Light to moderate coffee consumption is associated with lower risk of death: a UK Biobank study

Aims: To study the association of daily coffee consumption with all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality and major CV outcomes. In a subgroup of participants who underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, we evaluated the association between regular coffee intake and cardiac structure and function.Methods: UK Biobank participants without clinically manifested heart disease at the time of recruitment were included. Regular coffee intake was categorized into 3 groups: zero, light-to-moderate (0.5-3 cups/day) and high (>3 cups/day). In the multivariate analysis, we adjusted for the main CV risk factors.Results: We included 468,629 individuals (56.2 ± 8.1 years, 44.2% male), 22.1% did not consume coffee on a regular basis, 58.4% had 0.5-3 cups per day and 19.5% had >3 cups per day. Compared to non-coffee drinkers, light-to-moderate (0.5-3 cups per day) coffee drinking was associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality (multivariate HR = 0.88, 95%CI : 0.83-0.92; p < 0.001) and CV mortality (multivariate HR = 0.83, 95%CI : 0.74-0.94; p = 0.006), and incident stroke (multivariate HR = 0.79, 95%CI : 0.63-0.99 p = 0.037) after a median follow-up of 11 years. CMR data were available in 30,650 participants. Both light-to-moderate and high coffee consuming categories were associated with dose-dependent increased left and right ventricular end-diastolic, end-systolic and stroke volumes, as well as greater left ventricular mass. Conclusion: Coffee consumption of up to 3 cups per day was associated with favorable CV outcomes. Regular coffee consumption was also associated with a likely healthy pattern of CMR metrics in keeping with the reverse of age-related cardiac alterations

Are practical recommendations practiced? A national multi-centre cross-sectional study on frequency of visual field testing in glaucoma

Aim: To estimate current clinical practice for frequency of visual field (VF) monitoring in glaucoma in England. Methods: A cross-sectional review of all patients with chronic open angle glaucoma (COAG) attending specialist glaucoma clinics at six hospitals in England was performed. The number of VF tests undertaken prior to the study date and during the first 2 years since diagnosis were recorded and compared with European Glaucoma Society (EGS) guidelines for newly-diagnosed patients. Clinician-requested monitoring intervals were compared with intervals from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, and the relationships with disease severity, intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma progression status were reviewed. Results: One-hundred and four patients with COAG were included. 73 patients had at least 2 years of follow-up. Median (IQR) total number of VF tests and in the first 2 years of diagnosis were 4 (2–7) and 2 (2–3), respectively. No patients met EGS guidelines, but 87% of patients had their monitoring intervals requested in accordance with NICE guidelines. These intervals were not related to disease severity or VF stability (Kruskal–Wallis test, p=0.25) but shortened significantly when IOP control was inadequate or when the overall clinical impression was disease progression (p<0.001). Conclusions Most newly-diagnosed COAG patients receive less than three VFs in the first 2 years following diagnosis and an average of 0.7 VF per year over the duration of follow-up

Intraocular Lens Opacification following Intracameral Injection of Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator to Treat Inflammatory Membranes after Cataract Surgery

Purpose. To report 7 cases of intraocular lens (IOL) opacification following treatment of postoperative anterior chamber fibrin with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) after cataract surgery. Methods. Retrospective case series of 7 eyes in 7 patients who developed IOL opacification after receiving rtPA for anterior chamber inflammatory membrane formation resulting from phacoemulsification cataract surgery. Three explanted IOLs were investigated with light microscopy, histochemical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray spectrometry. Results. All patients underwent uncomplicated cataract surgery and posterior chamber hydrophilic IOL implantation. Anterior chamber inflammatory membranes developed between 1 and 4 weeks of surgery and were treated with intracameral rtPA. IOL opacification was noted between 4 weeks and 6 years after rtPA treatment with reduced visual acuity, and IOL exchange was carried out in 3 patients. Light microscopy evaluation revealed diffuse fine granular deposits on the anterior surface/subsurface of IOL optic that stained positive for calcium salts. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) confirmed the presence of calcium and phosphate on the IOL. Conclusions. Intracameral rtPA, though rapidly effective in the treatment of anterior chamber inflammatory membranes following cataract surgery, may be associated with IOL opacification

Model validation for a noninvasive arterial stenosis detection problem

Copyright @ 2013 American Institute of Mathematical SciencesA current thrust in medical research is the development of a non-invasive method for detection, localization, and characterization of an arterial stenosis (a blockage or partial blockage in an artery). A method has been proposed to detect shear waves in the chest cavity which have been generated by disturbances in the blood flow resulting from a stenosis. In order to develop this methodology further, we use both one-dimensional pressure and shear wave experimental data from novel acoustic phantoms to validate corresponding viscoelastic mathematical models, which were developed in a concept paper [8] and refined herein. We estimate model parameters which give a good fit (in a sense to be precisely defined) to the experimental data, and use asymptotic error theory to provide confidence intervals for parameter estimates. Finally, since a robust error model is necessary for accurate parameter estimates and confidence analysis, we include a comparison of absolute and relative models for measurement error.The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Deopartment of Education and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Clinical trial of laronidase in Hurler syndrome after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

BackgroundMucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS IH) is a lysosomal storage disease treated with hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) because it stabilizes cognitive deterioration, but is insufficient to alleviate all somatic manifestations. Intravenous laronidase improves somatic burden in attenuated MPS I. It is unknown whether laronidase can improve somatic disease following HCT in MPS IH. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of laronidase on somatic outcomes of patients with MPS IH previously treated with HCT.MethodsThis 2-year open-label pilot study of laronidase included ten patients (age 5-13 years) who were at least 2 years post-HCT and donor engrafted. Outcomes were assessed semi-annually and compared to historic controls.ResultsThe two youngest participants had a statistically significant improvement in growth compared to controls. Development of persistent high-titer anti-drug antibodies (ADA) was associated with poorer 6-min walk test (6MWT) performance; when patients with high ADA titers were excluded, there was a significant improvement in the 6MWT in the remaining seven patients.ConclusionsLaronidase seemed to improve growth in participants &lt;8 years old, and 6MWT performance in participants without ADA. Given the small number of patients treated in this pilot study, additional study is needed before definitive conclusions can be made

Net Charge Fluctuations in Au + Au Interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV

Data from Au + Au interactions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV, obtained with the PHENIX detector at RHIC, are used to investigate local net charge fluctuations among particles produced near mid-rapidity. According to recent suggestions, such fluctuations may carry information from the Quark Gluon Plasma. This analysis shows that the fluctuations are dominated by a stochastic distribution of particles, but are also sensitive to other effects, like global charge conservation and resonance decays.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 3 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on 21 March, 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm

Flow Measurements via Two-particle Azimuthal Correlations in Au + Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV

Two particle azimuthal correlation functions are presented for charged hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at RHIC sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV. The measurements permit determination of elliptic flow without event-by-event estimation of the reaction plane. The extracted elliptic flow values v_2 show significant sensitivity to both the collision centrality and the transverse momenta of emitted hadrons, suggesting rapid thermalization and relatively strong velocity fields. When scaled by the eccentricity of the collision zone, epsilon, the scaled elliptic flow shows little or no dependence on centrality for charged hadrons with relatively low p_T. A breakdown of this epsilon scaling is observed for charged hadrons with p_T > 1.0 GeV/c for the most central collisions.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 4 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on 11 April 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm

Event-by-event fluctuations in Mean pTp_T and Mean eTe_T in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au Collisions

Distributions of event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum and mean transverse energy near mid-rapidity have been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV at RHIC. By comparing the distributions to what is expected for statistically independent particle emission, the magnitude of non-statistical fluctuations in mean transverse momentum is determined to be consistent with zero. Also, no significant non-random fluctuations in mean transverse energy are observed. By constructing a fluctuation model with two event classes that preserve the mean and variance of the semi-inclusive p_T or e_T spectra, we exclude a region of fluctuations in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au collisions.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 3, 7 figures, 4 tables, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev. C on 22 March 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm

Measurement of the mid-rapidity transverse energy distribution from sNN=130\sqrt{s_{NN}}=130 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

The first measurement of energy produced transverse to the beam direction at RHIC is presented. The mid-rapidity transverse energy density per participating nucleon rises steadily with the number of participants, closely paralleling the rise in charged-particle density, such that E_T / N_ch remains relatively constant as a function of centrality. The energy density calculated via Bjorken's prescription for the 2% most central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV is at least epsilon_Bj = 4.6 GeV/fm^3 which is a factor of 1.6 larger than found at sqrt(s_NN)=17.2 GeV (Pb+Pb at CERN).Comment: 307 authors, 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, submitted to PRL 4/18/2001; revised version submitted to PRL 5/24/200

Centrality Dependence of Charged Particle Multiplicity in Au-Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV

We present results for the charged-particle multiplicity distribution at mid-rapidity in Au - Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV measured with the PHENIX detector at RHIC. For the 5% most central collisions we find $dN_{ch}/d\eta_{|\eta=0} = 622 \pm 1 (stat) \pm 41 (syst)$. The results, analyzed as a function of centrality, show a steady rise of the particle density per participating nucleon with centrality.Comment: 307 authors, 43 institutions, 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table Minor changes to figure labels and text to meet PRL requirements. One author added: M. Hibino of Waseda Universit