetes mellitus, 67.7±8.4 years), and 178 people without T2DM or CVD (control group [CTRL], 67.2±8.9 years). Reservoir-excess pressure analysis-derived parameters, including reservoir pressure integral, peak reservoir pressure, excess pressure integral, systolic rate constant, and diastolic rate constant, were obtained by radial artery tonometry. Reservoir pressure integral was lower in DMCVD diabetes mellitus and than CTRL. Peak reservoir pressure was lower, and excess pressure integral was greater in DMCVD diabetes mellitus than and CTRL. Systolic rate constant was lower in a stepwise manner among groups (DMCVD< diabetes mellitus <CTRL). Diastolic rate constant was greater in DMCVD than CTRL. In the subgroup of individuals with T2DM (n=642), 14 deaths (6 cardiovascular and 9 noncardiovascular causes), and 108 cardiovascular events occurred during a 3-year follow-up period. Logistic regression analysis revealed that reservoir pressure integral (odds ratio, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.45-0.79]) and diastolic rate constant (odds ratio, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.25-2.06]) were independent predictors of cardiovascular events during follow-up after adjusting for conventional risk factors (both P<0.001). Further adjustments for potential confounders had no influence on associations. These findings demonstrate that altered reservoir-excess pressure analysis-derived parameters are associated with T2DM. Furthermore, baseline values of reservoir pressure integral and diastolic rate constant independently predict cardiovascular events in individuals with T2DM, indicating the potential clinical utility of these parameters for risk stratification in T2DM

New Canadian natural health product regulations: a qualitative study of how CAM practitioners perceive they will be impacted

BACKGROUND: New Canadian policy to regulate natural health products (NHPs), such as herbs and vitamins were implemented on January 1(st), 2004. We explored complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners' perceptions of how the new regulations may affect their practices and relationships with patients/consumers. METHODS: This was an applied ethnographic study. Data were collected in fall 2004 via qualitative interviews with 37 Canadian leaders of four CAM groups that use natural products as a core part of their practises: naturopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), homeopathic medicine and Western herbalism. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded independently by a minimum of two investigators using content analysis. RESULTS: Three key findings emerged from the data: 1) all CAM leaders were concerned with issues of their own access to NHPs; 2) all the CAM leaders, except for the homeopathic leaders, specifically indicated a desire to have a restricted schedule of NHPs; and 3) only naturopathic leaders were concerned the NHP regulations could potentially endanger patients if they self-medicate incorrectly. CONCLUSION: Naturopaths, TCM practitioners, homeopaths, and Western herbalists were all concerned about how the new NHP regulations will affect their access to the products they need to practice effectively. Additional research will need to focus on what impacts actually occur as the regulations are implemented more fully

Cohesion as ‘common sense’: Everyday narratives of community and cohesion in New Labour’s Britain

The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Politics, Vol. 36(3) July 2016, DOI: 10.1177/0263395715620811 published by SAGE Publishing. All rights reservedThis article engages with popular narratives of community and cohesion, explored through a series of focus groups in Bradford and Birmingham. This article argues that the participants interviewed used discourses propagated by government to make sense of these narratives in their neighbourhoods and communities. The use of these discourses constructs what Gramsci calls a ‘common sense’ position, which legitimises a specific and targeted notion of cohesion. However, participants can contaminate these discourses, which can lead to subtle changes or explicit challenges to dominant discourses on community and cohesion in the United Kingdom.Peer reviewe

Comparison of choose-a-movie and approach-avoidance paradigms used to measure social motivation

Social motivation is a subjective state which is rather difficult to quantify. It has sometimes been conceptualised as “behavioural effort” to seek social contact. Two paradigms: approach–avoidance (AA) and choose a movie (CAM), based on the same conceptualisation, have been used to measure social motivation in people with and without autism. However, in absence of a direct comparison, it is hard to know which of these paradigms has higher sensitivity in estimating preference for social over non-social stimuli. Here we compare these two tasks for their utility in (1) evaluating social seeking in typical people and (2) identifying the influence of autistic traits on social motivation. Our results suggest that CAM reveals a clear preference for social stimuli over non-social in typical adults but AA fails to do so. Also, social seeking measured with CAM but not AA has a negative relationship between autistic traits

An Estimate of the Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Prostate cancer (PCa) is rated the second most common cancer and sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men globally. Reports show that African men suffer disproportionately from PCa compared to men from other parts of the world. It is still quite difficult to accurately describe the burden of PCa in Africa due to poor cancer registration systems.We systematically reviewed the literature on prostate cancer in Africa and provided a continentwide incidence rate of PCa based on available data in the regio

Acoustic Overexposure Increases the Expression of VGLUT-2 Mediated Projections from the Lateral Vestibular Nucleus to the Dorsal Cochlear Nucleus

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is a first relay of the central auditory system as well as a site for integration of multimodal information. Vesicular glutamate transporters VGLUT-1 and VGLUT-2 selectively package glutamate into synaptic vesicles and are found to have different patterns of organization in the DCN. Whereas auditory nerve fibers predominantly co-label with VGLUT-1, somatosensory inputs predominantly co-label with VGLUT-2. Here, we used retrograde and anterograde transport of fluorescent conjugated dextran amine (DA) to demonstrate that the lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) exhibits ipsilateral projections to both fusiform and deep layers of the rat DCN. Stimulating the LVN induced glutamatergic synaptic currents in fusiform cells and granule cell interneurones. We combined the dextran amine neuronal tracing method with immunohistochemistry and showed that labeled projections from the LVN are co-labeled with VGLUT-2 by contrast to VGLUT-1. Wistar rats were exposed to a loud single tone (15 kHz, 110 dB SPL) for 6 hours. Five days after acoustic overexposure, the level of expression of VGLUT-1 in the DCN was decreased whereas the level of expression of VGLUT-2 in the DCN was increased including terminals originating from the LVN. VGLUT-2 mediated projections from the LVN to the DCN are likely to play a role in the head position in response to sound. Amplification of VGLUT-2 expression after acoustic overexposure could be a compensatory mechanism from vestibular inputs in response to hearing loss and to a decrease of VGLUT-1 expression from auditory nerve fibers

Physics and Applications of Laser Diode Chaos

An overview of chaos in laser diodes is provided which surveys experimental achievements in the area and explains the theory behind the phenomenon. The fundamental physics underpinning this behaviour and also the opportunities for harnessing laser diode chaos for potential applications are discussed. The availability and ease of operation of laser diodes, in a wide range of configurations, make them a convenient test-bed for exploring basic aspects of nonlinear and chaotic dynamics. It also makes them attractive for practical tasks, such as chaos-based secure communications and random number generation. Avenues for future research and development of chaotic laser diodes are also identified.Comment: Published in Nature Photonic