Biomedical subjects

A Khan

Publications and source records attributed to A Khan.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

PubMed2005

The relationship of functional status, nutritional assessment, and severity of illness to in-hospital mortality.

BACKGROUND: Prediction of in-hospital mortality may direct hospital resources towards those patients most at risk. A number of single domain risk instruments have been developed, indicating that functional status, nutritional assessment, and severity of illness individually predict in-hospital mortality. The interaction among these predictors is less well described. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of functional status, nutritional assessment, and severity of illness to in-hospital mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, SUBJECTS: Cohort study of 1712 consecutive admissions over a one year period to an Internal Medical Service at a tertiary university teaching hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Death during hospital admission. RESULTS: Dependency in activities of daily living (OR = 3.37, 95% CI 1.78 to 6.37, p = 0.0002) and body mass index less than 20 (OR = 2.38, 95% CI 1.20 to 4.74, p = 0.01) predicted in-hospital mortality after adjusting for nutritional risk assessment, and severity of illness score. CONCLUSIONS: Impairment in functional status and low body mass index produce the best predictors of inhospital mortality, after adjusting for nutritional risk and severity of illness score. Among these factors, functional impairment may be amenable to correction.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Global trends in dental fluorosis from 1980 to 2000: a systematic review.

AIM: To determine trends in fluorosis prevalence at water fluoride levels <0.3, >0.3 to <0.7, and >0.7 to 1.4 ppm from 1980 to 2000. METHODS: A systematic review of 55 published articles identified in a Medline search for peer-reviewed articles on fluorosis published from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 2000. The prevalence recorded with any fluorosis index was pooled and the trends over time were determined in the three water concentration categories. RESULTS: The fluorosis prevalence for the three fluoride categories were 16.7, 27.4 and 32.2 percent, respectively. A 16-fold and a 2-fold increase in fluorosis prevalence compared with reported rates in the 1940s was seen in non-fluoridated (= 0.3 ppm F) and fluoridated (>0.7 to = 1.4 ppm F) areas, respectively. There has been an increase in fluorosis prevalence over time in the three fluoride water concentration categories but linear regression analysis showed that none are significantly different from zero. CONCLUSION: This systematic review concurs with recent reports of an increase in fluorosis prevalence in fluoridated and non-fluoridated communities.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2004

Study of the decay B0(B- 0)-->rho+rho-, and constraints on the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle alpha.

Using a data sample of 89 x 10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory at SLAC, we measure the B0(B (0))-->rho(+)rho(-) branching fraction as [30+/-4(stat)+/-5(syst)]x10(-6) and a longitudinal polarization fraction of f(L)=0.99+/-0.03(stat)+0.04-0.03(syst). We measure the time-dependent-asymmetry parameters of the longitudinally polarized component of this decay as C(L)=-0.17+/-0.27(stat)+/-0.14(syst) and S(L)=-0.42+/-0.42(stat)+/-0.14(syst). We exclude values of alpha between 19 degrees and 71 degrees (90% C.L.).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Measurement of the B0-->phiK*0 decay amplitudes.

With a sample of about 227x10(6) BB pairs recorded with the BABAR detector we perform a full angular analysis of the decay B0-->phiK(*0)(892). We make novel measurements of five parameters sensitive to CP violation. We also measure the branching fraction to be (9.2+/-0.9+/-0.5)x10(-6) and determine the fractions of longitudinal and parity-odd transverse contributions as f(L)=0.52+/-0.05+/-0.02 and f( perpendicular)=0.22+/-0.05+/-0.02. The phases of the parity-even and parity-odd transverse amplitudes relative to the longitudinal amplitude are found to be phi( parallel)=2.34(+0.23)(-0.20)+/-0.05 rad and phi( perpendicular)=2.47+/-0.25+/-0.05 rad. We also observe the decay B0-->phiK(*0)(1430).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in B0-->K0gamma(K0-->K(0)Spi0) decays.

We present a measurement of the time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in B0-->K(*0)gamma(K(*0)-->K(0)(S)pi(0)) decays based on 124 x 10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. In a sample containing 105+/-14 signal decays, we measure S(K(*)gamma)=0.25+/-0.63+/-0.14 and C(K(*)gamma)=-0.57+/-0.32+/-0.09, where the first error is statistical and the second, systematic.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Search for flavor-changing neutral current and Lepton-flavor violating decays of D0-->l+l-.

We report on a search for the flavor-changing neutral current decays D0-->e(+)e(-) and D0-->mu(+)mu(-), and the lepton-flavor violating decay D0-->e(+/-)mu(-/+). The measurement is based on 122 fb(-1) of data collected by the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. No evidence is found for any of the decays. The upper limits on the branching fractions, at the 90% confidence level, are 1.2x10(-6) for D0-->e(+)e(-), 1.3x10(-6) for D0-->mu(+)mu(-), and 8.1x10(-7) for D0-->e(+/-)mu(-/+).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Searches for B0 decays to combinations of two charmless isoscalar mesons.

We search for B meson decays into two-body combinations of eta, eta', omega, and phi mesons from 89 x 10(6) BB pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e+e- collider at SLAC. We find the branching fraction B(B0-->etaomega)=(4.0(+1.3)(-1.2)+/-0.4)x10(-6) with a significance of 4.3 sigma. For the other decay modes we set the following 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions, in units of 10(-6): B(B0-->etaeta)<2.8, B(B0-->etaeta')<4.6, B(B0-->eta'eta')<10, B(B0-->eta'omega)<2.8, B(B0-->etaphi)<1.0, B(B0-->eta'phi)<4.5, and B(B0-->phiphi)<1.5.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Study of B-->D()sJ +-D() decays.

We report a study of D(*)(sJ)(2317)(+) and D(sJ)(2460)(+) meson production in B decays. We observe the decays B+-->D((*)+)(sJ)D ((*)0) and B0-->D((*)+)(sJ)D((*)-) with the subsequent decays D(*)(sJ)(2317)(+)-->D(+)(s)pi(0), D(sJ)(2460)(+)-->D(+)(s)gamma, and D(sJ)(2460)(+)-->D(*+)(s)pi(0). Based on a data sample of 122.1 x 10(6) BB pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B factory, we obtain branching fractions for these modes, including the previously unseen decays B-->D((*)+)(sJ)D(*). In addition, we perform an angular analysis of D(sJ)(2460)(+)-->D(+)(s)gamma decays to test the different D(sJ)(2460)(+) spin hypotheses.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Branching fractions and CP asymmetries in B0-->K+ K- K0 S and B+-->K+ K0 S K0 S.

We measure the branching fractions and CP asymmetries in the decays B0-->K(+)K(-)K(0)(S) and B+-->K(+)K(0)(S)K(0)(S) using a sample of approximately 122x10(6) BB pairs collected by the BABAR detector. From a time-dependent analysis of the K(+)K(-)K(0)(S) sample that excludes phiK(0)(S), the values of the CP-violation parameters are S=-0.56+/-0.25+/-0.04 and C=-0.10+/-0.19+/-0.10, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. We confirm that the final state is nearly purely CP even and extract the standard model parameter sin(2beta=0.57+/-0.26+/-0.04(+0.17)(-0) where the last error is due to uncertainty on the CP content. We present the first measurement of the CP-violating charge asymmetry A(CP)(B+-->K(+)K(0)(S)K(0)(S))=-0.04+/-0.11+/-0.02. The branching fractions are B(B0-->K+K-K0)=(23.8+/-2.0+/-1.6)x10(-6) and B(B+-->K(+)K(0)(S)K(0)(S))=(10.7+/-1.2+/-1.0)x10(-6).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Direct CP violating asymmetry in B0-->K+pi- decays.

We present a measurement of the direct CP violating asymmetry in the decay B0-->K+pi(-) using a data sample of 227x10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider at SLAC. We observe a total signal yield of nK-(pi(+))+nK+(pi(-))=1606+/-51 decays and measure the asymmetry (nK-(pi(+))-nK+(pi(-)))/(nK-(pi(+))+nK+(pi(-)))=-0.133+/-0.030(stat)+/-0.009(syst). The probability of observing such an asymmetry in the absence of direct CP violation is 1.3x10(-5), corresponding to 4.2 standard deviations.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Search for B0 decays to invisible final states and to nunugamma.

We establish upper limits on branching fractions for B0 decays to final states where the decay products are purely invisible (i.e., no observable final state particles) and for B0 decays to nunugamma. Within the standard model, these decays have branching fractions that are below current experimental sensitivity, but various models of physics beyond the standard model predict significant contributions from these channels. Using 88.5 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II e(+)e- storage ring at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, we establish upper limits at the 90% confidence level of 22 x 10(-5) for the branching fraction of B0-->invisible and 4.7 x 10(-5) for the branching fraction of B0-->nunugamma.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Measurement of the B-->Xsl+l- branching fraction with a sum over exclusive modes.

We measure the branching fraction for the flavor-changing neutral-current process B-->X(s)l(+)l(-) with a sample of 89x10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->BBmacr; events recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) storage ring. The final state is reconstructed from e(+)e(-) or micro(+)micro(-) pairs and a hadronic system X(s) consisting of one K+/- or K(0)(S) and up to two pions, with at most one pi(0). We observe a signal of 40+/-10(stat)+/-2(syst) events and extract the inclusive branching fraction B(B-->X(s)l(+)l(-))=(5.6+/-1.5(stat)+/-0.6(exp syst)+/-1.1(model syst))x10(-6) for ml(+)(l(-))>0.2 GeV/c(2).

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Bound on the ratio of decay amplitudes for -B0-->J/psiK0 and B0-->J/psiK0.

We have measured the time-dependent decay rate for the process B-->J/psiK(*0) (892) in a sample of about 88x10(6) Upsilon(4S)-->B(-)B decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy B factory at SLAC. In this sample we study flavor-tagged events in which one neutral B meson is reconstructed in the J/psiK(*0) or J/psi(-)K(*0) final state. We measure the coefficients of the cosine and sine terms in the time-dependent asymmetries for J/psiK(*0) and J/psi(-)K(*0), find them to be consistent with the standard model expectations, and set upper limits at 90% confidence level (C.L.) on the decay amplitude ratios |A((-)B(0)-->J/psiK(*0))|/|A(B0-->J/psiK(*0))|<0.26 and |A(B0-->J/psi(-)K(*0))|/|A((-)B(0)-->J/psi(-)K(*0))|<0.32. For a single ratio of wrong-flavor to favored amplitudes for B0 and (-)B(0) combined, we obtain an upper limit of 0.25 at 90% C.L.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Measurement of the direct CP asymmetry in b-->s gamma Decays.

We describe a measurement of the direct CP asymmetry between inclusive b-->s gamma and b-->s gamma decays. This asymmetry is expected to be less than 0.01 in the standard model, but could be enhanced up to about 0.10 by new physics contributions. We use a sample of 89 x 10(6) BB pairs recorded with the BABAR detector at SLAC PEP-II, from which we reconstruct a set of 12 exclusive b-->s gamma final states containing one charged or neutral kaon and one to three pions. We measure an asymmetry of A(CP)(b-->s gamma)=0.025+/-0.050(stat)+/-0.015(syst), corresponding to an allowed range of -0.06 s gamma)<+0.11 at 90% confidence level.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Pakistani obstetricians' recognition of and attitude towards domestic violence screening.

OBJECTIVE: Our study assesses Pakistani obstetricians knowledge of the prevalence of domestic violence in clinical practice and attitudes towards instituting screening protocols during routine antenatal care. METHODS: One hundred obstetricians, all Karachi residents, were randomly drawn from a stratified sampling list taken from membership lists. A structured questionnaire assessing prevalence, attitudes, and beliefs on training and domestic violence screening protocols was administered. RESULTS: Nearly 70% of obstetricians reported that more than 30% of Pakistani women are victims of domestic abuse. Sixty-two obstetricians specified that they had identified a physically abused woman within the past year. Almost half of the respondents were favorably inclined to screen patients. Professional, personal and patient-related barriers were identified as the main hurdles preventing instituting screening. CONCLUSIONS: The desire for instituting routine screening despite the recognition of major hurdles by Pakistani obstetricians should propel reproductive health stakeholders to raise awareness about appropriately modifying standard antenatal care protocols.

Counseling↗

PubMed2004

Epilepsy and erectile dysfunction: a review.

The association between epilepsy and erectile dysfunction (ED) has often been described but not clearly defined. This is a review of the literature regarding the current theories on the causes of ED in epilepsy, as well as the evaluation and treatment options available.

Anticonvulsants↗

PubMed2004

Cytomegalovirus prophylaxis using oral ganciclovir or valganciclovir in kidney and pancreas-kidney transplantation under antibody preconditioning.

We investigated retrospectively the risk factors for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection under ganciclovir or valganciclovir prophylaxis (oral ganciclovir 1 g tid, valganciclovir 450 mg/d) in our kidney and simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplant patients undergoing transplantation between July 1, 2001 and February 28, 2003. Two hundred eleven patients receiving prophylactic oral ganciclovir or valganciclovir were included in the study. All patients were given antibody preconditioning (thymoglobulin 178, alemtuzumab 33). Duration of prophylactic treatment was between 3 and 8 months. Fifteen (7.1%) patients developed a positive CMV antigenemia in the first 6 months after transplantation, and 18 of 176 (10.2%) patients developed a positive CMV antigenemia during the first year. No patient developed tissue invasive CMV disease. At 6 months after transplantation, valganciclovir was slightly more effective than ganciclovir prophylaxis (P=.052). Positive donor CMV serology significantly increased the risk of CMV infection compared to CMV-negative donors (P=.014 and P=.003 at 6 and 12 months, respectively). Duration of CMV prophylaxis for more than 3 months decreased the risk of CMV infection (P=.04 and P=.009 at 6 and 12 months, respectively). Either valganciclovir prophylaxis (450 mg/d) or high-dose oral ganciclovir (1 g tid) is effective in preventing tissue-invasive CMV disease, and results in a low incidence of CMV antigenemia in patients undergoing kidney and SPK transplantation.

Antiviral Agents↗

PubMed2004

The effect of enrofloxacin on cell proliferation and proteoglycans in horse tendon cells.

Fluoroquinolone antibiotics have been used widely in humans and domestic animals, including horses, because of their broad-spectrum bactericidal activity, and relative safety. The use of fluoroquinolones, however, is not without risk. Tendonitis and spontaneous tendon rupture have been reported in people during or following therapy with fluoroquinolones. We have studied the effects of enrofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic used commonly in domestic animals, on tendon cell cultures established from equine superficial digital flexor tendons. Effects on cell proliferation and morphology were studied using cell counting and scanning electron microscopy. Monosaccharide content and composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Western and Northern blot analyses were utilized to evaluate the synthesis and expression of two proteoglycans, biglycan and decorin. Our data demonstrate that enrofloxacin inhibits cell proliferation, induces morphological changes, decreases total monosacharide content and alters small proteoglycan synthesis at the glycosylation level in equine tendon cell cultures. These effects are more pronounced in juvenile tendon cells than in adult equine tendon cells. We hypothesize that morphological changes and inhibition of cell proliferation are a result of impaired production of biglycan and decorin, proteoglycans involved in fibrillogenesis of collagen, the most important structural component of the tendon of enrofloxacin-treated tendon cells. Our findings suggest that fluoroquinolones should be used with caution in horses, especially in foals.

Animals↗