Circulating concentrations of glycocalyx degradation products in preeclampsia.

Preeclampsia is a multisystem disorder that affects maternal endothelium. The glycocalyx lines and protects the endothelial surface. In severe systemic diseases, like sepsis, it is shed and glycocalyx degradation products can be detected in increased concentrations in plasma.

Moving targets in space: Movement distance as a predictor for experiences of movement agency.

Previous research indicates that the experience of agency over one's actions and movements is influenced by movement predictability as well as movement distance (Hon, Seow, & Pereira, 2018). Addressing previous limitations, we present a compelling test of the relation between movement distance and movement agency. Participants in two studies moved targets predictably or unpredictably, and for short, medium, or long distances.

The Stroop Task Influences Product Evaluations.

Cognitive conflict is considered to represent a psychologically negative signal. Indeed, a recent publication showed that cognitive conflict emerging from the Stroop task influences evaluations for neutral shapes that had become associated with conflict and non-conflict, respectively. Building on these findings, the present research investigates the degree to which Stroop conflict influences evaluations of actual products.

Atrial natriuretic peptide does not degrade the endothelial glycocalyx: A secondary analysis of a randomized porcine model.

Background: The atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) released from the heart regulates intravascular volume and is suspected to increase capillary permeability. Contradictory results regarding ANP and glycocalyx degradation have been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate if an infusion of ANP causes degradation of the endothelial glycocalyx.

Effects of different mean arterial pressure targets on plasma volume, ANP and glycocalyx-A randomized trial.

Background: Arterial haematocrit (Hct) has been shown to decrease after anaesthesia induction, most probably because of an increased plasma volume (PV). The primary objective was to quantify change in PV if mean arterial pressure (MAP) was kept at baseline level or allowed to decrease to 60 mm Hg. Our secondary objective was to evaluate underlying mechanisms of this response.

Anisometric Cell and Dysplastic Lipomas in a Retinoblastoma Patient.

Anisometric cell lipoma (ACL) and dysplastic lipoma (DL) are underrecognized subtypes of benign lipomatous tumors, with wide variation in cell size, microscopic fat necrosis, and no or mild nuclear changes (DL). ACL/DL appear more commonly in retinoblastoma patients, in whom an increased incidence of lipomas has been established. The occurrence of ACL/DL in retinoblastoma patients suggests that aberrations play a role in its pathogenesis, similar to spindle cell/pleomorphic lipoma.

Time for Action: Verbal Action Cues Influence Temporal Binding.

Prior research has shown that our perception of time is compressed when we volitionally perform actions, a phenomenon referred to as temporal binding. In three studies, we investigated the degree to which contextual cues that signaled other agents and related to actions would influence binding, given that those cues may affect individual's feelings of independent action performance. Participants heard action verbalizations that did or did not match actions that participants had already begun performing.

Effects of atrial natriuretic peptide on renal function during cardiopulmonary bypass: a randomized pig model.

Objectives: Acute kidney injury is a well-known complication after cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). In this experimental animal study, we evaluated the effects of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) on renal function, perfusion, oxygenation and tubular injury during CPB.

Methods: Twenty pigs were blindly randomized to continuous infusion of either ANP (50 ng/kg/min) or placebo before, during and after CPB.

Transcriptional regulatory framework for vascular cambium development in Arabidopsis roots.

Vascular cambium, a lateral plant meristem, is a central producer of woody biomass. Although a few transcription factors have been shown to regulate cambial activity, the phenotypes of the corresponding loss-of-function mutants are relatively modest, highlighting our limited understanding of the underlying transcriptional regulation. Here, we use cambium cell-specific transcript profiling followed by a combination of transcription factor network and genetic analyses to identify 62 new transcription factor genotypes displaying an array of cambial phenotypes.

Current and future potential distributions of three Vand. ex L. species under two contrasting climate change scenarios in Africa.

Forest undergrowth plants are tightly connected with the shady and humid conditions that occur under the canopy of tropical forests. However, projected climatic changes, such as decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, negatively affect understory environments by promoting light-demanding and drought-tolerant species. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the influence of climate change on the spatial distribution of three selected forest undergrowth plants, Vand.

Evidence for interaction between genetic liability and childhood trauma in the development of psychotic symptoms.

Purpose: Whilst childhood trauma (CT) is a known risk factor across the spectrum of psychosis expression, little is known about possible interplay with genetic liability.

Methods: The TwinssCan Study collected data in general population twins, focussing on expression of psychosis at the level of subthreshold psychotic experiences. A multilevel mixed-effects linear regression analysis was performed including 745 subjects to assess the interaction between genetic liability and CT.

Sense of Agency as a predictor of risk-taking.

Previous research suggests that people tend to underestimate risks that are under their control. It is however unclear which processes underlie the control-risk relation. The present research investigated the feeling of causal control known as agency as a predictor of risk-perception and risk-taking.

Adrenaline Improves Platelet Reactivity in Ticagrelor-Treated Healthy Volunteers.

Background:  Administration of agents that enhance platelet reactivity may reduce the perioperative bleeding risk in patients treated with the adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-receptor antagonist ticagrelor. Adrenaline potentiates ADP-induced aggregation and activation in blood samples from ticagrelor-treated patients, but it has not previously been evaluated in vivo.

Methods:  Ten healthy male subjects were included in an interventional study.

Intraoperative infusion of noradrenaline improves platelet aggregation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: a randomized controlled trial.

Essentials Strategies to improve platelet function may reduce excessive bleeding during cardiac surgery. Patients were randomized to standard care or standard care + noradrenaline infusion. Low-dose noradrenaline improved intraoperative platelet aggregation and clot formation.

An examination of the sequential trial effect on experiences of agency in the Simon task.

Previous research shows that agency experiences are reduced when response selection is dysfluent. Expanding on this work, we report two experiments addressing the influence of Simon response conflict on agency. Participants responded to congruent and incongruent Simon task trials and indicated their experienced agency after each response.

Melanoma in situ: a case report from the patient's perspective.

Introduction: Melanoma can be a fatal form of skin cancer. The prognosis rapidly deteriorates from the in situ stage (stage 0) to stage 4. As such, early detection and treatment are key.

When conflict influences liking: The case of the Stroop task.

Research suggests that cognitive conflict is accompanied by a negative signal. Building on the demonstrated role of negative affect in attitude formation and change, the present research investigated whether the experience of cognitive conflict negatively influences subsequent evaluations of neutral stimuli. Relying on the emergence of conflict in the Stroop task, participants were presented with compatible (non-conflict) and incompatible (conflict) Stroop color words that were each followed by a neutral visual stimulus.

The interaction between cannabis use and the Val158Met polymorphism of the COMT gene in psychosis: A transdiagnostic meta - analysis.

Background: Neither environmental nor genetic factors are sufficient to predict the transdiagnostic expression of psychosis. Therefore, analysis of gene-environment interactions may be productive.

Objective: A meta-analysis was performed using papers investigating the interaction between cannabis use and catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) polymorphism Val158Met (COMTVal158Met).

Uncovering effects of self-control and stimulus-driven action selection on the sense of agency.

The sense of agency refers to feelings of causing one's own action and resulting effect. Previous research indicates that voluntary action selection is an important factor in shaping the sense of agency. Whereas the volitional nature of the sense of agency is well documented, the present study examined whether agency is modulated when action selection shifts from self-control to a more automatic stimulus-driven process.

Exploring the floristic diversity of tropical Africa.

Background: Understanding the patterns of biodiversity distribution and what influences them is a fundamental pre-requisite for effective conservation and sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. Such knowledge is increasingly urgent as biodiversity responds to the ongoing effects of global climate change. Nowhere is this more acute than in species-rich tropical Africa, where so little is known about plant diversity and its distribution.

RAINBIO: a mega-database of tropical African vascular plants distributions.

The tropical vegetation of Africa is characterized by high levels of species diversity but is undergoing important shifts in response to ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures. Although our knowledge of plant species distribution patterns in the African tropics has been improving over the years, it remains limited. Here we present RAINBIO, a unique comprehensive mega-database of georeferenced records for vascular plants in continental tropical Africa.

Pressure-dependent changes in haematocrit and plasma volume during anaesthesia, a randomised clinical trial.

Background: Induction of general anaesthesia has been shown to cause haemodilution and an increase in plasma volume. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether prevention of hypotension during anaesthesia induction could avoid haemodilution.

Methods: Twenty-four cardiac surgery patients, 66 ± 10 years, were randomised to receive either norepinephrine in a dose needed to maintain mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) at pre-anaesthesia levels after induction or to a control group that received vasopressor if MAP decreased below 60 mmHg.

Re-Examining the Agentic Shift: The Sense of Agency Influences the Effectiveness of (Self)Persuasion.

In the present study we investigated whether differences in the sense of agency influenced the effectiveness of both direct persuasion and self-persuasion techniques. By manipulating both the delay and contingency of the outcomes of actions, participants were led to experience either a low or high sense of agency. Participants were subsequently presented with arguments as to why a clean local environment is important (direct persuasion), or were asked to generate those arguments themselves (self-persuasion).