Butyric Acid Induces Apoptosis in Inflamed Fibroblasts

Butyric acid, an extracellular metabolite from periodontopathic bacteria, induces apoptosis in murine and human T- and B-cells, whereas intact gingival fibroblasts isolated from healthy humans are resistant to butyric-acid-induced apoptosis. We examined the susceptibility of inflamed gingival fibroblasts isolated from adult persons with periodontitis to butyric-acid-induced apoptosis. Butyric acid significantly suppressed the viability of inflamed gingival fibroblasts and induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. The incubation of inflamed gingival fibroblasts with butyric acid induced DNA fragmentation and apoptotic changes such as chromatin condensation, hypodiploid nuclei, and mitochondrial injury. Furthermore, butyric-acid-induced apoptosis in inflamed gingival fibroblasts was reduced by caspase-3/7, -6, -8, and -9 inhibitors. Thus, inflamed gingival fibroblasts from adult persons with periodontitis appear to be highly susceptible to mitochondria- and caspase-dependent apoptosis induced by butyric acid, compared with healthy gingival fibroblasts.

Sputum levels of transforming growth factor-beta1 in asthma: relation to clinical and computed tomography findings

BACKGROUND

Transforming growth factor (TGF) beta1 is considered to play central roles in the pathogenesis of airway remodeling in asthma. This notion is based primarily on the results of experimental studies; clinical evidence is limited.

OBJECTIVES

To ascertain the involvement of TGF-beta1 in asthma.

METHODS

We studied 27 patients with moderate-to-severe, but stable, asthma treated with inhaled corticosteroids and 8 healthy controls. Helical computed tomography scans were acquired at full inspiration. Airway wall thickness (WT) was assessed on the basis of wall area corrected for body surface area (WA/BSA) and absolute WT corrected for BSA (WT/square root of BSA) according to a validated method. Induced sputum concentrations of TGF-beta1 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pulmonary function was evaluated.

RESULTS

Indices of expiratory airflow were significantly lower in the asthmatic patients than in the controls. WA/BSA, WT/square root of square root of BSA, and sputum concentrations of TGF-beta1 were significantly higher in the asthmatic patients. Sputum TGF-beta1 concentrations correlated positively with WA/BSA and WT/square root of BSA and negatively with forced expiratory volume in 1 second in both asthmatic and control subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Levels of TGF-beta1 in induced sputum are elevated in asthmatic patients despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroids and are associated with airflow obstruction and airway wall thickening. TGF-beta1 is involved in the pathogenesis of airway remodeling and resultant functional impairment and it may be a target for specific medical treatment.

THE INCIDENCE OF SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH IN AUSTRIA

The aim of the study was to assess the time structure (chronome) of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in Austria. The daily incidence of SCD (ICD-10 I46.1) in Austria was obtained for the 4-year span from Jan 2002 to Dec 2005. Data were available separately for men and women. This data series was analyzed by linear-nonlinear rhythmometry. The major feature is the detection of a cis-half-year that is validated nonlinearly, the estimated period of the cis-half-year is 0.408 year (95% CI: 0.389, 0.426). It is concluded that the chronobiological analysis of sudden cardiac death in Austria showed the variability of total incidence with the period of a cis-half-year.

Detection of small particles in fluid flow using a self-mixing laser

We describe a highly sensitive, real-time method of detecting small particles in a fluid flow by self-mixing laser Doppler measurement with a laser-diode-pumped, thin-slice solid-state laser with extremely high optical sensitivity. Asymmetric power spectra of the laser output modulated by the re-injected scattered light from the small particles moving in a dilute sample-flow, through a small-diameter glass pipe, were observed. The observed power spectra are shown to reflect the velocity distribution of the fluid flow, which obeys Poiseuille's law. Quick measurements of flow rate and kinetic viscosities of water-glycerol mixtures were also performed successfully. Measurable low-concentration limits for 262-nm polystyrene latex spheres and 3-mum red blood cells in a fluid flow were below 1 and 10 ppm, respectively, in the present self-mixing laser Doppler velocimeter system.

Enamel matrix derivative stimulates chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Although enamel matrix derivative can promote chondrogenic differentiation of pluripotent mesenchymal precursor cells, the molecular mechanism that underlies this phenomenon is unclear. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of enamel matrix derivative on chondrogenic differentiation. ATDC5 cells, which undergo a reproducible multistep chondrogenic differentiation, were cultured with or without enamel matrix derivative for up to 35 d.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity increased markedly in cells cultured in the presence of enamel matrix derivative, compared with cells cultured in its absence. Deposition of Alcian blue-positive cartilage matrix and Alizarin red-positive mineralized nodules also increased significantly upon treatment with enamel matrix derivative. Expression of mRNAs encoding cartilage extracellular matrix proteins (type II collagen, type X collagen and aggrecan) and chondrogenic-related transcription factors (Sox9, Zfp60 and AJ18) were measured using the real-time polymerase chain reaction. Type II collagen, type X collagen and aggrecan mRNA expression increased markedly with enamel matrix derivative treatment. Transcription of Sox9, an important transcription factor that mediates chondrogenic differentiation, also increased with enamel matrix derivative treatment. The KRAB/C2H2 zinc-finger transcription factors, Zfp60 and AJ18, were transiently expressed in the prehypertrophic stage, and their expression increased with enamel matrix derivative treatment. In a western blot analysis with anti-insulin-like growth factor-I and anti-bone morphogenetic protein-6 immunoglobulin, bands corresponding to approximately 14, approximately 18 and approximately 60 kDa were found in enamel matrix derivative.

CONCLUSION

Our study provides clear evidence that enamel matrix derivative promotes chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells.

Cytokine profile in synovial fluid from patients with internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint: a preliminary study

OBJECTIVES

Temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) comprise a group of chronic painful conditions of mastication in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Although the association between TMD and internal derangement of the TMJ is well documented, the functional relevance is still unclear. Increased concentrations of inflammatory mediators have been identified in the synovial fluid of affected patients with TMD, suggesting an underlying degenerative or inflammatory process. The aim of this study was to generate a comprehensive cytokine expression profile in TMD.

METHODS

15 samples from patients with internal derangement of TMJ were analysed using a novel cytokine array that enables the analysis of 79 different cytokines simultaneously.

RESULTS

Cytokine levels were correlated with the presence of joint effusion (JE) determined by MRI. In the majority of synovial fluid samples, angiogenin (Ang), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-9, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP)-3, interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-8, inducible protein (IP)-10, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1beta, osteoprotegerin (OPG), transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta2, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, TIMP-2, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-beta and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detectable. Furthermore, the expression levels of Ang, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), FGF-4, FGF-9, IGFBP-2, IL-8, MIP-1beta, OPG, pulmonary and activation-regulated protein (PARC), TGF-beta2, TIMP-2 and VEGF were significantly associated with the presence of JE; among these, nine cytokines (Ang, BDNF, FGF-4, FGF-9, IGFBP-2, MIP-1beta, PARC, TGF-beta2 and TIMP-2) were hitherto not described in TMD.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirmed previous reports of elevated cytokine levels in TMD. Additionally, we identified previously undescribed cytokines that were upregulated and correlated significantly with the presence of JE. We were able to identify novel cytokines that have hitherto not been described in TMD. Strategies targeting the identified cytokines may represent a novel therapy option in TMD.

A novel endoscopic marker: safety experiments in the rat stomach

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS

The study aimed to assess a newly developed endoscopic marker designed to cause only minor inflammatory reactions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Chitosan and carbon powder were used in the marker substance. The product was a viscoelastic solution, which was injected into the submucosa in rat stomach walls. The tissue reactions were then examined histopathologically. The structure of the injected marker substance was examined with electron microscopy into rat stomach walls. India ink, which is currently used as an endoscopic marker, served as the control.

RESULTS

Histopathological examination showed that inflammatory reactions with the novel agent were remarkably mild in the rat organs, while submucosally applied india ink caused severe inflammation in situ. The electron-microscopic findings showed that the carbon particles used were completely spherical in shape and that the carbon in the marker substance was entrapped in the chitosan networks. The india ink was shown to consist of a mixture of fine carbon particles and adhesive additives.

CONCLUSIONS

The chitosan-carbon solution appears to be a promising endoscopic marker substance, causing significantly reduced inflammation.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase activation of cultured human dental pulp cells by low-power gallium-aluminium-arsenic laser irradiation

AIM

To examine whether low-power laser irradiation (LPLI) promotes cellular proliferation of human dental pulp-derived fibroblast-like cells (dental pulp cells).

METHODOLOGY

Dental pulp cells were obtained by primary culture of human dental pulp tissues from extracted third molar teeth. The phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family after LPLI of these cells was investigated by Western blotting. By using a specific MAPK/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitor (PD098059), the specific effect of LPLI on the MAPK pathway was also investigated by Western blotting as described above. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine into the cells after LPLI was determined, and statistical analysis was performed by Wilcoxon signed-ranks test.

RESULTS

Extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 1/2 was phosphorylated between 5 and 30 min after LPLI. Moreover, PD098059 inhibited LPLI-mediated ERK1/2 activation. LPLI did not affect p38 MAPK or c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation. But LPLI did not stimulate [3H]thymidine incorporation into these cells.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicated that LPLI activated MAPK/ERK, a signal for proliferation, differentiation and survival, but did not activate the stress signals p38 MAPK and JNK in human dental pulp cells.

Effect of mineral trioxide aggregate on proliferation of cultured human dental pulp cells

AIM

To investigate the effect of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) on the proliferation of human dental pulp (HDP) cells ex-vivo.

METHODOLOGY

Human dental pulp cells were cultured with MTA or calcium hydroxide-containing cement (Dycal) using culture plate inserts. Control cells were cultured with culture plate inserts only. Cell proliferation was measured for up to 14 days using a Cell Counting kit, and the concentration of calcium ions released from the tested materials was assessed using a Calcium E-test kit. To confirm that the effect of MTA was attributable to released calcium ions, cell proliferation was measured in the presence of exogenous calcium chloride as a source of calcium ions while in the absence of MTA.

RESULTS

Mineral trioxide aggregate significantly stimulated cell proliferation after 12 days, whereas Dycal had no such effect. The number of calcium ions released from MTA was significantly higher than that released from Dycal. Following the addition of calcium chloride, cell proliferation increased in a dose-dependent manner after 12 days. Moreover, cell proliferation showed a similar pattern whether a given concentration of calcium ions was produced by calcium chloride or by release from MTA.

CONCLUSIONS

In this ex-vivo study, the elution components such as calcium ions from MTA had higher proliferation ability of HDP cells than control and Dycal.

Circadian and extracircadian exploration during daytime hours of circulating corticosterone and other endocrine chronomes

During 7 consecutive days, blood and several tissues were collected during daytime working hours only, three times per day at 4-h intervals from inbred Wistar rats, which had been previously standardized for 1 month in two rooms on a regimen of 12 h of light (L) alternating with 12 h of darkness (LD12:12). In one room, lights were on from 09:00 to 21:00 and in the other room, lights were on from 21:00 to 09:00 (DL12:12; reversed lighting regimen). This setup provides a convenient design to study circadian and extracircadian variations over long (e.g., 7-day) spans. Prior checking of certain circadian rhythms in animals reared in the room on reversed lighting (DL) as compared with animals in the usual (LD) regimen provided evidence that the 180 degrees phase-shift had occurred. These measurements were limited to the circadian (and not extended to infradian) variation. As marker rhythm, the core temperature of a subsample of rats was measured every 4 h around the clock (by night as well as by day) before the start of the 7-day sampling. An antiphase of the circadian rhythm in core temperature was thus demonstrated between rats in the LD vs. DL rooms. A sex difference in core temperature was also found in each room. A reversed rhythm in animals kept in DL and an antiphase between rats kept in DL vs. LD was again shown for the circulating corticosterone rhythm documented in subsamples of 8 animals of each sex sampled around the clock during the first approximately 1.5 day of the 7-day sampling. The findings were in keeping with the proposition that sampling rats at three timepoints 4 h apart during daytime from two rooms on opposite lighting regimens allows the assessment of circadian changes, the daytime samples from animals kept on the reversed lighting regimen accounting for the samples that would have to be obtained by night from animals kept in the room with the usual lighting regimen. During the 7-day-long follow-up, circadian and extracircadian spectral components were mapped for serum corticosterone, taking into account the large day-to-day variability. A third check on the synchronization of the animals to their respective lighting regimen was a comparison (and a good agreement) between studies carried out earlier on the same variables and the circadian results obtained on core temperature and serum corticosterone in this study as a whole. The present study happened to start on the day of the second extremum of a moderate double magnetic storm. The study of any associations of corticosterone with the storm is beyond our scope herein, as are the results on circulating prolactin, characterized by a greater variability and a larger sex difference than corticosterone. Sex differences and extracircadian aspects of prolactin and endothelin determined in the same samples are reported elsewhere, as are results on melatonin. Prior studies on melatonin were confirmed insofar as a circadian profile is concerned by sampling on two antiphasic lighting regimens, as also reported elsewhere. Accordingly, a circadian map for the rat will eventually be extended by the result of this study and aligned with other maps with the qualification of the unassessed contribution in this study of a magnetic storm.

An attempt to integrate Western and Chinese medicine: rationale for applying Chinese medicine as chronotherapy against cancer

Current Western medical treatment lays its main emphasis on evidence-based medicine (EBM) and cure is assessed by quantifying the effects of treatment statistically. In contrast, in Chinese medicine, cure is generally assessed by evaluating the patient's "pattern" (Zheng) [cf. Glossary] and medicines are prescribed according to this. We believe that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cannot be evaluated precisely according to Western principles, in which a constant amount of the same medicine is given to a group of patients to be evaluated. When assessing cure using TCM, Zheng is more important than the determination of medical effects. This means that quantitative evaluation of TCM treatment can be very difficult. In this paper, we focused on the Yin-Yang [cf. Glossary]balance to determine Zheng, and at the same time attempted to determine the treatment effects by applying the concept of regulation of Yin-Yang according to chronotherapeutic principles. According to Zheng, advanced cancer patients generally lack both Yin and Yang. Chinese medical treatment therefore seeks to supplement both Yin and Yang. However, we divided patients into two groups and compared them with respect to survival. One group was administered a predominantly Yang (Qi) [cf. Glossary] tonic herbal treatment during the daytime, while the other group was administered Yin (Blood) [cf. Glossary] tonics during night time. A comparison of the results of treatment showed that the patients in the group receiving Yang (Qi) replenishment during the daytime lived longer than patients receiving Yin (Blood) nourishment during the night. Moreover, the patients in the daytime Yang (Qi) replenishment group also fared significantly better than patients treated solely by Western methods.

Why continued surveillance? Intermittent blood pressure and heart rate abnormality under treatment

Several opinion leaders have monitored their blood pressure systematically a sufficient number of times a day for chronomic (time structural) analyses, from the time of encountering chronobiology until their death; they set an example for others who also may not wish to base treatment on single spotchecks in a health care office. Such self-measurements, while extremely helpful, were not readily feasible without a noteworthy interruption of activities during waking as well as of sleep. New, relatively unobtrusive instrumentation now makes monitoring possible and cost-effective and will save lives. Illustrative results and problems encountered in an as-one-goes self-survey by GSK, a physician-scientist, are presented herein. Both MESOR-hypertension and CHAT (circadian hyper-amplitude-tension) can be intermittent conditions even under treatment, and treatment is best adjusted based on monitoring, rather than "flying blind".

Circadian rhythm of maternal blood pressure and fetal growth

This study aimed at examining any relation between the circadian variation in blood pressure (BP) in human pregnancy and fetal growth. A prospective study included 52 pregnant women monitored during the third trimester of pregnancy. There were 33 uncomplicated pregnancies with normal fetal growth (Group 1) and 19 pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), confirmed at birth (Group 2). Ten women (five in each group) had pregnancy-induced hypertension. All women were hospitalized and followed a similar daily routine. BP was recorded with an automatic wearable device. Measurements were obtained every 20 min for 24 +/- 1 h. BP profiles were analyzed by conventional statistical methods and by cosinor, involving the least squares fit of cosine curves with an anticipated period (24 h) to the data. BP parameters, fetal outcome, demographic and obstetric characteristics were compared between the two groups. Logistic regression and multivariate analyses were used to assess factors putatively associated with fetal outcome. The circadian amplitude of diastolic BP was found to be larger in normotensive women with IUGR. As gauged by odds ratios (OR), the circadian amplitude of diastolic BP (OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1-2.8; P = 0.03) and hematocrit (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0-1.9; P = 0.04) were the only variables positively and independently associated with IUGR. In the presence of maternal hypertension, the circadian amplitude of systolic BP was negatively associated with IUGR (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5-1.0; P = 0.03). A larger circadian variation in diastolic BP, rather than a difference in the mean value of systolic or diastolic BP, was found to be statistically significantly associated with IUGR. This study adds another condition in which the circadian BP amplitude constitutes a harbinger of elevated risk, apart from an association with a shortened lifespan in the absence or presence of malignant hypertension and with an increased risk of stroke and nephropathy reported earlier.

Chronomics of autism and suicide

We examine whether autism may be influenced by non-photic environmental factors, among others, in a California database consisting of the number of cases added quarterly to the system between 1993 and 2004. Instead of a precise calendar (1.0)-year-long spectral component, we detect unseen primarily helio- and geomagnetic signatures, including a newly discovered near-transyear of 1.09-year length. In this case, it overrides any undetected seasonal effects, the topic of much previous unrewarding research, also analyzed herein without overcoming the limitation by stacking. Since we could not get additional data on autism, data on suicides, the final "detachment" and failure to bond, were also analyzed, again revealing a spectrum of non-photic signatures. What we do not see and do not anticipate can exist and can override the seasons, as resolved time-microscopically by chronomics, the study of chronomes (time structures). Just as spatial microscopy and electron microscopy resolved infectious agents, so does microscopy in time resolve the signature of environmental agents in human behavior in health and disease.

Chronomics, neuroendocrine feedsidewards and the recording and consulting of nowcasts--forecasts of geomagnetics

A multi-center four-hourly sampling of many tissues for 7 days (00:00 on April 5-20:00 to April 11, 2004), on rats standardized for 1 month in two rooms on antiphasic lighting regimens happened to start on the day after the second extremum of a moderate double magnetic storm gauged by the planetary geomagnetic Kp index (which at each extremum reached 6.3 international [arbitrary] units) and by an equatorial index Dst falling to -112 and -81 nT, respectively, the latter on the first day of the sampling. Neuroendocrine chronomes (specifically circadian time structures) differed during magnetically affected and quiet days. The circadian melatonin rhythm had a lower MESOR and lower circadian amplitude and tended to advance in acrophase, while the MESOR and amplitude of the hypothalamic circadian melatonin rhythm were higher during the days with the storm. The circadian parameters of circulating corticosterone were more labile during the days including the storm than during the last three quiet days. Feedsidewards within the pineal-hypothalamic-adrenocortical network constitute a mechanism underlying physiological and probably also pathological associations of the brain and heart with magnetic storms. Investigators in many fields can gain from at least recording calendar dates in any publication so that freely available information on geomagnetic, solar and other physical environmental activity can be looked up. In planning studies and before starting, one may gain from consulting forecasts and the highly reliable nowcasts, respectively.

Common carotid intima-media thickness is predictive of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in elderly community-dwelling people: Longitudinal Investigation for the Longevity and Aging in Hokkaido County (LILAC) study

Several cohort studies have examined the association of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) with the risk of stroke or myocardial infarction in apparently healthy persons. We investigated the predictive value of IMT of cardiovascular mortality in elderly community-dwelling people, beyond the prediction provided by age and MMSE, assessed by means of a multivariate Cox model. Carotid IMT and plaque were evaluated bilaterally with ultrasonography in 298 people older than 75 years (120 men and 178 women, average age: 79.6 years). The LILAC study started on July 25, 2000. Consultations were repeated every year. The follow-up ended on November 30, 2004. During the mean follow-up span of 1152 days, 30 subjects (21 men and nine women) died. Nine deaths were attributable to cardiovascular causes (myocardial infarction: two men and three women; stroke: two men and two women). The age- and MMSE-adjusted relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of developing all-cause mortality was assessed. A 0.3 mm increase in left IMT was associated with a RR of predicted 1.647 (1.075-2.524), and a similar increase in right IMT with a RR of 3.327 (1.429-7.746). For cardiovascular mortality, the corresponding RR values were 2.351 (1.029-5.372) and 2.890 (1.059-7.891), respectively. Carotid IMT assessed by ultrasonography is positively associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular death in elderly community-dwelling people.

Circasemidian rather than circadian variation of circulating osteoprotegerin in clinical health

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) serves as a soluble decoy receptor for RANKL to inhibit osteoclast formation and activity. Hormones such as PTH and glucocorticoids have been reported to decrease OPG concentrations, while estrogens, transforming growth factor b, related bone morphogenic factor and thrombopoietin reportedly enhance the OPG production in the osteoblastic and bone stromal cells. Since bone turnover shows a prominent circadian rhythm in laboratory animals and humans, with bone resorption increasing at night, we investigated the time structure of circulating OPG concentrations in a group of nine healthy subjects (six women and three men; in the age range of 26-49 years). Blood samples for OPG determination were collected every 4 h for 24 h on the same day, starting at 08:00 in the morning. Data were analyzed by inferential statistical procedures, including the single and population-mean cosinor. A 12-h component was found to characterize serum OPG concentrations (P = 0.038) with peak concentrations around noon and midnight. No statistically significant circadian rhythm of OPG concentrations could be found by cosinor in our study population. The mean 24-h OPG concentration was higher in women than in men (mean +/- S.E.: 3.13 +/- 0.44 vs. 1.94 +/- 0.26 pmol/l, Student t = 2.325, P = 0.053). Since PTH concentrations also exhibit a bimodal pattern along the 24-h scale, PTH may be tested as a putative determinant of the observed changes in serum concentrations of osteoprotegerin.

Yearly and perhaps transyearly human natality patterns near the equator and at higher latitudes

Data on the daily numbers of births in Davao, Philippines, available from 1993 to 2003 are re-analyzed herein by linear-nonlinear rhythmometry, as are data from Italy and Japan. A transyear, characterizing the solar wind and other non-photic physical environmental factors, corresponds to a spectral peak of the near-equatorial natality series. This component with a period of about 1.3 years is found to have an amplitude larger than the calendar year, the amplitude ratio being 134%. Whereas the transyear is validated nonlinearly, the 95% confidence interval for the period extending from 1.21 to 1.38 years and the 95% confidence interval for the amplitude not overlapping zero (P < 0.05), the annual variation is only demonstrable by linear least squares analysis. The results bring added evidence for an influence of non-photic environmental effects on human physiology, in this case data collected near the equatorial region, Davao being situated at 7 degrees N, 126 degrees E. They are in keeping with some degree of generality of a rule of reciprocity among mutually supporting physical and biological periodicities. They do not detract from the fact that in other longer data sets at higher latitudes, the calendar year, presumably reflecting climatic influences, dominates the spectrum.

Incidence of sudden cardiac death, myocardial infarction and far- and near-transyears

We analyzed cycles with periods, tau, in the range of 0.8-2.0 years, characterizing, mostly during 1999-2003, the incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD), according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD10), code I46.1. In the tau range examined, only yearly components could be documented in time series from North Carolina, USA; Tbilisi, Georgia; and Hong Kong, in the latter two locations based on relatively short time series. By contrast, in Minnesota, USA, we found only a component with a longer than (= trans) yearly (transyearly) tau of 1.39 years; the 95% confidence interval (CI) of the tau extended from 1.17 to 1.61 years, falling into the category of transyears (defined as a tau and a 95% CI between 1.0 and 2.0 years, with the limits of the 95% CI of the spectral component's tau overlapping neither of these lengths). During the same span from 1999 to 2003 in Arkansas, USA, a component of about 1-year in length was present, and in addition, one with a tau of 1.69 year with a CI extending from 1.29 to 2.07 years, a far-transyear candidate, far-transyears being defined as having a tau with a CI between 1.20 and 2.0 year, with the CI overlapping neither of these lengths. In the Czech Republic, there was also a calendar-yearly tau and one of 1.76 years. In the latter two geographic/geomagnetic areas, the about-yearly and the longer cycles' amplitudes were of similar prominence. The taus are only candidate transyears; the 95% CIs of their taus overlap the 2-year length. When a series on SCD from 1994 to 2003 from the Czech Republic was analyzed, the 95% CI of the transyear's tau no longer overlapped the 2-year length. Transyears were also found in the Czech Republic for myocardial infarctions (MI), meeting the original transyear definition in both a shorter and a longer series. Moreover, in the 1994-2003 series on MI from the Czech Republic, a near-transyear was also found, meeting the definition of a period with a 95% CI overlapping neither precisely 1.0 year nor 1.2 years, along with a far-transyear, defined as a tau between 1.2 and 2.0 years, again with the 95% CI covering neither of these lengths. Herein, we discuss near- and far-transyears more generally in the light of their background in physics and the concept of reciprocal cyclicities.

Effect of aging on blood pressure in Leh, Ladakh, a high-altitude (3524 m) community, by comparison with a Japanese town

The effect of aging on blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) was investigated in a cross-sectional study in the high-altitude community of Leh, Ladakh (altitude: 3524 m) and a Japanese community in U town, Hokkaido (altitude: 25 m). BP and HR were obtained in a sitting position from 332 subjects 13-81 years of age in Ladakh, and from 216 Japanese citizens, 24-79 years of age. Measurements were taken after a 2-min rest, using a semi-automated BP device (UA-767 PC, A and D Co. LTD, Tokyo). High-altitude people showed higher diastolic BP and HR values than lowland people (83.2 vs. 76.9 mmHg and 78.6 vs. 69.2 bpm, P < 0.001), but no difference in systolic BP. Highland people also showed a steeper BP increase with age than the lowland people (systolic BP: 0.7476 vs. 0.3179 mmHg/year, P < 0.0005; diastolic BP: 0.3196 vs. 0.0750 mmHg/year, P < 0.001). This chronoecologic investigation in Ladakh examined the circulation as a physiological system at high-altitude. Our data indicate the need for a more comprehensive cardiovascular assessment for a better diagnosis and a more fruitful treatment. Longitudinal observations of effects of socio-ecologic factors on the cardiovascular system should help prevent strokes and other cardiovascular events, especially at high altitude.