Plos One
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Understanding the relative contribution to HIV transmission from different social groups is important for public-health policy. Information about the importance of stable serodiscordant couples (when one partner is infected but not the other) relative to contacts outside of stable partnerships in spreading disease can aid in designing and targeting interventions. However, the overall importance of within-couple transmission, and the determinants and correlates of this importance, are not well understood. ⋯ For a given level of prevalence, we find a negative correlation between the proportion of discordant couples and the within-couple transmission rate, indicating that low discordance in a population may reflect a relatively high rate of within-couple transmission. Transmission within or outside couples and among uncoupled individuals are all likely to be important in sustaining heterosexual HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, intervention policies should be broadly targeted when practical.
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The data were presented in abstract form at the 45(th) meeting of the American Society of Nephrology, October 30-November 04 2012, San Diego, CA, USA. Circulating autoantibodies against M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2R) are important pathogenic antibodies of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (MN) in adults. However, previous studies on the clinical impact of anti-PLA2R antibodies demonstrated several limitations, including insufficient numbers of study subjects and different time points and methods for anti-PLA2R antibody measurement. ⋯ However, neither the levels nor the presence or absence of anti-PLA2R antibody showed a significant correlation with clinical outcomes, such as remission rate and time to remission. In conclusion, we observed that anti-PLA2R antibodies are highly prevalent in Korean patients with idiopathic MN and that they reflect the clinical disease activity before the administration of immunosuppressive treatment. However, the levels of anti-PLA2R antibody at the time of kidney biopsy may not predict the clinical outcomes in current clinical practice.
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The SCN5A gene encodes for the α-subunit of the cardiac sodium channel NaV1.5, which is responsible for the rapid upstroke of the cardiac action potential. Mutations in this gene may lead to multiple life-threatening disorders of cardiac rhythm or are linked to structural cardiac defects. Here, we characterized a large family with a mutation in SCN5A presenting with an atrioventricular conduction disease and absence of Brugada syndrome. ⋯ In a large family, congregation of a heterozygous SCN5A gene mutation (p.1493delK) predisposes for conduction slowing without evidence for Brugada syndrome due to a predominantly trafficking defect that reduces Na(+) current and depolarization force.
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Clinical Trial
Association of ideal cardiovascular metrics and serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in hypertensive population.
Increased levels of the inflammatory biomarker high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, ideal cardiovascular health indicates lower risk of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the effect of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and health factors on hs-CRP levels among a hypertensive population. From 2006 to 2007, a cross-sectional study was conducted to survey 41,476 hypertensive subjects among the employees of Kailuan Corporation. Data from unified questionnaires and blood biochemical examinations were collected. The effects of ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and health factors on hs-CRP levels were evaluated through multivariate logistic regression analysis. A negative correlation was observed between hs-CRP levels and the number of ideal cardiovascular health metrics. The mean hs-CRP levels of subjects with zero to one, two, three, and four to six ideal cardiovascular health metrics were 1.11, 0.96, 0.90, and 0.80 mg/L, respectively (P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that after adjustment for sex, age, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and other risk factors, the risks for subjects with two, three, and four to six ideal health metrics with serum hs-CRP >3 mg/L were lower than those with zero to one ideal health metrics, with corresponding odd ratios of 0.86 (95%CI: 0.79-0.93, P<0.01), 0.76 (95%CI: 0.69-0.83, P<0.01), and 0.68 (95%CI: 0.64-0.75, P<0.01), respectively. This finding suggests that ideal cardiovascular health behaviors and health factors were related to decreased hs-CRP levels in a hypertensive population. ⋯ UNIQUE IDENTIFIER: ChiCTR-TNC-11001489.
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Groin hernia repair is a commonly performed surgical procedure in the western world but large-scaled epidemiologic data are sparse. Large-scale data on the occurrence of groin hernia repair may provide further understanding to the pathophysiology of groin hernia development. This study was undertaken to investigate the age and gender dependent prevalence of groin hernia repair. ⋯ The age distribution of inguinal hernia repair is bimodal peaking at early childhood and old age, whereas the prevalence of femoral hernia repair increased steadily throughout life. This information can be used to formulate new hypotheses regarding disease etiology with regard to age and gender specifications.