Considerable variations in growth hormone policy and prescription in paediatric end-stage renal disease across European countries—a report from the ESPN/ERA-EDTA registry

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Role of beam polarization in the determination of WWγWW\gamma and WWZWWZ couplings from e+e−→W+W−e^+e^-\to W^+W^-

We evaluate the constraints on anomalous trilinear gauge-boson couplings that can be obtained from the study of electron-positron annihilation into $W$ pairs at a facility with either the electron beam longitudinally polarized or both electron and positron beams transversely polarized. The energy ranges considered in the analysis are the ones relevant to the next-linear collider and to LEP~200. We discuss the possibilities of a model independent analysis of the general $CP$ conserving anomalous effective Lagrangian, as well as its restriction to some specific models with reduced number of independent couplings. The combination of observables with initial and final state polarizations allows to separately constrain the different couplings and to improve the corresponding numerical bounds.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, 9 figures (available on request from the authors

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±

International expert consensus statement: Percutaneous transluminal renal denervation for the treatment of resistant hypertension

Catheter-based radiofrequency ablation technology to disrupt both efferent and afferent renal nerves has recently been introduced to clinical medicine after the demonstration of significant systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions. Clinical trial data available thus far have been obtained primarily in patients with resistant hypertension, defined as standardized systolic clinic blood pressure ≥160 mm Hg (or ≥150 mm Hg in patients with type 2 diabetes) despite appropriate pharmacologic treatment with at least 3 antihypertensive drugs, including a diuretic agent. Accordingly, these criteria and blood pressure thresholds should be borne in mind when selecting patients for renal nerve ablation. Secondary forms of hypertension and pseudoresistance, such as nonadherence to medication, intolerance of medication, and white coat hypertension, should have been ruled out, and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is mandatory in this context. Because there are theoretical concerns with regard to renal safety, selected patients should have preserved renal function, with an estimated glomerular filtration rate ≥45 ml/min/1.73 m 2. Optimal periprocedural management of volume status and medication regimens at specialized and experienced centers equipped with adequate infrastructure to cope with potential procedural complications will minimize potential patient risks. Long-term safety and efficacy data are limited to 3 years of follow-up in small patient cohorts, so efforts to monitor treated patients are crucial to define the long-term performance of the procedure. Although renal nerve ablation could have beneficial effects in other conditions characterized by elevated renal sympathetic nerve activity, its potential use for such indications should currently be limited to formal research studies of its safety and efficacy. © 2013 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation Published by Elsevier Inc