Depression in primary care patients with coronary heart disease: baseline findings from the UPBEAT UK study

BACKGROUND: An association between depression and coronary heart disease is now accepted but there has been little primary care research on this topic. The UPBEAT-UK studies are centred on a cohort of primary patients with coronary heart disease assessed every six months for up to four years. The aim of this research was to determine the prevalence and associations of depression in this cohort at baseline. METHOD: Participants with coronary heart disease were recruited from general practice registers and assessed for cardiac symptoms, depression, quality of life and social problems. RESULTS: 803 people participated. 42% had a documented history of myocardial infarction, 54% a diagnosis of ischaemic heart disease or angina. 44% still experienced chest pain. 7% had an ICD-10 defined depressive disorder. Factors independently associated with this diagnosis were problems living alone (OR 5.49, 95% CI 2.11-13.30), problems carrying out usual activities (OR 3.71, 95% CI 1.93-7.14), experiencing chest pain (OR 3.27, 95% CI 1.58-6.76), other pains or discomfort (OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.42-8.10), younger age (OR 0.95 per year 95% CI 0.92-0.98). CONCLUSION: Problems living alone, chest pain and disability are important predictors of depression in this population

Vortex pinning with bounded fields for the Ginzburg-Landau equation

The coefficient, tivity is nonnega applied magnet κ = 1/ε, we sho of local minimi

Cognitive ability is heritable and predicts the success of an alternative mating tactic

The research was funded through the Czech Science Foundation 457 (P505/12/G112).The ability to attract mates, acquire resources for reproduction, and successfully outcompete rivals for fertilisations may make demands on cognitive traits - the mechanisms by which an animal acquires, processes, stores, and acts upon information from its environment. Consequently, cognitive traits potentially undergo sexual selection in some mating systems. We investigated the role of cognitive traits on the reproductive performance of male rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus), a freshwater fish with a complex mating system and alternative mating tactics. We quantified the learning accuracy of males and females in a spatial learning task and scored them for learning accuracy. Males were subsequently allowed to play the roles of a guarder and a sneaker in competitive mating trials, with reproductive success measured using paternity analysis. We detected a significant interaction between male mating role and learning accuracy on reproductive success, with the best performing males in maze trials showing greater reproductive success in a sneaker role than as a guarder. Using a cross-classified breeding design, learning accuracy was demonstrated to be heritable, with significant additive maternal and paternal effects. Our results imply that male cognitive traits may undergo intra-sexual selection.PostprintPeer reviewe

Lily Of The Nile : Waltzes

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/2762/thumbnail.jp

Plasma heat shock protein 27 is associated with coronary artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm and peripheral artery disease

Low protein levels of Hsp27 have been reported in atherosclerotic plaques. In addition, human studies have indicated that circulating Hsp27 levels are lower in coronary artery disease patients compared with controls. It remains, however, unclear whether this applies to other forms of atherosclerotic disease. Plasma Hsp27 from 280 subjects was examined by ELISA. The cohort included 80 coronary artery disease (CAD), 40 peripheral artery disease (PAD) and 80 abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) patients. Eighty elderly subjects, without any clinical history of vascular diseases, were used as a control group. Receiver operating curve (ROC) and logistic regression model analysis were performed to evaluate the potential value of Hsp27 as a circulating biomarker. Patients with atherosclerotic vascular diseases had significantly lower levels of Hsp27 than control subjects (p < 0.001). Moreover, Hsp27 was significantly lower in CAD patients than other atherosclerotic vascular disease groups (p < 0.001). There was no difference in Hsp27 levels between the AAA and PAD groups. Using the ROC-generated optimal cut-off values for Hsp27, logistic regression modeling indicated that low plasma Hsp27 was independently associated with the presence of multiple forms of atherosclerotic disease. In conclusion, circulating Hsp27 is significantly lower in patients with multiple forms of atherosclerotic arterial disease

First case of trans apical implantation of an aortic valve in a patient with dextrocardia

We describe the clinical presentation and implantation procedure of the first transcatheter aortic valve implantation described in a patient with dextrocardia

First experience with the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Data from the Western Cape, South Africa

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an exciting new technology that was launched in South Africa in October 2009 for the treatment of aortic stenosis in patients at high risk for conventional surgery. We report our initial experience with TAVI in the Western Cape, South Africa. Methods: 70 patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis underwent TAVI with the Edwards SAPIEN device (26 via transapical approach and 44 via transfemoral) at Panorama and Vergelegen Mediclinic hospitals in the Western Cape. All implants were performed by a team consisting of 2 cardiothoracic anaesthesiologists, 2 cardiothoracicsurgeons, 2 cardiologists and an echo expert. Results: Patients were at high risk with a mean age of 80 years and a mean logistic EuroSCORE of 26. The acute procedural success rate was 97% with two acute deaths. At 30 days, there were a total of 5 deaths. Major vascular complications were seen in 6 cases (9%). Only one stroke was seen during the follow-up period. Conclusions: With a multidisciplinary team approach and careful patient selection, TAVI can be performed by a high volume centre in South Africa with results comparable to international published outcomes

Bayesian off-line detection of multiple change-points corrupted by multiplicative noise : application to SAR image edge detection

This paper addresses the problem of Bayesian off-line change-point detection in synthetic aperture radar images. The minimum mean square error and maximum a posteriori estimators of the changepoint positions are studied. Both estimators cannot be implemented because of optimization or integration problems. A practical implementation using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods is proposed. This implementation requires a priori knowledge of the so-called hyperparameters. A hyperparameter estimation procedure is proposed that alleviates the requirement of knowing the values of the hyperparameters. Simulation results on synthetic signals and synthetic aperture radar images are presented

A test of the hypothesis that oxalate secretion produces proximal tubule crystallization in primary hyperoxaluria type I

The sequence of events by which primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) causes renal failure is unclear. We hypothesize that proximal tubule (PT) is vulnerable because oxalate secretion raises calcium oxalate (CaOx) supersaturation (SS) there, leading to crystal formation and cellular injury. We studied cortical and papillary biopsies from two PH1 patients with preserved renal function, and seven native kidneys removed from four patients at the time of transplant, after short-term (2) or longer term (2) dialysis. In these patients, and another five PH1 patients without renal failure, we calculated oxalate secretion, and estimated PT CaOx SS. Plasma oxalate was elevated in all PH1 patients and inverse to creatinine clearance. Renal secretion of oxalate was present in all PH1 but rare in controls. PT CaOx SS was >1 in all nonpyridoxine-responsive PH1 before transplant and most marked in patients who developed end stage renal disease (ESRD). PT from PH1 with preserved renal function had birefringent crystals, confirming the presence of CaOx SS, but had no evidence of cortical inflammation or scarring by histopathology or hyaluronan staining. PH1 with short ESRD showed CaOx deposition and hyaluronan staining particularly at the corticomedullary junction in distal PT while cortical collecting ducts were spared. Longer ESRD showed widespread cortical CaOx, and in both groups papillary tissue had marked intratubular CaOx deposits and fibrosis. CaOx SS in PT causes CaOx crystal formation, and CaOx deposition in distal PT appears to be associated with ESRD. Minimizing PT CaOx SS may be important for preserving renal function in PH1