Tulane University

About: Tulane University is a education organization based out in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Blood pressure. The organization has 24478 authors who have published 47205 publications receiving 1944993 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Louisiana.

Fasting glucose levels and incident diabetes mellitus in older nondiabetic adults randomized to receive 3 different classes of antihypertensive treatment: a report from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT).

Abstract: Background Elevated blood glucose levels are reported with thiazide-type diuretic treatment of hypertension. The significance of this finding is uncertain. Our objectives were to compare the effect of first-step antihypertensive drug therapy with thiazide-type diuretic, calcium-channel blocker, or angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor on fasting glucose (FG) levels and to determine cardiovascular and renal disease risks associated with elevated FG levels and incident diabetes mellitus (DM) in 3 treatment groups. Methods We performed post hoc subgroup analyses from the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT) among nondiabetic participants who were randomized to receive treatment with chlorthalidone (n = 8419), amlodipine (n = 4958), or lisinopril (n = 5034) and observed for a mean of 4.9 years. Results Mean FG levels increased during follow-up in all treatment groups. At year 2, those randomized to the chlorthalidone group had the greatest increase (+8.5 mg/dL [0.47 mmol/L] vs +5.5 mg/dL [0.31 mmol/L] for amlodipine and +3.5 mg/dL [0.19 mmol/L] for lisinopril). The odds ratios for developing DM with lisinopril (0.55 [95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.70]) or amlodipine (0.73 [95% confidence interval, 0.58-0.91]) vs chlorthalidone at 2 years were significantly lower than 1.0 ( P P = .006), but the risk ratio was lower and nonsignificant in the chlorthalidone group (risk ratio, 1.46; P = .14). Conclusions Fasting glucose levels increase in older adults with hypertension regardless of treatment type. For those taking chlorthalidone vs other medications, the risk of developing FG levels higher than 125 mg/dL (6.9 mmol/L) is modestly greater, but there is no conclusive or consistent evidence that this diuretic-associated increase in DM risk increases the risk of clinical events.

Arthroscopy of the shoulder in the management of partial tears of the rotator cuff: a preliminary report.

Abstract: Thirty-six patients with partial tears of the supraspinatus portion of the rotator cuff underwent arthroscopic examination and debridement of the lesion. All patients, whose average age was 22 years, were involved in competitive athletics; 64% were baseball pitchers. The average duration of symptoms prior to arthroscopy was 12 months. The most common presenting complaint was pain felt in the shoulder during overhead activities. Associated pathology included tears of the glenoid labrum and partial tearing or tendinitis of the long head of the biceps tendon. Of the 34 patients available for follow-up, 26 (76%) had excellent results, three (9%) had good results, and five (15%) had poor results. Eighty-five percent of the patients returned satisfactorily to their preoperative athletic activity. Our preliminary experience with arthroscopy of the shoulder in the management of patients with partial rotator cuff tears is encouraging. Not only can a partial rotator cuff tear be debrided to initiate a healing response, but a definitive diagnosis can also be made and associated pathology identified, permitting the establishment of an appropriate rehabilitation program.

Eradication of Anopheles gambiae from Brazil: lessons for malaria control in Africa?

Abstract: Current malaria-control strategies emphasise domestic protection against adult mosquitoes with insecticides, and improved access to medical services. Malaria prevention by killing adult mosquitoes is generally favoured because moderately reducing their longevity can radically suppress community-level transmission. By comparison, controlling larvae has a less dramatic effect at any given level of coverage and is often more difficult to implement. Nevertheless, the historically most effective campaign against African vectors is the eradication of accidentally introduced Anopheles gambiae from 54 000 km 2 of largely ideal habitat in northeast Brazil in the 1930s and early 1940s. This outstanding success was achieved through an integrated programme but relied overwhelmingly upon larval control. This experience was soon repeated in Egypt and another larval control programme successfully suppressed malaria for over 20 years around a Zambian copper mine. These affordable approaches were neglected after the advent of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and global malariacontrol policy shifted toward domestic adulticide methods. Larval-control methods should now be re-prioritised for research, development, and implementation as an additional way to roll back malaria.

Hurricane Katrina's carbon footprint on U.S. Gulf Coast forests.

Abstract: dead vegetation, and surface litter), soil, and shade for seasonally matched Landsat 5 images captured before and after the storm. The fractional change in NPV (∆NPV) from 2003 to 2006 provided a quantitative measure of the change in dead vegetation associated with Katrina. A subset for the Pearl River basin was stratified by DNPV to generate disturbance classes, and forest inventory plots were randomly established across the entire DNPV disturbance gradient (Fig. 1A). In each plot, tree mortality and damage, species composition, and biomass loss were quantified. A strong correlation between Landsat-derived DNPVand field-measured tree mortality and damage (fig. S1) enabled development of tree mortality and damagemaps from the Landsat imagery. Next, a second scaling function was generated by comparing Landsat- and MODIS-derived DNPV. With the high temporal frequency and large spatial dimension of MODIS imagery, the Landsat-MODIS scaling provided an assessment of hurricane disturbance across the entire impact region (Fig. 1B). To carry out this scaling, we generated distribution functions for stem density and tree biomass from our forest inventory plots and additional U.S. Forest Service data. A Monte Carlo model was devel

Microsporidiosis: Not just in AIDS patients

Abstract: Purpose of Review: Microsporidia have emerged as causes of opportunistic infections associated with diarrhea and wasting in AIDS patients. This review describes recent reports of microsporidiosis in HIV-infected individuals and the growing awareness of microsporidiosis in non-HIV-infected populations. Recent Findings: Microsporidia were only rarely recognized as causes of disease in humans until the AIDS pandemic. Implementation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) to curtail HIV replication and restore immune status drastically reduced the occurrence of opportunistic infections including those due to microsporidia in HIV-infected individuals. In developing countries where cART is not always accessible microsporidiosis continues to be problematic. Improvement of diagnostic methods over the previous 25 years led to identification of several new species of microsporidia many of which disseminate from enteric to systemic sites of infection and contribute to some unexpected lesions. Among non-HIV-infected but immune-suppressed individuals microsporidia have infected organ transplant recipients children the elderly and patients with malignant disease and diabetes. In otherwise healthy immune-competent HIV seronegative populations self-limiting diarrhea occurred in travelers and as a result of a foodborne outbreak associated with contaminated cucumbers. Keratitis due to microsporidiosis has become problematic and a recent longitudinal evaluation demonstrated that non-HIV-infected individuals seropositive for microsporidia who had no clinical signs continued to intermittently shed organisms in feces and urine. Summary: Greater awareness and implementation of better diagnostic methods are demonstrating that microsporidia contribute to a wide range of clinical syndromes in HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected people. As such microsporidia should be considered in differential diagnoses if no other cause can be defined.