Termination of pregnancy: attitudes and clinical experiences of Irish GPs and GPs-in-training.

Background: Termination of pregnancy (ToP) is currently illegal in Ireland. In 2010, more than 4000 women travelled from Ireland to the UK for a ToP.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess the attitudes and clinical experiences of Irish General Practitioners (GPs) and GPs-in-training (GPRs) towards ToP.

Recruitment of infants with sickle cell anemia to a Phase III trial: data from the BABY HUG study.

Background: Protocol-eligible subjects may not be candidates for research participation or may decline. To determine factors that affected accrual, we evaluated enrollment in BABY HUG, a multi-center, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III trial of hydroxyurea (HU) in infants with sickle cell anemia.

Methods: An anonymized registry of potential subjects served as the primary source of data.

Peripheral arterial tonometry in assessing endothelial dysfunction in pediatric sickle cell disease.

Background: SCD is characterized by hemolysis and oxidative stress, resulting in endothelial dysfunction (EDF). Peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT), a noninvasive technology for measuring EDF, utilizes reactive hyperemia following mini-ischemic stress (reactive hyperemia index or RHI).

Methods: The authors studied PAT in 36 SCD children to determine the influence of hemoglobin genotype and treatment on EDF.

Does responsibility drive learning? Lessons from intern rotations in general practice.

Background: The intern (or pre-registration) year has been criticised in the past for its emphasis on service delivery at the expense of educational achievement. It is hoped that new approaches to early postgraduate training such as the foundation programmes in the UK, will make clinical education more structured and effective. Intern placements in non-traditional settings such as general practice have been shown in the past to improve the quality of learning.

Upper airway EMG responses to acute hypoxia and asphyxia are impaired in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a major clinical disorder that is characterised by multiple episodes of upper airway obstruction due to failure of the upper airway dilator muscles to maintain upper airway patency. The incidence of OSA is high in many endocrine disorders including both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes but the reasons for this are not known. We wished to test the hypothesis that central respiratory motor output to the upper airway muscles is preferentially impaired in a rat model of diabetes mellitus.

Effects of chronic intermittent asphyxia on rat diaphragm and limb muscle contractility.

Objective: In obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), there is intermittent upper airway (UA) collapse due to an imbalance between the collapsing force generated by the diaphragm and the stabilizing force of the UA muscles. This results in chronic intermittent asphyxia (CIA). We have previously shown that CIA affects UA muscle fatigue, but little is known about the effects of chronic hypoxia on diaphragm or on limb muscle contractile properties and structure.

The effects of chronic episodic hypercapnic hypoxia on rat upper airway muscle contractile properties and fiber-type distribution.

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by episodes of upper airway (UA) obstruction due to an inability of UA muscles such as the geniohyoids and sternohyoids to maintain airway patency. This results in chronic episodic hypercapnic hypoxia. Chronic continuous hypoxia and episodic hypocapnic hypoxia affect skeletal muscle structure and function, but the effects of chronic episodic hypercapnic hypoxia on UA muscle structure and function are unknown.

Effects of chronic episodic hypoxia on rat upper airway muscle contractile properties and fiber-type distribution.

Objective: Contraction of upper airway (UA) muscles such as the geniohyoids and sternohyoids dilates and/or stabilizes the UA, thereby maintaining its patency. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by episodes of UA collapse, and this results in chronic episodic hypoxia. Chronic continuous hypoxia affects skeletal muscle structure and function, but the effects of chronic episodic hypoxia on UA muscle structure and function are unknown.

Effects of creatine loading and depletion on rat skeletal muscle contraction.

1. In humans, the effects of dietary creatine supplementation are controversial, with some studies showing increased muscle force and fatigue resistance and others reporting no effect on exercise performance. Little is known about the effects of creatine on muscle contractile properties.

Contractile properties of the diaphragm in creatine-fed rats.

1. Creatine feeding increases the oxidative capacity of type 1 skeletal muscle fibres and, in soleus muscles, consisting mainly of type 1 fibres, increases fatigue resistance. The diaphragm contains a relatively large content of type 1 fibres and respiratory muscle fatigue is a cause of respiratory failure.

The effects of dietary creatine supplements on the contractile properties of rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles.

Daily creatine supplements (0.258 g kg(-1) ) were administered to adult male Wistar rats (n = 7) in the drinking water. Age matched rats (n = 6) acted as controls.

Contractile and electrical properties of sternohyoid muscle in streptozotocin diabetic rats.

1. The effects of diabetes on the electrical and contractile function of skeletal muscle are variable, depending on muscle fibre type distribution. The muscles of the upper airway have a characteristic fibre distribution that differs from previously studied muscles, but the effects of diabetes on upper airway muscle function are unknown.

The influence of streptozotocin diabetes and metformin on erythrocyte volume and on the membrane potential and the contractile characteristics of the extensor digitorum longus and soleus muscles in rats.

The effects of streptozotocin (STZ) diabetes and the antihyperglycaemic agent metformin on the contractile characteristics of the limb skeletal muscles and on erythrocyte volume were examined in rats. After 8 weeks of diabetes, the tetanic tension of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle decreased and the half-relaxation time of the soleus muscle increased. Endurance decreased in both muscles.

The influence of streptozotocin-induced diabetes and the antihyperglycaemic agent metformin on the contractile characteristics and the membrane potential of the rat diaphragm.

After 2 months of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats, the membrane potential of the diaphragm muscle when measured in vitro at 30 degrees C was unchanged but the tetanic tension, the half-relaxation time of the isometric twitch and the fatigue resistance were each reduced. Treatment of the diabetic rats with the antihyperglycaemic agent metformin prevented the decrease in half-relaxation time and the greater degree of fatigue in the diaphragms. The possibility that changes in H+ and cyclic AMP concentrations in the diabetic muscles contributed to the decreased contractile function and that metformin acted by attenuating these changes is discussed.

Effect of temperature reduction on myotonia in rat skeletal muscles in vitro.

1. The objective of the study was to determine the effect of temperature reduction on the response of rat skeletal muscles to myotonia-inducing agents. 2.

The effect of tri-iodothyronine on the membrane potential and intracellular sodium and potassium activities of rat soleus and extensor digitorum longus muscles.

Tri-iodothyronine (T3) induces a considerable increase in the number of Na/K pump units in rat skeletal muscles, but this effect is more pronounced in red muscles, such as soleus, than in white muscles such as extensor digitorum longus (EDL). In the present study, the effect of T3 on the membrane potential (Em) and the intracellular activities of K+ and Na+ (aKi and aNai) in the two muscle types has been studied using microelectrodes. Hyperthyroidism was induced by seven subcutaneous injections of 50 micrograms T3 per 100 g body weight on alternate days.

Sequential chemotherapy and immunotherapy for the treatment of metastatic melanoma.

Interferon (IFN) has numerous biological properties, and more recently a new role for interferon has emerged, as a modulator of cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. This is based upon preclinical data that demonstrate additive and/or synergistic effects of IFN with a number of anticancer drugs including cisplatin against human cancer cell lines. Therefore, we evaluated the outpatient use of recombinant alpha 2a-interferon, 3-15 MU/m2 given on 3 consecutive days, subcutaneously, followed by intravenously administered cisplatin, 25-60 mg/m2, every 21 days.

Intracellular sodium and potassium activities of skeletal muscle fibres of hypothyroid rats.

In soleus muscle fibres of hypothyroid rats, the membrane potential (Vm) and the intracellular K+ activity (aKi) were significantly lower than in control muscles. These results are consistent with the well-documented decrease in the number of Na(+)-K+ pumps which occurs in hypothyroid muscles. aNai was unchanged in the hypothyroid muscles but this may reflect a change in passive Na+ fluxes which has been reported to occur in association with changes in the number of pump units.

The professional role for nurses in clinical trials.

This article has examined the role of the nurse in clinical trials, particularly the clinical, administrative, and research roles. Components of each role and characteristics essential for the implementation of each role have been examined. The nursing role in clinical trials research is undergoing major transformation from the perception of the nurse as a data collector for medical research to the recognition of the nurse as an essential member of the research team with a multifaceted role.

The intracellular concentration of free magnesium in extensor digitorum longus muscles of the rat.

Magnesium-sensitive microelectrodes were used to measure the intracellular concentration of free Mg2+, [Mg2+]f, in rat extensor digitorum longus muscles in vitro at 30 degrees C. The intracellular activities of Na+ and K+ were also determined so that allowance could be made for the interference from these ions with the Mg2+ electrode response. The mean value for [Mg2+]f based on twenty-six measurements in twelve muscles was 0.