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Modest Degree (modest + degree)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	83%

Selected Abstracts

Timing of first alcohol use and alcohol dependence: evidence of common genetic influences

ADDICTION, Issue 9 2009
Carolyn E. Sartor
ABSTRACT Aims To estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on timing of first alcohol use and alcohol dependence (AD) and to quantify the overlap in these influences across the two alcohol-related outcomes. Participants The sample consisted of 5382 twins (2691 complete pairs), aged 24,36 years, from the Australian Twin Registry. Measurements History of alcohol use and DSM-IV alcohol dependence were assessed by structured telephone interview. Findings In both sexes, the relationship between age at first alcohol use and risk for AD followed a linear trend, such that the highest rates of AD were observed in individuals who began drinking at an earlier than average age (14 years or younger). Heritability estimates for timing of first alcohol use and AD were 36% and 53%, respectively. Shared environmental factors accounted for 15% of variance in initiation. There was no evidence of shared environmental influences on AD. The genetic correlation between timing of first alcohol use and AD was 0.59. Conclusions Findings highlight the substantial role of genetics in the development of AD and the early manifestation of that genetic risk in the timing of alcohol use initiation which, unlike AD, is also influenced to a modest degree by shared environmental factors. The considerable overlap in heritable influences,and the virtual absence of overlap in individual-specific environmental influences,on initiation of alcohol use and AD indicates that the association between age at first drink and AD is attributable in large part to common genetic sources of variance. [source]

Efficacy and Safety of Absorbable Metallic Stents with Adjunct Intracoronary Beta Radiation in Porcine Coronary Arteries

JOURNAL OF INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
F.A.C.C., RON WAKSMAN M.D.
Background: Absorbable metallic stents (AMS) utilizing Mg alloy carry advantages over permanent metallic stents because of their potential to eliminate stent thrombosis, chronic inflammation, or artifacts with noninvasive imaging. These stents, however, are associated with a modest degree of late recoil and intimal hyperplasia. The aim of the study was to test whether adjunct vascular brachytherapy (VBT) compared to AMS alone can overcome these limitations. Methods: Juvenile domestic pig coronary arteries underwent implantation of either AMS (n = 11) with prior adjunct VBT utilizing Sr/Y-90 , source seeds, with a dose of 24 Gy at 2 mm from the source, or AMS alone (n = 11). At 28 days following intravascular ultrasound, vessels were harvested and analyzed by histomorphometry. Results: Intravascular ultrasound analysis indicated that at follow-up, though statistically not significant, lumen and stent areas in the segments deployed with AMS following radiation were larger than those deployed with AMS alone (3.94 ± 1.38 and 3.53 ± 1.75 vs. 2.99 ± 1.05 and 3.58 ± 1.48). Extrastent plaque and intrastent plaque areas in the same segments were smaller (2.76 ± 0.82 and 0.24 ± 0.47 vs. 3.25 ± 1.94 and 0.58 ± 0.81). Morphometric data indicate that vessels in the VBT + AMS group showed characteristics of delayed healing and re-endothelialization. Neointimal area was significantly lower in the VBT + AMS group (0.49 ± 0.34) compared to AMS (1.3 ± 0.62, P = 0.001). Lumen area of the VBT + AMS was larger when compared with AMS alone (2.49 ± 0.82 vs. 1.75 ± 0.51, P = 0.02). Conclusion: VBT as an adjunct to AMS further reduces the intimal hyperplasia and improves the lumen area when compared to AMS alone but does not have any impact on late recoil. [source]

Practical limits of resolution in confocal and non-linear microscopy

MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 1 2004
Guy Cox
Abstract Calculated and measured resolution figures are presented for confocal microscopes with different pinhole sizes and for nonlinear (2-photon and second harmonic) microscopes. A modest degree of super-resolution is predicted for a confocal microscope but in practice this is not achievable and confocal fluorescence gives little resolution improvement over widefield. However, practical non-linear microscopes do approach their theoretical resolution and therefore show no resolution disadvantage relative to confocal microscopes in spite of the longer excitation wavelength. Microsc. Res. Tech. 63:18,22, 2004. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

(2R,4S)-7-Bromo-2-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine, (2RS,4SR)-7-bromo-2-(4-chlorophenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine and (2RS,4SR)-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine: hydrogen-bonded structures in two and three dimensions

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION C, Issue 4 2009
Alirio Palma
(2R,4S)-7-Bromo-2-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine, C20H16BrNO, (I), exhibits evidence of a modest degree (ca 10%) of inversion twinning, while both (2RS,4SR)-7-bromo-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine, C20H15BrClNO, (II), and (2RS,4SR)-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1,4-epoxynaphtho[1,2- b]azepine, C20H16FNO, (III), crystallize as genuine racemic mixtures. The molecules of (I) are linked into sheets by a combination of one C,H...O hydrogen bond and two C,H...,(arene) hydrogen bonds, while those of (II) are linked into sheets of ,-stacked hydrogen-bonded chains. A combination of one C,H...O hydrogen bond and four independent C,H...,(arene) hydrogen bonds links the molecules of (III) into a three-dimensional framework. The significance of this study lies in its finding, via comparison with the structures of some closely-related epoxybenzazepine analogues, of significant changes in crystal structures consequent upon small changes in the peripheral substituents. [source]

Cardiac troponin T Arg92Trp mutation and progression from hypertrophic to dilated cardiomyopathy

CLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001
Noboru Fujino M.D.
Abstract Background: Mutations in the cardiac troponin T gene causing familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) are associated with a very poor prognosis but only mild hypertrophy. To date, the serial morphologic changes in patients with HCM linked to cardiac troponin T gene mutations have not been reported. Hypothesis: The aim of this study was to determine the long-term course of patients with familial HCM caused by the cardiac troponin T gene mutation, Arg92Trp. Results: The Arg92Trp missense mutation was present in 10 individuals from two unrelated pedigrees. They exhibited different cardiac morphologies: three had dilated cardiomyopathy-like features, five had asymmetric septal hypertrophy with normal left ventricular systolic function, one had electrocardiographic abnormalities without hypertrophy, and one had the disease-causing mutation but did not fulfill the clinical criteria for the disease. The mean maximum wall thickness was 14.1 ± 6.0 mm. The three patients with dilated cardiomyopathy-like features had progressive left ventricular dilation. Three individuals underwent right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy. There was a modest degree of myocardial hypertrophy (myocyte diameter: 18.9 ± 5.2 m,m), and minimal myocardial disarray and mild fibrosis were noted. Conclusion: The Arg92Trp substitution in the cardiac troponin T gene shows a high degree of penetrance, moderate hypertrophy, and early progression to dilated cardiomyopathy in Japanese patients. Early identification of individuals with this mutation may provide the opportunity to evaluate the efficacy of early therapeutic interventions. [source]

Modest increase in plasma homocysteine follows levodopa initiation in Parkinson's disease

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 12 2004
Padraig E. O'Suilleabhain MB
Abstract Levodopa, typically ingested chronically at high daily doses, is predictably methylated by means of a series of reactions using B vitamins, which convert methionine to homocysteine. Elevated total plasma homocysteine (tHcy), a risk factor for dementia, has been found in PD patients using levodopa. We prospectively measured the effects on plasma tHcy and B vitamins of levodopa initiation, and measured the effects of dose changes and of treatment with dopamine agonists and entacapone. We collected paired plasma samples, at baseline and again after several months treatment, from patients initiating levodopa (n = 30), from patients whose levodopa dose was doubled (n = 15), halved or stopped (n = 14), from patients starting or stopping entacapone (n = 15) and from patients initiating or doubling dopamine agonist monotherapy (n = 16). Vitamin B12, folate, and tHcy concentrations were measured. Baseline tHcy concentration of 8.7 (2.8) ,mol/L increased to 10.1 (3.1) ,mol/L (P = 0.004) an average of 94 (range 36 to 200) days after initiation of 604 (240 to 1050) mg/day of L -dopa. Average concentration of vitamin B12 fell from 380 to 291 pmol/ L (P = 0.01). Patients who doubled their daily levodopa dose experienced tHcy elevations from 9.5 to 11.1 ,mol/L (P = 0.05). Levodopa reduction, agonist treatment, and entacapone treatment did not have significant effects. Levodopa elevates tHcy and lowers vitamin B12 concentration to modest degrees. The clinical implications, if any, have not yet been determined. © 2004 Movement Disorder Society [source]