Molecular Analysis of Precursor Lesions in Familial Pancreatic Cancer

PMCID: PMC3553106This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Population-based incidence of Type 2 diabetes and its associated risk factors: results from a six-year cohort study in Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Middle East is estimated to have the largest increase in prevalence of diabetes by 2030; yet there is lack of published data on the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in this region. This study aimed to estimate Type 2 diabetes incidence and its associated risk factors in an Iranian urban population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Among 3307 non-diabetics ≥ 20 years (mean age 42 ± 13 years, 42% males), glucose tolerance test was performed at baseline in 1999–2001 and at two consecutive phases in 2001–2005 and 2005–2008. Diabetes and glucose tolerance status were defined according to the ADA 1997 criteria. Logistic regression was used to determine the independent variables associated with incident diabetes and their odds ratios (OR).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After median follow-up of 6 years, 237 new cases of diabetes were ascertained corresponding to an age and sex standardized cumulative incidence of 6.4% (95%CI: 5.6–7.2) and incidence rate of 10.6 (9.2–12.1) per 1000 person years. Besides classical diabetes risk factors, female sex and low education level significantly increased risk of diabetes in age adjusted models. In full model, the independent predictors were age [OR, 95%CI: 1.2 (1.1–1.3)], family history of diabetes [1.8 (1.3–2.5)], body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²[2.3 (1.5–3.6)], abdominal obesity [1.9 (1.4–2.6)], high triglyceride [1.4 (1.1–1.9)], Isolated impaired fasting glucose (IFG) [7.4 (3.6–15.0)], Isolated impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) [5.9 (4.2–8.4)] and combined IFG and IGT [42.2 (23.8–74.9)].</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>More than 1% of the Iranian urban population older than 20 years develops Type 2 diabetes each year. Combination of IFG and IGT was the strongest predictor of incident diabetes among the modifiable risk factors.</p

Broadband luminescence in defect-engineered electrochemically produced porous Si/ZnO nanostructures

The fabrication, by an all electrochemical process, of porous Si/ZnO nanostructures with engineered structural defects, leading to strong and broadband deep level emission from ZnO, is presented. Such nanostructures are fabricated by a combination of metal-assisted chemical etching of Si and direct current electrodeposition of ZnO. It makes the whole fabrication process low-cost, compatible with Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor technology, scalable and easily industrialised. The photoluminescence spectra of the porous Si/ZnO nanostructures reveal a correlation between the lineshape, as well as the strength of the emission, with the morphology of the underlying porous Si, that control the induced defects in the ZnO. Appropriate fabrication conditions of the porous Si lead to exceptionally bright Gaussian-type emission that covers almost the entire visible spectrum, indicating that porous Si/ZnO nanostructures could be a cornerstone material towards white-light-emitting devices

Meta-analysis of the diagnostic performance of stress perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance for detection of coronary artery disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>Evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of stress perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the diagnosis of significant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) through meta-analysis of the available data.</p> <p>Methodology</p> <p>Original articles in any language published before July 2009 were selected from available databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and BioMedCentral) using the combined search terms of magnetic resonance, perfusion, and coronary angiography; with the exploded term coronary artery disease. Statistical analysis was only performed on studies that: (1) used a [greater than or equal to] 1.5 Tesla MR scanner; (2) employed invasive coronary angiography as the reference standard for diagnosing significant obstructive CAD, defined as a [greater than or equal to] 50% diameter stenosis; and (3) provided sufficient data to permit analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the 263 citations identified, 55 relevant original articles were selected. Only 35 fulfilled all of the inclusion criteria, and of these 26 presented data on patient-based analysis. The overall patient-based analysis demonstrated a sensitivity of 89% (95% CI: 88-91%), and a specificity of 80% (95% CI: 78-83%). Adenosine stress perfusion CMR had better sensitivity than with dipyridamole (90% (88-92%) versus 86% (80-90%), P = 0.022), and a tendency to a better specificity (81% (78-84%) versus 77% (71-82%), P = 0.065).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Stress perfusion CMR is highly sensitive for detection of CAD but its specificity remains moderate.</p

A systematic review of the incidence of schizophrenia: the distribution of rates and the influence of sex, urbanicity, migrant status and methodology

BACKGROUND: Understanding variations in the incidence of schizophrenia is a crucial step in unravelling the aetiology of this group of disorders. The aims of this review are to systematically identify studies related to the incidence of schizophrenia, to describe the key features of these studies, and to explore the distribution of rates derived from these studies. METHODS: Studies with original data related to the incidence of schizophrenia (published 1965–2001) were identified via searching electronic databases, reviewing citations and writing to authors. These studies were divided into core studies, migrant studies, cohort studies and studies based on Other Special Groups. Between- and within-study filters were applied in order to identify discrete rates. Cumulative plots of these rates were made and these distributions were compared when the underlying rates were sorted according to sex, urbanicity, migrant status and various methodological features. RESULTS: We identified 100 core studies, 24 migrant studies, 23 cohort studies and 14 studies based on Other Special Groups. These studies, which were drawn from 33 countries, generated a total of 1,458 rates. Based on discrete core data for persons (55 studies and 170 rates), the distribution of rates was asymmetric and had a median value (10%–90% quantile) of 15.2 (7.7–43.0) per 100,000. The distribution of rates was significantly higher in males compared to females; the male/female rate ratio median (10%–90% quantile) was 1.40 (0.9–2.4). Those studies conducted in urban versus mixed urban-rural catchment areas generated significantly higher rate distributions. The distribution of rates in migrants was significantly higher compared to native-born; the migrant/native-born rate ratio median (10%–90% quantile) was 4.6 (1.0–12.8). Apart from the finding that older studies reported higher rates, other study features were not associated with significantly different rate distributions (e.g. overall quality, methods related to case finding, diagnostic confirmation and criteria, the use of age-standardization and age range). CONCLUSIONS: There is a wealth of data available on the incidence of schizophrenia. The width and skew of the rate distribution, and the significant impact of sex, urbanicity and migrant status on these distributions, indicate substantial variations in the incidence of schizophrenia