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American Subjects (american + subject)
Selected AbstractsCultural Preferences in Hotel Guestroom Lighting DesignJOURNAL OF INTERIOR DESIGN, Issue 1 2010Nam-Kyu Park Ph.D. This study examined North American and South Korean preferences for different lighting conditions in a hotel guestroom. A sample of 87 North Americans and 88 Koreans (N = 175) rated their preference for different intensities and color temperatures of light within a digitally generated hotel guestroom design. A mixed between-within analysis of variance (Kuehl, 1999) evaluated three dependent variables (preference, arousal, and pleasure) against three independent variables (two culture groups × two light colors × two light intensities). Findings indicated that North American subjects preferred the hotel guestroom with low intensity and warm color lighting the most, whereas the Korean group preferred high intensity and warm color lighting the most. North American participants also perceived dim lighting as more arousing than bright lighting, whereas Korean participants perceived bright lighting as more arousing than dim lighting. Overall, the findings suggest that design criteria for hotel guestroom lighting should be revised to account for distinct cultural differences. [source] Associations and Interactions Between SNPs in the Alcohol Metabolizing Genes and Alcoholism Phenotypes in European AmericansALCOHOLISM, Issue 5 2009Richard Sherva Background:, Alcohol dependence is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and has a strong familial component. Several linkage and association studies have identified chromosomal regions and/or genes that affect alcohol consumption, notably in genes involved in the 2-stage pathway of alcohol metabolism. Methods:, Here, we use multiple regression models to test for associations and interactions between 2 alcohol-related phenotypes and SNPs in 17 genes involved in alcohol metabolism in a sample of 1,588 European American subjects. Results:, The strongest evidence for association after correcting for multiple testing was between rs1229984, a nonsynonymous coding SNP in ADH1B, and DSM-IV symptom count (p = 0.0003). This SNP was also associated with maximum number of drinks in 24 hours (p = 0.0004). Each minor allele at this SNP predicts 45% fewer DSM-IV symptoms and 18% fewer max drinks. Another SNP in a splice site in ALDH1A1 (rs8187974) showed evidence for association with both phenotypes as well (p = 0.02 and 0.004, respectively), but neither association was significant after accounting for multiple testing. Minor alleles at this SNP predict greater alcohol consumption. In addition, pairwise interactions were observed between SNPs in several genes (p = 0.00002). Conclusions:, We replicated the large effect of rs1229984 on alcohol behavior, and although not common (MAF = 4%), this polymorphism may be highly relevant from a public health perspective in European Americans. Another SNP, rs8187974, may also affect alcohol behavior but requires replication. Also, interactions between polymorphisms in genes involved in alcohol metabolism are likely determinants of the parameters that ultimately affect alcohol consumption. [source] Differences in Services Utilization Between White and Mexican American DUI ArresteesALCOHOLISM, Issue 1 2001Cheryl J. Cherpitel Background: Hispanics traditionally have been considered an underserved population in relation to medical care and related services utilization. Methods: Selected health and social services utilization (both alcohol-specific and non-alcohol-specific) during the last year was compared between a sample of 249 Mexican American (half of whom were born in Mexico) and 250 white participants interviewed in all five DUI (driving under the influence) treatment programs in one northern California county. Results: Among those who met DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence and/or alcohol abuse, 49% of the white subjects compared with 59% of the Mexican American subjects reported no utilization, 77% of whites and 82% of Mexican Americans reported no utilization in which drinking was a factor, and 70% of whites and 80% of Mexican Americans reported no contact with an alcohol program. Mexican Americans were also significantly less likely to report contact with more than one program, and among Mexican Americans, those born in Mexico were significantly less likely to report utilization than those born in the U.S. Conclusions: The data suggest that despite the higher rates of heavy drinking found among Mexican American DUI arrestees (especially those born in Mexico) in this sample, Mexican Americans with an alcohol use disorder are less likely to use health and social services than whites, and this may be related to country of birth and related variables that include health insurance. Significance: The data suggest that DUI programs may offer one of the few opportunities Me-ican American problem drinkers have of establishing contact with the health and social service system and, as such, would be well positioned to also offer other types of alcohol-related health and social services and referrals to this underserved population. These findings have implications for intervention efforts for problem drinking and prevention of DUI among Me-ican Americans, which are a rapidly growing ethnic minority in California. [source] Heritability of platelet function in families with premature coronary artery diseaseJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 8 2007P. F. BRAY Summary.,Background:,Variations in platelet function among individuals may be related to differences in platelet-related genes. The major goal of our study was to estimate the contribution of inheritance to the variability in platelet function in unaffected individuals from white and African American families with premature coronary artery disease.Methods:,Platelet reactivity, in the absence of antiplatelet agents, was assessed by in vitro aggregation and the platelet function analyzer closure time. Heritability was estimated using a variance components model.Results:,Both white (n = 687) and African American (n = 321) subjects exhibited moderate to strong heritability (h2) for epinephrine- and adenosine diphosphate-induced aggregation (0.36,0.42 for white and >0.71 for African American subjects), but heritability for collagen-induced platelet aggregation in platelet-rich plasma was prominent only in African American subjects. Platelet lag phase after collagen stimulation was heritable in both groups (0.47,0.50). A limited genotype analysis demonstrated that the C825T polymorphism of GNB3 was associated with the platelet aggregation response to 2 ,M epinephrine, but the effect differed by race.Conclusions:,Considering the few and modest genetic effects reported to affect platelet function, our findings suggest the likely existence of undiscovered important genes that modify platelet reactivity, some of which affect multiple aspects of platelet biology. [source] Genetic variation at the IRF7/PHRF1 locus is associated with autoantibody profile and serum interferon-, activity in lupus patientsARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 2 2010Rafah Salloum Objective Interferon-, (IFN,) is a heritable risk factor for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Genetic variation near IRF7 is implicated in SLE susceptibility. SLE-associated autoantibodies can stimulate IFN, production through the Toll-like receptor/IRF7 pathway. This study was undertaken to determine whether variants of IRF7 act as risk factors for SLE by increasing IFN, production and whether autoantibodies are important to this phenomenon. Methods We studied 492 patients with SLE (236 African American, 162 European American, and 94 Hispanic American subjects). Serum levels of IFN, were measured using a reporter cell assay, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the IRF7/PHRF1 locus were genotyped. Results In a joint analysis of European American and Hispanic American subjects, the rs702966 C allele was associated with the presence of anti,double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies (odds ratio [OR] 1.83, P = 0.0069). The rs702966 CC genotype was only associated with higher serum levels of IFN, in European American and Hispanic American patients with anti-dsDNA antibodies (joint analysis P = 4.1 × 10,5 in anti-dsDNA,positive patients and P = 0.99 in anti-dsDNA,negative patients). In African American subjects, anti-Sm antibodies were associated with the rs4963128 SNP near IRF7 (OR 1.95, P = 0.0017). The rs4963128 CT and TT genotypes were associated with higher serum levels of IFN, only in African American patients with anti-Sm antibodies (P = 0.0012). In African American patients lacking anti-Sm antibodies, an effect of anti-dsDNA,rs702966 C allele interaction on serum levels of IFN, was observed, similar to the other patient groups (overall joint analysis P = 1.0 × 10,6). In European American and Hispanic American patients, the IRF5 SLE risk haplotype showed an additive effect with the rs702966 C allele on IFN, level in anti-dsDNA,positive patients. Conclusion Our findings indicate that IRF7/PHRF1 variants in combination with SLE-associated autoantibodies result in higher serum levels of IFN,, providing a biologic relevance for this locus at the protein level in human SLE in vivo. [source] Pharmacokinetics of nifedipine in TaiwaneseBIOPHARMACEUTICS AND DRUG DISPOSITION, Issue 2 2004Shu-Chen Chien Abstract To elucidate the pharmacokinetics of nifedipine in Taiwanese, a retrospective review of nifedipine bioequivalence studies completed in Taiwan in the past 5 years was conducted. A total of 198 healthy male volunteers were given a single dose of a 10 mg Adalat® capsule as a reference drug after overnight fasting. Pharmacokinetic parameters derived from Adalat® administration were calculated by non-compartmental analysis with the WinNonlin program. After oral administration of an immediate-release dosage form of a 10 mg nifedipine capsule to Taiwan residents, a skewed distribution with no clear evidence of bimodality of pharmacokinetic parameters was observed. The mean Cmax was 143.12±53.48 ng/ml, the mean AUC was 293.77±115.62 ng·h/ml, the mean T1/2 was 3.08±1.61 h, and the median value of Tmax was 0.61 h. Compared with other published studies, the Cmax and AUC of nifedipine after 10 mg administration were significantly higher in Taiwanese than in British and American subjects. However, the Cmax and AUC were similar to those of Indian and Mexican subjects. According to the antimode of AUC distribution of 22.5 ng·h/ml/mg proposed by Kleinbloesem, 69.7% of Taiwanese can be categorized as slow metabolizers. Based on the results in this study, the majority of Taiwanese show lower activity of nifedipine metabolism. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||