OBJECTIVE Obesity and hypertension are regarded as the most important determinants of left ventricular mass in the community. Little is known about sex-specific influences of obesity, hypertension, and other risk factors on left ventricular mass in pre-diabetic or diabetic subjects. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We examined how body composition, blood pressure, and other factors are related to ...

BACKGROUND An increase in aortic stiffness, as reflected by an increase in pulse wave velocity (PWV) or aortic augmentation index (AI) is an important predictor of cardiovascular mortality in dialysis patients. Dysregulation of calcification inhibitors, such as fetuin-A, is involved in vascular pathology in dialysis patients and fetuin-A is inversely related to mortality in dialysis patients. I...

This work deals with an experimental inv estigation of the conv ectiv e heat transfer and pressu re loss in a rectangular channel with discrete flush-mounted and protruding heat sources. Six protruding obstacle heights, which represen t the range of the dimensionless protrusion of 0 F h r H F 0.805, are studied in this work. The temperatures on the heater surfaces and that of the fluid are coll...

Congestion on roads is a major problem worldwide. Many roads now have induction loops implanted into the road surface providing real-time traffic flow data. These data can be used in a traffic management system to monitor current traffic flows in a network so that traffic can be directed and managed efficiently. Reliable short-term forecasting and monitoring models of traffic flows are crucial ...

BACKGROUND Aim of this study was to compare the outcome of beating heart versus conventional coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) strategies in acute coronary syndromes for emergency indications. METHODS AND RESULTS 638 consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) receiving emergency CABG surgery via midline sternotomy from January 2000 to September 2005 were evaluated. Propensity s...

UNLABELLED It is still unclear why some early Parkinson disease (PD) patients with unilateral parkinsonism develop bilateral parkinsonism soon after the diagnosis is made as Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage 1 and others remain stable for a long time. Here, we examined in vivo changes in the brain dopaminergic system using PET with a dopamine transporter radiotracer, (11)C-2-B-carbomethoxy-3B-(4-fluoro...

Over the past few decades, neuroscience experiments have become increasingly complex and naturalistic. Experimental design has in turn more challenging, as must conform to an ever-increasing diversity of constraints. In this article, we demonstrate how process can be greatly assisted using optimization tool known mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). MILP provides a rich framework for incorp...