A study on structure and functions of organs involved in the formation of Mongolian Khuumii sound

Khuumii (throat or overtone singing) is a unique form of art derived from the nomadic population of Central Asia, which is a type of singing in which the singer manipulates the resonances (or formants) created as air travels from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out of the lips to produce a melody. A total of 60 participants, aged 18-60 years (54 men and 6 women), were selected by non-random sampling method using cross-sectional study. X-ray, endoscopy, and sound research method were used in the study, and the composition of blood gas was analysed. X-ray examination determined the state during each different types of Khuumii; Shakhaa and Kharkhiraa. As the basic timbre of Shakhaa Khuumii went up progressively the larynx grew and the compression strength increased, while the basic timbre went down, and the larynx became lower. In the case of Kharkhiraa Khuumii, the larynx position was elevated to a relatively small extent compared to Shakhaa Khuumii and the distance between the sublingual bone and the larynx was large. The sublingual bone trunk lowered during Shakhaa Khuumii, while it was slightly elevated during Kharkhiraa Khuumii. The laryngeal endoscopy evaluated the movement of true and false vocal chords, glottal volume, movements of epiglottis and arytenoid cartilage, and mucosa. Furthermore, the sound frequency is 2-4 times higher than that of normal speech, and sound volume is 0.5-1 times higher. The blood gas composition test showed partial pressure (pO2), and saturation of oxygen (SaO2) decreased after performing Khuumii. In the case of Shakhaa and Kharkhiraa Khuumi, it is appropriate to divide Khuumii into two main types according to structural and functional changes in the organs involved

The association between blood glucose and oxidized lipoprotein(a) in healthy young women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxidized lipoproteins play important roles in the atherosclerotic processes. Oxidized lipoprotein(a) (oxLp(a)) may be more potent in atherosclerotic pathophysiology than native Lp(a), a cardiovascular disease-relevant lipoprotein. Increased blood glucose concentrations can induce oxidative modification of lipoproteins. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between circulating oxLp(a) and cardiometabolic variables including blood glucose in healthy volunteers within the normal range of blood glucose.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Several cardiometabolic variables and serum oxLp(a) (using an ELISA system) were measured among 70 healthy females (mean age, 22 years).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lp(a) and glucose were significantly and positively correlated with oxLp(a) in simple correlation test. Furthermore, a multiple linear regression analysis showed oxLp(a) to have a weakly, but significantly positive and independent correlation with only blood glucose (<it>β </it>= 0.269, <it>P </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that increased glucose may enhance the oxidization of Lp(a) even at normal glucose levels.</p

Establishment of a Transgenic Mouse Model Specifically Expressing Human Serum Amyloid A in Adipose Tissue

Obesity and obesity co-morbidities are associated with a low grade inflammation and elevated serum levels of acute phase proteins, including serum amyloid A (SAA). In the non-acute phase in humans, adipocytes are major producers of SAA but the function of adipocyte-derived SAA is unknown. To clarify the role of adipocyte-derived SAA, a transgenic mouse model expressing human SAA1 (hSAA) in adipocytes was established. hSAA expression was analysed using real-time PCR analysis. Male animals were challenged with a high fat (HF) diet. Plasma samples were subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) separation. hSAA, cholesterol and triglyceride content were measured in plasma and in FPLC fractions. Real-time PCR analysis confirmed an adipose tissue-specific hSAA gene expression. Moreover, the hSAA gene expression was not influenced by HF diet. However, hSAA plasma levels in HF fed animals (37.7±4.0 µg/mL, n = 7) were increased compared to those in normal chow fed animals (4.8±0.5 µg/mL, n = 10; p<0.001), and plasma levels in the two groups were in the same ranges as in obese and lean human subjects, respectively. In FPLC separated plasma samples, the concentration of hSAA peaked in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) containing fractions. In addition, cholesterol distribution over the different lipoprotein subfractions as assessed by FPLC analysis was similar within the two experimental groups. The established transgenic mouse model demonstrates that adipose tissue produced hSAA enters the circulation, resulting in elevated plasma levels of hSAA. This new model will enable further studies of metabolic effects of adipose tissue-derived SAA

Arterial stiffness in hypertensive and type 2 diabetes patients in Ghana: comparison of the cardio-ankle vascular index and central aortic techniques

Background Diabetes and hypertension increase arterial stiffness and cardiovascular events in all societies studied so far; sub-Saharan African studies are sparse. We investigated factors affecting arterial function in Ghanaians with diabetes, hypertension, both or neither. Method Testing the hypothesis that arterial stiffness would progressively increase from controls to multiply affected patients, 270 participants were stratified into those with diabetes or hypertension only, with both, or without either. Cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI), heart–ankle pulse wave velocity (haPWV), aortic PWV (PWVao) by Arteriograph, aortic and brachial blood pressures (BP), were measured. Results In patients with both diabetes and hypertension compared with either alone, values were higher of CAVI (mean ± SD, 8.3 ± 1.2 vs 7.5 ± 1.1 and 7.4 ± 1.1 units; p < 0.05), PWVao (9.1 ± 1.4 vs 8.7 ± 1.9 and 8.1 ± 0.9 m/s; p < 0.05) and haPWV (8.5 ± 1 vs 7.9 ± 1 and 7.2 ± 0.7 m/s; p < 0.05) respectively. In multivariate analysis, age, having diabetes or hypertension and BMI were independently associated with CAVI in all participants (β = 0.49, 0.2, 0.17 and -0.2 units; p < 0.01, respectively). Independent determinants of PWVao were heart rate, systolic BP and age (β = 0.42, 0.27 and 0.22; p < 0.01), and for haPWV were systolic BP, age, BMI, diabetes and hypertension status (β = 0.46, 0.32, -0.2, 0.2 and 0.11; p < 0.01). Conclusion In this sub-Saharan setting with lesser atherosclerosis than the western world, arterial stiffness is significantly greater in patients with coexistent diabetes and hypertension but did not differ between those with either diabetes or hypertension only. Simple, reproducibly measured PWV/CAVI may offer effective and efficient targets for intervention

The relationship between cardio-ankle vascular index and subclinical atherosclerosis evaluated by cardiac computed tomographic angiography

BackgroundThe cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) is a new noninvasive index to evaluate arterial stiffness. We investigated whether CAVI can predict severity, extent, and burden of coronary artery disease by comparing results with cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA).HypothesisCAVI may predict the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 95 patients (66% male; mean age, 50 ± 16 years) who underwent both CCTA and CAVI consecutively. We evaluated if CAVI correlated with (1) severe stenosis (≥50%); (2) plaque extent, determined by a segment-involvement score (SIS), defined by the total number of coronary artery segments containing any plaque; and (3) plaque burden, determined by a segment-stenosis score (SSS), defined by the extent of obstruction of coronary luminal diameter in individual coronary artery segments.ResultsBivariate analysis showed a statistically significant relationship not only between CAVI and SIS, but also between CAVI and SSS (r2 = 0.4, P &lt; 0.0001 for SIS; r2 = 0.36, P &lt; 0.0001 for SSS). Multivariable logistic analysis demonstrated that CAVI is significantly associated with SSS &gt;5 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-7.8, P = 0.03) and SIS &gt;5 (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.1-5.8, P = 0.02), but not severe stenosis (OR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.9-4.3, P = 0.13), after adjusting for age, sex, chest pain, hypertension, dyslipidemia, family history, diabetes, and current smoking.ConclusionsWe demonstrated that CAVI had a significant relationship with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis evaluated by CCTA, especially in relation to plaque burden and plaque extent, but not severe stenosis. Thus, CAVI may reflect coronary atherosclerosis burden more than severity