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Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease, and its prevalence is rising. NAFLD is closely associated with metabolic syndrome, with both conditions sharing common clinical characteristics such as obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia. Several observational studies have evaluated the relationship between NAFLD and hypertension, with the overall evidence suggesting a bidirectional relationship. It is hypothesized that activation of the sympathetic nervous and renin-angiotensin systems, observed in NAFLD with or without insulin resistance promotes the development of hypertension. In patients with hypertension, activation of these systems can lead to hepatic fibrosis and progressive inflammation through increased oxidative stress and activation of hepatic stellate cells and Kupffer cells. The present review examines the pathophysiologic and clinical evidence supporting the bidirectional association between NAFLD and hypertension.

Place has long been noticed, made, developed, and narrativized in favor of settler majorities’ economies and hegemonies. Disregarding Indigenous presence and land, the terror on the land continues in the form of dislocation and dispossession of Indigenous, Black, and other minoritized communities of color, along with racial segregation and alienation. Drawing on the scholarship of land-based and decolonizing education, this article provides the conceptual groundwork for a form of art education theory and practice concerned with place-based social justice and equity. Particularly, I propose land-based art inquiry as a decolonizing pedagogy that helps critically assess settler colonial ways of sharing and making place via spatial–temporal injustice and the normalization of settler colonial logics that pervade our daily lives. The art inquiry generates new and critical ways to engage with the land as a site of art and museum (educational) practice as exemplified in the three different sites—a graduate students’ collaborative art-based project, a contemporary artist’s praxis, and museum praxis. Graduate students’ site-specific installation and contemporary artist JeeYeun Lee’s mobile walking are artistic interventions to public places that critique settler narratives and re-story the place. They highlight the ways in which land-based art inquiry can help individuals (re)connect with and (un)learn the stories and politics of their relationships to the land, thus troubling the settler colonial territorial imperatives. Also, by bringing land-based art inquiry into the investigation of the museum as another settler colonial place seeks and brings understanding of contemporary Indigenous-led collaborative museum spatial design and (educational) praxis for decolonizing possibilities.

Drawing on scholarship about decolonization and anti-Asian racism, this article offers a decolonizing mode of thinking that intervenes in and advances antiracist art inquiries and praxis. Refusing a nationalist and fictitious Americanization that focuses on the successful stories of Asian immigrants, this new mode of antiracist art inquiries and praxis challenges the existing paradigm of antiracism for and of Asian immigrants that heavily centers on the communities’ empowerment and inclusion within a multicultural discourse. By viewing racism as a function of settler colonialism, a decolonizing intervention helps to uncover the limitations of forms of Asian American racial justice work that collide with the work of Indigenous survivance while submitting to the development and maintenance of the settler colonial system. Based on a contemporary Asian immigrant artist’s site-specific video performance, this article discusses new orientations of antiracist art inquiries that critique settlers’ colonial representational strategies that manage the racial formation and relations of Asian immigrants/Natives/White settlers to secure White settlers’ supremacy and sovereignty. A critical understanding of Asian American positionalities that explains its roles in the settler colonial framework requires a contextual understanding of the transcultural context where both imperial and settler colonial powers are consolidated to shape Asian immigrants’ settlement and an ethics of relationality for Asian–Indigenous solidarity that sustains Asian American communities’ racial equity and liberation in line with Indigenous survivance.

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is recognized as an effective dietary intervention to reduce blood pressure (BP). However, among randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the DASH diet–mediated BP reduction, there are significant methodological and clinical differences. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively assess the DASH diet effect on BP in adults with and without hypertension, accounting for underlying methodological and clinical confounders. We systematically searched Medline and the Cochrane Collaboration Library databases and identified 30 RCTs (n = 5545 participants) that investigated the BP effects of the DASH diet compared with a control diet in hypertensive and nonhypertensive adults. Both random-effects and fixed-effect models were used to calculate the mean attained systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) differences during follow-up. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were also conducted. Compared with a control diet, the DASH diet reduced both SBP and DBP (difference in means: −3.2 mm Hg; 95% CI: −4.2, −2.3 mm Hg; P< 0.001, and −2.5 mm Hg; 95% CI: −3.5, −1.5 mm Hg; P< 0.001, respectively). Hypertension status did not modify the effect on BP reduction. The DASH diet compared with a control diet reduced SBP levels to a higher extent in trials with sodium intake >2400 mg/d than in trials with sodium intake ≤2400 mg/d, whereas both SBP and DBP were reduced more in trials with mean age <50 y than in trials of older participants. The quality of evidence was rated as moderate for both outcomes according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach. The adoption of the DASH diet was accompanied by significant BP reduction in adults with and without hypertension, although higher daily sodium intake and younger age enhanced the BP-lowering effect of the intervention.

Lifestyle interventions are recommended as the first-line treatment to control metabolic syndrome components and improve cardiometabolic risk factors. However, studies directly comparing the cardiometabolic effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) vs. the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) accompanied by salt restriction are currently lacking. Thus, with the present secondary analyses of a randomized trial, we aimed to assess the cardiometabolic effects of a 3-month intensive dietary intervention implementing salt restriction alone or on top of the DASH and MedDiet compared to no/minimal intervention in never drug-treated adults with high normal blood pressure (BP) or grade 1 hypertension.

Arterial hypertension and aortic valve stenosis are common disorders and frequently present as concomitant diseases, especially in elderly patients. The impact of hypertension on heart haemodynamics is substantial, thus affecting the clinical presentation of any coexisting valvulopathy, especially of aortic stenosis. However, the interaction between these 2 entities is not thoroughly discussed in the European or/and American guidelines on the management of hypertension or/and valvular heart disease. The present review summarizes all available evidence on the potential interplay between hypertension and aortic valve stenosis, aiming to help physicians understand the pathophysiology and select the best diagnostic and therapeutic strategies (medical or/and interventional) for better management of these high-risk patients, taking into account the impact on outcome as well as the risk-benefit-ratio.

Purpose: To assess the effect of unilateral carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) on cerebral perfusion asymmetry in patients with severe extracranial carotid stenosis by means of technetium Tc 99m hexamethyl-propyleneamine oxime brain single photon emission computed tomography (99mTc-HMPAO SPECT).Methods: Twenty-nine consecutive patients (22 men; median age 68 years, range 58–80; 13 symptomatic) undergoing unilateral CAS were included in the study. Brain perfusion was assessed by 99mTc-HMPAO brain SPECT prior to the procedure and postoperatively at 8 hours and at 2 to 4 months. The asymmetry index (AI), a measure of the interhemispheric asymmetry in perfusion, was calculated as [(counts in “healthy” hemisphere—counts in hemisphere with carotid stenosis)/counts in “healthy” hemisphere]x100.Results: The preoperative AI demonstrated a wide variation (mean −0.5%±8.4%, range −19.5% to 14.1%). There was no significant correlation between the degree of carotid stenosis and preoperative AI. The mean preoperative AI in the asymptomatic patients was lower than in the symptomatic group [-4.0%±8.5% (range −19.5% to 8.2%) versus 3.8%±6.4% (range −5.2% to 14.1%), p=0.01], suggesting reduced perfusion of the ipsilateral cerebral hemisphere compared to the contralateral side in symptomatic patients. AI variation did not improve after CAS; there was no difference in AI among the 3 SPECT studies (p=0.75). Preoperative AI correlated significantly with late AI (r=0.74, p<0.0001); however, there was no statistically significant correlation between immediate postoperative AI and either preoperative (r=0.24, p=0.217) or late (r=0.24, p=0.249) AI.Conclusion: Asymmetry in cerebral perfusion in patients with severe extracranial carotid atherosclerosis does not correlate with the degree of carotid stenosis. Symptomatic patients demonstrate compromised perfusion of the ipsilateral hemisphere compared to asymptomatic patients. As judged by 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT scanning, cerebral perfusion patterns do not significantly change after CAS.

Clinical complications resulting from unevenly iron accumulation in individual organs of patients with β-thalassemia major can affect both expectancy and quality of life. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a quantitative, noninvasive, accurate method for estimating iron levels in various tissues, not easily accessible with other techniques. The aim of this study was to evaluate and correlate the level of iron accumulation in different organs (anterior pituitary, myocardium, and liver) assessed with MRI, in children and young adults with β-thalassemia major. Thirty children and young adults (13 female and 17 male patients) with homozygous β-thalassemia, treated conventionally, were studied with hepatic, myocardial, and hypophyseal MRI. For liver and myocardium, we calculated the natural logarithm of the signal-to-air ratio in flash 2-dimensional sequences with electrocardiogram gating, whereas for anterior pituitary, the signal intensity was measured in sagittal T2 sequences. All scans were performed within 3 months. In 13 patients, data regarding liver iron concentrations (LIC) assessed by percutaneous liver biopsy were available. The mean of serum ferritin concentrations for 1 year before scans was calculated for each patient. MRI values in myocardium and liver showed a significant negative correlation to age (r−0.73 and −0.69, respectively). For pituitary MRI, a linear regression with age was recorded in patients over 14 years of age (r−0.67), whereas a relatively increased signal intensity reduction was recorded in pubertal subjects. Mean serum ferritin concentrations ranged from 252 to 5872 μgL with an average of 1525±1047 μgL. No statistical significant correlation was noted between mean ferritin levels versus liver, pituitary, and cardiac MRI values (r−0.49, −0.28, and −0.1, respectively). Mean LIC values assessed by percutaneous biopsy were 13.76±11.6 mgg of dry tissue. A statistically significant negative correlation was observed between liver MRI readings and LIC determined by biopsy (r−0.89). None of the 3 organs studied with MRI were significantly correlated to each other. Pituitary to liver MRI values and liver to myocardial MRI values were moderately correlated (r0.34 and 0.42, respectively). Pituitary MRI was not correlated at all to myocardial MRI (r−0.001). In conclusion, iron accumulation in thalassemic patients is a procedure progressing with age, which seems to act independently in different organs. MRI represents a reliable, noninvasive method for assessing iron overload in various tissues, noneasily accessible with other techniques. Regular scanning, to recognize preclinically excessive iron deposits and intensified chelation therapy, can prevent serious and fatal complications.

In an attempt to demonstrate and explain the radiographic findings and changes in the skull base angle (SBA) during the second trimester of gestation, we examined 26 human fetal heads of 15–25 weeks gestational age by direct sagittal and axial high resolution computed tomography. The fetuses were preserved in 10% formalin. On magnified sagittal tomograms tracings of the skull base were made and three anatomical landmarks (nasion, sella turcica and the lowest part of the clivus) were used to define the SBA formed between them. The changes in the SBA during the second trimester were related to the gestational age of the fetuses. We found a significant increase of the SBA, of approximately 27°, during the second trimester of gestation. This is different from previous measurements.

Purpose To restore the anophthalmic socket, primarily or secondarily, using a hydroxy-apatite sphere (HA).Methods We used HA in 33 patients (25 male, 8 female), aged from 4 to 68 years (mean 38.1 years) for 19 primary and 14 secondary implantations. HA spheres measured 16 mm in one patient, 18 mm in 21 and 20 mm in 11. The spheres were wrapped in donor sclera preserved in absolute alcohol. All six extraocular muscles were isolated, in the cases where this was possible. Buccal membrane was grafted in three patients to restore the fornices. Drilling was done on four patients using a 3.8 serrated plastic sheath.Results During follow-up of 7 - 69 months we observed no complications except for slight edema in the immediate postoperative period. All patients gained very good to excellent motility of the implant, acceptable symmetric appearance in the case of primary implantation, and a dramatic improvement of facial appearance in the case of secondary implantation.Conclusions HA spheres are an excellent orbital implant for primary and secondary restoration of the anophthalmic socket causing no serious complications

Perturbative QCD is shown to be in quantitative agreement with one-and two-jet production data in the range GeV forPT(jet)?5 GeV. The integrated jet yield above a fixedPT(parton)?3 GeV accounts for the inelastic cross section rise in the same range. QCD predictions for jet yields up to are presented and the role of non-perturbative corrections, ultimately saving unitarity, is briefly discussed.

QCD heavy-quark production and their tree-level decays, including the cascadeb?c?µ, with hadronization effects are factorized into an analytic formula, consistent with available dimuon crosssection data and Monte-Carlo estimates, readily applicable in a wide energy range with a variety of experimental cuts.

We present the CT and MRI findings of 12 cases with vertebral hydatid cysts. All except 3 patients were admitted with neurological symptoms. The CT and MRI findings and their correlation with pathologic and histologic findings are included. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the usefulness of CT and MRI in the evaluation of vertebral hydatid disease, detection of the various stages of hydatid cyst, and characterization of the lesion as well in monitoring and planning of the surgical approach. Although MRI is the method of choice, we emphasize the complementary role of these two techniques for the evaluation of vertebral echinococcosis.