Biomedical subjects

Pankaj Arora

Publications and source records attributed to Pankaj Arora.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2024

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Genetic Risk in Transthyretin V142I Carriers.

BACKGROUND: Nearly 3% to 4% of Black individuals in the United States carry the transthyretin V142I variant, which increases their risk of heart failure. However, the role of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors (RFs) in influencing the risk of clinical outcomes among V142I variant carriers is unknown. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the impact of CV RFs on the risk of heart failure in V142I carriers. METHODS: This study included self-identified Black individuals without prevalent heart failure from 6 TOPMed (Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine) cohorts, the REGARDS (Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke) study, and the All of Us Research Program. The cohort was stratified based on the V142I genotype and the number of CV RFs (hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia). Adjusted Cox models were used to assess the association of heart failure with the V142I genotype and CV RF profile, taking noncarriers with a favorable CV RF profile as reference. RESULTS: The cross-sectional analysis, including 1,625 V142I carriers among 48,365 Black individuals, found that the prevalence of CV RFs did not vary by V142I carrier status. In the longitudinal analysis, there were 587 (3.2%) V142I carriers among 18,407 Black individuals (median age: 60 years [Q1-Q3: 52-68 years], 63.0% female). Among carriers, the heart failure risk was attenuated with a favorable (0 or 1 RF) CV RF profile (adjusted HR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.58-3.23) compared with an unfavorable (3 or 4 RFs) CV RF profile (adjusted HR: 4.14; 95% CI: 2.79-6.14). CONCLUSIONS: A favorable CV RF profile lowers but does not abrogate V142I variant-associated heart failure risk. This study highlights the importance of having a favorable CV RF profile among V142I carriers for risk reduction of heart failure.

Aged↗

PubMed2004

Battery separators.

The ideal battery separator would be infinitesimally thin, offer no resistance to ionic transport in electrolytes, provide infinite resistance to electronic conductivity for isolation of electrodes, be highly tortuous to prevent dendritic growths, and be inert to chemical reactions. Unfortunately, in the real world the ideal case does not exist. Real world separators are electronically insulating membranes whose ionic resistivity is brought to the desired range by manipulating the membranes thickness and porosity. It is clear that no single separator satisfies all the needs of battery designers, and compromises have to be made. It is ultimately the application that decides which separator is most suitable. We hope that this paper will be a useful tool and will help the battery manufacturers in selecting the most appropriate separators for their batteries and respective applications. The information provided is purely technical and does not include other very important parameters, such as cost of production, availability, and long-term stability. There has been a continued demand for thinner battery separators to increase battery power and capacity. This has been especially true for lithiumion batteries used in portable electronics. However, it is very important to ensure the continued safety of batteries, and this is where the role of the separator is greatest. Thus, it is essential to optimize all the components of battery to improve the performance while maintaining the safety of these cells. Separator manufacturers should work along with the battery manufacturers to create the next generation of batteries with increased reliability and performance, but always keeping safety in mind. This paper has attempted to present a comprehensive review of literature on separators used in various batteries. It is evident that a wide variety of separators are available and that they are critical components in batteries. In many cases, the separator is one of the major factors limiting the life and/or performance of batteries. Consequently, development of new improved separators would be very beneficial for the advanced high capacity batteries.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Factors influencing the outcome in symptomatic Chiari I malformation.

BACKGROUND: To study the clinico-radiological determinants of outcome in patients with Chiari I malformation (CIM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The disability assessment of 48 patients with C I M who underwent posterior decompression was done by modified Klekamp and Samii scoring system. The outcome was regarded as good when the patient was ambulant without any aid with an improvement in the disability score; and, poor when (a) there was postoperative deterioration or lack of improvement; (b) the patient was non-ambulant without aid, irrespective of the improvement in the clinical score; or, (c) there was a perioperative mortality. Patients with hydrocephalus; those who underwent syringo-subarachnoid or syringo-peritoneal shunt as the primary procedure; and, patients with atlanto-axial dislocation were excluded from the study. STATISTICAL METHODS USED: Categorical data were expressed in proportions and analyzed with Chi square test. Analysis of factors predicting clinical outcome at 6 months was done utilizing logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The outcome assessed at six months showed that 30 patients (62.5%) had good outcome while 18 patients (37.5%; including two perioperative mortalities) had a poor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Significant predictors of outcome in patients with CIM include the duration of symptoms (P value=0.006), respiratory distress (P value=0.001), and basilar invagination (P value=0.048). The effect of syringomyelia in predicting the clinical outcome could not be determined due to the differences in the number of patients in the groups with or without syringomyelia.

Adolescent↗