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Percentage Decline (percentage + decline)
Selected AbstractsChanges in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure over a 20-year period: cross-sectional and longitudinal analysesADDICTION, Issue 3 2009Barbara J. Jefferis ABSTRACT Aims To examine long-term changes in environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure in British men between 1978 and 2000, using serum cotinine. Design Prospective cohort: British Regional Heart Study. Setting General practices in 24 towns in England, Wales and Scotland. Participants Non-smoking men: 2125 studied at baseline [questionnaire (Q1): 1978,80, aged 40,59 years], 3046 studied 20 years later (Q20: 1998,2000, aged 60,79 years) and 1208 studied at both times. Non-smokers were men reporting no current smoking with cotinine < 15 ng/ml at Q1 and/or Q20. Measurements Serum cotinine to assess ETS exposure. Findings In cross-sectional analysis, geometric mean cotinine level declined from 1.36 ng/ml [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.31, 1.42] at Q1 to 0.19 ng/ml (95% CI: 0.18, 0.19) at Q20. The prevalence of cotinine levels , 0.7 ng/ml [associated with low coronary heart disease (CHD) risk] rose from 27.1% at Q1 to 83.3% at Q20. Manual social class and northern region of residence were associated with higher mean cotinine levels both at Q1 and Q20; older age was associated with lower cotinine level at Q20 only. Among 1208 persistent non-smokers, cotinine fell by 1.47 ng/ml (95% CI: 1.37, 1.57), 86% decline. Absolute falls in cotinine were greater in manual occupational groups, in the Midlands and Scotland compared to southern England, although percentage decline was very similar across groups. Conclusions A marked decline in ETS exposure occurred in Britain between 1978 and 2000, which is likely to have reduced ETS-related disease risks appreciably before the introduction of legislation banning smoking in public places. [source] Plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 gene polymorphisms and mirtazapine responses in Koreans with major depressionASIA-PACIFIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2009Hun Soo Chang PhD Abstract Introduction: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the pathophysiology of mental disorders and in the mechanism of action of antidepressant medications. The mature form of BDNF is derived from proBDNF through tissue type plasminogen activator (tPA) and the plasminogen system in the brain, which is regulated by an endogenous inhibitor, plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI). Therefore, PAI may be involved in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its response to antidepressant treatment. The present study determined the relationship between the 4G/5G polymorphism in the PAI1 gene and the clinical outcome of mirtazapine treatment in 271 Korean MDD patients. Methods: We tested the association between the polymorphism and response to mirtazapine treatment or percentage decrease of the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating (HAMD21) scores using multiple logistic and linear regression analysis. Results: PAI1 4G/5G genotypes and allele distributions were comparable between responders and non-responders during the treatment period. Similarly, linear regression showed no association between genotypes or alleles and the percentage decline in total HAMD21 with mirtazapine treatment. In the analysis of symptomatic subscores, the percentage decline in the psychic anxiety and delusion scores after 4 weeks of mirtazapine treatment showed a statistical trend to a difference among genotypes, although it was not statistically significance. Discussion: In this first pharmacogenetics study of the PAI1 4G/5G polymorphism and mirtazapine treatment response, our results do not support the hypothesis that this polymorphism is involved in the therapeutic response to mirtazapine. [source] Intraoperative decay profile of intact (1,84) parathyroid hormone in surgery for secondary hyperparathyroidism in a consecutive series of 50 patients on haemodialysisBRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY (NOW INCLUDES EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY), Issue 9 2000J. Lokey Background The usefulness of rapid intraoperative monitoring of intact (1,84) parathyroid hormone (PTH) is not clearly defined in the surgical management of secondary HPT in the patients on haemodialysis. The aim of this study was to define the normal pattern of decay during surgery for secondary HPT using the rapid intact (1,84) PTH assay during operation. Methods Fifty patients on haemodialysis underwent neck exploration for secondary HPT. The therapeutic goal in all patients was the subtotal resection of four or more glands and bilateral transcervical thymectomy. PTH levels were monitored using a rapid immunochemiluminometric assay. Peripheral blood samples were assayed at induction of anaesthesia, after dissection but before resection, and 20 and 40 min after resection in all patients. All patients were followed up for at least 6 months. PTH levels were expressed as absolute values, as multiples of the upper limit of normal and as the percentage decline from pre-excision values. Results Forty-eight patients (96 per cent) were considered cured after surgery. Twenty patients (40 per cent) had a PTH level less than twice normal and 20 patients (40 per cent) had a PTH level between two and four times normal at 20 min. At late follow-up, all these patients were cured. Ten patients (20 per cent) had a PTH level greater than four times normal at 20 min. Eight of these patients were cured. Seven of these eight had a PTH level at 20 min, while not less than four times normal, less than 40 per cent of the original value. In contrast, the two failures had neither a decline to less than four times normal nor a decay to less than 40 per cent of the original value. One has been reoperated with resection of a fifth gland and one awaits reoperation. Conclusion The intraoperative decay of PTH during surgery for secondary HPT in patients on haemodialysis is slower than that in patients with normal renal function. However, 20 min after resection, a decline to less than four times the upper limit of normal is predictive of cure. Variability of decay slopes in individual patients may reflect molecular heterogeneity or biphasic metabolism of the hormone. © 2000 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd [source] Catastrophic events and recovery from low densities in populations of otariids: implications for risk of extinctionMAMMAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2001Leah R. Gerber ABSTRACT Two key factors in a population's risk of extinction are major population declines induced by natural or anthropogenic events (catastrophes) and whether the population's rate of growth increases or decreases at very low abundance levels. These two elements should be included in any population viability analysis (PVA), but estimates of the frequency and intensity of catastrophic events and data on the dynamics of low population densities are difficult to obtain. We examined the literature on population dynamics of otariids (fur seals and sea lions), to determine how frequently populations are subjected to major population declines, and to what extent depleted populations recover from low population size. We present frequency distributions for percentage declines for otariid life-stages (pup, juvenile, adult female and male), and describe eight examples of events leading to a population decline of 50% or greater among otariids. We found that numerous otariid populations have been reduced to very low densities by exploitation (low enough to be thought extinct) and have recovered to levels where they are no longer at risk of extinction. This suggests that the reduction in population rate of increase at low densities in otariid populations may not be strong. [source] | ||||||||||