Impact of lipoatrophy on quality of life in HIV patients receiving anti-retroviral therapy1

Metabolic and morphological side-effects occur in HIV-infected individuals receiving anti-retroviral treatment (ART). Peripheral fat loss that occurs particularly in the face, limbs and/or buttocks is referred to as lipoatrophy and has been found to be highly stigmatizing and to adversely impact the health-related quality of life (HRQL). Consumer Health Sciences Survey data collected between November 2003 and January 2006 were utilized to evaluate the impact of lipoatrophy on the HRQL in HIV-infected individuals receiving ART. This was evaluated using analysis of variance with item scores and mental component summary (MCS) and physical component summary (PCS) scores from the Medical Outcomes Trust questionnaire, SF-8 as dependent variables and lipoatrophy as the independent variable controlling for baseline age, sex and ethnicity. Clinical meaningfulness (mean difference divided by population standard deviation, δ/σ) of differences between the groups with and without lipoatrophy was also evaluated. A cohort of 1124 subjects with at least six months of ART was selected based on the availability of data on whether or not lipoatrophy was present. Subjects were primarily male (80%), between the ages of 30 and 60 years (90%), Hispanic (37%) and about 25% each of African American and White. Overall, prevalence of lipoatrophy in this cohort of HIV patients was 18.9%. Statistically significant (p < 0.001) differences in quality of life (as measured by SF-8 individual item scores and MCS and PCS scores) were observed between the two groups. The differences between the groups in item and summary scores were clinically meaningful in the small to near medium range (0.28–0.43). HIV-infected patients already experience a considerable deficiency in HRQL compared to general population; this study demonstrates that lipoatrophy further enhances that negative impact on HRQL

Phocine Distemper Outbreak, the Netherlands, 2002

During the 2002 phocine distemper epidemic, 2,284 seals, primarily harbor seals (Phoca vitulina), were found stranded along the Dutch coast. Stranding pattern varied with age, sex, state of decomposition, wind, and location. Cumulative proportion of deaths (54%) was comparable to that in the first reported epidemic in 1988

Human neuronal interlimb coordination during split-belt locomotion.

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Filtered neutron beams at the FMRB - review and current status

Copy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

2,5-Hexandion und Pyrrole im Urin des Menschen: Analytische Bestimmung und Untersuchung der Ausscheidung nach Exposition gegen n-Hexan

Biological monitoring of persons exposed to hexane used to rely on the concentration level of 2,5-hexanedione (HDO) in urine after acid hydrolysis (total HDO). However, severely acidic conditions (&lt;1pH) cause 4,5-dihydroxy-2-hexanon, another hexane metabolite, to react to produce HDO, too, which will then be co-detected. The aim was to develop analytical methods for determining HDO in urine and to test them for their suitability for biological monitoring of hexane-exposed persons. In addition, a photometric method was to be used to study exposure-induced urinary excretion of pyrroles. Different from free HDO, total HDO appeared to be less suitable for biomonitoring since total HDO has much higher background concentrations and a slower excretion rate which will result in accumulation in cases of exposures on successive days. The diagnostic strength of this biomonitoring method is also weakened by the fact that a nontoxic metabolite is co-detected. The studies on the excretion of pyrrole compounds in urine showed these secondary metabolites to allow the verification of hexane exposure, too. (orig./Uhe)Zur biologischen Ueberwachung Hexan-exponierter Personen wird bisher die Konzentration von Hexandion im Urin nach Saeurehydrolyse herangezogen (Gesamt-HDO). Unter stark sauren Bedingungen reagiert dabei allerdings 4,5-Dihydroxy-2-hexanon, ein weiterer Hexan-Metabolit, zu HDO und wird miterfasst. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, analytische Methoden zur Bestimmung von HDO im Urin zu entwicklen und auf ihre Eignung zur biologischen Ueberwachnung Hexan-exponierter Personen zu pruefen. Ebenso sollte die expositionsbedingte Ausscheidung von Pyrrolen im Urin mit einem photometrischen Verfahren untersucht werden. Die weitaus hoeheren Untergrundkonzentrationen von Gesamt-HDO und die langsamere Ausscheidung, die zur Akkumulation bei Expositionen an aufeinanderfolgenden Tagen fuehrt, lassen Gesamt-HDO als weniger geeignet zum Biomonitoring erscheinen als freies HDO. Insbesondere schwaecht die Miterfassung eines nichttoxischen Metaboliten die Aussagekraft eines Biomonitoringverfahrens ab. Mit den Untersuchungen zur Ausscheidung von Pyrrolverbindungen im Urin konnte gezeigt werden, dass auch ueber diese metabolischen Folgeprodukte von HDO ein Nachweis der Hexan-Belastung moeglich ist. (orig./Uhe)Available from TIB Hannover: RO 2674(1994,7) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman