Flinders University

About: Flinders University is a education organization based out in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 12033 authors who have published 32831 publications receiving 973172 citations. The organization is also known as: Flinders University of South Australia.

A Comparison of Outcomes With Angiotensin-Converting--Enzyme Inhibitors and Diuretics for Hypertension in the Elderly

Abstract: Background Treatment of hypertension with diuretics, beta-blockers, or both leads to improved outcomes. It has been postulated that agents that inhibit the renin–angiotensin system confer benefit beyond the reduction of blood pressure alone. We compared the outcomes in older subjects with hypertension who were treated with angiotensin-converting–enzyme (ACE) inhibitors with the outcomes in those treated with diuretic agents. Methods We conducted a prospective, randomized, open-label study with blinded assessment of end points in 6083 subjects with hypertension who were 65 to 84 years of age and received health care at 1594 family practices. Subjects were followed for a median of 4.1 years, and the total numbers of cardiovascular events in the two treatment groups were compared with the use of multivariate proportional-hazards models. Results At base line, the treatment groups were well matched in terms of age, sex, and blood pressure. By the end of the study, blood pressure had decreased to a similar exte...

The UDP glycosyltransferase gene superfamily: recommended nomenclature update based on evolutionary divergence.

Abstract: This review represents an update of the nomenclature system for the UDP glucuronosyltransferase gene superfamily, which is based on divergent evolution. Since the previous review in 1991, sequences of many related UDP glycosyltransferases from lower organisms have appeared in the database, which expand our database considerably. At latest count, in animals, yeast, plants and bacteria there are 110 distinct cDNAs/genes whose protein products all contain a characteristic 'signature sequence' and, thus, are regarded as members of the same superfamily. Comparison of a relatedness tree of proteins leads to the definition of 33 families. It should be emphasized that at least six cloned UDP-GlcNAc N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases are not sufficiently homologous to be included as members of this superfamily and may represent an example of convergent evolution. For naming each gene, it is recommended that the root symbol UGT for human (Ugt for mouse and Drosophila), denoting 'UDP glycosyltransferase,' be followed by an Arabic number representing the family, a letter designating the subfamily, and an Arabic numeral denoting the individual gene within the family or subfamily, e.g. 'human UGT2B4' and 'mouse Ugt2b5'. We recommend the name 'UDP glycosyltransferase' because many of the proteins do not preferentially use UDP glucuronic acid, or their nucleotide sugar preference is unknown. Whereas the gene is italicized, the corresponding cDNA, transcript, protein and enzyme activity should be written with upper-case letters and without italics, e.g. 'human or mouse UGT1A1.' The UGT1 gene (spanning > 500 kb) contains at least 12 promoters/first exons, which can be spliced and joined with common exons 2 through 5, leading to different N-terminal halves but identical C-terminal halves of the gene products; in this scheme each first exon is regarded as a distinct gene (e.g. UGT1A1, UGT1A2, ... UGT1A12). When an orthologous gene between species cannot be identified with certainty, as occurs in the UGT2B subfamily, sequential naming of the genes is being carried out chronologically as they become characterized. We suggest that the Human Gene Nomenclature Guidelines (http://www.gene.acl.ac.uk/nomenclature/guidelines.html++ +) be used for all species other than the mouse and Drosophila. Thirty published human UGT1A1 mutant alleles responsible for clinical hyperbilirubinemias are listed herein, and given numbers following an asterisk (e.g. UGT1A1*30) consistent with the Human Gene Nomenclature Guidelines. It is anticipated that this UGT gene nomenclature system will require updating on a regular basis.

Recommendations for the Pharmacological Management of Neuropathic Pain: An Overview and Literature Update

Abstract: The Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group of the International Association for the Study of Pain recently sponsored the development of evidence-based guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of neuropathic pain. Tricyclic antidepressants, dual reuptake inhibitors of serotonin and norepinephrine, calcium channel α2-δ ligands (ie, gabapentin and pregabalin), and topical lidocaine were recommended as first-line treatment options on the basis of the results of randomized clinical trials. Opioid analgesics and tramadol were recommended as second-line treatments that can be considered for first-line use in certain clinical circumstances. Results of several recent clinical trials have become available since the development of these guidelines. These studies have examined botulinum toxin, high-concentration capsaicin patch, lacosamide, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and combination therapies in various neuropathic pain conditions. The increasing number of negative clinical trials of pharmacological treatments for neuropathic pain and ambiguities in the interpretation of these negative trials must also be considered in developing treatment guidelines. The objectives of the current article are to review the Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group guidelines for the pharmacological management of neuropathic pain and to provide a brief overview of these recent studies.

Robust pole assignment in linear state feedback

Abstract: Numerical methods are described for determining robust, or well-conditioned, solutions to the problem of pole assignment by state feedback. The solutions obtained are such that the sensitivity of the assigned poles to perturbations in the system and gain matrices is minimized. It is shown that for these solutions, upper bounds on the norm of the feedback matrix and on the transient response are also minimized and a lower bound on the stability margin is maximized. A measure is derived which indicates the optimal conditioning that may be expected for a particular system with a given set of closed-loop poles, and hence the suitability of the given poles for assignment.