ABSTRACT
Indians have high rates of cardiovascular disease. Hypertension (HTN) is an important modifiable risk factor. There are no comprehensive reviews or a nationally representative study of the burden, treatments and outcomes of HTN in India. A systematic review was conducted to study the trends in prevalence, risk factors and awareness of HTN in India. We searched MEDLINE from January 1969 to July 2011 using prespecified medical subject heading (MeSH) terms. Of 3372 studies, 206 were included for data extraction and 174 were observational studies. Prevalence was reported in 48 studies with sample size varying from 206 to 167 331. A significant positive trend (P<0.0001) was observed over time in prevalence of HTN by region and gender. Awareness and control of HTN (11 studies) ranged from 20 to 54% and 7.5 to 25%, respectively. Increasing age, body mass index, smoking, diabetes and extra salt intake were common risk factors. In conclusion, from this systematic review, we record an increasing trend in prevalence of HTN in India by region and gender. The awareness of HTN in India is low with suboptimal control rates. There are few long-term studies to assess outcomes. Good quality long-term studies will help to understand HTN better and implement effective prevention and management programs.
Subject(s)
Awareness , Hypertension/epidemiology , Hypertension/etiology , Female , Humans , Incidence , India/epidemiology , Male , Prevalence , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
Monte Carlo simulations of digital images of the contrast detail phantom and the ACR phantom are presented for two different x-ray digital mammography modalities: a synchrotron mammography system and a next-generation scanning slot clinical system. A combination of variance reduction methods made it possible to simulate accurate images using real pixel dimensions within reasonable computation times. The complete method of image simulation, including a simple detector response model, a simple noise model, and the incorporation of system effects (MTF), is presented. The simulated images of the phantoms show good agreement with images measured on the two systems.
Subject(s)
Mammography/methods , Monte Carlo Method , Algorithms , Mammography/instrumentation , Phantoms, Imaging , Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted/methods , Scattering, Radiation , Software , SynchrotronsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Variable dexamethasone kinetics is a possible confound in the dexamethasone suppression test. Modifications to include dexamethasone plasma levels and specific dexamethasone "windows" have been proposed. Our study aims to validate our proposed dexamethasone windows in an independent sample of 121 subjects. METHODS: We performed dexamethasone suppression tests in 162 subjects with mixed psychiatric diagnoses. Dexamethasone levels and beta-phase half-life of dexamethasone were computed for suppressors and nonsuppressors. RESULTS: Dexamethasone levels were lower in nonsuppressors than in suppressors. Dexamethasone levels correlated inversely with cortisol levels in the total sample, but were nonsignificant or weakly associated in those samples restricted to the windows. The beta-phase half-life of dexamethasone was shorter in nonsuppressors. The dexamethasone windows were validated at 3:00 PM and 10:00 PM. We propose 4.0 ng/mL as a revised upper limit of the 8:00 AM dexamethasone window. CONCLUSIONS: The plasma dexamethasone level is confirmed as a confound in the dexamethasone suppression test through more rapid dexamethasone clearance in nonsuppressors. Application of dexamethasone windows will reduce this source of test variance.
Subject(s)
Dexamethasone/pharmacokinetics , Glucocorticoids/pharmacokinetics , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Adrenal Cortex Function Tests , Adult , Dexamethasone/blood , Female , Glucocorticoids/blood , Half-Life , Humans , Hydrocortisone/blood , Male , Mental Disorders/blood , Middle Aged , Predictive Value of Tests , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
Photon scattering angular distributions from various animal tissues were measured at two energies of a monochromatic synchrotron x-ray beam. Two plastics and human breast tissue were also measured. From these two measurements, the molecular coherent scattering form factor of each material was extracted. A new data analysis technique that uses Monte Carlo based corrections for air scattering, incoherent scattering and multiple scattering was used. The form factors of the 16 materials are presented in tabular form, suitable for use in computer calculations.