Aims: Recently, serum aldosterone levels have been reported to play a significant role in cardiac hypertrophy. One study of Japanese patients correlated aldosterone levels with the degree of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in those undergoing hemodialysis. However, the role of aldosterone in LVH in non-Japanese patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has not been established. Materials and Methods: Researchers evaluated 42 [29 African-Americans (69%), 11 Caucasians (26%), and 2 other (5%)] male ESRD patients on dialysis for more than 6 months. Pre- and postdialysis, blood pressures and aldosterone and renin concentrations were measured. Transthoracic echocardiography was performed and left ventricular mass (LVM) index was calculated using the Devereaux formula. Medications were reviewed. Results: There were no differences noted in medications prescribed for African-Americans and for Caucasians. Additionally, data from diabetic patients showed no statistically significant correlation between LVM index and any of the variables, including pre- and postdialysis blood pressure, serum potassium, renin, and aldosterone levels, for African-Americans compared to Caucasians. Data from nondiabetic patients showed a positive correlation between LVM and plasma aldosterone concentration in African-Americans (n = 10). Data from nondiabetic Caucasians were disregarded because only one was studied. Conclusion: LVM and aldosterone correlate in African-American males with ESRD on hemodialysis without diabetes. This has important implications for the etiology of, and therapy for LVH in this population. Larger studies are needed to determine whether the same associations exist in females and Caucasians.

Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) complemented with laser ablation time-offlight mass spectroscopy (LA-TOF-MS) has been utilized for the spectrochemical analysis of samples of different dates available in Pakistan. The plasma was generated by a focused Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser (532 nm), while a set of four spectrometers were used to capture the optical spectra. For the quantitative analyses of the laser produce plasma, optically thin and local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions were validated. The optical emission spectra of the date samples detected Fe, Ca, Mg, K and Na nutritional elements and Ba, Ti, Sr, Al, Li and Si toxic elements. Same date samples were also quantitatively analysed using an LA-TOF-MS. The results obtained from the LA-TOF-MS and calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS) techniques showed an excellent agreement, which proves that both techniques are reliable for the multielemental analysis of any date sample.