Circulating pigment epithelium-derived factor levels and the risk of hypertension in a community-based study

Oral Session 2 – Translational & Clinical Research (I)published_or_final_versionThe 16th Medical Resarch Conference (MRC), The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 22 January 2011. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2011, v. 17, suppl. 1, p. 15, abstract no. 1

Diabetes incidence and prevalence in Hong Kong, China during 2006-2014

postprin

Association of the KCNJ11 genetic variant (rs5219) with progression of glycaemia in a 12-year prospective study

Poster PresentationOBJECTIVE: The potassium inwardly rectifying channel, subfamily J, member 11 (KCNJ11) genetic variant, rs5219, has been found to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in various populations. This project aimed to examine whether this genetic variant could predict the progression of glycaemia in a 12-year prospective study in Southern Chinese. METHODS: We conducted a 12-year prospective study in the population-based …published_or_final_versionThe 16th Medical Research Conference, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 22 January 2011. In Hong Kong Medical Journal, 2011, v. 17 suppl. 1, p. 20, abstract no. 2

Sino-U.S. economic relations: problems and perspectives

U.S.-China economic relations are currently strained as a direct result of the Chinese crackdown of demonstrators in Tiananmen square on June 4, 1989. However, the brutal suppression of the demonstrators is only one aspect of the overall Sino-U.S. economic relationship. This thesis examines the economic relationship beginning in 1978, when China embarked on its modernization effort. Though China has made many improvements in these efforts their modernization effort does not necessarily coincide with United States' desires. Instead, China is concerned with maintaining its socialist character for the foreseeable future. This thesis examines divergent Sino-U.S. economic relations, and offers some various recommendations for American policy-makers depending on the course that China's leadership decides to take. Financial aid, Four modernizations, Most favored nation, New reforms, Reform, Socialism, Technology transfers, Trade relations, U.S. Policyhttp://archive.org/details/sinouseconomicre00kingLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

PLASMA LEVEL OF FIBROBLAST GROWTH FACTOR 21 IS INDEPENDENTLY RELATED TO BLOOD PRESSURE

postprin

An investigation of the problem of optimizing a search tactic for a searchlight type sonar.

A searchlight type sonar is one of the systems that small navies use to counteract the danger which submarines present to their lines of supply and transport. In this paper, a standard search pattern for this type of sonar is compared with search patterns which are based on a consideration of the tactical value of detecting a submarine as a function of the relative location of the submarine. The results of the comparison suggest that is possible to increase the effectiveness of a searchlight type sonar by using a search pattern in which the sweep time allocated to a search sector is based on the sectors tactical importance.http://archive.org/details/investigationofp00llanCommander, Chilean NavyApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Adiponectin gene variant +276G>T independently predicts incident coronary heart disease in men: a 16-year prospective study

Adiponectin gene variant +276G>T independently predicts incident coronary heart disease in men: a 16-year prospective studypublished_or_final_versio

Visit-to-visit systolic blood pressure variability predicts all-cause and cardiovascular mortality after lacunar infarct

Background: Both blood pressure (BP) and its variability (BPV) are established risk factors for development of atherosclerotic disease and are associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The prognostic implications of out-patient clinic visit-to-visit BPV among patients with lacunar infarction are nevertheless unknown. Methods: We prospectively followed up the clinical outcome of 281 patients with lacunar infarction. The mean BP and BPV, as determined by the standard deviation of the systolic and diastolic BP, were recorded during a mean of 13 ± 6 out-patient clinic visits. Results: The mean age of the population was 70 ± 10 years. After a mean of 78 ± 18 month’s follow-up, 65 (23%) patients died, 31% (20/65) were due to cardiovascular causes. 14% and 7% developed recurrent stroke and acute coronary syndrome, respectively. After adjusting for age, sex, mean systolic and diastolic BP, cardiovascular risk factors and co-morbidities, patients with a systolic BPV of the third tertile had significantly higher risk of all-cause (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-3.80; P = 0.04) and cardiovascular mortality (HR = 7.64; 95% CI, 1.65-35.41; P < 0.01) compared to those with systolic BPV of the first tertile. Nevertheless, systolic BPV did not predict recurrent stroke or acute coronary syndrome. Diastolic BPV did not predict various adverse clinical outcomes. Conclusions: Visit-to-visit systolic BPV predicts long-term all-cause and cardiovascular mortality after lacunar infarct, independent of conventional risk factors including average BP control.published_or_final_versio

Long-term prognostic implications of visit-to-visit blood pressure variability in patients with ischaemic stroke

Background: Both blood pressure (BP) and its variability (BPV) are established risk factors for the development of atherosclerotic diseases and are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The long-term prognostic implications of out-patient clinic visit-to-visit BPV among patients with ischaemic stroke are nevertheless unknown. Methods: We prospectively followed up the clinical outcome of 632 consecutive ischaemic stroke patients without atrial fibrillation. The mean BP and BPV, as determined by the coefficient of variation of the systolic and diastolic BP, were recorded during a mean of 12 ± 6 outpatient clinic visits. Results: The mean age of the patients was 71 ± 11 years. After a mean of 76 ± 18 month’s follow-up, 161 (26%) patients died, 35% (56/161) were due to cardiovascular causes. 16% and 5% developed recurrent stroke and acute coronary syndrome (ACS), respectively. After adjusting for mean systolic BP and confounding variables, patients with a high systolic BPV were at significantly greater risk of cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-5.49; P < 0.05). A high systolic BPV also predicted all-cause mortality after adjusting for mean systolic BP (HR = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.16-2.75; P < 0.05). There was no association between systolic BPV with non-fatal recurrent stroke nor non-fatal ACS. A raised diastolic BPV did not predict recurrent non-fatal stroke, non-fatal ACS nor mortality. Conclusions: Visit-to-visit systolic BPV predicts long-term all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with ischaemic stroke without atrial fibrillation, independent of other conventional risk factors including average BP control.published_or_final_versio

Combined Use of Serum Adiponectin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Receptor 2 Levels Was Comparable to 2-Hour Post-Load Glucose in Diabetes Prediction

Background: Adipose tissue inflammation and dysregulated adipokine secretion are implicated in obesity-related insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. We evaluated the use of serum adiponectin, an anti-inflammatory adipokine, and several proinflammatory adipokines, as biomarkers of diabetes risk and whether they add to traditional risk factors in diabetes prediction. Methods: We studied 1300 non-diabetic subjects from the prospective Hong Kong Cardiovascular Risk Factor Prevalence Study (CRISPS). Serum adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 2 (TNF-α R2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), adipocyte-fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were measured in baseline samples. Results: Seventy-six participants developed diabetes over 5.3 years (median). All five biomarkers significantly improved the log-likelihood of diabetes in a clinical diabetes prediction (CDP) model including age, sex, family history of diabetes, smoking, physical activity, hypertension, waist circumference, fasting glucose and dyslipidaemia. In ROC curve analysis, "adiponectin + TNF-α R2" improved the area under ROC curve (AUC) of the CDP model from 0.802 to 0.830 (P = 0.03), rendering its performance comparable to the "CDP + 2-hour post-OGTT glucose" model (AUC = 0.852, P = 0.30). A biomarker risk score, derived from the number of biomarkers predictive of diabetes (low adiponectin, high TNF-α R2), had similar performance when added to the CDP model (AUC = 0.829 [95% CI: 0.808-0.849]). Conclusions: The combined use of serum adiponectin and TNF-α R2 as biomarkers provided added value over traditional risk factors for diabetes prediction in Chinese and could be considered as an alternative to the OGTT. © 2012 Woo et al.published_or_final_versio