No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Blood Pressure*

No abstract available.

No abstract available.
Insurance, Health*

No abstract available.
Estrogens*

BACKGROUND: It is well known that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) show symptoms of depression and anxiety more often than patients with other chronic illnesses or the general population. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of depression and anxiety on quality of life in patients with COPD. METHODS: Quality of life was assessed using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire and depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorder Patient Health Questionnaire (PRIME-MD PHQ) in 129 patients with COPD visiting an outpatient clinic. We examined the correlations between the SF-36 scores and clinico-demographic features by Pearson's correlation analysis and the influence of depression and anxiety symptoms on the SF-36 scores by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Of the 129 patients, 48.8% were diagnosed as having major depressive syndrome, 18.6% other depressive syndromes, 23.3% panic syndrome, and 30.3% other anxiety syndrome by the PRIME-MD PHQ. The physical component summary was affected the most by depressive symptoms followed by dyspnea (P<0.05). The mental component summary was only affected by depressive symptoms (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms in COPD patients is markedly increased, and depressive symptoms decrease the quality of life in these patients. Thus, there is a need for physicians to assess for and recognize such symptoms and promptly administer appropriate interventions.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Anxiety ; Chronic Disease ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder ; Dyspnea ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Panic ; Prevalence ; Primary Health Care ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Quality of Life ; Surveys and Questionnaires

No abstract available.
Geriatrics*

We have examined the in vitro stage-related chondrogenic potential of human mandibular and limb bud mesenchyme cells using micromass culture, Our results indicate that limb bud mesenchyme cells as early as stage 16 by Carnegie system (37 days), well before the initiation of in vivo chondrogenesis, have chondrogenic potential which is expressed in micromass culture, These results are correlated with stage-related chondrogenic potential of human limb bud in vivo as a result of Alcian blue staining. The proliferation of chondrogenic cells increased in the first 3 days after culture and then decreased. These results were correlated with the cell cycle analysis of which the number of G degrees/G1 phase increased markedly after 3 days of culture, while the percentage of cells in S phase was decreased, On the other hand, it was rarely differentiated in the mandible. We examined the effects of two PKC modulators such as phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), a potent activator of PKC, and staurosporine (STSN), an inhibitor of PKC. PMA inhibited the chondrogenesis, whereas STSN promoted the chondrogenesis in a dose dependent manner. In addition, PMA exerted no inhibitory effect when the cells were pretreated for 24 h with STSN, implying that the chondrogenic events might be settled at an early step in vitro and PKC may act as a negative modulator, Collectively, these results demonstrate, for the first time, the stage-related chondrogenic potential of human mandibular and limb bud mesenchyme cells and the role of PKC during chondrogenesis in vitro & in vivo.
Alcian Blue ; Cell Cycle ; Chondrogenesis ; Embryonic Structures* ; Extremities* ; Hand ; Humans* ; Limb Buds* ; Mandible ; Mesoderm ; Protein Kinase C* ; Protein Kinases* ; S Phase ; Staurosporine

Type I and type II collagens are considered the major collagens of bone and cartilage respectively. Monitoring the patterns of those gene and protein expressions during development will provide a basis for the understanding of the normal and abnormal growths. This study was undertaken to investigate the expression of collagen genes and proteins involved in the developing human mandible. Fifty embryos and fetuses were studied with Alcian blue-PAS, Masson's Trichrome, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot analysis, and Southern blot analysis. Our results showed that pro-alpha1(II) collagen gene expression begins in the 5th week. Type II collagen is synthesized in mesenchymal cells in advance of overt chondrogenesis. The gene expression for type II collagen was highest during the appearance of Meckel's cartilage. There was a switch in collagen protein expression from type I to type II during the appearance stage of Meckel's cartilage. The distribution of the mRNA for type II collagen corresponded well with the pattern of type II collagen protein. The endochondral ossification was observed where there was direct replacement of cartilage by bone.
Blotting, Southern ; Blotting, Western ; Cartilage ; Chondrogenesis ; Collagen ; Collagen Type II* ; Embryonic Structures ; Fetus ; Gene Expression ; Humans* ; Mandible* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Reverse Transcription ; RNA, Messenger

No abstract available.
Transplants*