The effects of interval length between sessions in a hypercholesterolemia education class.

This study focused on the effects of different intervals between sessions of a hypercholesterolemia education class on post-intervention outcomes. The same comprehensive group-programme contents on hypercholesterolemia were delivered either monthly (for 6 months) or twice-monthly (for 3 months) by the same teaching professionals in a community setting. The twice-monthly programme included 46 participants (male/female = 7/39, average age: 65.8 years)and the monthly programme consisted of 48(male/female = 9/39, age: 66.4). At the beginning of the study, all subjects belonged to the 'contemplation' stage of diet and exercise habits within the Transtheoretical Model of Change. The stage-matched intervention helped many participants move to the 'action ' stage by 6 months after the last session, especially in the twice-monthly group. The change rate of exercise from the 'contemplation' stage to the 'action' stage was significantly higher in the twice-monthly group (76.1 percent) than in the monthly (54.2 percent ). In both monthly and twice-monthly formats, participants' satisfaction and understanding levels at the end of the programme were high, but were significantly higher in the twice-monthly group. Through favorable lifestyles and higher levels of satisfaction and learning, the twice-monthly format may produce more positive results in cholesterol management than the monthly format, as the shorter period of time makes the programme more intensive.</p

The Nature of Ultra-Luminous Compact X-Ray Sources in Nearby Spiral Galaxies

Studies were made of ASCA spectra of seven ultra-luminous compact X-ray sources (ULXs) in nearby spiral galaxies; M33 X-8 (Takano et al. 1994), M81 X-6 (Fabbiano 1988b; Kohmura et al. 1994; Uno 1997), IC 342 Source 1 (Okada et al. 1998), Dwingeloo 1 X-1 (Reynolds et al. 1997), NGC 1313 Source B (Fabbiano & Trinchieri 1987; Petre et al. 1994), and two sources in NGC 4565 (Mizuno et al. 1999). With the 0.5--10 keV luminosities in the range 10^{39-40} ergs/s, they are thought to represent a class of enigmatic X-ray sources often found in spiral galaxies. For some of them, the ASCA data are newly processed, or the published spectra are reanalyzed. For others, the published results are quoted. The ASCA spectra of all these seven sources have been described successfully with so called multi-color disk blackbody (MCD) emission arising from optically-thick standard accretion disks around black holes. Except the case of M33 X-8, the spectra do not exhibit hard tails. For the source luminosities not to exceed the Eddington limits, the black holes are inferred to have rather high masses, up to ~100 solar masses. However, the observed innermost disk temperatures of these objects, Tin = 1.1--1.8 keV, are too high to be compatible with the required high black-hole masses, as long as the standard accretion disks around Schwarzschild black holes are assumed. Similarly high disk temperatures are also observed from two Galactic transients with superluminal motions, GRO 1655-40 and GRS 1915+105. The issue of unusually high disk temperature may be explained by the black hole rotation, which makes the disk get closer to the black hole, and hence hotter.Comment: submitted to ApJ, December 199

Studies on ²H NMR and single crystal X-ray diffraction of thermochromic bis (N,N-diethyl-1,2-ethanediamine) nickel (II) complexes with and without structural phase transitions

The thermochromic complex bis(N,N-diethyl-1,2-ethanediamine) ((C2H5)2NC2H4NH2) nickel (II) perchlorate([Ni(dieten) 2](ClO4)2) was studied by single crystal X-ray diffraction and found to form a triclinic lattice with space group P1̄, a = 8.108(1)&#197;, b = 8.835(1)&#197;, c = 9.736(1)&#197;, &#945; = 94.24(1)°, &#946; = 114.28(1)°, &#947; = 116.49(1)° and Z = 1 being isomorphous with that of [Cu(dieten) 2](ClO4)2 which has been reported to have a thermochromic phase transition. The temperature dependences of 2H NMR spectra in [Ni(dieten-d2)2]X2 (dieten-d2: (C2H5)2NC2H4ND2; X: ClO4, BF4, Br, NO3, I) were observed and quadrupole coupling constants e2Qq and asymmetry parameters &#951; were evaluated. Below room temperature, an almost rigid structure of the ND2 group was derived by analyzing the spectra. For perchlorate and tetrafluoroborate with colour changes at respective phase transition temperatures (Tc), quadrupole parameters were also changed discontinuously at Tc. The analysis of spectra observed above Tc afforded two-site jumps of the N-D bond by angles of 52–55° supporting the ring-puckering model of the five-membered chelate ring. However, iodide having no phase transition showed continuous changes of both e2Qq and &#951; values with increasing temperature up to 450 K. These results which cannot be attributed to the puckering motion were explained by whole complex reorientation. These molecular motions are discussed in connection with the colour change observed in these complexes

Malocclusion of Molar Teeth Is Associated with Activities of Daily Living Loss and Delirium in Elderly Critically Ill Older Patients

A single-center retrospective cohort study examined the association between molar malocclusion status at ICU admission and loss of activities of daily living (ADL) at hospital discharge among acutely ill patients. Patients were assigned to the bilateral occlusion group or malocclusion group (N = 227 and 93, respectively). The following data were collected from electronic medical records: age, sex, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) on admission, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) Ⅱ score, confirmed diagnosis (neurological disorders or others), CFS at hospital discharge, and occlusion condition. Patients who were frail at admission (CFS &gt; 5) were excluded from analysis, and ADL loss was defined as CFS &gt; 5 at hospital discharge. Multivariate analysis showed malocclusion was independently associated with ADL loss [OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.13–3.64; p = 0.02]. For those aged 65 and older, malocclusion was significantly associated with both ADL loss [OR, 3.25; 95% CI, 1.44–7.32; p &lt; 0.01] and the incidence of delirium [OR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.14–5.95; p = 0.02]. Malocclusion on ICU admission was associated with ADL loss in critically ill patients, and was associated with ADL loss and the incidence of delirium in the elderly. Poor oral health was a poor prognostic factor among critically ill patients

Microglial SIRP alpha regulates the emergence of CD11c(+) microglia and demyelination damage in white matter

A characteristic subset of microglia expressing CD11c appears in response to brain damage. However, the functional role of CD11c(+) microglia, as well as the mechanism of its induction, are poorly understood. Here we report that the genetic ablation of signal regulatory protein alpha (SIRP alpha), a membrane protein, induced the emergence of CD11c(+) microglia in the brain white matter. Mice lacking CD47, a physiological ligand of SIRP alpha, and microglia-specific SIRP alpha-knockout mice exhibited the same phenotype, suggesting that an interaction between microglial SIRP alpha and CD47 on neighbouring cells suppressed the emergence of CD11c(+) microglia. A lack of SIRP alpha did not cause detectable damage to the white matter, but resulted in the increased expression of genes whose expression is characteristic of the repair phase after demyelination. In addition, cuprizone-induced demyelination was alleviated by the microglia-specific ablation of SIRP alpha. Thus, microglial SIRP alpha suppresses the induction of CD11c(+) microglia that have the potential to accelerate the repair of damaged white matter