Advanced atherosclerosis in predialysis patients with chronic renal failure

Advanced atherosclerosis in predialysis patients with chronic renal failure.BackgroundAtherosclerosis is advanced in hemodialysis patients as shown by increased intima-media thickness of carotid arteries (CA-IMT), although it is not established whether the advanced atherosclerosis results from hemodialysis treatment or from chronic renal failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of hemodialysis and renal failure on CA-IMT in patients with chronic renal failure.MethodsCA-IMT was measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography in 110 patients with chronic renal failure before starting dialysis (CRF group), and compared with CA-IMT of 345 hemodialysis patients (HD group) and 302 healthy control subjects. They were all nondiabetic and the three groups were comparable in age and gender.ResultsAs compared with the healthy control subjects, the CRF and HD groups had greater CA-IMTs, whereas CA-IMTs of the CRF and HD groups were not statistically different. There was no significant correlation between duration of hemodialysis and CA-IMT in the HD group. Multiple regression analysis in the total subjects indicated that presence of renal failure, but not being treated with hemodialysis, was a significant factor associated with increased CA-IMT independent of age, gender, blood pressure, smoking, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and non-HDL cholesterol levels.ConclusionsThese results demonstrate that thickening of arterial wall is present in patients with chronic renal failure before starting hemodialysis treatment, and support the concept that advanced atherosclerosis in hemodialysis patients is due not to hemodialysis treatment, but to renal failure and/or metabolic abnormalities secondary to renal failure

Farber's disease (disseminated lipogranulomatosis): the first case reported in Japan.

We report the first case in Japan, i.e., the first case among oriental subject of Farber's disease. This is a rare disorder of lipid metabolism in infancy subsequent to a genetically-determined defect in ceramide degradation. Main features are characterized clinically by hoarseness, joint swelling, subcutaneous nodules and retarded psychomotor development. Lipid analysis and pathological investigation on the material obtained from a subcutaneous nodule confirmed clearly the presence of ceramide and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies characteristic for Farber's disease. In this case, we experienced also corneal opacity and striking abnormalities in electroencephalogram, which have apparently not been noticed in the 17 cases hitherto reported.</p

Verification of Downscaling Framework for Interannual Variation of Tropical Cyclone in Western North Pacific

The downscaling framework, which is originally proposed by Emanuel et al. (2008), is modified to improve the interannual variation of the tropical cyclone features in Western North Pacific (WNP). The original framework, which utilizes axisymmetric model driven using monthly mean atmosphere and ocean variables, well reproduced interannual variation of tropical cyclone indices over North Atlantic while there is room for further improvement over WNP. The modified treatment of relative vorticity plays an essential role for improving interannual variation of genesis counts and power dissipation index in WNP. In this update, we introduced probability of cyclogenesis special to WNP which is a priori calculated using monthly mean 850-hPa level relative vorticity and best track. The result suggests that the monthly mean relative vorticity represents a potential of characteristic initiating disturbance in WNP such as monsoon trough and intraseasonal variation. Another experiment shows increased influence of vertical wind shear in middle troposphere improves the distribution of tropical cyclogenesis in WNP while it slightly deteriorates the interannual variation of genesis count

Verification of Downscaling Framework for Interannual Variation of Tropical Cyclone in Western North Pacific

The downscaling framework, which is originally proposed by Emanuel et al. (2008), is modified to improve the interannual variation of the tropical cyclone features in Western North Pacific (WNP). The original framework, which utilizes axisymmetric model driven using monthly mean atmosphere and ocean variables, well reproduced interannual variation of tropical cyclone indices over North Atlantic while there is room for further improvement over WNP. The modified treatment of relative vorticity plays an essential role for improving interannual variation of genesis counts and power dissipation index in WNP. In this update, we introduced probability of cyclogenesis special to WNP which is a priori calculated using monthly mean 850-hPa level relative vorticity and best track. The result suggests that the monthly mean relative vorticity represents a potential of characteristic initiating disturbance in WNP such as monsoon trough and intraseasonal variation. Another experiment shows increased influence of vertical wind shear in middle troposphere improves the distribution of tropical cyclogenesis in WNP while it slightly deteriorates the interannual variation of genesis count