AIM To compare the International Sensitivity Index (ISI) of the Thrombotest reagent used with a steel ball coagulometer (KC) to the ISI of the same reagent used with the manual (tilt tube) technique. METHODS The study was carried out by eight laboratories using their own KC instrument and method of testing. All laboratories used the same batch of Thrombotest to determine the clotting times of...

The contribution of the thromboplastin international sensitivity index (ISI) to the interlaboratory coefficient of variation (CV) of the international normalised ratio (INR) with individual reagents was assessed. In theory the precision of the INR should increase with lower ISI values. An empirical relation has been established between the ISI, the INR, and its CV for two rabbit thromboplastins...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the effect of escitalopram on insomnia symptoms and subjective sleep quality in healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with hot flashes. METHODS A randomized, blinded, multicenter, placebo-controlled parallel-group 8-week trial with 205 women (95 African American, 102 white, 8 other) was conducted between July 2009 and June 2010. The p...

PURPOSE Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults in most developed countries. It affects eyes bilaterally and is generally believed to be symmetrical, yet there are few studies evaluating the symmetry of diabetic retinopathy. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the symmetry of the amount of peripheral retinal ischemia in patients with diabetic...

The new CoaguChek XS system is designed for use in patient selftesting. It is the successor of the current CoaguChek S system. The detection principle is based on the amperometric measurement of the thrombin activity initiated by starting the coagulation cascade using a human recombinant thromboplastin. This study was performed to assign the International SEnsitivity Index (ISI) to the new test...

BACKGROUND Research on sleep health is lacking in developing countries, particularly among the Sudanese population. This contributes to a number of social and safety risks such as workplace injury, daytime sleepiness, automobile accidents, and more. The current study aims to validate three Arabic questionnaires related to sleep health, namely the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Insomnia Severit...

This cross-sectional study was performed to examine the association between alcohol consumption and insulin secretion and sensitivity using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. Alcohol consumption levels were categorized into four groups: (i) abstainers, (ii) low (<5 g/day), (iii) intermediate (<30 g/day), and (iv) high (≥30 g/day) alcohol consumption. β-cell function and insulin sensitivi...

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS — After 100-g 3-h OGTTs, 4,053 pregnant women were classified as having GDM, OAV, or normal glucose tolerance (NGT). Those with OAV were subdivided into three subgroups: fasting hyperglycemia (one abnormal value at fasting during an OGTT), 1-h hyperglycemia (one abnormal value at 1 h during an OGTT [1h-OAV]), or 2or 3-h hyperglycemia (one abnormal value at 2 or 3 h d...