Search results for "FN"
showing 10 items of 862 documents
FibroScan Identifies Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Cardiovascular Damage
2020
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are closely associated, and liver fibrosis has been related to macrovascular complications. We examined whether liver fibrosis, diagnosed by FibroScan® , correlates with chronic vascular complications in a cohort of T2DM. METHODS: We recruited 394 outpatients with T2DM attending five Italian diabetes centres who underwent liver ultrasonography (US), FibroScan® and extensive evaluation of macrovascular and microvascular diabetic complications. RESULTS: Steatosis by US was present in 89%. Almost all patients (96%) were on hypoglycaemic drugs, 58% had at least one chronic vascular complication,…
PNPLA3 rs738409 C>G Variant Predicts Fibrosis Progression by Noninvasive Tools in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
2020
Liver fibrosis is the main predictor of events in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD),1 and its evolution is characterized by a nonlinear trend2,3 mostly affected by metabolic risk factors, severity of liver inflammation and steatosis, and weight loss.3 The rs738409 C>G common variant in PNPLA3 gene has been associated with severity of fibrosis and risk of liver-related events in NAFLD.4,5 Noninvasive tests as Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) are useful to rule-out advanced fibrosis and they could be reliable to predict fibrosis progression.2,6 We aimed to evaluate in patients with NAFLD whether PNPLA3 rs738409 C>G variant impacts on fibrosis…
Fibrosis evaluation by transient elastography in patients with long-term sustained HCV clearance.
2013
Background: Reversibility of advanced fibrosis after HCV-clearance is an important goal of therapy. Objectives: Measuring liver stiffness (LS) by transient elastography (TE) might be helpful in this setting. Patients and Methods: We evaluated 104 patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and sustained virological response (SVR) after Peg-Interferon (IFN) plus ribavirin since at least 18 months. HCV-eradication was confirmed searching for serum HCV-RNA (TMA® sensitivity > 5-10 IU/ml). Data from literature reported the best LS cut-off values for different stages of liver fibrosis were 7.1 kPa for Metavir stage 2 (F2), 9.5 kPa for F3 and 12.5 for cirrhosis (F4). Results: TE was not…
Liver stiffness in chronic hepatitis C virus infection
2019
Abstract Introduction . The severity of liver fibrosis can be assessed noninvasively today by liver stiffness measurements. Vibration-controlled transient elastography, shear wave elastography or magnetic resonance elastography are techniques increasingly used for this purpose. Methods . This article presents the recent advances in the use of new techniques for liver fibrosis assessment in chronic hepatitis C: the correlation between liver stiffness values and liver fibrosis estimated by liver biopsies, the prognosis role of liver stiffness values, their usefulness in monitoring the treatment response, in assessing the severity of portal hypertension and in estimating the presence of esopha…
EARLY VASCULAR AGEING IN NORMOTENSIVE SUBJECTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS. COMPARISON WITH YOUNG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS
2015
Objective: Aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), is one of the most important markers of vascular aging. It is well known that connective tissue diseases are associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, but only a few data are available about aPWV in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of this study was to evaluate early vascular aging, assessed by measuring aPWV, in a group of normotensive patients with SLE and to compare these subjects with a group of young essential hypertensive (EH) individuals Design and method: Crosssectional study. We have enrolled 39 normotensive SLE subjects (mean age: 38.7±8.3 years) matched for age with a group of essential hypertensive patient…
CORRELATIONS BETWEEN NON INVASIVE RENAL INDEX AND MARKERS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN LUPUS PATIENTS.
2015
Objective: Recent data suggest that renal haemodynamic parameters obtained by duplex Doppler sonography, especially the intrarenal resistive index (RI), may be associated with systemic vascular changes in some groups of patients. However, conflicting data exist about the relationship between aortic stiffness and RI in autoimmune disease, like systemic lupus The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between RI and arterial stiffness, assessed by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV), and carotid atherosclerosis, evaluated by intimal medial thickness measurement(IMT) in patients with SLE. Design and method: Cross-sectional study. We enrolled 39 SLE subjects (mean age 39 years). Each …
Vezatin, a novel transmembrane protein, bridges myosin VIIA to the cadherin-catenins complex
2000
International audience; Defects in myosin VIIA are responsible for deafness in the human and mouse. The role of this unconventional myosin in the sensory hair cells of the inner ear is not yet understood. Here we show that the C-terminal FERM domain of myosin VIIA binds to a novel transmembrane protein, vezatin, which we identi®ed by a yeast two-hybrid screen. Vezatin is a ubiquitous protein of adherens cell±cell junctions, where it interacts with both myosin VIIA and the cadherin±catenins complex. Its recruitment to adherens junctions implicates the C-terminal region of a-catenin. Taken together, these data suggest that myosin VIIA, anchored by vezatin to the cadherin±catenins complex, cre…
SURFACE AND MECHANISTIC PROPERTIES OF RECYCLED BITUMINOUS MIXTURES
2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Problem Often, when the characteristics of a bituminous mixture are analised, there are major differences between in-lab and in-situ results. This is due to the fact that the procedures and techniques implemented during the design phase (in lab) may be different from those used on site. Then, is very important to be able to predict the main properties of a mixture particularly when innovative materials are used. For example, when crumb rubber is used, phisical and volumetric properties of mixes may change over time, in particular due to the swelling phenomenon that it alters different properties of the mixture (e.g., viscosity). This study aims to investigate the main aspe…
Discretionary vs nondiscretionary in fiscal mechanism – non-automatic fiscal stabilisers vs automatic fiscal stabilisers
2015
The goal of the present study is to increase the intelligibility of macroeconomic phenomena triggered by governmental intervention in economy by means of fiscal policies. During cyclical movements, fiscal policy can play an important role in order to help stabilise the economy. But discretionary policy usually implies implementation lags and is not automatically reversed when economic conditions change. In contrast, automatic fiscal stabilisers (SFA) ensure a prompter, and self-correcting fiscal response. The present study aims to tackle the topic of discretionary vs nondiscretionary characteristic of fiscal stabilisers (SF). In this context, the scope of the research undertaking is to laun…
Scrutiny of the Failure of Lipid Membranes As A Function of Headgroups, Chain Length, and Lamellarity Measured by Scanning Force Microscopy
2004
AbstractA fast, quantitative, and unambiguous screening of material properties of biomembranes using scanning force microscopy in pulsed force mode on lipid membranes is presented. The spatially resolved study of breakthrough force, breakthrough distance, adhesion, stiffness, and topography of lipid membranes as determined simultaneously by digitalized pulsed force mode provides new insight into the structure-function relationship of model membranes, which are systematically analyzed by varying chain length, lipid headgroup, and lamellarity. For this purpose, a novel unbiased analysis method is presented. A strong correlation between adhesion and breakthrough events is found on lipid bilaye…