Early prehospital use of non-invasive ventilation improves acute respiratory failure in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aim: To evaluate the use of prehospital non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Methods: 36 adult patients were treated by prehospital NIV or standard oxygen therapy.

Results: Prehospital NIV was described as feasible by the paramedics.

Oesophageal seal of the novel supralaryngeal airway device I-Gel in comparison with the laryngeal mask airways Classic and ProSeal using a cadaver model.

Background: Supraglottic airway devices are increasingly used in anaesthesia and emergency medicine. This study was designed to investigate the oesophageal seal of the novel supralaryngeal airway device, I-Gel (I-Gel), in comparison with two of the laryngeal mask airways, Classic (cLMA) and ProSeal (pLMA), in a model of elevated oesophageal pressure.

Methods: The three supralaryngeal airway devices were inserted into eight unfixed cadaver models with exposed oesophagi that had been connected to a water column producing both a slow and a fast oesophageal pressure increase.

Interactions of Sox10 and Egr2 in myelin gene regulation.

Myelination in the PNS is accompanied by a large induction of the myelin protein zero (Mpz) gene to produce the most abundant component in peripheral myelin. Analyses of knockout mice have shown that the EGR2/Krox20 and SOX10 transcription factors are required for Mpz expression. Our recent work has shown that the dominant EGR2 mutations associated with human peripheral neuropathies cause disruption of EGR2/SOX10 synergy at specific sites, including a conserved enhancer element in the first intron of the Mpz gene.

Active gene repression by the Egr2.NAB complex during peripheral nerve myelination.

The Egr2/Krox20 transactivator is required for activation of many myelin-associated genes during peripheral nerve myelination by Schwann cells. However, recent work has indicated that Egr2 not only activates genes required for peripheral nerve myelination but may also be involved in gene repression. The NAB (NGFI-A/Egr-binding) corepressors interact with Egr2 and are required for proper coordination of myelin formation.

CsI-detector-based dual-exposure dual energy in chest radiography for lung nodule detection: results of an international multicenter trial.

To assess both sensitivity and specificity of digital chest radiography alone and in conjunction with dual-exposure dual-energy chest radiography for the detection and classification of pulmonary nodules. One hundred patients with a total of 149 lung nodules (3-45 mm; median, 11 mm) confirmed by CT were included in this study. Dual-exposure dual-energy chest radiographies of each patient were obtained using a CsI detector system.