Role of potassium and calcium channels in sevoflurane-mediated vasodilation in the foeto-placental circulation.

Background: Sevoflurane has been demonstrated to vasodilate the foeto-placental vasculature. We aimed to determine the contribution of modulation of potassium and calcium channel function to the vasodilatory effect of sevoflurane in isolated human chorionic plate arterial rings.

Methods: Quadruplicate ex vivo human chorionic plate arterial rings were used in all studies.

Sevoflurane and the feto-placental vasculature: the role of nitric oxide and vasoactive eicosanoids.

Background: The effects and mechanisms of action of volatile anesthetics on the feto-placental vasculature are not known. We aimed to quantify the vasoactive effects of sevoflurane and determine the role of nitric oxide (NO) and of vasoactive eicosanoids in mediating these effects in isolated human chorionic plate arterial rings.

Methods: Quadruplicate ex vivo human chorionic plate arterial rings were used in all studies.

Are allografts the biologic valve of choice for aortic valve replacement in nonelderly patients? Comparison of explantation for structural valve deterioration of allograft and pericardial prostheses.

Objective: To compare explantation for structural valve deterioration in nonelderly patients after aortic valve replacement with stented bovine pericardial and cryopreserved allograft valves.

Methods: From 1981 to 1985, 478 patients received pericardial prostheses during premarket approval; from 1987 to 2000, 744 patients received cryopreserved allografts. Mean age of patients receiving allografts was 49 +/- 12 years, and that of those receiving pericardial prostheses was 65 +/- 11 years; pericardial valves were used in 138 patients younger than age 60.

Isolation and characterization of a thermostable endo-beta-glucanase active on 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucans from the aerobic fungus talaromyces emersonii CBS 814.70.

A novel endoglucanase active on 1,3-1,4-beta-D-glucans was purified to apparent homogeneity from submerged cultures of the moderately thermophilic aerobic fungus Talaromyces emersonii CBS 814.70. The enzyme is a single subunit glycoprotein with M(r) and pI values of 40.