Serum lipids in pulmonary tuberculosis patients with various types of diabetes mellitus

In 12 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis and in 14 with the disease concurrent with types I and II diabetes mellitus, a somatotype was determined and lipid metabolism was studied by the blood levels of various lipid fractions, by the fractional composition of lipoproteins and atherogenicity coefficient. Lipid metabolic changes in patients with tuberculosis and in those with the accompanied abnormality were not found to depend upon sex, age, somatotype and the type of tuberculosis, but are apparently related with the severity of tuberculous intoxication. In the concurrent disease, lipid metabolic changes depended on the type of diabetes.     

Quality of life in patients with different types of functional constipation

BACKGROUND: Little information is available about the health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with different types of chronic constipation. METHODS: We used two self-administered questionnaires, the Psychological General Well-Being (PGWB) index and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) to assess QoL and gastrointestinal symptoms in 102 consecutive patients with chronic constipation. The type of constipation was determined from transit time, electrophysiologic investigation of sphincter function, anorectal manometry, and defecography. RESULTS: Overall, our patients with constipation reported low scores for general well-being (mean score, 85.5, compared with 102.9 in a healthy population). Patients with normal-transit constipation (n = 49) reported considerably lower scores in the PGWB than those with slow-transit constipation (n = 35). The symptoms increased frequency of defecation, loose stools, and urgent need for defecation were commoner in normal-transit constipation, which indicates that this group may have a relation to the irritable bowel syndrome. The overall PGWB index was strongly correlated with the total GSRS (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The general well-being of patients with chronic constipation is lower than that of a comparable normal population. Symptom severity correlates negatively with perceived quality of life.     

Plasma renin activity in patients with coronary arteriosclerosis with different types of hyperlipoproteinemia

The examination was conducted in 142 patients with coronary atherosclerosis, aged 33 to 74 years, and in 40 normal persons, aged 25 to 48 years. The pain form of the disease was observed in 96 patients, the arrhythmic one--in 38, the painless one--in 8 patients. The arterial pressure was within the normal limits in the examined patients. In 67.6% of the patients hypercholesterolemia was diagnosed, in 47.3%--hypertriglyceridemia. Type II hyperlipoproteinemia was found in 67.6% of the cases, types III and IV--in 5.3 and 9.1%, respectively, type V--in 0.5% of the patients; the type of hyperlipoproteinemia could not be identified in 10.6%, and in 6.9% of the cases the blood level of lipoproteins did not differ from the normal. The plasma renin activity examined by the radioimmunoassay in normals comprised 1.26 +/- 0.21 ng/ml/hour; in patients with the pain form of coronary atherosclerosis--6.67 +/- 0.72 ng/ml/hour; in those with arrhythmias--6.89 +/- 1.20 ng/ml/hour; in those with the painless form--2.39 +/- 1.02 ng/ml/hour. The highest renin activity was revealed in types IIa, IIb and III hyperlipoproteinemia, as well as in paroxysmal arrhythmia and cardiac fibrillation.     

Developmental changes in the awareness of memory benefits associated with different types of picture organization.

First-, 3rd, and 5th-grade children judged the relative ease of recalling a list that was organized semantically, physically, or randomly. Results suggest that awareness that semantic organization yields higher recall than physical organization appears at a later age than the simpler understanding that semantic organization yields higher recall than no organization. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Detection of lipoarabinomannan antibodies in patients with newly acquired tuberculosis and patients with relapse tuberculosis

A commercially available dot immunoassay that employs the lipoarabinomannan antigen was evaluated for the serologic diagnosis of tuberculosis. The test showed a high specificity (100%); however, its sensitivity was low (18.5%). Antibodies to lipoarabinomannan were detected in the sera of 7 of 71 patients with newly acquired tuberculosis and in sera of 10 of 21 patients with relapse tuberculosis. It has been shown by others that sera from patients with relapse tuberculosis had a higher concentration of antibodies and reacted with a greater variety of antigens (native culture filtrates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv) than did sera from patients with newly acquired tuberculosis. Our data confirm the results of these previous studies as far as lipoarabinomannan is concerned. We conclude that the differences in the production of antibodies shown by the two groups of tuberculous patients (new and relapse) must be taken into account when assessing the usefulness of serologic tests for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.     

patients'' satisfaction with different types of veneer restorations

Serum-deprived mouse osteoblastic (MC3T3E1) cells were subjected to a vibrational force modeled by NASA to simulate a space shuttle launch (7.83 G rms). The mRNA levels for eight genes were investigated to determine the effect of vibrational force on mRNA expression. The mRNA levels of two growth-related protooncogenes, c-fos and c-myc, were up-regulated significantly within 30 min after vibration, whereas those of osteocalcin as well as transforming growth factor-beta1 were decreased significantly within 3 h after vibration. No changes were detected in the levels of beta-actin, histone H4, or cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 after vibration. No basal levels of cyclooxygenase-2 expression were detected. In addition, the extracellular concentrations of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a potent autocrine/paracrine growth factor in bone, were not significantly altered after vibration most likely due to the serum deprivation state of the osteoblasts. In comparison with the gravitational launch profile, vibrational-induced changes in gene expression were greater both in magnitude and number of genes activated. Taken together, these data suggest that the changes in mRNA expression are due to a direct mechanical effect of the vibrational force on the osteoblast cells and not to changes in the local PGE2 concentrations. The finding that launch forces induce gene expression is of utmost importance since many of the biological experiments do not dampen vibrational loads on experimental samples. This lack of dampening of vibrational forces may partially explain why 1-G onboard controls sometimes do not reflect 1-G ground controls. These data may also suggest that scientists use extra ground controls that are exposed to launch forces, have these forces dampened on launched samples, or use facilities such as Biorack that provide an onboard 1-G centrufuge in order to control for space shuttle launch forces.     

Prevalence of coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease in patients with different types of primary hyperlipidemia

The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD) was studied in 280 (203 males, 77 females) patients with different types of primary hyperlipoproteinemia. In primary hyperbetalipoproteinemia the prevalence of CAD (45% for Type IIa and 47% for Type IIb) is significatly higher than that in the other types of hyperlipoproteinemia (38% for Type IV and 17% for Type V). On the other hand, PAD prevalence is much higher in hypertriglyceridemia (21% in Type IIb and 20% in Type V) than in hypercholesterolemia alone (9% in Type IIa). These results suggest ths atherosclerotic complications are concerned. Moreover, the high frequency of PAD found in hypertriglyceridemia can be related to the high occurrence of diabetes in these patients. The effects of other major risk factors of atherosclerosis (smoking and hypertension) were also evaluated. Our results indicate that the association of hypercholestolemia and hypertension is more dangerous than the co-occurence of hypercholesterolemia and smoking.     

Mathematical competencies in children with different types of learning difficulties.

The mathematical performance of 182 third and fourth graders in 8 different areas of mathematics was examined. The children belonged to 4 achievement groups: children with mathematic difficulties (MD only), children with both mathematic and reading difficulties (MD-RD), children with reading difficulties (RD only), and normally achieving children (control group). Both MD groups performed worse than the normally achieving children in all but 1 area, place value knowledge. The MD-only and the MD-RD children performed equally in all areas of mathematics. The RD-only group performed at the same level as the control group on all areas of mathematics. The study provides further evidence that fact retrieval deficits are a cardinal characteristic of children with MD. The MD children's substantial difficulties with mathematic word problem solving can be attributed to several processes involved in problem solving. Besides poor skills in multidigit calculation, arithmetic fact retrieval, and poor understanding of calculation principles, children with MD might have deficits related to specific problem-solving processes such as establishing a problem representation and developing a solution plan. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Metal flow performance in aluminium electrolytic cells with different side-wall types

Three-dimensional aluminium electrolytic cells with inclined surface cathodes were simulated in ANSYS and CFX to predict the influence of different side-wall types on the horizontal current and metal flow. The simulated results showed that the ledge thickness decreased with the thermal conductivity of the side wall. The graphitised side wall with the highest thermal conductivity displayed the largest ledge toe extensions of 24.6?cm at the centre of the long side and 28.0?cm at its corner. The long ledge toe extension introduced large inverted horizontal current and increased the maximum metal velocity. Above the largest ledge toe extension, the metal deviation from the equilibrium was 1.6?cm at one quarter of the cell length and 1.8?cm at the cell corner, equal to the metal wave crest in the cell (1.8?cm). With decreasing ledge toe extension, the maximum metal velocity and metal deviation above the ledge toe extension from equilibrium decreased accordingly.     

Adrenocortical function in patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess adrenal function in patients with acute pleuropulmonary tuberculosis (APT) and compare it with that function in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). PATIENTS: Over a period of 6 months all consecutive patients 18 years of age or older with newly diagnosed APT and CAP were entered into the study. MEASUREMENTS: The whole patients had the following investigations: 1) Serum Na+, K+ and glucose concentrations 2) Systolic and diastolic blood pressures. 3) An ultrasonographic study of the adrenal glands. 4) A standard ACTH stimulation test. RESULTS: There was no significative difference in the serum cortisol level between the two groups at any time of the ACTH stimulation test (basal, 30 and 60 minutes), neither when taking into account the increments between basal and 60 minutes after stimulation serum cortisol levels. All patients in both groups had normal ACTH stimulation test with a peak stimulated cortisol level at 60 minutes > 504 nmol/L. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find evidence of adrenal cortical dysfunction in patients with acute pleuropulmonary tuberculosis or with community-acquired pneumonia in our hospital.     

Therapeutic strategies for patients with tuberculosis

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness of strategies used to promote adherence to anti-tuberculosis treatment. SEARCH STRATEGY: MEDLINE 1966-1996 (August), Cochrane Collaboration Trials Registers (October 1996), LILACS 1982-1996 (September); reference lists in articles on adherence, contact with experts in the fields of TB and adherence research. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised or pseudo-randomised controlled trials of interventions to promote compliance with curative or preventive chemotherapy for TB, with at least one measure of adherence. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data on study methods, participants, interventions and outcomes were collected for each study and methodological quality was assessed. Estimates of effect were assessed for categorical outcomes using the Peto odds ratio, with 95% confidence intervals. MAIN RESULTS: Strategies found to be of benefit were reminder cards sent to defaulters, assistance of patients by lay health workers, monetary incentives offered to patients, and increased supervision of TB clinic staff. It is not possible to determine from current trials whether health education by itself leads to better adherence to treatment. Even though directly-observed therapy (DOT) is widely advocated as the most cost-effective means of ensuring completion of TB treatment, no completed trials could be found which confirm or refute this view. CONCLUSIONS: RCT evidence exists that certain strategies improve adherence to anti-tuberculous therapy, and these should be adopted into clinical practice depending on their appropriateness to practice circumstances. Further innovations should be tested to find solutions that will be useful in low income countries. Randomised trials evaluating the independent effects of directly-observed therapy (DOT) are awaited.