OBJECTIVES Budesonide nasal irrigation was introduced recently for postoperative management of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. The safety and therapeutic effectiveness of this procedure is becoming accepted by many physicians. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of postoperative steroid irrigation in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and asthma. METHODS This pros...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the independent association of the intimal-medial thickness of carotid and femoral arteries (CA-IMT and FA-IMT), a marker of atheroscelosis, with insulin resistance in type 2 diabetic patients. We evaluated CA-IMT and FA-IMT by high-resolution ultrasonography and insulin resistance determined by euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp in 119 type 2 diab...

BACKGROUNDS Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a multiple risk factor paradigm widely considered in risk management. We aimed to investigate carotid artery alterations in MetS and the underlying risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 400 Chinese subjects were recruited, divided into control (n = 200) and MetS (n = 200) groups. Clinical and laboratory characteristics were collected. All subj...

As competition among industrial, agricultural, urban and environmental sectors for freshwater intensifies, wastewater is frequently being seen as a valuable resource rather than mere waste. Furthermore, wise reuse of this water alleviates environmental concerns attendant with its discharge to coastal environments and inland waterways. Globally, around 20 million ha of land are irrigated with wa...

Common Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness: Towards a Definition of Abnormal Values in Symptomatic Cerebrovascular Disease To the Editor: We welcome the recent article by Tsivgoulis and colleagues showing that higher values of common carotid artery intimamedia thickness (CCA-IMT) may represent an independent risk factor for stroke recurrence.1 We reached the same conclusion after carrying out...

BACKGROUND Carotid Intima Media Thickness (IMT) is currently used to assess the relationship between progression of coronary and systemic atherosclerosis. To date, however, the possible impact of regular physical activity (PA) on this parameter has not been well estimated. OBJECTIVES Our study aims to examine this aspect especially in the absence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. PATIENT...

OBJECTIVE Carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) is an intermediate phenotype for atherosclerosis. In a community population (n=5400), we determined whether a parental history of myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke is associated with increased IMT and whether associations differ at specific sites in the carotid arterial tree. METHODS AND RESULTS Using regression modeling, the proportion...

Historical records and archaeological discoveries have shown that prosperous agricultural activities developed in the ancient Juyan Oasis of northwestern China, an important oasis that once flourished on the ancient Silk Road. However, how the irrigation canals were distributed in historical time was unknown. Here, we identified and mapped the spatial distribution of ancient abandoned irrigatio...

A decrease in water resources around the globe in irrigated agriculture has resulted in a steep decline in irrigation water availability. Therefore, management options for efficient use of available irrigation water are inevitable. Deciding the critical time, frequency and amount of irrigation are compulsory to achieve higher crop outputs. Hence, this two-year field study was conducted to asses...

BACKGROUND Common carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a measure of subclinical cardiovascular disease, changes during the cardiac cycle. The magnitude of this effect and its implications have not been well studied. METHODS AND RESULTS Far-wall IMT measurements of the right common carotid artery were measured at end diastole and peak systole in 5633 individuals from the Multi-Ethnic S...