Aims The aim of this study was to assess the evidence on the effect of oral magnesium supplementation on glycaemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
Methods We searched the electronic ...databases of medline, embase and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register up to January 2005. We identified nine randomized double‐blind controlled trials with a total of 370 patients with Type 2 diabetes and of duration 4–16 weeks. The median dose of oral magnesium supplementation was 15 mmol/day (360 mg/day) in the treatment groups. The primary outcome was glycaemic control, as measured by glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) or fasting blood glucose levels; the secondary outcomes included body mass index, blood pressure (BP) and lipids. Using a random‐effects model, we calculated the weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results After a median duration of 12 weeks, the weighted mean post‐intervention fasting glucose was significantly lower in the treatment groups compared with the placebo groups −0.56 mmol/l (95% CI, −1.10 to −0.01); P for heterogeneity = 0.02. The difference in post‐intervention HbA1c between magnesium supplementation groups and control groups was not significant −0.31% (95% CI, −0.81 to 0.19); P for heterogeneity = 0.10. Neither systolic nor diastolic BP was significantly changed. Magnesium supplementation increased on high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels 0.08 mmol/l (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.14); P for heterogeneity = 0.36 but had no effect on total cholesterol, low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride.
Conclusions Oral magnesium supplementation for 4–16 weeks may be effective in reducing plasma fasting glucose levels and raising HDL cholesterol in patients with Type 2 diabetes, although the long‐term benefits and safety of magnesium treatment on glycaemic control remain to be determined.
With mycobacteriosis increasing, the study of non-tuberculous mycobacteria is imperative for clinical therapy and management. Nontuberculous mycobacteria are naturally resistant to most ...anti-tuberculosis drugs. Accordingly, it is important to decipher the biology of the novel non-tuberculous mycobacteria through complete genomic analysis of novel pathogenic mycobacteria. We describe Mycobacterium sinense JDM601, a novel, slow-growing mycobacterium of the Mycobacterium terrae complex resistant to nine antibiotics, by clinical presentation, cultural and biochemical characteristics, minimal inhibitory concentrations, and genome-sequencing analysis. JDM601 is closest to Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum according to mycolic acid composition, but closest to Mycobacterium algericum sp. nov according to 16S rDNA. JDM601 is resistant to isoniazid, streptomycin, rifampin, euteropas, protionamide, capromycin, ciprofloxacin, amikacin and levofloxacin but not ethambutol. The clinical information, mycolic acid composition, and virulence genes indicate that JDM601 is an opportunistic pathogen.
Highlights • The association between spontaneous brain activity and reading skill was examined. • The association was observed in the precentral gyrus and superior temporal plane. • These ...reading-related regions were functionally involved in a reading task. • This study provides an easy-to-access neural marker for evaluating reading skill.
Carotid-cavernous fistulas are abnormal vascular shunts that can cause various neurologic or orbital symptoms. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ...thin-section MR imaging for carotid cavernous fistula in patients with clinically suspected carotid cavernous fistula, and to identify possible imaging predictors of carotid cavernous fistula.
A total of 98 patients who were clinically suspected of having carotid cavernous fistula (according to their symptoms and physical examinations) between January 2006 and September 2018 were included in this study. The patients underwent pretreatment thin-section MR imaging and DSA. Thin-section MR imaging consisted of 2D coronal T1- and T2WI with 3-mm thickness and 3D contrast-enhanced T1WI with 0.6 mm thickness. The diagnostic performance of thin-section MR imaging for carotid cavernous fistula was evaluated with the reference standard of DSA. Univariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine possible imaging predictors of carotid cavernous fistula.
Among the 98 patients, DSA confirmed 38 as having carotid cavernous fistula. The overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of thin-section MR imaging were 88.8%, 97.4%, and 83.3%, respectively. Possible imaging predictors on thin-section MR imaging included abnormal contour of the cavernous sinus (OR: 21.7), internal signal void of the cavernous sinus (OR: 15.3), prominent venous drainage flow (OR: 54.0), and orbital/periorbital soft tissue swelling (OR: 40.4).
Thin-section MR imaging provides high diagnostic performance and possible imaging predictors of carotid cavernous fistula in patients with clinically suspected carotid cavernous fistula. Thin-section MR imaging protocols could help decide appropriate management plans for patients with clinically suspected carotid cavernous fistula.
Aims.
The
Gaia
catalogue brings new opportunities and challenges to high-precision astronomy and astrometry. The precision of data reduction is therefore improved by a large number of reference stars ...with high-precision positions and proper motions. Numerous precise positions for Triton are obtained from the latest observations using the
Gaia
catalogue. Furthermore, the new INPOP19a planetary ephemeris, which also fits the observations from the
Gaia
Data Release 2, has recently become available. In this paper, a new orbit of Triton is calculated using the latest precise charge-coupled device (CCD) observations and the INPOP19a ephemeris.
Methods.
Triton’s orbital solution is calculated using a numerical integrator, while the orientation of Neptune’s pole in particular is obtained by integrating the simplified Euler’s equations of motion. We determine the orbit of Triton over 170 yr based on 11 040 Earth-based observations made between 1847 and 2016 and on Voyager 2 data. The positions of the Sun and planets are provided by the INPOP19a ephemeris. We compare our results to those from other previous works to check the influences on Triton’s orbit from different planetary ephemerides.
Results.
A new orbit of Triton is provided here. The root-mean-square of the residuals for the Earth-based CCD absolute observations are 0.102″ in right ascension and 0.142″ in declination. Although most different planetary ephemerides have large differences in Neptune’s position, the orbits of Triton using different planetary ephemerides are still close, under similar dynamical models. The Voyager 2 data add a constraint on Triton’s orbit here.
To use sound touch elastography (STE) to assess the changes of renal cortex among different complications following renal transplantation.
A total of 31 patients with renal dysfunction after renal ...transplantation underwent an ultrasound-guided biopsy for pathological examination with conventional and STE ultrasound. The maximum elastic modulus (Emax) was determined, and the biopsy specimen was evaluated for evidence of significant differences among four different complications: drug-induced renal damage, acute rejection, chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN), and BK virus (BKV) nephropathy. Receiver operator characteristics were used to compare the diagnostic efficacy of STE ultrasound according to the pathological results.
The quantitative index Emax of the STE technique was statistically significant among the four different complications (p<0.05). The distribution of the magnitude of Emax in the renal cortex was BKV nephropathy > CAN > acute rejection > drug induced renal damage. The renal cortex Emax was statistically different for the severity of renal fibrosis and tubular atrophy (p<0.05).
Each of the four different complications of transplantation influenced the Emax of the renal cortex differently. Emax can be used to assess the severity of renal fibrosis and tubular atrophy.
•STE can evaluate the stiffness of transplanted kidney cortices.•Emax can reflect transplanted kidney damage earlier than laboratory renal function tests.•Emax reflects the pathological changes of the tissue at a certain extent directly.
Four varieties of barley starches, W.B. Merlin, glacier, high amylose glacier, and high amylose hull-less glacier, were isolated from barley seeds. Apparent and absolute amylose contents, molecular ...size distributions of amylose and amylopectin, amylopectin branch-chain-length distributions, and Naegeli dextrin structures of the starches were analyzed. W.B. Merlin amylopectin had the longest detectable chain length of DP 67, whereas glacier, high amylose glacier and high amylose hull-less glacier amylopectins had the longest detectable chain length of DP 82, 79, and 78, respectively. All the four starches displayed a substantially reduced proportion of chains at DP 18–21. Amylopectins of high amylose varieties did not show significantly larger proportions of long chains than that of normal and waxy barley starch. Onset gelatinization temperatures of all four barley starches ranged from 55.0 to 56.5°C. Absolute amylose contents of W.B. Merlin, glacier, high amylose glacier, and high amylose hull-less glacier were 9.1, 29.5, 44.7, and 43.4%, respectively; phospholipid contents were 0.36, 0.78, 0.79, and 0.97%, respectively.
We report an in-plane optical spectroscopy study on the iron-selenide superconductor K0.75 Fe1.75 Se2 . The measurement revealed the development of a sharp reflectance edge below Tc at frequency much ...smaller than the superconducting energy gap on a relatively incoherent electronic background, a phenomenon which was not seen in any other Fe-based superconductors so far investigated. Furthermore, the feature could be noticeably suppressed and shifted to lower frequency by a moderate magnetic field. Our analysis indicates that this edge structure arises from the development of a Josephson-coupling plasmon in the superconducting condensate. Together with the transmission electron microscopy analysis, our study yields compelling evidence for the presence of nanoscale phase separation between superconductivity and magnetism. The results also enable us to understand various seemingly controversial experimental data probed from different techniques.
Our ability to hear through bone conduction (BC) has long been recognized, but the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Why certain perturbations affect BC hearing is also unclear. An example ...is BC hyperacusis (hypersensitive BC hearing)-an unnerving symptom experienced by patients with superior canal dehiscence (SCD). We measured BC-evoked sound pressures in scala vestibuli (P
) and scala tympani (P
) at the basal cochlea in cadaveric human ears, and estimated hearing by the cochlear input drive (P
= P
- P
) before and after creating an SCD. Consistent with clinical audiograms, SCD increased BC-driven P
below 1 kHz. However, SCD affected the individual scalae pressures in unexpected ways: SCD increased P
below 1 kHz, but had little effect on P
. These new findings are inconsistent with the inner-ear compression mechanism that some have used to explain BC hyperacusis. We developed a computational BC model based on the inner-ear fluid-inertia mechanism, and the simulated effects of SCD were similar to the experimental findings. This experimental-modeling study suggests that (1) inner-ear fluid inertia is an important mechanism for BC hearing, and (2) SCD facilitates the flow of sound volume velocity through the cochlear partition at low frequencies, resulting in BC hyperacusis.
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