BACKGROUND This study was performed to evaluate when patients recover sufficiently to drive an automobile after operative repair of various other lower extremity fractures. METHODS A computerized driving simulator was developed and tested. Three groups of individuals were compared: (1) 12 healthy, volunteers tested once to establish normal mean values for variables tested (group I); (2) 22 pa...

The accurate monitoring of blade vibration under operating conditions is essential in turbo-machinery testing. Blade tip timing (BTT) is a promising non-contact technique for the measurement of blade vibrations. However, the BTT sampling data are inherently under-sampled and contaminated with several measurement uncertainties. How to recover frequency spectra of blade vibrations though processi...

Most common microcytic hypochromic anemias are iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and β-thalassemia trait (BTT), in which oxidative stress (OxS) has an essential role. Catalase causes detoxification of H2O2 in cells, and it is an indispensable antioxidant enzyme. The study was designed to measure erythrocyte catalase activity (ECAT) in patients with IDA (10) or BTT (21), to relate it with thalassemia...

We evaluated the combination of two indices of red blood cell count (RBC) and red blood cell distribution with index (RDWI) and extrapolated HbA2 values in differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and beta-thalassemia traits (BTT) associated with IDA. A total 129 subjects were included in this study. RBC/RDWI was able to diagnose 32% beta-thalassemia with iron deficiency while 66%...

BACKGROUND Optimal prescription of blood pressure, lipid, and glycaemic control treatments for adults with type 2 diabetes remains unclear. We aimed to compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two treatment approaches for diabetes management in five low-income and middle-income countries. METHODS We developed a microsimulation model to compare a treat-to-target (TTT) strategy, aimi...

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurement at hand phalanges was demonstrated to be a reliable method to assess skeletal maturation during childhood and adolescence. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of age, gender, puberty, lifestyle factors, and body composition on QUS parameters and to provide a normative database for QUS in school children in Lebanon. Measurements of phalang...

BACKGROUND Current available treatment options for advanced heart failure include heart transplantation and ventricular assist device (VAD) therapy. This project aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a bridge-to-transplantation (BTT)-VAD approach relative to direct heart transplantation in transplant-eligible patients. METHODS AND RESULTS A Markov model was used to evaluate survival ben...

BACKGROUND The World Health Organization aims to reduce mortality from chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 25% by 2025. High blood pressure is a leading CVD risk factor. We sought to compare 3 strategies for treating blood pressure in China and India: a treat-to-target (TTT) strategy emphasizing lowering blood pressure to a target, a benefit-based tailored treatment (BTT)...

OBJECTIVE. Bone health is a major concern in patients with Turner syndrome (TS). There are few studies assessing bone mineral status in TS adolescents and none have reported a clear relationship with the risk of fracture. We assessed bone mineral status at three different skeletal sites by two different densitometric techniques in a group of TS adolescents. DESIGN. In 24 TS adolescents (17.1±3....

Today, heart transplantation is the golden standard for the treatment of patients with end-stage heart failure. A median survival time of more than 11 years (and 13 years for those surviving the first year) after transplantation will be hard to equal let alone to beat [1]. As a result of donor organ shortage, transplantation can, unfortunately, only be offered to a few patients. Supported by co...