Association of C2, a derivative of the radial artery pressure waveform, with new onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus: the MESA study.

BackgroundAlthough microvascular dysfunction is known to result from diabetes, it might also lead to diabetes. Lower values of C2, a derivative of the radial artery pressure waveform, indicate microvascular dysfunction and predict hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We studied the association of C2 with incident diabetes in subjects free of overt CVD.MethodsAmong multi-ethnic participants (n = 5214), aged 45-84 years with no diabetes, C2 was derived from the radial artery pressure waveform. Incident diabetes (N = 651) was diagnosed as new fasting glucose ≥ 126 mg/dL or antidiabetic medicine over ~ 10 years. The relative incidence density (RID) for incident diabetes per standard deviation (SD) of C2 was studied during ~ 10 years follow-up using four levels of adjustment.ResultsMean C2 at baseline was 4.58 ± 2.85 mL/mmHg × 100. The RID for incident diabetes per SD of C2 was 0.90 (95% CI 0.82-0.99, P = 0.03). After adjustment for demographics plus body size, the corresponding RID was 0.81 (95% CI 0.73-0.89, P < 0.0001); body mass index (BMI) was the dominant covariate here. After adjustment for demographics plus cardiovascular risk factors, the RID was 0.98 (95% CI 0.89, 1.07, P = 0.63). After adjustment for all the parameters in the previous models, the RID was 0.87 (95% CI 0.78, 0.96, P = 0.006).ConclusionsIn a multi-ethnic sample free of overt CVD and diabetes at baseline, C2 predicted incident diabetes after adjustment for demographics, BMI and CVD risk factors. Differences in arterial blood pressure wave morphology may indicate a long-term risk trajectory for diabetes, independently of body size and the classical risk factors

The Internal Circadian Clock Increases Hunger and Appetite in the Evening Independent of Food Intake and Other Behaviors

Objective: Despite the extended overnight fast, paradoxically, people are typically not ravenous in the morning and breakfast is typically the smallest meal of the day. Here we assessed whether this paradox could be explained by an endogenous circadian influence on appetite with a morning trough, while controlling for sleep/wake and fasting/feeding effects. Design and Methods We studied 12 healthy non-obese adults (6 male; age, 20–42 year) throughout a 13-day laboratory protocol that balanced all behaviors, including eucaloric meals and sleep periods, evenly across the endogenous circadian cycle. Participants rated their appetite and food preferences by visual analog scales. Results: There was a large endogenous circadian rhythm in hunger, with the trough in the biological morning (8 AM) and peak in the biological evening (8 PM; peak-to-trough amplitude=17%; P=0.004). Similarly phased significant endogenous circadian rhythms were present in appetite for sweets, salty and starchy foods, fruits, meats/poultry, food overall, and for estimates of how much food participants could eat (amplitudes 14–25%; all P < 0.05). Conclusions: In people who sleep at night, the intrinsic circadian evening peak in appetite may promote larger meals before the fasting period necessitated by sleep. Furthermore, the circadian decline in hunger across the night would theoretically counteract the fasting-induced hunger increase that could otherwise disrupt sleep

Effect of Sting Geometry on Axial Force Calculation for the Space Launch System

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the size and shape of the wind tunnel sting affect the accuracy of the base pressure corrections applied to measured axial force. The study also includes an assessment of the overall accuracy of the corrections. To accomplish these goals, Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to simulate a simplified version of the geometry of the Space Launch System Block 1B Cargo configuration, paired with a range of wind tunnel sting sizes, over a variety of ascent flight conditions. The base pressure correction method used in the wind tunnel is emulated on the base pressures from the simulated flows and results are compared to direct integration of the base pressures. Differences in results between the two methods provides an assessment of the accuracy of the base force correction method and how that accuracy is affected by sting size

Noninvasive fractal biomarker of clock neurotransmitter disturbance in humans with dementia

Human motor activity has a robust, intrinsic fractal structure with similar patterns from minutes to hours. The fractal activity patterns appear to be physiologically important because the patterns persist under different environmental conditions but are significantly altered/reduced with aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we report that dementia patients, known to have disrupted circadian rhythmicity, also have disrupted fractal activity patterns and that the disruption is more pronounced in patients with more amyloid plaques (a marker of AD severity). Moreover, the degree of fractal activity disruption is strongly associated with vasopressinergic and neurotensinergic neurons (two major circadian neurotransmitters) in postmortem suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), and can better predict changes of the two neurotransmitters than traditional circadian measures. These findings suggest that the SCN impacts human activity regulation at multiple time scales and that disrupted fractal activity may serve as a non-invasive biomarker of SCN neurodegeneration in dementia

Chronic Invasive Aspergillosis caused by Aspergillus viridinutans

Aspergillus viridinutans, a mold phenotypically resembling A. fumigatus, was identified by gene sequence analyses from 2 patients. Disease was distinct from typical aspergillosis, being chronic and spreading in a contiguous manner across anatomical planes. We emphasize the recognition of fumigati-mimetic molds as agents of chronic or refractory aspergillosis

Scale Invariance and Nonlinear Patterns of Human Activity

We investigate if known extrinsic and intrinsic factors fully account for the complex features observed in recordings of human activity as measured from forearm motion in subjects undergoing their regular daily routine. We demonstrate that the apparently random forearm motion possesses previously unrecognized dynamic patterns characterized by fractal and nonlinear dynamics. These patterns are unaffected by changes in the average activity level, and persist when the same subjects undergo time-isolation laboratory experiments designed to account for the circadian phase and to control the known extrinsic factors. We attribute these patterns to a novel intrinsic multi-scale dynamic regulation of human activity.Comment: 4 pages, three figure

Microfluidics for the detection of minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia patients using circulating leukemic cells selected from blood

Microfluidic assay for the selection of circulating leukemic cells from peripheral blood for the early detection of minimal residual disease in acute myeloid leukemia patients