Predictors of health-related quality of life in korean patients with myocardial infarction: a longitudinal observational study

© 2018 Elsevier Inc. Background: Experience of myocardial infarction (MI) negatively affects different aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Objectives: This study aimed to examine trends in HRQoL of MI patients and to identify demographic, clinical and psychosocial predictors of HRQoL at three months. Methods: A total of 150 patients in South Korea were completed the study questionnaires at baseline. After three months from discharge, 136 participants completed follow-up questionnaires, including the Korean version of the MacNew Quality of Life after Myocardial Infarction Questionnaire (MacNew). Results: HRQoL significantly improved over three months. Younger age, ST-elevation MI, and higher LVEF, lower level of depression, better understanding of the illness and higher perceived social support at baseline were associated with better HRQoL at three months. Conclusion: Providing adequate information about the illness and social support as well as reducing negative psychological experiences in early days after MI may improve HRQoL of MI patients

Correlates of health-related quality of life in patients with myocardial infarction: A literature review

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Background By the increasing emphasis on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with myocardial infarction (MI), it is necessary to explore factors that affect HRQoL in this population. Objectives This study aimed to identify correlates of HRQoL in patients with MI. Design A literature review of the factors that affect HRQoL in patients with MI (1995–2016). Data sources Three main databases—CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsychINFO—were searched to retrieve relevant peer-reviewed articles published in English. Review methods In consultation with a medical librarian, we identified relevant MeSH terms and used them for searching the literature: health-related quality of life/quality of life/HRQoL/QoL, myocardial infarction/heart attack/MI and predict*/factor. Data elements were extracted and narratively described variables synthesised into four categories. Results A total of 48 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Correlates of HRQoL in patients with MI were identified in the following categories: demographic, behavioural, disease-related, and psychosocial factors. Specific correlates included age and gender-identity for demographic factors; physical activity and smoking for behavioural factors; severity of MI, symptoms, and comorbidities for disease-related factors; anxiety and depression for psychosocial factors. Conclusions Identifying correlates of HRQoL can help identify patients who are at risk for poor HRQoL in the recovery or rehabilitation stage of post-MI. Future intervention should focus on adjustable correlates such as behavioural and psychosocial factors to promote HRQoL among patients after experiencing MI

Vascular Proteomics Reveal Novel Proteins Involved in SMC Phenotypic Change: OLR1 as a SMC Receptor Regulating Proliferation and Inflammatory Response

Neointimal hyperplasia of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) plays a critical role in atherosclerotic plaque formation and in-stent restenosis, but the underlying mechanisms are still incompletely understood. We performed a proteomics study to identify novel signaling molecules organizing the VSMC hyperplasia. The differential proteomics analysis in a balloon- induced injury model of rat carotid artery revealed that the expressions of 44 proteins are changed within 3 days post injury. The combination of cellular function assays and a protein network analysis further demonstrated that 27 out of 44 proteins constitute key signaling networks orchestrating the phenotypic change of VSMC from contractile to epithelial-like synthetic. Among the list of proteins, the in vivo validation specifically revealed that six proteins (Rab 15, ITR, OLR1, PDH beta, PTP epsilon) are positive regulators for VSMC hyperplasia. In particular, the OLR1 played dual roles in the VSMC hyperplasia by directly mediating oxidized LDL-induced monocyte adhesion via NF-kappa B activation and by assisting the PDGF-induced proliferation/migration. Importantly, OLR1 and PDGFR beta were associated in close proximity in the plasma membrane. Thus, this study elicits the protein network organizing the phenotypic change of VSMC in the vascular injury diseases such as atherosclerosis and discovers OLR1 as a novel molecular link between the proliferative and inflammatory responses of VSMCs.1133Ysciescopu

An Evaluation of Alternative Estimation Techniques and Functional Forms in Developing Statistical Appraisal Models

This paper examines the combined effects of multicollinearity, parameter stability, and alternative function forms in hedonic regression models. The results indicate that the significance and stability of the regression coefficients as well as prediction accuracy are sensitive to the choice of functional form and estimation technique. In certain respects nonlinear models proved to be more effective than linear models and ridge regression techniques were generally superior to OLS estimation. Since no single estimation technique or functional form was superior in all respects, the appraiser may have to choose between minimizing the average prediction error or maximizing prediction stability.

Photo collage-based photograph display system on mobile computing platform

In the last few decades, mobile computing platform technology has grown rapidly, as observed from smart phones that have quickly become ubiquitous. The mobile computing platform is the most widely used platform in our life today, and digital photographs captured through these devices have become routine for most people. In this study, we propose a novel artistic method for displaying photographs in mobile devices as a photo collage. Using our system, users can view a representative photograph as a collage of photographs associated with a certain event and access each of photographs individually. To implement this, we employ centroidal Voronoi diagram to obtain an even distribution of tiles, and use the sites as the location of tiles. We use the edge avoidance technique to prevent tiles from being located across the edges. To obtain the direction of tiles that follow near a strong edge, we employ the Edge tangent Flow field and use the field as the directions of tiles. Finally, we search for photographs that best match the tiles calculated above by using a thumbnail difference metric

Photoemission and x-ray absorption spectroscopy study of electron-doped colossal magnetoresistance manganite: La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 film

The electronic structure of La0.7Ce0.3MnO3 (LCeMO) thin film has been investigated using photoemission spectroscopy (PES) and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). The Ce 3d core-level PES and XAS spectra of LCeMO are very similar to those of CeO2, indicating that Ce ions are far from being trivalent. A very weak 4f resonance is observed around the Ce 4d $\to$ 4f absorption edge, suggesting that the localized Ce 4f states are almost empty in the ground state. The Mn 2p XAS spectrum reveals the existence of the Mn(2+) multiplet feature, confirming the Mn(2+)-Mn(3+) mixed-valent states of Mn ions in LCeMO. The measured Mn 3d PES/XAS spectra for LCeMO agrees reasonably well with the calculated Mn 3d PDOS using the LSDA+U method. The LSDA+U calculation predicts a half-metallic ground state for LCeMO.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure