Low-temperature persulfate activation by powdered activated carbon for simultaneous destruction of perfluorinated carboxylic acids and 1,4-dioxane.

Carbonaceous materials have emerged as a method of persulfate activation for remediation. In this study, persulfate activation using powdered activated carbon (PAC) was demonstrated at temperatures relevant to groundwater (5-25 °C). At room temperature, increasing doses of PAC (1-20 g L) led to increased persulfate activation (3.

Comparison Between Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy and Native Coronary Atherosclerosis by Optical Coherence Tomography.

We sought to explore differences in distribution and morphology of coronary lesions comparing cardiac allograft vasculopathy and native coronary atherosclerosis (NCA) using intravascular imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT). At the time of routine surveillance angiography, 17 heart transplant (HT) recipients with a history of high-grade cellular rejection (HGR) and 43 HT recipients with none/mild (low)-grade rejection underwent OCT imaging of the left anterior descending and were compared to 60 patients with NCA without HT. Compared with patients with NCA, patients with HGR had similar intima areas but smaller external elastic lamina areas (7.

Increased coronary lipid accumulation in heart transplant recipients with prior high-grade cellular rejection: novel insights from near-infrared spectroscopy.

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients after heart transplantation. We sought to assess the amount of lipid accumulation in the coronary arteries of transplant patients according to rejection grade. Overall, 39 consecutive heart transplant recipients undergoing annual routine surveillance coronary angiography underwent near-infrared spectroscopy and intravascular ultrasound imaging of 1 coronary artery.

In vivo comparison between cardiac allograft vasculopathy and native atherosclerosis using near-infrared spectroscopy and intravascular ultrasound.

Aims: The aim was to compare cardiac allograft vasculopathy to native atherosclerosis by near-infrared spectroscopy-intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS).

Methods And Results: Twenty-seven atherosclerotic (non-transplant) patients and 28 heart transplant recipients undergoing routine surveillance coronary angiography underwent NIRS-IVUS imaging of the left anterior descending coronary artery. In each proximal, middle, and distal coronary artery segment, the maxLCBI4mm [4-mm long segment with maximum lipid core burden index (LCBI)] and corresponding IVUS parameters were compared.

Volumetric intravascular ultrasound assessment of mechanisms and results of stent expansion in heart transplant patients.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention with stent placement for the treatment of patients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy is common, but data regarding stent behavior in this setting is lacking.

Objectives: We investigated mechanisms and potential differences in stent expansion among transplant patients vs. patients with native coronary artery atherosclerotic disease ("controls").

Value of drug-eluting stents in cardiac transplant recipients.

Transplant allograft vasculopathy (TAV) was a leading cause of death in cardiac transplant recipients after the first year of transplantation. Whether drug-eluting stents (DESs) performed better than bare-metal stents (BMSs) for the treatment of patients with discrete epicardial stenosis was unknown. The aim was to determine the safety and efficacy of DESs compared with BMSs in the treatment of patients with TAV.

A rapid-response alphanumeric paging design decreases door-to-balloon times in patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention for ST elevation acute myocardial infarction.

Introduction: In acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), rapid reperfusion of the infarcted artery improves cardiovascular outcomes; however, many hospitals have difficulty achieving recommended times. We hypothesized that a Rapid-Response Alphanumeric Paging Design (RAPiD) would reduce door-to-balloon time for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in STEMI.

Methods: A chest pain algorithm and interdisciplinary team was established in December 2000.

Determinants of left ventricular thrombus formation after primary percutaneous coronary intervention for anterior wall myocardial infarction.

Previous studies have reported that left ventricular (LV) thrombus is a complication in 10-56% of ST-segment elevation acute anterior wall myocardial infarctions (AWMI). Data suggest that changes in acute myocardial infarction management such as early anticoagulation, thrombolysis, and most recently, primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), may decrease thrombus occurrence. Early time to reperfusion has been shown to decrease mortality and improve LV function recovery.

Anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies are associated with restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention for cardiac allograft vasculopathy.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to palliate cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) has been associated with high restenosis rates, possibly related to increased inflammation associated with this disease. Whether markers of immunologic rejection are associated with restenosis in this population is unknown. The goal of the study was to determine the predictors of restenosis after PCI for CAV.

Pituitary luteinizing hormone microheterogeneity in the afternoon of proestrus in rats: some new insights.

Objective: The aim of the present report was to determine the possible modifications in rat pituitary LH isoforms induced by the spontaneous increase in GnRH at the time of the preovulatory gonadotropin surge.

Design: The changes in the quantitative pattern and relative proportions of pituitary LH isoforms in rats on the afternoon of proestrus [INT-P(PM)] were evaluated by comparison with other stages of the estrous cycle (diestrus-1, diestrus-2 and estrus) and ovariectomized (7 and 30 days earlier) animals killed in the morning and in the afternoon of the corresponding day.

Methods: The chromatofocusing technique (pH gradient 11.

In vitro effect of leptin on LH release by anterior pituitary glands from female rats at the time of spontaneous and steroid-induced LH surge.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to study the direct effect of leptin on LH release by anterior pituitary glands from female rats at the time of spontaneous and steroid-induced LH surge.

Methods: LH responsiveness to leptin by pituitaries from rats killed in the afternoon (1500 h) at different stages of the 4-day estrous cycle (diestrus-1: D1; diestrus-2: D2; proestrus; estrus), ovariectomized (OVX; 15 days post-castration) and ovariectomized steroid-primed (OVX-E(2)/Pg; pretreated with 5 microg estradiol and 1 mg progesterone), was evaluated in vitro. Hemi-adenohypophyses were incubated in the presence of synthetic murine leptin for 3 h.

Long-term maintenance of weight loss after a very-low-calorie diet: a randomized blinded trial of the efficacy and tolerability of sibutramine.

Background: Very-low-calorie diets are a well established method to achieve substantial short-term weight loss in obese patients, but long-term maintenance of the weight loss is very disappointing. A combined very-low-calorie diet and pharmacologic approach could be an effective means of prolonging its benefits.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients had a body-mass index greater than 30 kg/m2; those who lost 6 kg or more during a 4-week treatment with a very-low-calorie diet were randomly assigned to 1 year of treatment with sibutramine (10 mg) or identical placebo.

Effect of cycloheximide and tunicamycin on the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone stimulated distal glycosylation of luteinizing hormone by rat pituitary cells.

We have previously demonstrated that gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) induces not only changes in quantity but also in quality on secreted luteinizing hormone (LH), by increasing [14C]Leu (translation) and [3H]Gal (distal glycosylation) incorporation into newly synthesized hormone. In the present report, we have further examined the GnRH-induced [3H]Gal-LH synthesis and release by treating anterior pituitary cells with polypeptide synthesis and glycosylation inhibitors (cycloheximide and tunicamycin, respectively). Pituitary cells from ovariectomized adult rats were cultured for 4 days and then incubated for different periods (0-5 h) in medium containing [14C]Leu plus [3H]Man or [14C]Leu plus [3H]Gal in the absence (basal) or presence of 10 nmol/L GnRH with or without (control) cycloheximide (1.

Cost-effectiveness of coronary artery bypass surgery in octogenarians.

Objective: The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine whether coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is effective and cost-effective relative to medical management of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the elderly.

Summary Background Data: The aging of the U.S population and the improvements in surgical techniques have resulted in increasing numbers of elderly patients who undergo this surgery.

Role of vasoactive intestinal peptide and 5-HT2 receptor subtype in serotonin stimulation of basal and thyrotropin-releasing-hormone-induced prolactin release in vitro from rat pituitary cells.

We have previously demonstrated that 5-HT stimulates not only basal but also thyrotropin-releasing-hormone (TRH)-induced prolactin (PRL) release by acting directly at the pituitary gland level. In the present report, the participation of an autoparacrine action of VIP in the stimulatory effects of 5-HT and the involvement of the 5-HT2 receptor type in mediating serotonin-induced PRL release have been examined. Cultured anterior pituitary cells from ovariectomized adult rats were incubated for 1 h in 1 ml of T3-supplemented medium with or without the test substances.

Plasma levels of tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 are correlated with the presence of transplant coronary artery disease in cardiac transplant recipients.

Hemostatic factors are involved in the pathogenesis of native coronary artery disease. However, their role in transplant coronary artery disease is less established. To assess the role of hemostatic factors in transplant coronary artery disease we studied 52 consecutive cardiac transplant patients.

Rates of proximal and distal glycosylation of luteinizing hormone by cultured rat pituitary cells.

The purpose of the present work was to study the rate of basal luteinizing hormone (LH) glycosylation, discriminating the co-translational (proximal) and the post-translational (distal) glycosylation. The experiments were performed to determine the temporal relationship between the biosynthesis of the peptide chains (by [14C]leucine incorporation: [14C]Leu-LH) and the proximal (by [3H]mannose incorporation: [3H]Man-LH) and distal (by [3H]galactose incorporation: [3H]Gal-LH) glycosylation of LH, by rat pituitary cells in primary culture. In addition, the effects of cycloheximide (translation inhibitor) and tunicamycin (glycosylation inhibitor) on the rates of synthesis and release of [3H]Man-LH and [3H]Gal-LH were studied.

Increase in diet-induced thermogenesis at the start of refeeding in severely malnourished anorexia nervosa patients.

Many reports describe the difficulty for anorexia nervosa patients to gain weight during refeeding. To assess whether an increase in diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT) participates to this resistance, we studied DIT by indirect calorimetry in 11 severely malnourished anorexia nervosa patients [body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) = 13] to accomplish two purposes: 1) to compare DIT in a strict semistarvation state with that obtained after 1 wk refeeding, when metabolism is shifted to a dynamic trend toward regaining weight, without significant change in body composition; 2) to study the effect on DIT of two energetic loads representing each one-third of the energy intake during semistarvation and refeeding, respectively: 1.25 and 2.

Hind III polymorphism of the lipoprotein lipase gene and plasma lipid response to low calorie diet.

Objective: To assess the effects of a low calorie diet on plasma lipids according to the Hind III polymorphism of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene in overweight patients.

Design: Diet intervention study (25% restriction in energy intake during 2.5 months) in relation to genetic factors.

A short-term cognitive behavioural therapy for bulimia nervosa including brief hospitalisation.

This was a metabolic study of bulimia nervosa required to design short-term cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) beginning with a brief admission to a psychiatric ward. The treatment produced significant improvements in eating behaviour and results are compared with those of previously published studies. The comparisons do not suggest that brief admission at the onset of therapy might enhance its effectiveness.

High resting energy expenditure in normal-weight bulimics and its normalization with control of eating behaviour.

Resting energy expenditure (REE) has been found to be lower in normal weight-bulimics (NWBs) than in controls and it was speculated that metabolic abnormalities might underlie bulimia. This study consisted of a longitudinal assessment of REE, body composition and energy intake before, during and after the control of eating behaviour, with comparisons between REEs in NWBs, those in controls, and estimated basal energy expenditure (EBEE). NWBs in acute phase of bulimia were assessed the 1st, 2nd, and last day of a one-week hospitalization that warranted compliance with normal diet.

GnRH-stimulated glycosylation (proximal and distal) of luteinizing hormone by cultured rat pituitary cells.

In the present work, the effects of GnRH on the translation (by [14C]leucine incorporation; [14C]Leu-LH) and the glycosylation of LH by rat pituitary cells in primary culture were established. The use of specific markers as radioactive precursors made it possible to discriminate the action of the neurohormone on proximal glycosylation (by[3H]mannose incorporation; [3H]Man-LH) as well as distal glycosylation (by [3H]galactose incorporation; [3H]Gal-LH) in the course of synthesis and release of LH. Pituitary cells from ovariectomized adult rats were incubated for different periods between 0 and 5 h in medium containing [14C]Leu plus [3H]Man or [14C]Leu plus [3H]Gal with or without 10 nM GnRH.

Polymorphisms of uncoupling protein (UCP) and beta 3 adrenoreceptor genes in obese people submitted to a low calorie diet.

Objective: To investigate whether the genetic polymorphisms of the uncoupling protein (UCP) and beta 3 adrenergic receptor (beta 3 AR) were associated with differences of weight loss in obese patients submitted to a low calorie diet.

Design: Longitudinal, clinical intervention study of a 25% restriction in energy intake with respect to genotypes.

Subjects: 163 patients with a body mass index above 27.

Histologic appearance of transmyocardial laser channels after 4 1/2 weeks.

Preliminary results of clinical studies suggest that transmyocardial laser revascularization is an effective treatment for patients with chronic angina that cannot be treated by other means. The mechanism of this effect remains controversial. We present autopsy results from a patient obtained 4 1/2 weeks after operation that show that the channels do not maintain patency.