Objectives To estimate patterns of long-term, within-person, changes in alcohol consumption among adults of different ages and assess key predictors of alcohol-use patterns over time. Method Data came from 3,617 adults, interviewed up to four times between 1986 and 2002. Multilevel multinomial logit models estimated the odds of abstinence and heavy drinking relative to moderate drinking. Results The odds of abstinence increased and the odds of heavy drinking decreased during the study period. Older adults experienced faster increases in abstinence than younger adults. However, data extrapolations suggest that current younger adults are more likely to be abstinent and less likely to be heavy drinkers during late life than current older adults. Time-varying health, social, and lifestyle factors account for some of these patterns. Discussion Drinking behavior in our aging population appears to be on a relatively promising course, perhaps reflecting the effectiveness of public health efforts.

Abstract:In this paper, we investigate the effect and the possible mechanism of high glucose levels on the calcification of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs). HASMCs were divided into four groups: normal glucose group (NG), osmolality control group (OC), high glucose group (HG, HASMCs culture medium containing 30 mmol/L glucose), and high glucose plus recombinant human Noggin protein (bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) antagonist) group (HN). The mRNA levels and the protein expressions of BMP-2 and core binding factor alpha-1 (Cbfα-1) were measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot. After induced by 10 mmol/L β-glycerol phosphoric acid, cells were harvested for assessments of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities at Days 1, 2, and 3, and intracellular calcium contents at Days 7 and 14, respectively. High glucose levels increased the mRNA levels and the protein expressions of BMP-2 and Cbfα-1 (P<0.05). The expression of Cbfα-1 was partially blocked by Noggin protein (P<0.05), while BMP-2 was not (P>0.05). After being induced by β-glycerol phosphoric acid, high glucose levels increased the ALP activity [(48.63±1.03)

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