ChatGPT as an item calibration tool: Psychometric insights in a high-stakes examination.

Introduction: ChatGPT has attracted a lot of interest worldwide for its versatility in a range of natural language tasks, including in the education and evaluation industry. It can automate time- and labor-intensive tasks with clear economic and efficiency gains.

Methods: This study evaluated the potential of ChatGPT to automate psychometric analysis of test questions from the 2020 Portuguese National Residency Selection Exam (PNA).

Minilaparoscopic Versus Conventional Laparoscopic Sacrocolpopexy: A Comparative Study.

Introduction And Aims: We aim to compare clinical and surgical outcomes between minilaparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (MLSC) and conventional laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC). As far as we know, no comparative study exists between these two minimal invasive procedures to correct vaginal prolapse.

Design And Setting: An observational and comparative study with 20 individuals submitted to vaginal vault prolapse correction between June and December of 2014 in our tertiary referral unit.

Minilaparoscopic sacrocolpopexy for vaginal prolapse after hysterectomy.

Genital prolapse repair is one of the most common indications for benign gynecologic surgery. The lifetime risk of undergoing a single operation for prolapse in the female population is rising. Many different surgical techniques have been described.

Effect of food on the pharmacokinetic profile of eslicarbazepine acetate (BIA 2-093).

Objective: To investigate the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of eslicarbazepine acetate (BIA 2-093), a new voltage-gated sodium channel antagonist.

Material And Methods: Single-centre, open-label, randomised, two-way crossover study in 12 healthy subjects. The study consisted of two consecutive treatment periods separated by a washout of 14 days or more.

Functional evidence that in the cardiovascular system AT1 angiotensin II receptors are AT1B prejunctionally and AT1A postjunctionally.

Numerous studies have shown that angiotensin II causes vasoconstriction both by a direct action on smooth muscle cells (postjunctional effect) and indirectly through the facilitation of noradrenaline release from postganglionic sympathetic neurons (prejunctional effect). The receptors through which angiotensin II exerts its actions were first divided into AT1 and AT2 subtypes. A further subdivision of AT1 receptors into AT1A and AT1B subtypes was based on cloning and receptor binding studies: AT1A showed a high affinity for losartan, but low affinity for PD123319, while AT1B receptors showed nearly 100-fold lower affinity for losartan and 10,000-fold higher affinity for PD123319 relative to AT1 sites.

Decreased tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the adrenals of spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Higher activity of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system, accompanied by higher tyrosine hydroxylase activity is frequently and consistently reported in human essential hypertension as well as in animal models of hypertension. However, results obtained in the adrenals, particularly in young animals before the development of hypertension, are scarce and controversial. In the present study tyrosine hydroxylase activity and catecholamine content in the adrenals of spontaneously hypertensive rats and of age-matched control Wistar Kyoto rats were evaluated before, during and after the development of hypertension (5, 12 and 22-week-old animals).

A pharmacological differentiation between postjunctional (AT1A) and prejunctional (AT1B) angiotensin II receptors in the rabbit aorta.

The effects of angiotensin II and angiotensin III were compared at prejunctional and postjunctional AT(1) receptors of the rabbit thoracic aorta. Furthermore, the influence of PD123319, losartan and eprosartan on these effects was also compared. To study prejunctional effects, the tissues were preincubated with ((3)H)-noradrenaline, superfused and electrically stimulated (1 Hz, 2 ms, 50 mA, 5 min).

Influence of alpha2-autoreceptor stimulation on the facilitation by angiotensin II and bradykinin of noradrenaline release.

The interaction between alpha(2)-autoreceptors and receptors for angiotensin II and bradykinin was studied in the heart of newborn rats. The tissues were labeled with [3H] noradrenaline and then superfused with cocaine-containing medium and stimulated electrically. Angiotensin II (30-1,000 nM) and bradykinin (10-300 nM) enhanced the evoked overflow of tritium, the maximum increase reaching 52.

Hypertension due to blockade of adenosine receptors.

Chronic treatment of rats with 90 microg/kg/day DPSPX (1,3-dipropyl-8-sulphophenylxanthine) during seven days leads to a hypertensive state which is characterized by marked morphological changes of the blood vessel walls as well as by important functional alterations. While the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril and the antagonist of angiotensin II AT 1 receptors losartan prevent the development of both hypertension and morphological changes, the selective beta1-adrenoceptor antagonist atenolol could prevent only the increase in blood pressure. It is concluded that at least two factors are involved in the development of the hypertensive state.

Crosstalk between presynaptic angiotensin receptors, bradykinin receptors and alpha 2-autoreceptors in sympathetic neurons: a study in alpha 2-adrenoceptor-deficient mice.

1. In mouse atria, angiotensin II and bradykinin lose much or all of their noradrenaline release-enhancing effect when presynaptic alpha(2)-autoinhibition does not operate either because of stimulation with very brief pulse trains or because of treatment with alpha(2) antagonists. We now studied this operational condition in alpha(2)-adrenoceptor-deficient mice.

Familial ATTR amyloidosis: microalbuminuria as a predictor of symptomatic disease and clinical nephropathy.

Background: Portuguese type familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP) is a neuropathic amyloidosis caused by a mutant transthyretin (TTR). Varying degrees of renal involvement have been reported. Our aim was to assess the value of microalbuminuria (MA) for predicting clinical neurological disease and overt nephropathy in TTR-related amyloidosis.

The role of angiotensin II in hypertension due to adenosine receptors blockade.

The renin-angiotensin system may be involved in hypertension induced by adenosine receptors blockade with 1,3-dipropyl-8-sulfophenylxanthine (DPSPX). Contractions of the mesenteric vasculature to angiotensin II, noradrenaline and potassium chloride were studied in DPSPX-induced hypertension. Male Wistar rats received infusions of saline or DPSPX (90 microg kg(-1) h(-1), i.

Peritoneal rest may successfully recover ultrafiltration in patients who develop peritoneal hyperpermeability with time on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis.

Temporary transfer to hemodialysis, as a peritoneal rest, may be a rescue therapy to recover ultrafiltration (UF) in patients who develop peritoneal hyperpermeability as a complication of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). However, peritoneal sclerosis has been reported after peritoneal pause. Since the beginning of our CAPD program in 1985, 12 elective peritoneal pauses have been performed in 11 patients who developed type I ultrafiltration failure (D/P240 creatinine: 0.

Interaction between alpha2-autoreceptors and receptors mediating the effects of angiotensin II and bradykinin in the heart of newborn rats.

The interaction between alpha2-autoreceptors and receptors for angiotensin II and bradykinin was studied in the heart of newborn rats. The tissues were labelled with [3H]noradrenaline and then superfused with cocaine-containing medium and stimulated electrically. Angiotensin II (10-300 nM) and bradykinin (3-100 nM) enhanced the evoked overflow of tritium, the maximum increase reaching 63.