In vitro cytotoxicity of L-amino acid oxidase from the venom of Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus.

L-amino acid oxidase isolated from Crotalus mitchellii pyrrhus (Cmp-LAAO) exhibited cytotoxicity against LNCaP prostate adenocarcinoma cells. The viability of LNCaP cells decreased in a concentration- and time-dependent manner upon administration of Cmp-LAAO. Cmp-LAAO induced apoptosis as evidenced by AnnexinV/PI staining using flow cytometry.

Mask leak in one-person mask ventilation compared to two-person in newborn infant manikin study.

Aim: To compare a new two-person method (four hands) of delivering mask ventilation with a standard one-person method using the Laerdal self-inflating bag (SIB) and the Neopuff (NP) infant resuscitator in a manikin model.

Background: Recent studies of simulated neonatal resuscitation using bag and mask ventilation techniques have shown facemask leak levels of 55-57% in expert hands.

Methods: 48 participants were randomly paired and instructed to give mask ventilation for a 2-min period as single-person resuscitators, then as two-person paired resuscitators at set pressures for NP and set parameters for SIB.

Ventilator-delivered mask ventilation compared with three standard methods of mask ventilation in a manikin model.

Background: Little is known regarding the variations in effective ventilation during bag and mask resuscitation with standard methods compared with that delivered by ventilator-delivered mask ventilation (VDMV).

Aim: To measure the variations in delivered airway pressure, tidal volume (TV), minute ventilation (MV) and inspiratory time during a 3-min period of mask ventilation comparing VDMV with three commonly used hand-delivered methods of bag and mask ventilation: Laerdal self-inflating bag (SIB); anaesthetic bag and T-piece Neopuff.

Methods: A modified resuscitation manikin was used to measure variation in mechanical ventilation during 3-min periods of mask ventilation.

Does caffeine impair cerebral oxygenation and blood flow velocity in preterm infants?

Aim: The aim of the study is to assess the effects of an intravenous 10 mg/kg loading dose of caffeine base in cerebral oxygenation, cerebral Doppler blood flow velocity and cardiac output in preterm infants.

Methods: Preterm neonates <34 weeks gestation were investigated at 1 and 4 h following the loading dose of caffeine using Doppler cerebral sonography, cardiac echocardiography and cerebral spatially resolved near-infrared spectroscopy.

Results: Forty infants were studied with a mean gestational age (mean ± standard deviation) of 27.

Rapid detection of botulinum neurotoxins A, B, E, and F by optical immunoassay.

Botulism is caused by the neurotoxins (BoNTs) produced from Clostridium botulinum. These neurotxins often lead to fatal neuroparalytic disease which is regarded a major threat to the public health. For this reason, rapid and reliable diagnosis of BoNTs in field settings and peripheral care centers is highly valuable.