406 research outputs found
Synergy Between Adiposity, Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Risk Factors, and Inflammation in Adolescents
The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between inflammatory markers and components of a metabolic syndrome cluster in adolescents. This was a cross-sectional analysis of an Australian childhood cohort (n = 1,377) aged 14 years. Cluster analysis defined a "high-risk" group similar to adults with metabolic syndrome. Relevant measures were anthropometry, fasting insulin, glucose, lipids, inflammatory markers, liver function, and blood pressure. Of the children, 29% fell into a high-risk metabolic cluster group compared with 2% by a pediatric metabolic syndrome definition. Relative to the "low-risk" cluster, they had higher BMI (95% CI 19.5-19.8 vs. 24.5-25.4), waist circumference (centimeters) (95% CI 71.0-71.8 vs. 83.4-85.8), insulin (units per liter) (95% CI 1.7-1.8 vs. 3.5-3.9), homeostasis model assessment (95% CI 1.7-1.8 vs. 3.5-3.9), systolic blood pressure (millimeters of mercury) (95% CI 110.8-112.1 vs. 116.7-118.9), and triglycerides (millimoles per liter) (95% CI 0.78-0.80 vs. 1.25-1.35) and lower HDL cholesterol (millimoles per liter) (95% CI 1.44-1.48 vs. 1.20-1.26). Inflammatory and liver function markers were higher in the high-risk group: C-reactive protein (CRP) (P < 0.001), uric acid (P < 0.001), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (P < 0.001), and γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (P < 0.001). The highest CRP, GGT, and ALT levels were restricted to overweight children in the high-risk group. Cluster analysis revealed a strikingly high proportion of 14 year olds at risk of cardiovascular disease-related metabolic disorders. Adiposity and the metabolic syndrome cluster are synergistic in the pathogenesis of inflammation. Systemic and liver inflammation in the high-risk cluster is likely to predict diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Dark-in-Bright Solitons in Bose-Einstein Condensates with Attractive Interactions
We demonstrate a possibility to generate localized states in effectively
one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates with a negative scattering length in
the form of a dark soliton in the presence of an optical lattice (OL) and/or a
parabolic magnetic trap. We connect such structures with twisted localized
modes (TLMs) that were previously found in the discrete nonlinear
Schr{\"o}dinger equation. Families of these structures are found as functions
of the OL strength, tightness of the magnetic trap, and chemical potential, and
their stability regions are identified. Stable bound states of two TLMs are
also found. In the case when the TLMs are unstable, their evolution is
investigated by means of direct simulations, demonstrating that they transform
into large-amplitude fundamental solitons. An analytical approach is also
developed, showing that two or several fundamental solitons, with the phase
shift between adjacent ones, may form stable bound states, with
parameters quite close to those of the TLMs revealed by simulations. TLM
structures are found numerically and explained analytically also in the case
when the OL is absent, the condensate being confined only by the magnetic trap.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, New Journal of Physics (in press
Prolonged Survival in a Patient with Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Cecum and Diffuse Peritoneal Carcinomatosis
Peritoneal carcinomatosis is a well-known factor of poor prognosis in patients with digestive adenocarcinomas. Peritoneal dissemination may also occur in midgut well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors, but its influence on survival is ill-defined. We report here the history of a 64-year-old woman who had a neuroendocrine tumor of the cecum with multiple synchronous metastases in the liver and diffuse peritoneal carcinomatosis. She underwent surgical resection of the primary tumor and cytoreduction of liver metastases, and received subsequently chemotherapy and somatostatin analogs. In spite of the widespread extension of the disease, she survived for 13 years and died from a carcinoid heart disease. We discuss the natural history and prognostic factors in patients with midgut well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors, with a focus on the impact of the peritoneal carcinomatosis
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