Ectopic cardiovascular fat in middle-aged men: effects of race/ethnicity, overall and central adiposity. The ERA JUMP study.

Background/objectivesHigher volumes of ectopic cardiovascular fat (ECF) are associated with greater risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Identifying factors that are associated with ECF volumes may lead to new preventive efforts to reduce risk of CHD. Significant racial/ethnic differences exist for overall and central adiposity measures, which are known to be associated with ECF volumes. Whether racial/ethnic differences also exist for ECF volumes and their associations with these adiposity measures remain unclear.Subjects/methodsBody mass index (BMI), computerized tomography-measured ECF volumes (epicardial, pericardial and their summation) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were examined in a community-based sample of 1199 middle-aged men (24.2% Caucasians, 7.0% African-Americans, 23.6% Japanese-Americans, 22.0% Japanese, 23.2% Koreans).ResultsSignificant racial/ethnic differences existed in ECF volumes and their relationships with BMI and VAT. ECF volumes were the highest among Japanese-Americans and the lowest among African-Americans. The associations of BMI and VAT with ECF differed by racial/ethnic groups. Compared with Caucasians, for each 1-unit increase in BMI, African-Americans had lower, whereas Koreans had higher increases in ECF volumes (P-values<0.05 for both). Meanwhile, compared with Caucasians, for each 1-unit increase in log-transformed VAT, African-Americans, Japanese-Americans and Japanese had similar increases, whereas Koreans had a lower increase in ECF volumes (P-value<0.05).ConclusionsRacial/ethnic groups differed in their propensity to accumulate ECF at increasing level of overall and central adiposity. Future studies should evaluate whether reducing central adiposity or overall weight will decrease ECF volumes more in certain racial/ethnic groups. Evaluating these questions might help in designing race-specific prevention strategy of CHD risk associated with higher ECF

Plasma-Induced Frequency Chirp of Intense Femtosecond Lasers and Its Role in Shaping High-Order Harmonic Spectral Lines

We investigate the self-phase modulation of intense femtosecond laser pulses propagating in an ionizing gas and its effects on collective properties of high-order harmonics generated in the medium. Plasmas produced in the medium are shown to induce a positive frequency chirp on the leading edge of the propagating laser pulse, which subsequently drives high harmonics to become positively chirped. In certain parameter regimes, the plasma-induced positive chirp can help to generate sharply peaked high harmonics, by compensating for the dynamically-induced negative chirp that is caused by the steep intensity profile of intense short laser pulses.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Expression of SDF-1α and nuclear CXCR4 predicts lymph node metastasis in colorectal cancer

Although stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1α and its receptor CXCR4 are experimentally suggested to be involved in tumorigenicity, the clinicopathological significance of their expression in human disease is not fully understood. We examined SDF-1α and CXCR4 expression in colorectal cancers (CRCs) and their related lymph nodes (LNs), and investigated its relationship to clinicopathological features. Specimens of 60 primary CRCs and 27 related LNs were examined immunohistochemically for not only positivity but also immunostaining patterns for SDF-1α and CXCR4. The relationships between clinicopathological features and SDF-1α or CXCR4 expression were then analysed. Stromal cell-derived factor-1α and CXCR4 expression were significantly associated with LN metastasis, tumour stage, and survival of CRC patients. Twenty-nine of 47 CXCR4-positive CRCs (61.7%) showed clear CXCR4 immunoreactivity in the nucleus and a weak signal in the cytoplasm (nuclear type), whereas others showed no nuclear immunoreactivity but a diffuse signal in the cytoplasm and at the plasma membrane (cytomembrane type). Colorectal cancer patients with nuclear CXCR4 expression showed significantly more frequent LN metastasis than did those with cytomembrane expression. Colorectal cancer patients with nuclear CXCR4 expression in the primary lesion frequently had cytomembrane CXCR4-positive tumours in their LNs. In conclusion, expression of SDF-1α and nuclear CXCR4 predicts LN metastasis in CRCs

Analytic philosophy for biomedical research: the imperative of applying yesterday's timeless messages to today's impasses

The mantra that "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" (attributed to the computer scientist Alan Kay) exemplifies some of the expectations from the technical and innovative sides of biomedical research at present. However, for technical advancements to make real impacts both on patient health and genuine scientific understanding, quite a number of lingering challenges facing the entire spectrum from protein biology all the way to randomized controlled trials should start to be overcome. The proposal in this chapter is that philosophy is essential in this process. By reviewing select examples from the history of science and philosophy, disciplines which were indistinguishable until the mid-nineteenth century, I argue that progress toward the many impasses in biomedicine can be achieved by emphasizing theoretical work (in the true sense of the word 'theory') as a vital foundation for experimental biology. Furthermore, a philosophical biology program that could provide a framework for theoretical investigations is outlined

High-energy isolated attosecond pulses generated by above-saturation few-cycle fields

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Regional pulse wave velocities and their cardiovascular risk factors among healthy middle-aged men: A cross-sectional population-based study

Background: Both carotid-femoral (cf) pulse wave velocity (PWV) and brachial-ankle (ba) PWV employ arterial sites that are not consistent with the path of blood flow. Few previous studies have reported the differential characteristics between cfPWV and baPWV by simultaneously comparing these with measures of pure central (aorta) and peripheral (leg) arterial stiffness, i.e., heart-femoral (hf) PWV and femoral-ankle (fa) PWV in healthy populations. We aimed to identify the degree to which these commonly used measures of cfPWV and baPWV correlate with hfPWV and faPWV, respectively, and to evaluate whether both cfPWV and baPWV are consistent with either hfPWV or faPWV in their associations with cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.Methods: A population-based sample of healthy 784 men aged 40-49 (202 white Americans, 68 African Americans, 202 Japanese-Americans, and 282 Koreans) was examined in this cross-sectional study. Four regional PWVs were simultaneously measured by an automated tonometry/plethysmography system.Results: cfPWV correlated strongly with hfPWV (r = .81, P < .001), but weakly with faPWV (r = .12, P = .001). baPWV correlated moderately with both hfPWV (r = .47, P < .001) and faPWV (r = .62, P < .001). After stepwise regression analyses with adjustments for race, cfPWV shared common significant correlates with both hfPWV and faPWV: systolic blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI). However, BMI was positively associated with hfPWV and cfPWV, and negatively associated with faPWV. baPWV shared common significant correlates with hfPWV: age and systolic BP. baPWV also shared the following correlates with faPWV: systolic BP, triglycerides, and current smoking.Conclusions: Among healthy men aged 40 - 49, cfPWV correlated strongly with central PWV, and baPWV correlated with both central and peripheral PWVs. Of the CV risk factors, systolic BP was uniformly associated with all the regional PWVs. In the associations with factors other than systolic BP, cfPWV was consistent with central PWV, while baPWV was consistent with both central and peripheral PWVs. © 2014 Choo et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

The role of initial and longitudinal change in blood pressure on progression of arterial stiffness among multiethnic middle-aged men

Objective: A few studies have examined the longitudinal association of blood pressure (BP) with arterial stiffness progression, and the results were inconsistent. The objective of this study was to investigate the roles of initial BP and its longitudinal change on the progression of arterial stiffness measured using brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV). Method: Study participants (n = 656) were from population-based samples of healthy men aged 40-49 years at baseline (213 White Americans, 47 AfricanAmericans, 152 Japanese Americans and 244 Japanese in Japan). BP measures, baPWV and other factors were examined at baseline and 4-7 years later. General linear regression was applied for statistical analyses. Result: Annual change in SBP (standardized coefficient: 0.33, P < 0.001), but not its baseline level (standardized coefficient: 0.03, P = 0.495), had a positive significant association with the progression of baPWV after adjusting for a wide range of standard cardiovascular risk factors. Similarly, annual changes in DBP (standardized coefficient: 0.35, P < 0.001), pulse pressure (standardized coefficient: 0.15, P = 0.001) and mean arterial pressure (standardized coefficient: 0.37, P < 0.001) were positively associated with the progression of baPWV. None of the baseline measures were related to the progression of baPWV. Conclusion: Our findings imply that, regardless of initial BP, effective monitoring and controlling of BP is important to slow down arterial wall stiffening and hence reduce cardiovascular risk

Caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis in mice that constitutively overexpress Reg/PAP genes

BACKGROUND: The cystic fibrosis (CF) mouse pancreas has constitutively elevated expression of the Reg/PAP cell stress genes (60-fold greater Reg3α, and 10-fold greater PAP/Reg3β and Reg3γ). These genes are suggested to be involved in protection or recovery from pancreatic injury. METHODS: To test this idea the supramaximal caerulein model was used to induce acute pancreatitis in wild type and CF mice. Serum amylase, pancreatic water content (as a measure of edema), pancreatic myeloperoxidase activity, and Reg/PAP expression were quantified. RESULTS: In both wild type and CF mice caerulein induced similar elevations in serum amylase (maximal at 12 h), pancreatic edema (maximal at 7 h), and pancreatic myeloperoxidase activity (MPO, a marker of neutrophil infiltration; maximal at 7 h). By immunohistochemistry, Reg3α was strongly expressed in the untreated CF pancreas but not in wild type. During pancreatitis, Reg3α was intensely expressed in foci of inflamed tissue in both wild type and CF. CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that the severity of caerulein-induced pancreatitis is not ameliorated in the CF mouse even though the Reg/PAP stress genes are already highly upregulated. While Reg/PAP may be protective they may also have a negative effect during pancreatitis due to their anti-apoptotic activity, which has been shown to increase the severity of pancreatitis