Clinical features of alcoholic hepatitis in latinos and caucasians: A single center experience

AIM To study differences of presentation, management, and prognosis of alcoholic hepatitis in Latinos compared to Caucasians. METHODS We retrospectively screened 876 charts of Caucasian and Latino patients who were evaluated at University of California Davis Medical Center between 1/1/2002-12/31/2014 with the diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease. We identified and collected data on 137 Caucasians and 64 Latinos who met criteria for alcoholic hepatitis, including chronic history of heavy alcohol use, at least one episode of jaundice with bilirubin ≥ 3.0 orcoagulopathy, new onset of liver decompensation or acute liver decompensation in known cirrhosis within 12 wk of last drink. RESULTS The mean age at presentation of alcoholic hepatitis was not significantly different between Latinos and Caucasians. There was significant lower rate of overall substance abuse in Caucasians compared to Latinos and Latinos had a higher rate of methamphetamine abuse(12.5% vs 0.7%) compared to Caucasians. Latinos had a higher mean number of hospitalizations(5.3 ± 5.6 vs 2.7 ± 2.7, P = 0.001) and mean Emergency Department visits(9.5 ± 10.8 vs 4.5 ± 4.1, P = 0.017) for alcohol related issues and complications compared to Caucasians. There was significantly higher rate of complications of portal hypertension including gastrointestinal bleeding(79.7% vs 45.3%, P < 0.001), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis(26.6% vs 9.5%, P = 0.003), and encephalopathy(81.2% vs 55.5%, P = 0.001) in Latinos compared to Caucasians.CONCLUSION Latinos have significant higher rates of utilization of acute care services for manifestations alcoholic hepatitis and complications suggesting poor access to outpatient care.

Comparison and predicted equation of energy expenditure during walking or running among Caucasians,African Americans and Asians

Knowledge of measured energy expenditure(EE)during walking and running is important for exercise pre-scription.Further,research on the EE comparison and EE predicted equation during walking or running among different ethnicities is limited.The purpose of the current study was to compare EE to walk or run 1 mile in Caucasian,African American and Asian adults and to develop a regression equation to predict EE to walk or run 1 mile.Two hundred and twenty-four participants were included(71 Caucasians,68 African Americans and 85 Asians)with 3 groups(normal weight walking,overweight walking and running).EE was measured via indirect calorimetry.Analysis of variance was used to compare EE across groups.Multiple regression analysis was employed for EE prediction,and the prediction equation was cross-validated.A significant EE difference was found between walking and running among three ethnicities.The prediction equation was:EE=0.978 Body Weight-4.571 Gender(male=1;female=2)+3.524 Ethnicities(Caucasians=1,African Americans=2,Asians=3)+32.447(standard error of estimate=12.5 kcal·mile^(-1)).The equation was valid through cross-validation,so it is recommended to apply for calculating EE during walking or running 1 mile among Cauca-sians,African Americans and Asians.

Modelling the nesting-habitat of threatened vulture species in the caucasus:An ecosystem approach to formalising environmental factors in species distribution models

Abiotic factors play an important role in species localisation,but biotic and anthropogenic predictors must also be considered in distribution modelling for models to be biologically meaningful.In this study,we formalised the biotic predictors of nesting sites for four threatened Caucasian vultures by including species distribution models(wild ungulates,nesting tree species)as biotic layers in the vulture Maxent models.Maxent was applied in the R dismo package and the best set of the model parameters were defined in the R ENMeval package.Performance metrics were continuous Boyce index,Akaike's information criterion,the area under receiver operating curve and true skill statistics.We also calculated and evaluated the null models.Kernel density estimation method was applied to assess the overlap of vulture ecological niches in the environmental space.The accessibility of anthropogenic food resources was estimated using the Path Distance measure that considers elevation gradient.The availability of pine forests(Scots Pine)and wild ungulates(Alpine Chamois and Caucasian Goat)contributed the most(29.6%and 34.3%)to Cinereous Vulture(Aegypius monachus)nesting site model.Wild ungulate distribution also contributed significantly(about 46%)to the Bearded Vulture(Gypaetus barbatus)model.This scavenger nests in the highlands of the Caucasus at a minimum distance of 5–10 km from anthropogenic facilities.In contrast,livestock as a food source was most important in colony distribution of Griffon Vulture(Gyps fulvus).The contribution of distances to settlements and agricultural facilities to the model was 45%.The optimal distance from Egyptian Vulture(Neophron percnopterus)nesting sites to settlements was only 3–10 km,to livestock facilities no more than 15 km with the factor contribution of about 57%.Excluding the wild ungulate availability,the ecological niches of studied vultures overlapped significantly.Despite similar foraging and nesting requirements,Caucasian vultures are not pronounced nesting and trophic competitors due to the abundance of nesting sites,anthropogenic food sources and successful niche sharing.

Participation and Activity Rates: Monitoring Exposure Potential for Native Americans and Others in the United States

Managers and regulators are concerned about potential human health effects from exposure on lands contaminated by chemicals and radionuclides. Determining target cleanup levels is partly dependent upon future land use, and potential exposure from human use. This paper provides data from surveys of activity patterns of people attending festivals in four states, located in the vicinity of Department of Energy facilities. There were significant differences in both participation rates, and activity rates as a function of both location and ethnicity that can be used by managers to track exposure, land use, and preferred activities on natural lands. In general, 1) a higher percent of Native Americans engaged in consumptive activities than others, 2) a higher percent of Caucasians engaged in some non-consumptive activities than Native Americans, 3) a higher percentage of Native Americans engaged in activities on sacred grounds, 4) activity rates were generally higher for Native Americans for consumptive activities and religious/cultural than for Caucasians, 5) fishing rates were higher than other consumptive activities, and camping/hiking were higher than other non-con- sumptive activities, and 6) hunting rates were higher in subjects from Idaho than elsewhere. Baseline human use is critical for monitoring potential exposure, and provides the basis for monitoring, risk assessment and future land use, and these data can be used by managers for assessment and management. Tracking changes over time will reflect changing recreational, subsistence, and cultural/religious trends that relate to land use, public perceptions, and exposure.

The Issue of Genealogy of Armenians, Georgians and Other Caucasian Nations in the Historiography of the Middle Ages

The paper shows that the story about the origin of Armenians, Georgians and other Caucasians from a common ancestor, namely, from Targamos (Togormah)—The Life of the Fore-Patriarchs and Ancestors of the Georgian Kings, which is represented in the introductory part of The Georgian Chronicles and is dated back to the end of the11th, is a compiled work that mainly contains, on the one hand, an old Georgian genealogical-geographical story about Tarshish’s son Kartlos (Iber) and his six brothers ( Egros, Movakan, Heros, Bardos, Lekan and Caucas)created at the end of the 6th c.-first half of the 8th c. based on Byzantine works, and on the other hand, a genealogical story created in old Armenian historiography about Targamos and his son Hayk that went through certain steps of development as well. In the process of synthesizing, Togormah (Targamos) and his son Hayk (Haos)were inserted between Tarsish and his son Kartlos (Iber), which violated the Biblical scheme as well as the structure of the sentence in which the insertion was made. The goal of developing the synthesized scheme was to bring evidence of the common origin of Georgians and Armenians, as long as quite a large number of Armenians,because of the incorporation of a large part of Armenian territories within Georgian borders, became citizens of Georgia. At the same time, the story also offers a justification in the eyes of the Muslim world for the claims of Georgia for Armenian territories. According to the newly-created synthesized scheme, Georgia was “the successor brother” of Armenia(Haos//Hayk) and considering the absence of Armenian states, i.e., “the elder brother”,Georgia was the only legal heir of Armenian territories.

Differences in reproductive endocrinology between Asian men and Caucasian men——a literature review

This review provides an overview of the literature on aspects of reproductive endocrinology wherein Asian menmay differ from Caucasian, notably, prostatic nioplasm and the sensivity to pharmacological regimens of male contra-ception. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as nutrition, might be relevant. Asian men residing in Asia seemto be relatively protected from clinical prostatic nioplasm while the prevalence of preclinical prostatic nioplasm is notdifferent. Migration to an area with a higher prevalence reduces this difference but does not undo it. With regard toprostatic nioplasm the following factors have been considered as relevant in Asian men: 1) a reduction in 5α-reductaselevel, 2) decreased levels of androgenic ketosteroid precursors of 5α-reduced androgen metabolites, 3) the decreasedpresence of a P53 mutation, 4) a higher CAG-repeat length of the androgen receptor, 5) a possible higher level ofphysical activity, 6) differences in sexual activity. Furthermore, Asian men respond to a higher degree with azoosper-mia in response to contraceptive steroids. Possible explanations offered for the more pronounced response to contracep-tive steroids are: 1) differences in testicular structure and decreased spermatogenic potential, 2) an earlier and moremarked suppression in LH secretion by exogenous androgens. The differences may be due to genetical and/or environ-mental factors influencing the peripheral testosterone metabolism. Dietary factors such as the higher intake of phytoe-strogens in Asians might exert effects on 5α-reductase activity and/or on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels,thus having an impact on the biological efficay of circulating androgens. ( Asian J Androl 2000; 2: 13 - 20)

Processing Environmental Stimuli in Paranoid Schizophrenia:Recognizing Facial Emotions and Performing Executive Functions

Objective To study the contribution of executive function to abnormal recognition of facia expressions of emotion in schizophrenia patients. Methods Abnormal recognition of facial expressions of emotion was assayed according to Japanese and Caucasian facial expressions of emotion （JACFEE）, Wisconsin card sorting test {WCST）, positive and negative symptom scale, and Hamilton anxiety and depression scale, respectively, in 88 paranoid schizophrenia patients and 75 healthy volunteers. Results Patients scored higher on the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scales, displayed lower JACFEE recognition accuracies and poorer WCST performances. The JACFEE recognition accuracy of contempt and disgust was negatively correlated with the negative symptom scale score while the recognition accuracy of fear was positively with the positive symptom scale score and the recognition accuracy of surprise was negatively with the general psychopathology score in patients. Moreover, the WCST could predict the JACFEE recognition accuracy of contempt, disgust, and sadness in patients, and the perseverative errors negatively predicted the recognition accuracy of sadness in healthy volunteers. The JACFEE recognition accuracy of sadness could predict the WCST categories in paranoid schizophrenia patients. Conclusion Recognition accuracy of social-/moral emotions, such as contempt, disgust and sadness is related to the executive function in paranoid schizophrenia patients, especially when regarding sadness.

Contribution of G71R mutation to Gilbert's syndrome phenotype in a Greek patient: A case report

Gilbert's syndrome is characterized by a benign indirect hyperbilirubinemia.It has often been underestimated and undiagnosed because of its mild symptoms;al-though it is not as rare as was once believed when its frequency was estimated using data originating from biochemical tests.Based on molecular techniques,the occurrence of Gilbert's syndrome has changed,increas-ing to 10% in the Caucasian population.This molecular defect was described,by Bosma et al,in 1995,and af-fects the promoter region of the UGT 1A1 gene.In this case report,our aim is to present a new combination of two molecular defects in a Greek patient with Gilbert' s syndrome.A 13-year-old Greek girl was examined for Gilbert's syndrome using molecular techniques,and an uncommon genotype was revealed comprising the rare mutation G71R in trans with A(TA)7TAA motif.TheG71R mutation according to the literature,as well as our epidemiological data,is rare in Caucasians,while it is common in Asian populations.This is the first case study in the Greek population to report a new genotype for Gilbert's syndrome manifestation in the Caucasian population.

BDNF methylation and mRNA expression in brain and blood of completed suicides in Slovenia

BACKGROUND Suicide is a major public health problem.Worldwide,around 800000 people die by suicide every year.Suicide is a multifactorial disorder,with numerous environmental and genetic risk factors involved.Among the candidate genes,changes in the BDNF locus at the gene,epigenetic,mRNA,and protein expression levels have been implicated in psychiatric disorders,including suicidal behavior and completed suicides.AIM To investigate changes in BDNF methylation and expression of four alternative BDNF transcripts for association with completed suicide.METHODS This case-control study included 42 unrelated male Caucasian subjects,where 20 were control subjects who died following acute cardiac arrest,and 22 were suicide victims who died by hanging.DNA and RNA were extracted from brain tissue(Brodmann area 9 and hippocampus)and from blood.DNA methylation and mRNA expression levels were determined by targeted bisulfite next-generation sequencing and reverse-transcription quantitative PCR.Statistical analysis was done by use of two-tailed Student’s t tests for two independent samples,and the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was implemented for correction for multiple comparisons.RESULTS In DNA from brain tissue,there were no significant differences in BDNF methylation between the study groups.However,data showed significantly reduced DNA methylation of the BDNF region upstream of exon I in blood samples of suicide victims compared to the controls(5.67±0.57 vs 6.83±0.64,P_(corr)=0.01).In Brodmann area 9 of the brain of the suicide victims but not in their hippocampus,there was higher expression of BDNF transcript I-IX(NM_170731.4)compared to the controls(0.077±0.024 vs 0.05±0.013,P=0.042).In blood,expression analysis for the BDNF transcripts was not feasible due to extensive RNA degradation.CONCLUSION Despite the limitations of the study,the obtained data further support a role for BDNF in suicidality.However,it should be noted that suicidal behavior is a multifactorial disorder with numerous environmental and genetic risk factors involved.

Impact of hepatitis C virus core mutations on the response to interferon-based treatment in chronic hepatitis C

AIM To determine whether hepatitis C virus(HCV) core substitutions play a role in the response to interferon-based treatment in Caucasian patients. METHODS One hundred eight HCV chronically infected patients initiating treatment with pegylated IFN plus ribavirin for 48 wk were tested for baseline substitutions at codons 70 and 91 of the viral core protein(Big Dye Terminator vers.3.1, Applied Biosystems,) and for genetic polymorphisms in host IL28 B gene rs12979860(Custom TaqM an 5' allelic discrimination assay; Applied Biosystems).RESULTS Of the patients, all were infected with HCV genotype 1b, 44.4% had low baseline HCV viral load, and 37.9% had mild/moderate fibrosis. Only 38.9% achieved therapeutic success, defined as sustained virological response(SVR). Eighty-eight percent of the patients presented at least one substitution at core position 70(R70Q/H) or/and position 91(L91M). The favorable IL28 B CC polymorphism was detected in only 17.6% of the patients. In the univariate analysis, young age(P < 0.001), urban residence(P = 0.004), IL28 B CC genotype(P < 0.001), absence of core mutations(P = 0.005), achievement of rapid virologic response(P < 0.001) and early virological response(P < 0.001) were significantly correlated with SVR. A multivariate analysis revealed three independent predictors of therapeutic success: young age(P < 0.001), absence of core substitutions(P = 0.04) and IL28 B CC genotype(P < 0.001); the model correctly classified 75.9% of SVR cases with a positive predictive value of 80.7%. CONCLUSION HCV core mutations can help distinguish between patients who can still benefit from the affordable IFNbased therapy from those who must be treated with DAAs to prevent the evolution towards end-stage liver disease.

Bone density, microarchitecture and stiffness in Caucasian and Caribbean Hispanic postmenopausal American women

Hispanic Americans of Caribbean origin are a fast-growing subset of the US population, but there are no studies on bone density, microstructure and biomechanical integrity in this minority group. In this study, we aimed to compare Caucasian and Caribbean Hispanic postmenopausal American women with respect to these characteristics. Thirty-three Caribbean Hispanics were age-matched to thirty-three Caucasian postmenopausal women. At the lumbar spine, the Hispanic women had significantly lower areal bone mineral density （aBMD）. At the radius by high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography （HR-pQCT）, there were minimal differences between Hispanic and Caucasian women. At the tibia, Hispanic women had lower trabecular volumetric bone density and trabecular number, and higher trabecular separation. Individual trabecula segmentation （ITS） analyses indicated that at the tibia, Hispanic women not only had significantly lower bone volume fraction, but also had significantly lower rod bone volume fraction, plate trabecular number, rod trabecular number and lower plate-plate, plate-rod and rod-rod junction densities compared to Caucasian women. The differences in bone quantity and quality contributed to lower whole bone stiffness at the radius, and both whole bone and trabecular bone stiffness at the tibia in Hispanic women. In conclusion, Hispanic women had poorer bone mechanical and microarchitectural properties than Caucasian women, especially at the load-bearing distal tibia.

Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures in Men: Comparison of Clinical and Psychosocial Features between Afro-American and Caucasian Patients

PNES represents an alternative diagnosis for refractory epilepsy in the EMU, however it is less frequent in males. The impact of ethnicity on PNES was evaluated retrospectively in 54 males with confirmed diagnosis of PNES. We evaluated and compared the demographic, clinical and psycho-social characteristics of both AAMs and WMs. In both AAMs and CMS, over half of all patients were <50 years of age, had a shorter history of spells, and took between 1 to 3 AEDS. However, the spells were more frequent in AAM (2.25) compared to CM, but the CMs had more frequent limp/unresponsive events. Also there was higher incidence of head injury report, alcohol and substance abuse, unemployment and disability benefits in AAMs compared to CMs. These differences may provide insight into the causative factors in PNES.

Validation of a Questionnaire to Diagnose the Baumann Skin Type in All Ethnicities and in Various Geographic Locations

The Baumann Skin Typing System diagnoses patients as having one of 16 skin types based on their answers to a validated questionnaire [i] known as the Baumann Skin Type Indicator [ii]. The BSTI questionnaire has been tested over the last decade on over 200,000 people of various ages and ethnicities in different geographic locations around the world. In this study, data were collected from 52,862 patients to compare skin type prevalence between those who presented to doctor’s offices and those who took the quiz without supervision online. The most common skin types varied only slightly between patients that took the quiz online and those that completed the questionnaire in their doctor’s office. This indicates that the prevalence of skin types seen in the doctor’s office is similar to that in the general population and that supervision is not necessary to get an accurate result on the BSTI. [iii] In addition, comparison of data gathered in China, Korea, and the US did not show a significant difference in skin type prevalence between Asian and Caucasian skin types. [iv] This study demonstrates that the English version of the BSTI is valid for English speaking patients online, and in doctors’ offices in the US, China and Korea.

Association Between rs1344706 of ZNF804A and Schizophrenia: A Meta-analysis

Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental diseases found in humans. Previous studies indicated that the single nucleotide polymorphism（SNP） rs1344706 in the gene ZNF804 A encoding zinc finger protein 804 A was associated with schizophrenia in Caucasian population but not in Chinese Han population. However, current results are conflicting in Asian population. In the present study, a meta-analysis was performed to revisit the association between rs1344706 and the risk of schizophrenia in Asian, Caucasian and other populations. Electronic search of Pub Med database identified 25 case–control studies with available genotype frequencies of rs1344706 for the meta-analysis,involving a total of 15,788 cases and 22,654 controls. A pooled odds ratio（OR） with 95% confidence interval（CI） was used to assess the association. The current meta-analysis showed an association between rs1344706 and schizophrenia in Caucasian populations（P = 0.028, OR = 1.138, 95% CI：1.014–1.278; P = 0.004 for heterogeneity） and Asian populations（P = 0.008, OR = 1.092, 95%CI： 1.023–1.165; P = 0.001 for heterogeneity）, but not in other populations（P = 0.286,OR = 1.209, 95% CI： 0.853–1.714, P = 0.120 for heterogeneity）. Egger’s test（P 〉 0.05） and Begg’s test（P 〉 0.05） are both suggestive of the lack of publication bias for the included studies. Thus, the absence of association in other populations suggests a genetic heterogeneity in the susceptibility of schizophrenia and demonstrates the difficulties in replicating genome-wide association study findings regarding schizophrenia across different ethnic populations. To validate the association between rs1344706 and schizophrenia, further studies with larger participant populations worldwide are needed.

Distribution of serum prostate-specific antigen in Chinese healthy men： a population-based study

Background The morbidity and mortality of prostate cancer have been increasing rapidly in recent China. There were few studies investigating prostate-specific antigen （PSA） values ranges in the healthy Chinese population. We performed this study to determine the distribution of serum PSA in a large healthy Chinese population.Methods From January 2001 to May 2008, 11 150 healthy Chinese men aged 30-79 years came to our hospital for routine health check-up. All subjects without a previous diagnosis of prostate cancer, a history of prostate surgery, or urogenital tract infection were proposed to undergo systematic serum PSA measurement and digital rectal examination （DRE）. Men with normal DRE and PSA ≤4.0 ng/ml and those PSA ＞4.0 ng/ml or abnormal DRE but without adverse findings on prostate biopsy were included （n=9358）. Age and serum PSA concentration were recorded and correlated through Logistic regression analysis.Results The 95th percentile serum PSA concentration was 1.89 ng/ml for men aged 30 to 39 years, 2.19 ng/ml for men aged 40 to 49 years, 2.88 ng/ml for men aged 50 to 59 years, 4.42 rng/ml for men aged 60 to 69 years, and 6.52 ng/ml for men aged 70 to 79 years. The serum PSA concentration correlated with age （P ＜0.0001） with an annual increase of 0.97% for men in 40 years, 1.58% for men in 50 years, 3.04% for men in 60 years, and 3.99% for men in 70 years.Conclusions The serum PSA level correlates directly with age in Chinese men older than 40 years, not in Chinese men younger than 40 years old. Chinese men have lower PSA level compared with white men above 60 years of age, not in those under 60 years of age.

Trends and rates of holocene soil evolution in the North Caucasian Piedmont

In the piedmont of the North Caucasus a 3500 yr B.P. steppe was replaced by forest asclimate became moister. Steppe Chernozems were preserved under high (up to 8 m) burial mounds(kurgans) constructed about 5000 yr B.P. On natural landsurfaces surrounding the kurgans,Chernozems evolved to Luvisols. On the kurgans made of loess and Chernozem soil, matureLuvisols formed during the forest stage. On the kurgans covered with artificial limestone paving,the Luvisol profile is less developed. Migration and transformation of substances occur throughoutthe whole kurgan pile. These include fissures and earthworm channels filled with clay-humusmaterial or secondary carbonates, gleyed mottles, iron oxides, and neoformed gypsum. Theseprocesses cause diagenetic transformation of buried Chernozems even at depth.