"Evaluation of high-dose estrogen and high-dose estrogen plus methyltestosterone treatment on cognitive task performance in postmenopausal women"

Amy B. Wisniewski is an Assistant Professor of Biology at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa. She can be contacted at [email protected]: To investigate the cognitive effects of high-dose oral estrogen alone or in combination with oral methyltestosterone in postmenopausal women. Methods: Participants were tested with a randomized, double-blind design on the Identical Pictures, Cube Comparisons, Building Memory and Shape Memory tasks before and after 4 months of hormone treatment. Results: Women receiving estrogen and methyltestosterone maintained a steady level of performance on the Building Memory task, whereas those receiving estrogen alone showed a decrease in performance. Conclusions: These results indicate that the addition of testosterone to high-dose estrogen replacement exerts a protective effect on memory performance in postmenopausal women. Copyright © 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel.Portions of this manuscript were presented at the 1999 Endocrine Society Meeting, San Diego, Calif., USA and the 1999 North American Menopause Society Meeting, New York, N.Y., USA This research was partially supported by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine General Clinical Research Center, NIH/NCRR grant M01 RR00052. This research was also funded in part by Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Marietta, Ga., USA

Teilvorhaben der Siemens AG: Absicherung eines sicheren Betriebs sicherheitsrelevanter Bahntechniksysteme durch Selbstdiagnose und Lebensdauerprognostik

In SesiM, a methodology for AI-based condition monitoring for automotive and railway applications has been developed. A digital fingerprint for an electronic system was generated on the basis of manufacturing data and system parameters, enabling unambiguous evaluation of every produced and monitored system. Within the project, manufacturing and inspection data were correlated with degradation-related solder-joint failures. Furthermore, the influence of loads on electrical parameters was investigated using analytical modelling approaches. All investigations were integrated into a single workflow that forms the basis for a system-level condition-monitoring approach. Within this workflow, physics-of-failure and data-driven techniques were combined into hybrid modelling approaches. The focus of the Siemens AG sub-project lies on technologies and system components for railway applications. The novel SesiM methodology was developed specifically with these technologies in mind. Siemens’ main activities concern data generation, model development, and anomaly detection.In SesiM ist eine Methode zur KI-basierten Zustandsbestimmung für Automobil- und Bahntechnik entwickelt worden. Es wurde ein digitaler Fingerabdruck für ein elektronisches System basierend auf Fertigungsdaten und Systemparameter erzeugt. Dadurch wird eine eindeutige Auswertung von jedem produzierten und überwachten System möglich. In dem Projekt ist die Korrelation der Fertigungs- und Inspektionsdaten mit degradationsbedingten Ausfällen durchgeführt worden. Es wurde der Einfluss von Lasten auf elektrische Parameter durch analytische Modelle untersucht. Die Untersuchungen wurden in einem Workflow zusammengeführt und bilden die Grundlage für einen Diagnoseansatz auf Systemebene. In dem entwickelten Workflow sind physics-of-failure und datenbasierte Methoden angewendet und zu hybriden Modellierunsansätzen kombiniert worden. Das Teilvorhaben der Siemens AG untersuchte Technologien und Systemkomponenten aus dem Bereich der Bahntechnik. Die Entwicklung der neuen Methode ist gezielt anhand dieser Technologien entwickelt worden. Hierbei lag der Fokus auf der Datenerzeugung, Modellbildung und Anomalieerkennung

Optimal Cartographic Representation of Geographical Mobile Phenomena on Thematic Maps

Nature is full of geographical kinetic phenomena; some are tangible such as population emigration, money transfer, goods movement and transportation. Yet others are intangible such as energy, thoughts, reputation and civilization. These phenomena have got specific characteristics while moving such as the movement’s route, speed, locations, strength of the kinetic phenomena and their type and structure. Different geographical kinetic phenomena can be illustrated on maps called “Animation Maps”, which are considered part of the Thematic Maps, based on their nature and function by the motion symbols. This article studies most of the cartographic representation methods that are used in designing Thematic Maps. It also concentrates on motion symbolizing methods. It studies the nature and types of kinetic phenomena and identifies their different characteristics, and presents and analyzes its numerous demonstration ways on maps, using animation symbols. Finally, it reveals the best ways to design and present Animation Maps. This paper aims to study kinetic phenomena and their kinds and characteristics, and to analyze the methods currently used to demonstrate them on Animation Maps. This leads to suggest new methods and ways in this field, in order to assist in demonstrating geographical phenomena on maps accurately and clearly. The study reached a number of results such as determining cartographic representation methods and their fields, and finding the best optimal representation methods of kinetic geographical phenomena, and their different characteristics on Thematic Maps, and thus determining the best methods to design and present Animation Maps

Testosterone and Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract Testosterone (T) is the principal male sex hormone. As men age, T levels typically fall. Symptoms of low T include decreased libido, vasomotor instability, and decreased bone mineral density. Other symptoms may include depression, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, and reduced muscle strength/mass. Epidemiology studies show that low levels of T are associated with more atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease, and cardiovascular events. However, treating hypogonadism in the aging male has resulted in discrepant results in regard to its effect on cardiovascular events. Emerging studies suggest that T may have a future role in treating heart failure, angina, and myocardial ischemia. A large, prospective, long-term study of T replacement, with a primary endpoint of a composite of adverse cardiovascular events including myocardial infarction, stroke, and/or cardiovascular death, is needed. The Food and Drug Administration recently put additional restrictions on T replacement therapy labeling and called for additional studies to determine its cardiac safety

RILM in context

Searching for information today is a significantly different activity than it was a decade ago, even more so than four decades ago when RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale), an abstracted bibliographic guide to writings about music, was founded. This article reviews its development in Brazil

Selenium and Sex Steroid Hormones in a U.S. Nationally Representative Sample of Men:A Role for the Link between Selenium and Estradiol in Prostate Carcinogenesis?

Background: Given the recent findings from pooled studies about a potential inverse association between selenium levels and prostate cancer risk, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the association between serum selenium and serum concentrations of sex steroid hormones including estradiol in a nationally representative sample of U.S. men to investigate one mechanism by which selenium may influence prostate cancer risk.Methods: The study included 1,420 men ages 20 years or older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1988 and 1994. We calculated age/race–ethnicity-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted geometric mean serum concentrations of total and estimated free testosterone and estradiol, androstanediol glucuronide, and sex hormone binding globulin, and compared them across quartiles of serum selenium.Results: Adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, smoking status, serum cotinine, household income, physical activity, alcohol consumption, and percent body fat, mean total estradiol [e.g., Q1, 38.00 pg/mL (95% confidence interval (CI), 36.03–40.08) vs. Q4, 35.29 pg/mL (95% CI, 33.53–37.14); Ptrend = 0.050] and free estradiol [e.g., Q1, 0.96 pg/mL (95% CI, 0.92–1.01) vs. Q4, 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85–0.95); Ptrend = 0.065] concentrations decreased over quartiles of selenium. Stratification by smoking and alcohol consumption, showed that the latter observation was stronger for never smokers (Pinteraction = 0.073) and those with limited alcohol intake (Pinteraction = 0.017). No associations were observed for the other sex steroid hormones studied.Conclusions: Our findings suggests that a possible mechanism by which selenium may be protective for prostate cancer is related to estrogen.Impact: Further studies of longitudinal measurements of serum and toenail selenium in relation to serum measurements of sex steroid hormones are needed.</p

Sexual dimorphism in cancer.

The incidence of many types of cancer arising in organs with non-reproductive functions is significantly higher in male populations than in female populations, with associated differences in survival. Occupational and/or behavioural factors are well-known underlying determinants. However, cellular and molecular differences between the two sexes are also likely to be important. In this Opinion article, we focus on the complex interplay that sex hormones and sex chromosomes can have in intrinsic control of cancer-initiating cell populations, the tumour microenvironment and systemic determinants of cancer development, such as the immune system and metabolism. A better appreciation of these differences between the two sexes could be of substantial value for cancer prevention as well as treatment

Fat distribution and longitudinal anthropometric changes in HIV-infected men with and without clinical evidence of lipodystrophy and HIV-uninfected controls: A substudy of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fat abnormalities are common among HIV-infected persons, but few studies have compared regional body fat distribution, including visceral fat, in HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected persons and their subsequent trajectories in body composition over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Between 1999 and 2002, 33 men with clinical evidence of lipodystrophy (LIPO+), 23 HIV-infected men without clinical evidence of lipodytrophy (LIPO-), and 33 HIV-uninfected men were recruited from the four sites of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS). Participants underwent dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, quantitative computerized tomography of the abdomen and thigh, and circumference measurements of the waist, hip and thigh. Circumference measurements at each semi-annual MACS visit between recruitment and 2008 were used to compare average annual anthropometric changes in the 3 groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Body mass index (BMI) was lower in LIPO+ men than in the LIPO- men and the HIV- uninfected controls (BMI: 23.6 ± 0.4 vs 26.8 ± 1.5 vs 28.7 ± 0.9 kg/m², respectively, p < 0.001). The average amount of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was similar in all three groups (p = 0.26), but after adjustment for BMI, VAT was higher in the LIPO+ group (169 ± 10 cm²) compared to the LIPO- men (129 ± 12 cm², p = 0.03) and the HIV-uninfected group (133 ± 11 cm², p = 0.07). Subcutaneous adipose tissue (thigh, abdomen) and total extremity fat were less in the HIV-infected men (LIPO+ and LIPO-) than in the HIV-uninfected men. Over an average of 6 years of follow-up, waist circumference increased at a faster rate in LIPO+ group, compared to the LIPO- men (0.51 cm/year vs 0.08 cm/year, p = 0.02) and HIV-uninfected control men (0.21 cm/year, p = 0.06). The annual changes in hip and thigh circumferences were similar in all three groups</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Subcutaneous lipoatrophy was observed in HIV-infected patients, even those without clinical evidence of lipodystrophy, compared to age-matched HIV-uninfected men. Despite markedly lower BMI, HIV-infected men with lipodystrophy had a similar amount of VAT as HIV-uninfected men and tended to have more rapid increases in waist circumference over 6 years of follow-up. These longitudinal increases in waist circumference may contribute to the development of cardiovascular risk in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy.</p

Nationally Representative Estimates of Serum Testosterone Concentration in Never-Smoking, Lean Men Without Aging-Associated Comorbidities

Context Testosterone deficiency prevalence increases with age, comorbidities, and obesity. Objective To inform clinical guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and development of targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for these men, we determined serum testosterone in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities in nationally representative surveys. Design Setting Participants We used cross-sectional data for never-smoking, lean men ≥20 years without diabetes, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, stroke, or cancer, without use of hormone-influencing medications, and participated in morning sessions of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (phase I 1988-1991) or continuous NHANES (1999-2004). By age, we determined median total testosterone (ng/mL) measured previously by a Food and Drug Administration-approved immunoassay and median estimated free testosterone concentration. Results In NHANES III, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median (25th, 75th percentile) testosterone was 4% to 9% higher than all men-20 to 39 years: 6.24 (5.16, 7.51), 40 to 59: 5.37 (3.83, 6.49), and ≥60: 4.61 (4.01, 5.18). In continuous NHANES, in never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, levels were 13% to 24% higher than all men-20 to 39 years: 6.26 (5.32, 7.27), 40 to 59: 5.86 (4.91, 6.55), and ≥60: 4.22 (3.74, 5.73). In never-smoking, lean men without comorbidities, median estimated free testosterone was similar to (NHANES III) or slightly higher than (continuous NHANES) in all men. Conclusions These nationally representative data document testosterone levels (immunoassay) in never-smoking, lean men without select comorbidities 30 and 15 to 20 years ago. This information can be incorporated into guidelines for testosterone deficiency management and used to develop targets for nonpharmacologic intervention trials for testosterone deficiency