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- Bakris, G., et al.
(author)
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The Diabetes Subgroup Baseline Characteristics of the Avoiding Cardiovascular Events Through Combination Therapy in Patients Living With Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH) Trial
- 2008
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In: Journal of the CardioMetabolic Syndrome. - : Wiley. - 1559-4564 .- 1559-4572. ; 3:4, s. 229-233
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Avoiding Cardiovascular Events Through Combination Therapy in Patients Living With Systolic Hypertension (ACCOMPLISH) trial is the first cardiovascular outcome trial designed to compare initial use of 2 different fixed-dose antihypertensive regimens, benazepril plus hydrochlorothiazide vs benazepril plus amlodipine, on cardiovascular end points in hypertensive patients at high cardiovascular risk secondary to previous major events or presence of diabetes mellitus (DM). Of the 11,464 patients, 60.4% had DM. Compared with non-DM patients, DM patients were less likely to have previous myocardial infarctions (15% vs 37%) or strokes (8% vs 21%). Those with DM were more likely to be female (43% vs 34%), black (15% vs 8%), overweight (body mass index, 32 vs 29 kg/m(2)). At baseline, DM patients were more likely to have the metabolic syndrome, manifested by higher levels of fasting glucose (145 vs 101 mg/dL) and triglycerides (178 vs 150 mg/dL) and slightly lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values (48 vs 51 mg/dL) compared to the non-DM cohort. Although estimated glomerular filtration rate (80 vs 76 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) was similar in the DM and non-DM groups, presence of both albuminuria (8.7% vs 3.5%) and microalbuminuria (29% vs 20%) were more prevalent in the DM group. After 6 months of treatment, blood pressure control rates (<140/90 mm Hg) using blinded data (both therapeutic groups combined) for DM demonstrated that 42.8% of DM patients had blood pressure levels <130/80 mm Hg. ACCOMPLISH will provide valuable guidance on optimizing treatment strategies in hypertensive patients at high cardiovascular risk with and without DM.
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- Corcoran, Paul A., et al.
(author)
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The effect of different strains of Helicobacter pylori on platelet aggregation
- 2007
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In: Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology. - 0835-7900. ; 21:6, s. 367-370
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Helicobacter pylori is the major causative agent in peptic ulcer disease and is strongly implicated in the development of gastric cancer. It has also been linked, less strongly, to cardiovascular disease. The mechanisms by which certain Strains of H pylon induce platelet aggregation through interactions with platelet glycoprotein 1b have been previously described. METHODS: In the present study, 21 different strains of H pylori, varying in their vacuolating toxin gene, cytotoxic-associated gene A status and other pathogenicity factors, were tested for their ability to induce platelet agggregation. RESULTS: Ten of the 21 strains induced platelet aggregation, a response that appeared to be independent of their vacuolating toxin gene and cytotoxic-associated gene A status. CONCLUSIONS: Platelet aggregation has been suggested to be one of the possible mechanisms involved in the effects on the cardiovascular system induced by H pylori. Our results suggest that any putative role H pylon plays in cardiovascular disease may be strain dependent. Further work to identify the H pylon factors involved in induction of platelet aggregation may allow for identification of 'higher risk' strains for cardiovascular disease.
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4. |
- Friend, A, et al.
(author)
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Heritability of high reading ability and its interaction with parental education
- 2009
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In: Behavior Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-8244 .- 1573-3297. ; 39, s. 427-436
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Moderation of the level of genetic influence on children’s high reading ability by environmental influences associated with parental education was explored in two independent samples of identical and fraternal twins from the United States and Great Britain. For both samples, the heritability of high reading performance increased significantly with lower levels of parental education. Thus, resilience (high reading ability despite lower environmental support) is more strongly influenced by genotype than is high reading ability with higher environmental support. This result provides a coherent account when considered alongside results of previous research showing that heritability for low reading ability decreased with lower levels of parental education.
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5. |
- Garnsworthy, A. B., et al.
(author)
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Spectroscopy of Po-212 and At-213 using a He-8 radioactive beam and EXOGAM
- 2005
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In: Journal of Physics G. - : IOP Publishing. - 0954-3899 .- 1361-6471. ; 31:10, s. S1851-S1854
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A beam of 28 MeV He-8 particles with an average intensity 2 x 10(5) ions s(-1), produced by the SPIRAL facility at GANIL, was used to initiate fusion-evaporation reactions in thick targets of Pb-201 and Bi-209. Excited states of Po-212 and At-213 were populated in (He-8,4n) reactions. The emitted gamma-rays were detected using the EXOGAM array composed of four Compton suppressed germanium Clover detectors in a close geometry configuration. Preliminary results show that Po-212 has been populated to high spin (I similar or equal to 14) with a significantly increased yield compared with our previous He-8 beam experiment. An apparently increased relative population of states up to 12(+) was observed compared with published results from a Pb-208(Be-9,alpha n)(212) Po reaction at 48 MeV. Evidence is presented for a previously unreported de-excitation pathway: 69 keV (13(-) -> 12(+)). States up to I-pi = (39/2(-)) have also been observed in At-213.
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6. |
- Munhall, K. G., et al.
(author)
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Talkers alter vowel production in response to real-time formant perturbation even when instructed not to compensate
- 2009
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In: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 0001-4966 .- 1520-8524. ; 125:1, s. 384-390
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Talkers show sensitivity to a range of perturbations of auditory feedback (e.g., manipulation of vocal amplitude, fundamental frequency and formant frequency). Here, 50 subjects spoke a monosyllable (“head”), and the formants in their speech were shifted in real time using a custom signal processing system that provided feedback over headphones. First and second formants were altered so that the auditory feedback matched subjects’ production of “had.” Three different instructions were tested: (1) control, in which subjects were naïve about the feedback manipulation, (2) ignore headphones, in which subjects were told that their voice might sound different and to ignore what they heard in the headphones, and (3) avoid compensation, in which subjects were informed in detail about the manipulation and were told not to compensate. Despite explicit instruction to ignore the feedback changes, subjects produced a robust compensation in all conditions. There were no differences in the magnitudes of the first or second formant changes between groups. In general, subjects altered their vowel formant values in a direction opposite to the perturbation, as if to cancel its effects. These results suggest that compensation in the face of formant perturbation is relatively automatic, and the response is not easily modified by conscious strategy.
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7. |
- Samuelsson, Stefan, et al.
(author)
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Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills and early reading and spelling development in the United States, Australia, and Scandinavia
- 2007
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In: Reading and writing. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-4777 .- 1573-0905. ; 20:1-2, s. 51-75
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genetic and environmental influences on prereading skills in preschool and on early reading and spelling development at the end of kindergarten were compared among samples of identical and fraternal twins from the U.S. (Colorado), Australia, and Scandinavia. Mean comparisons revealed significantly lower preschool print knowledge in Scandinavia, consistent with the relatively lower amount of shared book reading and letter-based activities with parents, and lack of emphasis on print knowledge in Scandinavian preschools. The patterns of correlations between all preschool environment measures and prereading skills within the samples were remarkably similar, as were the patterns of genetic, shared environment, and non-shared environment estimates: in all samples, genetic influence was substantial and shared environment influence was relatively weak for phonological awareness, rapid naming, and verbal memory, genetic influence was weak, and shared environment influence was relatively strong for vocabulary and print knowledge. In contrast, for reading and spelling assessed at the end of kindergarten in the Australian and U.S. samples, there was some preliminary evidence for country differences in the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences. We argue that the apparently higher genetic and lower shared environment influence in the Australian sample was related to a greater emphasis on formal reading instruction, resulting in more advanced reading and spelling skills at the end of kindergarten, and thus there was greater opportunity to observe genetic influences on response to systematic reading instruction among the Australian twins. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.
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