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Resistant hypertension (RH) is defined as blood pressure (BP) that remains ⩾140 and/or 90 mm Hg despite therapy with ⩾3 full-dose antihypertensive drugs (classical definition=CD). A definition proposed subsequently (new definition=ND) includes patients requiring ⩾4 drugs irrespective of BP values. We aimed to evaluate whether both definitions characterize the same kind of patients.One hundred and twenty-four consecutively attended patients with RH were classified into two groups according to their BP control: 66 patients had non-controlled BP (all those who met the CD criteria plus a few patients who met the ND criteria); 58 patients had controlled BP (all with RH according to the ND). Clinical, laboratory and office BP data were recorded. RH patients with non-controlled BP were more frequently diabetic (72% vs 49%), and had higher plasmatic glucose (149 vs 130 mg dl−1), cholesterol (179 vs 164 mg dl−1), low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol (107 vs 95 mg dl−1) and triglyceride (169 vs 137 mg dl−1) levels; P<0.05 for all comparisons. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the variables that independently associated with non-controlled BP were diabetes (P=0.001) and higher LDL-cholesterol (P=0.007).We conclude that, although both cohorts of patients are phenotypically quite similar, uncontrolled RH patients have higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus and higher LDL-cholesterol levels than controlled RH patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of functional fatigue on active multijoint position reproduction in overhead-throwing athletes. DESIGN AND SETTING: A standard, repeated-measures, randomized-ordered, counterbalanced, 2-period (crossover) design was used. During the first test session, we randomly assigned subjects to either the nonfatigue or fatigue condition. Subjects underwent pretest measurements and then either a functional fatigue protocol or rest period, followed by posttest measurements. After a recovery period, subjects crossed over to the opposing condition for the second testing session. SUBJECTS: Thirteen overhead-throwing athletes competing in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I or club baseball, with no history of upper extremity or central nervous system disorders, volunteered for this study. MEASUREMENTS: We measured active multijoint position reproduction accuracy in 3 dimensions using an electromagnetic tracking device. We noted each subject's ability to reproduce 3 positions corresponding with distinct moments of his throwing motion. A variable error score was calculated to compare the locations of the reproduced points with reference to the target point. RESULTS: A significant difference occurred between the pretest and posttest error scores in the fatigue condition. Comparisons between positions indicated that more errors were seen in the arm-cocked position than in the follow-through position under both fatigue and nonfatigue conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Functional fatigue decreased joint position sense acuity in overhead-throwing athletes. Our findings using this novel testing measurement method are in agreement with past research, with one exception. The trend toward higher error scores in the arm-cocked position would appear to contradict findings that sensorimotor system acuity increases toward end ranges of motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber optic-based humidity sensors, fabricated using fiber Bragg gratings coated with moisture sensitive polymer, are employed in detecting and monitoring the movement of moisture through standardized cubes made from samples of different types of structural concrete. Data obtained can give information on the properties of different types of concrete and thus on the migration of dissolved salts, e.g., sodium chloride, which is important in view of their deleterious effects on reinforcement bars within concrete. To undertake the research, two such optical fiber sensors were placed at varying distances from the edge of the cube face to the inner part of the concrete sample and subjected to a constant head of water at a constant temperature. The optical fiber sensors reacted to the ingress of water by detecting the moisture migrating through the sample, indicated by a shift in the Bragg wavelength of the sensor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the inter-observer reliability of the General Movement Assessment (GMA) among a sample of infants at high-risk of cerebral palsy (CP) among raters with various levels of experience.Methods: Video assessments of 150 high-risk infants at 10-15 weeks corrected age were rated by three Prechtl GMA-certified observers with varied experience using the assessment. Videos were scored based on temporal organization of fidgety movements (FMs), presence of abnormal FMs, or absence of FMs. Inter-observer agreements were analyzed with Gwet's AC1 statistic.Results: We found fair to moderate agreement when subcategories of normal FMs (continuous and intermittent) were included (AC1 = 0.32-0.57) and moderate to near perfect agreement when normal categories of FMs were combined (AC1 = 0.60-0.95). Reliability was higher among observers with more experience using the GMA (AC1 = 0.57-0.98) than the observer with less experience (AC1 = 0.32-0.61).Conclusions: Caution may be warranted when the GMA is used to differentiate "continuous and intermittent" FMs temporal organization. The GMA is highly reliable among experienced raters when comparing normal FMs to other FMs categorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the results of a study which describes the evaluation of a portable real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instrument for the detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). The study aims to assess whether the instrument could be used for the fields diagnosis of FMD. The study showed that it is possible to develop a sensitive reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR assay for FMD on the mobile Bio-Seeq platform that can generate a result within 60 minutes.