Alcohol Hangover Across the Lifespan: Impact Of Sex and Age.

AIM: To investigate the relationship between age and hangover frequency and severity. METHOD: An online survey, generated through Facebook, collected self-report data relating to alcohol consumption from 761 Dutch alcohol consumers aged 18-94 years (61.6% female). RESULTS: Overall, young individuals consumed more alcohol than older drinkers, and men more than women. Significant interactions between age group and sex were found for both subjective intoxication and hangover severity, indicating that the sex differences in these variables were greatest in the younger age groups but became significantly smaller or absent in the older age groups. Partial correlations, correcting for estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC), revealed significant and negative partial correlations between age and subjective intoxication (r = -0.444, P < 0.0001), age and hangover severity (r = -0.327, P < 0.0001) and between age and hangover frequency (r = -0.195, P < 0.0001), i.e. subjective intoxication, hangover severity and hangover frequency decline with age. With regard to sex differences, the observed correlations with age for the past month heaviest drinking occasion were stronger in men for subjective intoxication, (z = -2.25, P = 0.024), hangover severity (z = -3.36, P = 0.0008) and hangover frequency (z = -3.63, P = 0.0003). CONCLUSIONS: Hangover severity declines with age, even after controlling for eBAC or the amount of alcohol consumed. Sex differences were greatest in the younger age groups but became significantly smaller or absent in the older age groups. The relationship between age and hangover severity is strongly mediated by subjective intoxication. Pain sensitivity, lower with aging, might be a mediator.

Long-term investigation of phosphorus removal by iron electrocoagulation in small-scale wastewater treatment plants.

Small-scale wastewater treatment plants (SWTPs), called Johkasou, are widely used as decentralized and individual wastewater treatment systems in sparsely populated areas in Japan. Even in SWTPs, nutrients should be removed to control eutrophication. An iron electrolysis method is effective to remove phosphorus chemically in SWTPs. However, it is necessary to determine the precise conditions under which phosphorus can be effectively and stably removed in full scale SWTPs for a long period. Therefore, long-term phosphorus removal from SWTPs was investigated and optimum operational conditions for phosphorus removal by iron electrolysis were analyzed in this study. Efficient phosphorus removal can be achieved for a long time by adjusting the amount of iron against the actual population equivalent. The change of the recirculation ratio had no negative effect on overall phosphorus removal. Phosphorus release to the bulk phase was prevented by the accumulated iron, which was supplied by iron electrolysis, resulting in stable phosphorus removal. The effect of environmental load reduction due to phosphorus removal by iron electrolysis was greater than the cost of power consumption for iron electrolysis.

Improvement of phosphorus removal by calcium addition in the iron electrocoagulation process.

Small-scale wastewater treatment plants (SWTPs) are widely used as decentralized wastewater treatment systems in sparsely populated areas of Japan. Iron electrolysis, an electrocoagulation technology, is installed in these SWTPs for phosphorus removal. Phosphorus can be removed via the formation of an insoluble compound containing phosphate and iron, such as FePO4; however, it was necessary to determine the conditions under which phosphorus can be effectively and stably removed in actual SWTPs. According to previous studies using iron compounds, improved phosphorus removal was obtained by Ca addition. It is therefore thought that calcium addition may also be effective in improving the phosphorus removal during iron electrolysis in SWTPs. It is also important to determine the chemical state of iron to understand the phosphorus removal mechanism during iron electrolysis. In this study, laboratory-scale batch experiments with the iron electrolysis method were conducted to investigate the effect of phosphorus removal using treated wastewater from actual SWTPs without or with Ca addition. The results indicated that the addition of Ca improved the phosphorus removal performance. Furthermore, phosphorus removal was inhibited in the presence of high dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The X-ray absorption fine structure measurements of the produced particulates in the experiments showed no substantial change in the chemical state of iron without or with Ca addition. The statistical analyses revealed the range of improving or inhibiting effects on phosphorus removal due to the Ca and DOC. Thus, the results of this study provided useful information pertaining to the influence of coexisting substances on phosphorus removal and the chemical state of iron in the produced particulates.

Simultaneous evaluation of long-lasting knee synovitis in patients undergoing arthroplasty by power Doppler ultrasonography and contrast-enhanced MRI in comparison with histopathology.

OBJECTIVES: We simultaneously assessed ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in comparison with histopathological changes in the knee joints of long-lasting arthritis patients. METHODS: We studied 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and 5 patients with osteoarthritis, who underwent total knee arthroplasty. On the day before surgery, the joints were examined by US and contrast-enhanced MRI. In US, synovitis was graded with 0-3 grey scale (GSUS) and power Doppler (PDUS). In MRI, synovitis was graded according to OMERACT-RAMRIS (grade 0-3). Synovial tissue samples were obtained during arthroplasty and evaluated on the basis of inflammatory cell infiltrates (grade 0-3), synovial lining layer thickness (grade 0-3) and vascularity (grade 0-3). RESULTS: Positive findings of PDUS and contrast-enhanced MRI were 45% and 85% of 20 operated joints, respectively. GSUS, PDUS and MRI synovitis were well correlated with overall histopathological grades of synovitis (Spearman correlation coefficients 0.48, 0.84 and 0.48, p<0.05, p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). Moreover, positive PDUS findings were closely associated with all pathological comportments of synovitis including inflammatory cell infiltrates, synovial lining layer thickness and vascularity. CONCLUSIONS: The present study revealed that positive PDUS findings more faithfully illustrated active synovitis than MRI, whereas contrast-enhanced MRI was more sensitive in detecting synovitis in patients with long-lasting arthritis. It is important to understand distinct features of the both modalities for clinical assessment of chronic joint diseases.

The Relationship between Pain Sensitivity, Pain Catastrophizing and Hangover Severity.

Recent research found a significant and positive correlation between hangover severity and pain catastrophizing. The current study aimed to verify these findings. Data from N = 673 subjects with a mean (SD) age of 42.2 (19.1) years old (range: 18 to 87 years old) was evaluated. An online survey collected data on alcohol consumption and hangovers related to their heaviest drinking occasion between 15 January and 14 March 2020. When correcting for the amount of alcohol consumed, significant correlations were found between hangover severity and both sensitivity to pain (r = 0.085, p = 0.029) and pain catastrophizing (r = 0.095, p = 0.015). In addition, subjective intoxication correlated significantly with sensitivity to pain (r = 0.080, p = 0.041) and pain catastrophizing (r = 0.099, p = 0.011). Overall, the results were more pronounced in men than women, and the associations with pain catastrophizing were strongest for the subscale assessing rumination. In conclusion, although statistically significant, the observed correlations were of small magnitude. Nevertheless, the observations confirm previous findings that suggest a link between pain perception, alcohol consumption, and hangover severity, which warrants further investigation.

Immune Fitness and the Psychosocial and Health Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in The Netherlands: Methodology and Design of the CLOFIT Study.

This article provides an overview of the design and methodology of the "Corona lockdown: how fit are you?" (CLOFIT) study, including the questionnaires and scales that were included in the online survey. The aim of the CLOFIT study was to investigate the psychosocial and health consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the Netherlands. The survey was conducted among the Dutch population to collect data on immune fitness and the psychological and health consequences of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown in the Netherlands. The CLOFIT dataset contains measures from N = 1910 participants and is broadly representative of the Dutch general population. The dataset represents both sexes, a range of ages including the elderly, different education levels, and ethnic backgrounds. The cohort also includes people with a diverse health status and range of medication use.

Differences in breast cancer between Japan and the United States.

Two surgically treated series of 375 Japanese and 352 American women with breast cancer were compared with respect to overall survival and recurrence-free survival rates. Recurrence-free survival rates in Japanese women were superior to those in American women. Overall survival rates were also better in Japanese women, although the difference was not nearly as great as for recurrence-free survival. This seemed due to an improved survival after metastasis in the American women. In analyzing recurrence-free survival rates by age, we found that Japanese women 40 to 54 years old had better recurrence-free survival rates than other age subgroups. This age advantage was not observed in American women. For other age groups, there was relatively little advantage in survivorship in the Japanese series.

Health-related quality of life in patients with pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria infection.

BACKGROUND: The health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteria (pNTM) infection has not yet been quantified. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) in quantifying the HRQoL of patients with pNTM. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study of 52 patients with pNTM. All the subjects completed the CAT, SGRQ and Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaires and underwent pulmonary function testing (PFT). A test-retest was performed and Cronbach α was calculated to assess reliability. Correlations of the CAT and SGRQ with SF-36 and PFT were performed to assess validity. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 67 years; 96% (50/52) were female. Both individual and total CAT and SGRQ scores showed good correlation between the test on Day 1 and the repeat test on Day 5. Cronbach's α (0.77-0.92) indicated satisfactory internal consistency. All scores were moderately or strongly correlated with the SF-36 Physical Component Summary score. CONCLUSION: The SGRQ and CAT questionnaires showed statistically significant validity in assessing HRQoL in patients with pNTM.

A new homogeneous enzyme immunoassay. Its application to measurement of alpha-fetoprotein.

A rapid and sensitive homogeneous enzyme immunoassay (homogeneous EIA) was developed for determination of serum proteins such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). There are two assay systems, one is a competitive system including horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled antigen, antibody and substrate, and the other is a non-competitive system including HRP-labeled antibody and substrate. When the aggregate was formed through the binding of HRP-labeled AFP and anti-AFP antibody or through the binding of HRP-labeled anti-AFP antibody and AFP, HRP of the aggregates, as compared with HRP of free conjugates, exhibited marked activity in the presence of 35 mM H2O2. The extent of stimulation of HRP activity depended on the amount of AFP. This new assay method is very simple and sensitive, and can be used for the determination of any kind of protein, hormone, or drug.

Assessment of right-to-left shunt flow in atrial septal defect by transesophageal color and pulsed Doppler echocardiography.

To investigate the clinical significance and problems of right-to-left (R-L) shunt flow dynamics in atrial septal defects, we performed transesophageal color and pulsed Doppler echocardiography in 30 patients with atrial septal defects of the ostium secundum type. The 30 patients consisted of 20 with a pulmonary artery systolic pressure of less than 40 mm Hg, four with a pressure of 40 to 60 mm Hg, three with a pressure of 90 mm Hg or more, two patients with pulmonic stenosis, and one patient with Ebstein's anomaly. R-L shunting was determined by the presence of a shunt flow signal across the defect during each cardiac cycle. The time of R-L shunt flow was compared with the various parameters obtained by echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. R-L shunt flow signals were detected at the following times: (1) at the onset of ventricular contraction or the closing phase of the tricuspid valve in five patients with isolated atrial septal defect. These patients showed an increase of mean right atrial pressure but had no severe pulmonary hypertension; (2) during ventricular systole in five of 26 patients with tricuspid regurgitation and one patient with Ebstein's anomaly. The tricuspid regurgitant signal was directed toward the ostium of the defect in three patients and was massive in the other patients; (3) during middiastole in three patients without pulmonary hypertension. These patients showed massive left-to-right shunt flow from end systole to early diastole; and (4) during atrial systole in three patients with severe pulmonary hypertension and two patients with pulmonic stenosis. The former, in particular, showed the aliasing signal as a high-speed shunt flow. In two of the three patients with severe pulmonary hypertension, R-L shunting continued from atrial systole to early ventricular systole and was also observed in early diastole. R-L shunt flow was detected in patients with atrial septal defects not only with pulmonary hypertension but also without pulmonary hypertension and was influenced by the right atrial pressure in the phase of tricuspid valve closing, the volume or direction of tricuspid regurgitation, rebound flow caused by massive left-to-right shunt flow, the grade of right ventricular distensibility or the complication of pulmonary hypertension, and complications with other cardiac anomalies. Thus R-L shunt flow in patients with atrial septal defects was detected easily by transesophageal color and pulsed Doppler echocardiography because of the high efficiency of this method for its detection.

Transesophageal echocardiographic evaluation of mitral regurgitation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: contributions of eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy and related abnormalities of the mitral complex.

This study was designed to evaluate the contribution of eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy and its related organic and spatial abnormalities of the mitral complex to the occurrence of mitral regurgitation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy We selected 45 consecutive patients with systolic mitral regurgitation by color Doppler echocardiography and performed transesophageal echocardiography in all patients. Eighteen patients were in the obstructive group and 27 patients were in the nonobstructive group of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with asymmetric septal hypertrophy. Twenty subjects without any cardiac disorders served as the control group. The maximum area of mitral regurgitation was significantly greater in the obstructive group than in the nonobstructive group. Mitral regurgitation appeared more frequently during pansystole in the two groups with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, particularly in the obstructive group. Mitral valve prolapse was observed in 20 (44%) of the 45 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Distances between the posterior papillary muscle and anterior or posterior mitral anulus were significantly smaller in the two groups with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy than in the normal control group. In the obstructive group, the length of the anterior mitral leaflet and the thickness of the rough zone of the anterior mitral leaflet at mid-diastole were significantly greater than in the other groups. Systolic anterior motion was observed in all patients with obstructive cardiomyopathy and contact between the interventricular septum and the anterior mitral leaflet during early diastole was observed in 17 of the 18 patients in the obstructive group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cervical myelopathy treated by canal-expansive laminaplasty. Computed tomographic and myelographic findings.

The operation known as canal-expansive laminaplasty has the following advantages over wide laminectomy: (1) osseous protection of the spinal cord is retained, (2) the invasion of the cord by scar tissue is minimized, and (3) the stability of the spine is retained. We are reporting the clinical, computed tomographic, and computed myelographic findings before and after this operation in twenty-four patients with cervical myelopathy due to cervical spondylosis, spinal stenosis, or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. The clinical results were excellent in four patients, good in eighteen, and fair in two. Symmetrical expansion of the spinal canal was clearly demonstrated by computed tomograms, and the metrizamide ring on the myelograms had a normal rounded curvature.

Comparative phonocardiographic, echocardiographic and Doppler echocardiographic evaluation of normally functioning Medtronic Hall and Björk-Shiley mitral prosthetic valves.

Although data from cardiac catheterization and in vivo studies are available, phonocardiographic and ultrasonic characteristics of the Medtronic Hall valve in the mitral position have not been adequately established. Phonomechanocardiographic, echocardiographic and Doppler echocardiographic examinations were performed in 15 patients (Medtronic Hall group) with a Medtronic Hall mitral valve prosthesis to elucidate the phonocardiographic and ultrasonic characteristics of the normally functioning Medtronic Hall valve in the mitral position. These findings were compared with those obtained from 20 patients (Björk-Shiley group) with a normally functioning Björk-Shiley 60 degrees mitral valve prosthesis. Simultaneous recordings of the phonocardiogram and M-mode echocardiogram of the prosthetic valve in patients in the Medtronic Hall group revealed three opening clicks relating to disc motion. The timing of the three opening clicks correlated with the onset of disc opening, the completion of disc opening, and a notch which appeared about 30 msec after the completion of disc opening. Similar recordings performed in patients in the Björk-Shiley group revealed that the third opening click was detected in only half of the patients and that its timing was nearly twice as early as that noted in the Medtronic Hall group. The Medtronic Hall group had significantly shorter durations of the apical diastolic rumble and the slow filling wave on the apexcardiogram, as well as significantly reduced peak mitral inflow velocity during early diastole and shortened pressure half-time on the mitral inflow velocity curve. Transesophageal Doppler echocardiography demonstrated slight mitral regurgitation in all patients in both the Medtronic Hall and the Björk-Shiley groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Improved rapid assay of uric acid in serum by liquid chromatography.

This improved method for rapid determination of uric acid in serum is based on high-performance liquid-gel-permeation chromatography, with hydrophilic and highly porous vinyl alcohol copolymer as packing material. It has the following advantages: no need for sample deproteinization or use of a precolumn, more than 500 serum samples can be analyzed without having to regenerate or recondition the analytical apparatus, and the analysis for uric acid is a one-step procedure. Correlation coefficients between this method and other methods are very good (r = 0.998, 0.999).

Constituents of the cultivated mulberry tree.

From the ethyl acetate extract of root bark of the Japanese cultivated mulberry tree (a variety of Morus alba L.), a novel chalcone derivative with a fused dihydrochalcone partial moiety was isolated and named kuwanon I. The structure was shown to be I on the basis of chemical and spectral data. Kuwanon I (I) is the first example which is regarded biogenetically as a Diels-Alder adduct of a prenylchalcone derivative and a dehydroprenylchalcone derivative. NMR variable temperature studies of I suggested that kuwanon I (I) exists as an equilibrium mixture of conformational isomers in solution.

[Changes in pulmonary venous and transmitral flow velocity patterns after cardioversion of atrial fibrillation].

The time course of recovery of left atrial mechanical function after electrocardioversion of atrial fibrillation was examined in 25 patients with atrial fibrillation by recording pulmonary venous and transmitral flow velocities and interatrial septal motion during atrial systole within a day (16 +/- 5 hours) and ten days after cardioversion of atrial fibrillation by transesophageal and transthoracic Doppler and M-mode echocardiography. There were 6 patients with hypertension, 4 with ischemic heart disease, 2 with alcoholic heart, 5 with dilated cardiomyopathy, and 8 without underlying heart disease. The peak velocities of the atrial systolic waves of the transmitral and pulmonary venous flow velocities (A and PVA, respectively) and first systolic wave (PVS1) of pulmonary venous flow, durations of both atrial systolic waves, and amplitude of interatrial septal motion during atrial systole increased significantly ten days after cardioversion compared with those measured within a day of cardioversion in all patients except the 5 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Peak velocity of the second systolic wave (PVS2) of pulmonary venous flow increased, and that of the early diastolic and diastolic waves (E and PVD, respectively) of transmitral and pulmonary venous flow decreased ten days after cardioversion compared with those within a day of cardioversion. These results suggested that active atrial systolic (A and PVA) and relaxant (PVS1) parameters obtained from transmitral and pulmonary venous flow velocities are good indicators of left atrial mechanical function after cardioversion of atrial fibrillation.