AIM To clarify the determinants of resting heart rate at the population level in a random sample of the Belgian population. METHODS AND RESULTS Data of 5027 men and 4150 women aged 25-74 years obtained from a Belgian nationwide survey were analysed. In multivariate analysis, blood pressure strongly correlated with heart rate in men (t = 12.4 for systolic; t = 8.8 for diastolic) and women (t =...

AIM To determine whether the serum level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), an important indicator of neuron damage, correlates with the extent of tissue damage in the rat with induced head trauma and to obtain data in order to avoid unnecessary cranial computed tomography analyses. MATERIAL AND METHODS Three-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Rats were divided into 5 group...

BACKGROUND Emerging evidence indicates that maternal oxidative stress during pregnancy could impair fetal growth and that antioxidant vitamins (e.g. vitamins A, E and C) have a significant role in maintaining physiological processes of pregnancy and growth. AIMS To determine the concentrations of vitamins A, E, and C in pair-matched maternal and cord serum samples of neonate, and thus to inve...

The recent report, “Serum prolactin level in psoriasis”, is very interesting 1. Ghiasi et al. concluded that “it seems that while intracutaneous prolactin may contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis, the probable role of pituitary-produced circulating prolactin in the disease process needs further investigation .” There are some concerns on this report. First, although Ghiasi et al. have st...

OBJECTIVE Although serum C-peptide was previously considered biologically inactive, a growing number of recent studies have shown that it is an active peptide with important physiologic functions. The present study aimed to investigate the association of serum C-peptide level with bone mineral density (BMD) in residents of the United States. METHODS The study included 6,625 participants aged ...

In the rain forests of Costa Rica, there is an unusual type of tree known as a “walking tree.” It is a strange looking tree. At the base of the tree is a tangle of roots, rising about a meter above the ground. It looks as if someone yanked the tree straight up out of the ground, leaving about a meter of its roots exposed above ground level. According to rain-forest guides, the walking tree actu...

The boson peak in deeply cooled water confined in nanopores is studied to examine the liquid-liquid transition (LLT). Below ∼180  K, the boson peaks at pressures P higher than ∼3.5  kbar are evidently distinct from those at low pressures by higher mean frequencies and lower heights. Moreover, the higher-P boson peaks can be rescaled to a master curve while the lower-P boson peaks can be rescale...

Blown sand is a serious problem in the district facing the Japan Sea where seasonal wind is very strong in winter. In order to prevent the blown sand, the construction technique using natural vegetations had been developed. The growth of the natural vegetations is encouraged by the improvement of sand ingredients in this method. The effects of the method were investigated by the field survey an...