Effects of hyperaemia on left ventricular longitudinal strain in patients with suspected coronary artery disease

Aims

Myocardial perfusion imaging during hyperaemic stress is commonly used to detect coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between left ventricular global longitudinal strain (GLS), strain rate (GLSR), myocardial early (E’) and late diastolic velocities (A’) with adenosine stress first-pass perfusion cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging.

Methods and results

44 patients met the inclusion criteria and underwent CMR imaging. The CMR imaging protocol included: rest/stress horizontal long-axis (HLA) cine, rest/stress first-pass adenosine perfusion and late gadolinium enhancement imaging. Rest and stress HLA cine CMR images were analysed using feature-tracking software for the assessment of myocardial deformation. The presence of perfusion defects was scored on a binomial scale. In patients with hyperaemia-induced perfusion defects, rest global longitudinal strain GLS (?16.9 ± 3.7 vs. ?19.6 ± 3.4; p-value = 0.02), E’ (?86 ± 22 vs. ?109 ± 38; p-value = 0.02), GLSR (69 ± 31 vs. 93 ± 38; p-value = 0.01) and stress GLS (?16.5 ± 4 vs. ?21 ± 3.1; p < 0.001) were significantly reduced when compared with patients with no perfusion defects. Stress GLS was the strongest independent predictor of perfusion defects (odds ratio 1.43 95% confidence interval 1.14–1.78, p-value <0.001). A threshold of ?19.8% for stress GLS demonstrated 78% sensitivity and 73% specificity for the presence of hyperaemia-induced perfusion defects.

Conclusions

At peak myocardial hyperaemic stress, GLS is reduced in the presence of a perfusion defect in patients with suspected coronary artery disease. This reduction is most likely caused by reduced endocardial blood flow at maximal hyperaemia because of transmural redistribution of blood flow in the presence of significant coronary stenosis.

     

Comparison of mandibular bone mineral density in osteoporotic, osteopenic and normal elderly edentulous subjects measured by the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry technique

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2012.00625.x Comparison of mandibular bone mineral density in osteoporotic, osteopenic and normal elderly edentulous subjects measured by the dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry technique Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the mandibular body bone mineral density according to bone mineral density status of spine and femur measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) technique in elderly edentulous individuals. Background: One of the factors that affect the survival rate of implants is bone mineral density (BMD) of the jaws. Materials and methods: Fifty edentulous elderly patients’ (27 women and 23 men) spine, femur and the mandibular body BMDs were measured using DXA technique. BMD scans of the AP lumbar spine (L2–L3) and femur were classified using World Health Organisation criteria for bone mass. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the normal femur group’s–osteoporosis group’s mandibular body BMD (p = 0.001) and femoral osteopaenia group’s–osteoporosis group’s mandibular body BMD (p < 0.001). The femoral osteoporosis group’s mandibular body BMDs were lower than those of both the normal femoral and the femoral osteopaenia group subjects’. Conclusion: Classification of edentulous mandibles according to low and high bone mineral densities is a problem in implant dentistry. The results of this study demonstrated that femoral bone mineral density status may be used to provide preliminary information about the bone mineral density of the mandibular body region in elderly edentulous subjects.     

Molecular Differentiation of Lactococcus lactis Subspecies lactis and cremoris Strains by Ribotyping and Site Specific-PCR

Twenty-five strains of Lactococcus lactis subspecies lactis and subspecies cremoris obtained from dairy industry and environmental collections were examined by 16S RNA automated ribotyping profiles and site-specific PCR (S-PCR). By automated ribotyping, the majority of strains were classified in accordance with phenotypic characterization, with the exception of one lactis (220) and two cremoris (BO32 and 140) strains. A complete differentiation of subspecies lactis and cremoris in agreement with conventional phenotypic methods was achieved by S-PCR with a set of site-specific primer pairs (PR1, RM4, and F3) designed particularly from a deletion region found in subspecies cremoris, but not in lactis. Therefore, S-PCR with primers (PR1, RM4, and F3) is a rapid and very sensitive method for the distinction of lactis and cremoris subspecies in dairy production. Received: 19 June 2000 / Accepted: 17 July 2000     

Bioavailability to Fish of Sediment PAH as an Indicator of the Success of In Situ Remediation Treatments at an Experimental Oil Spill

A weathered medium crude oil was applied to experimental plots of Scirpus pungens (Three-square Bulrush) in a freshwater wetland to determine the efficacy of strategies for shoreline oil spill bioremediation based on nutrient enrichment (bioremediation) and plant growth (phytoremediation). Plots were unoiled, oiled with no added nutrients, or oiled with repeated applications of phosphate and nitrate fertilizers. Following initial treatments, the experimental plots were raked to simulate the activity of wave action on oil penetration, and plants in one fertilized plot were cut repeatedly. The sediments were sampled at regular intervals for 15 months after oiling, and the loss of oil was assessed by 4-day laboratory tests of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) bioaccumulation by trout, as demonstrated by increases in activity of liver cytochrome P450 (CYP1A) enzymes. Oil alone, oil mixed with sediments in the lab, and oiled sediments from treated plots all induced CYP1A activity relative to untreated controls, indicating the presence and bioavailability of PAH. Induction did not vary with nutrient treatments, but declined by 80% within 15 months of oiling, and chemical analyses indicated equivalent losses of hydrocarbons in sediment. These results demonstrate that bioavailable PAHs persisted in measurable quantities for at least 1.25 years following oiling, and that stimulation of plant growth did not affect the rate of oil disappearance. The controlling factors were likely weathering and sediment movement.     

The mast cells of the mammalian central nervous system. IX. Development of the mast cells in the brain of the young rat

There are four potentially granular or frankly granular cells within the connective tissue compartment of the mammalian central nervous system, whether this is part of the surface leptomeninges or the leptomeningeal sleeves around parenchymal blood vessels larger than capillaries. These are: Cells that behave like macrophages, part of the mononuclear phagocyte system of the body; they are granular to varying degrees (containing lysosomes). Brown-pigmented granular cells which are mainly located on the surface but are also seen for varying distances along blood vessels as they pass inside the CNS of pigmented animals. Mast cells (MCs) which are granular and located especially prominently in surface leptomeninges of young mammals, and, in adults, are restricted to special parts of the CNS. Granular cells, referred to by me as neurolipomastocytoid cells (NLMs), are numerous, ubiquitously distributed, and seem to have morphological features in common with those of both MCs and macrophages. The exact identity of these NLMs still needs to established. One approach was to study the development of all three non-pigmented cells in the immature brain of the albino rat, especially at the ultrastructural level. This communication represents the findings regarding the MCs. The MCs appear to arise from a small mononuclear cell and to go through maturation stages identical to those described by others for MCs outside the CNS. The greatly flattened adjacent leptomeningeal cells are an easily identifiable entity especially due to their peculiar glycogen content in the young.     

m-Octopamine: Normal Occurrence with p-Octopamine in Mammalian Sympathetic Nerves

The development of a radiochemical enzyme assay for p-octopamine in 1969 led to its identification in a large number of invertebrate nerve systems and in mammalian sympathetic nerves. The original method by which p-octopamine was measured has now been found to be nonspecific; however, modifications of this procedure can determine both m- and p-octopamine. We recently developed a new specific method for the unequivocal identification and quantitative determination in tissue of the six octopamine and synephrine isomers. With this method--negative chemical ionization gas chromatography-mass spectrometry--the more physiologically active m-octopamine has been found in association with p-octopamine in 10 organs of the rat. m-Octopamine is present in concentrations equal to those of p-octopamine in heart, spleen, and liver and in concentrations from 30 to 60% of p-octopamine in adrenals, vas deferens, brain, kidney, large intestine, bladder, and lungs. In vivo inhibition of monoamine oxidase markedly increased the concentrations of both m- and p-octopamine in all organs examined. Both amines were virtually absent from all organs except the adrenals following chemical sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine, thereby establishing that m- and p-octopamine are localized within sympathetic nerve endings.     

Economic activity in the South-Asian population in Britain: the impact of ethnicity,religion, and class

This paper expands the existing literature on ethnicity and economic activity in Britain by studying the impact of religion and class. It argues that while the class location of the different South-Asian groups is important in determining their labour market outcomes, it does not operate independently from ethnicity; rather it is highly influenced by ethnicity in the process of determining the labour market participation of these groups. We use data obtained from the 2001 UK Census on Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi men and women aged between twenty and twenty nine. Our findings confirm that class structure of the South-Asian groups is highly ethnicized, in that the ethno-religious background and class are interwoven to the extent that the separation between them is not easy, if not impossible.     

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of sulphate transporter (<Emphasis Type="Italic">SULTR</Emphasis>) genes under sulfur deficiency in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachypodium distachyon</Emphasis>

Sulphur is an important mineral element for plant growth and development. It involves in a number of metabolic processes with crucial functions. This study has performed a genome-wide analysis of sulfate transporter (SULTR) genes in Brachypodium distachyon. Ten putative SULTR genes were identified in Brachypodium genome. BdSULTR genes included 6–17 exons encoding a protein of 647–693 residues with basic nature. BdSULTR proteins included both sulfate_transp (PF00916) and STAS (PF01740) domains. BdSULTRs were classified into 4 groups based on the phylogenetic distribution. Promoter regions of all BdSULTR genes, except for BdSULTR3;3 and 3;5 included the SURECOREATSULTR11 elements. A considerable structural overlap was identified between superimposed SULTR1;3 and 3;1 proteins, indicating that SULTR1 members may also involve in plant stress response/tolerance like SULTR3 members. Microarray and RNA-Seq analyses also revealed the differential expression of SULTR 1 and 3 genes under different biotic/abiotic stresses. Protein–protein interaction partners of BdSULTRs were mainly related with adenylyl-sulfate kinases, 5′-adenylylsulfate reductases, ATP sulfurylases, and acyl carrier proteins. Moreover, expression profiles of identified BdSULTR genes under S-deficiency were analyzed using RT-qPCR. It was revealed that BdSULTR1;1 and 3;1 are highly expressed in plant roots as ~tenfold and ~fivefold, respectively, while BdSULTR2 (~15-fold) and 3;1 (~twofold) are abundantly expressed in leaf tissues.     

Bayesian design of biosimilars clinical programs involving multiple therapeutic indications

In this paper, we propose a Bayesian design framework for a biosimilars clinical program that entails conducting concurrent trials in multiple therapeutic indications to establish equivalent efficacy for a proposed biologic compared to a reference biologic in each indication to support approval of the proposed biologic as a biosimilar. Our method facilitates information borrowing across indications through the use of a multivariate normal correlated parameter prior (CPP), which is constructed from easily interpretable hyperparameters that represent direct statements about the equivalence hypotheses to be tested. The CPP accommodates different endpoints and data types across indications (eg, binary and continuous) and can, therefore, be used in a wide context of models without having to modify the data (eg, rescaling) to provide reasonable information-borrowing properties. We illustrate how one can evaluate the design using Bayesian versions of the type I error rate and power with the objective of determining the sample size required for each indication such that the design has high power to demonstrate equivalent efficacy in each indication, reasonably high power to demonstrate equivalent efficacy simultaneously in all indications (ie, globally), and reasonable type I error control from a Bayesian perspective. We illustrate the method with several examples, including designing biosimilars trials for follicular lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis using binary and continuous endpoints, respectively.