Search

Aims: Microalbuminuria is an indicator of adverse cardiovascular events and chronic kidney disease. Studies have described an elevated resting heart rate as a risk factor for microalbuminuria in people with cardiovascular disease, but none have clarified its role in microalbuminuria development in people with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between resting heart rate and new‐onset microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetes. Methods: A total of 788 people from a glycaemic control trial in Taiwan were enrolled. Microalbuminuria was defined as a fasting urine albumin‐to‐creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g in two consecutive urine tests. Resting heart rate and other covariates were measured at baseline. The quartile of resting heart rates, categorized as <70, 70–74, 75–80 and >80 beats/min, was used for analysis. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate the association between resting heart rate and risk of microalbuminuria. Results: During the follow‐up period, 244 people (31%) developed microalbuminuria. Those who developed microalbuminuria had a longer diabetes duration (median = 3.0 vs. 2.0 years, p < 0.001), higher rate of hypertension (77% vs. 66%, p = 0.003), higher rate of angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker treatment (50% vs. 38%, p = 0.001) and higher baseline HbA1c level (70 vs. 64 mmol/mol, 8.6 vs. 8.0%, p < 0.001). After adjusting for demographics, metabolic profiles and inflammatory markers, developing microalbuminuria was significantly associated with baseline resting heart rate of 70–74, 75–80 and >80 beats/min (with hazard ratios [95% CI] of 2.05 [1.32, 3.18], 2.10 [1.32, 3.32] and 1.62 [1.01, 2.59], respectively) compared to resting heart rates <70 beats/min. An average increased risk of microalbuminuria for increment of 10 beats/min was about 24% among those with hypertension (with hazard ratios of 1.24 [1.05, 1.47] in the multivariable Cox model). Conclusions: This prospective cohort study showed that resting heart rate may be an associative risk factor for developing microalbuminuria in type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

January 2020 was the first time that most of the world heard about the new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) but its consequences were still unknown. The future When the pandemic ends, researchers across different countries need to compare differences between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic PA and WB and their determinants. Health and quality of life systems that are well-financed can employ the appropriate number of health professionals, including sport and exercise psychologists, to provide high quality services to everyone during and after the coronavirus pandemic, promoting people's health, PA and WB. The COVID-19 pandemic might be also an opportunity to highlight the interplay of the coronavirus pandemic with the two silent pandemics of PI and MI. [Extracted from the article]

Presents a study which measured x-ray absorption near edge structure spectra of thin films using the fluorescence and sample drain current modes. Methodology; Results and discussion; Conclusion.

Here, we review the results of Southern blotting analyses of the FMR1 gene performed in our reference laboratory in Taiwan over a 15-year period. In total, 725 high-risk women with a family history of fragile X syndrome ( FXS) or idiopathic intellectual disability, 3911 low-risk pregnant women without such family history, and prenatal diagnosis data for 32 foetuses from 24 carrier mothers were included. Only 2 carriers were in the low-risk group, which indicated a prevalence of 1 of 1955 women (95% confidence interval: 1/7156-1/539). A total of 100 carriers were found to be in the high-risk group, thus revealing a significantly higher frequency than the low-risk group (100/725 vs 2/3911, P<0.0001). Eight of the 14 foetuses that inherited the maternal mutant allele were verified to have a full mutation, with the smallest maternal pre-mutation allele carrying 56 CGG repeats. The overall findings confirmed that the carrier prevalence among low-risk women in Taiwan is significantly lower than that reported in western countries. Therefore, the most important step for preventing FXS in Taiwan would be to focus on high-risk women by promoting general awareness of this disease and spreading knowledge regarding the benefits of carrier screening and prenatal testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is mainly concerned with the existence and uniqueness of solutions for fractional integrodifferential equations with interval impulses and infinite delay. The results are obtained by using Schauder's fixed point theorem. An example illustrating our main result is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we prove the existence of integral solutions for a first order nondensely-defined impulsive neutral differential equation with state-dependent delay. The results are obtained by using suitable fixed point theorems. As applications of these main theorems, some consequences are obtained for the sub-linear growth cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper is mainly concerned with existence of mild solutions for the first order impulsive neutral differential and integrodifferential equations with nonlocal initial conditions in -norm. We assume that the linear part generates an analytic semigroup and transform them into suitable integral equations. By using a fixed point theorem for condensing maps, some existence theorems are established. As applications of these main theorems, some practical consequences are derived. Particularly, our results cover the cases where the function takes values in different spaces such as and . Finally, an example is also given to illustrate the obtained results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

TaN–Cu nanocomposite films were deposited by reactive cosputtering on Si and tool steel substrates. The films were then annealed using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 400 °C for 2, 4, and 8 min, respectively, to induce the nucleation and growth of Cu particles in TaN matrix and on film surface. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was applied to characterize Cu nanoparticles emerged on the surface of TaN–Cu thin films. The effects of annealing on the antiwear and antibacterial properties of these films were studied. The results reveal that annealing by RTA can cause Cu nanoparticles to form on the TaN surface. Consequently, the tribological behaviors, as well as the antibacterial behavior may vary depending on particle size, particle distribution, and total exposed Cu amount. For the samples with large Cu particles, the reduction of averaged friction and wear rate is obvious. Apparently, it is due to the smeared Cu particles adhered onto the wear tracks. This Cu layer may act as a solid lubricant. From the antibacterial testing results, it is found that both Cu particle size and total exposed Cu amount are critical in making short-term antibacterial effect. Overall, all the annealed TaN–Cu samples can reach >99% antibacterial efficiency in 24 h, with respect to uncoated Si substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work, we prove the existence of mild solutions for impulsive partial neutral functional differential equations with infinite delay in a Banach space. The results are obtained by using the Krasnoselski–Schaefer type fixed point theorem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, the controllability of second-order differential and integrodifferential inclusions in Banach spaces are investigated. Two new results are obtained by using the theory of strongly continuous cosine families and a fixed-point theorem for multivalued maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare the safety and efficacy of misoprostol with PGE2 for induction of labor by intracervical administration. Methods: Eighty-six women with indications for labor induction at term were randomly assigned to two groups. Each woman received either 50 μg of misoprostol or 0.5 mg of prostaglandin E2 intracervically. If labor was not initiated after 4 h, the same dose was repeated every 4 h to a maximum of 200 μg of misoprostol or 1.5 mg of PGE2 until adequate labor was achieved. Results: Forty-three women were allocated to the misoprostol group and 43 to the prostaglandin E2 group. Misoprostol was more effective than PGE2 in producing cervical changes (P<0.025). Delivery within 12 h after the first administration occurred more often in the misoprostol group than in the PGE2 one (85% vs. 56%, P<0.05). Less patients in the misoprostol group required oxytocin augmentation than in the PGE2 one (16.3% vs. 39.5%, P<0.05). Uterine tachysystole and hyperstimulation occurred more frequently in the misoprostol group (44.1%) than in the PGE2 group (18.7%) (P<0.05). Nevertheless, no statistically significant differences were noted between the two groups including mode of delivery and neonatal or maternal adverse outcome. The interval from induction to vaginal delivery was significantly shorter in the misoprostol group (480±172 min vs. 657±436 min, P<0.01). Conclusions: Compared with prostaglandin E2, intracervical misoprostol is more effective in cervical ripening and labor induction at term. The higher frequency of uterine hypercontractility associated with the use of misoprostol did not increase the risk of adverse intrapartum and neonatal outcomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study we measured the Fe, Mn, and Ni L[sub 2,3]-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of the ferromagnetic (FM) NiFe and antiferromagnetic (AFM) FeMn bilayer films prepared with various annealing temperatures. The branching ratios of the white-line intensities in the Fe, Mn, and Ni L[sub 2,3]-edges XANES spectra and consequently the magnetic properties of these exchange-biased FM NiFe — AFM FeMn bilayers are found to depend strongly on the annealing temperature. We find that the first peak in the Fe, Mn, and Ni K-edge EXAFS Fourier transform spectra are very similar, which suggests that the nearest-neighbor bond lengths among Fe, Mn, and Ni atoms are essentially the same in the NiFe-FeMn bilayers. However, the peaks at distances greater than ∼ 3 Å appear to be sensitive to the annealing temperature especially for the Fe and Mn K-edge spectra, which suggests that annealing alters the atomic structures of the next-nearest-neighbor and more distant shells surrounding the Fe and Mn atoms in the NiFe-FeMn bilayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]