Specific recommendations (or lack thereof) for older patients with cardiovascular disease in the current European Society of Cardiology guidelines : From the Dutch Working Group of Geriatric Cardiology of the Netherlands Society of Cardiology (NVVC) and Special Interest Group Geriatric Cardiology of the Netherlands Society for Clinical Geriatrics (NVKG).

Due to population ageing, the number of older and frail patients with cardiovascular disease is increasing. In the current guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology specific recommendations for this older population are missing or scarce, probably due to limited evidence concerning diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in older patients. Moreover, recommendations on shared decision making, palliative care and advanced care planning are also essential in these guidelines.

Awareness of, opinions about, and adherence to evidence-based guidelines in otorhinolaryngology.

Background: Guidelines may assist physicians and patients in decisions about effective and safe care. Little is known about the awareness of, opinions about, and adherence to evidence-based guidelines in otolaryngology.

Methods: We performed a survey among 440 otorhinolaryngologists of the Dutch Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Polymer vesicles as robust scaffolds for the directed assembly of highly crystalline nanocrystals.

We report the incorporation of various inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) (PbS, LaOF, LaF(3), and TiO(2), each capped by oleic acid, and CdSe/ZnS core/shell QDs capped by trioctylphosphine oxide) into vesicles (d = 70-150 nm) formed by a sample of poly(styrene-b-acrylic acid) (PS(404)-b-PAA(62), where the subscripts refer to the degree of polymerization) in mixtures of tetrahydrofuran (THF), dioxane, and water. The block copolymer formed mixtures of crew-cut micelles and vesicles with some enhancement of the vesicle population when the NPs were present. The vesicle fraction could be isolated by selective sedimentation via centrifugation, followed by redispersion in water.

Overcoming kinetic limitations of electron injection in the dye solar cell via coadsorption and FRET.

A new, extremely simple concept for the use of energy transfer as a means to the enhancement of light absorption and current generation in the dye solar cell (DSC) is presented. This model study is based upon a carboxy-functionalized 4-aminonaphthalimide dye (carboxy-fluorol) as donor, and (NBu4)2[Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2] (N719) as acceptor chromophores. A set of three different devices is assembled containing either exclusively carboxy-fluorol or N719, or a mixture of both.

Aescin and troxerutin as a successful combination for the treatment of inner ear perfusion disturbances.

A fixed combination of aescin and troxerutin has been developed for treating inner ear perfusion problems of different aetiology. The efficacy of this combination is tested versus pentoxyfyllin in a randomized clinical study as group comparison with 34 patients for each group. The improvement of hearing after 40-44 days of treatment is determined as end point of treatment.

A dyadic sensitizer for dye solar cells with high energy-transfer efficiency in the device.

A new bichromophoric dyad based on an alkyl-functionalized aminonaphthalimide as energy-donor chromophore and [Ru(dcbpy)2(acac)]Cl (dcbpy=4,4'-dicarboxybipyridine, acac=acetylacetonato) as energy acceptor and sensitizing chromophore is synthesized. Efficient quenching of the donor-chromophore emission is observed in solution, presumably due to resonant energy transfer. This dyad is then used as a sensitizer in a dye solar cell.

Glycine affects valproate hepatotoxicity.

Valproate is a widely used anticonvulsant drug. Valproate is linked to hepatotoxicity which is rare but potentially lethal. The pathomechanism is not yet completely understood.

Troxerutin protects the isolated perfused rat liver from a possible lipid peroxidation by coumarin.

For more than 40 years coumarin has been successfully used in the therapy of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). The occurrence of liver injuries is rather rare and happens predominantly when doses are administered which are significantly higher than necessary for therapeutical use. Such effects caused by high coumarin concentrations are reproducible in in vivo experiments in mice or rats and HepG2-cells.

Self-assembled monolayers of dendritic polyglycerol derivatives on gold that resist the adsorption of proteins.

Highly protein-resistant, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of dendritic polyglycerols (PGs) on gold can easily be obtained by simple chemical modification of these readily available polymers with a surface-active disulfide linker group. Several disulfide-functionalized PGs were synthesized by N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-mediated ester coupling of thioctic acid. Monolayers of the disulfide-functionalized PG derivatives spontaneously form on a semitransparent gold surface and effectively prevent the adsorption of proteins, as demonstrated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) kinetic measurements.

Toxicity of kava pyrones, drug safety and precautions--a case study.

Kava pyrones have been sold in Germany as OTC anxiolytics until June 2002, when all preparations with a kava pyrone content of more than 10(-4) of a homeopathic stock solution were withdrawn. Other countries in which kava pyrones have been used as anxiolytics, namely GB and the USA, have not followed suit. Kava pyrone anxiolytics have been positively reviewed by the Cochrane Collaboration; also newer German clinical studies have indicated pharmacological anxiolysis at the recommended doses.

Bacterial deconjugation of arbutin by Escherichia coli.

Unlabelled: Cystinol akut containing arbutin was developed as an antiseptic since it liberates hydroquinone in the urine. The in vivo release of hydroquinone from arbutin with or without addition of glusulase or an E. coli suspension was investigated in 4 volunteers.

[Immunomodulation by herbal agents. A double-blind study in a medical university hospital involving a hepatitis B vaccine adjuvant model].

Aims: Using the hepatitis B vaccination as a model, to investigate the extent to which the herbal immunomodulator, Esberitox N, supports seroconversion.

Method: 346 medical students participated in the placebo-controlled, randomized double-blind study. They took 3 x 2 tablets of the test substances daily, beginning 3 days prior to the injection and ending two weeks after it.

In vitro evaluation of the cytotoxic potential of alkylphenols from Ginkgo biloba L.

Extracts from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba L. belong to the most widely used phytopharmaceuticals. In crude Ginkgo extracts, ginkgolic acids (GA) and related alkylphenols (e.

Influence of curcumin on cyclosporin-induced reduction of biliary bilirubin and cholesterol excretion and on biliary excretion of cyclosporin and its metabolites.

We investigated the ability of curcumin, which can be extracted from different Curcuma species, to prevent cyclosporin-induced reduction of biliary bilirubin and cholesterol excretion, and its influence on biliary excretion of cyclosporin (CS) and its metabolites in the bile fistula model in rats. I.v.

Choleretic effects of curcuminoids on an acute cyclosporin-induced cholestasis in the rat.

Former studies have shown that curcumin, which can be extracted from different Curcuma species, is able to stimulate bile flow in rats, whereas bisdemethoxycurcumin, which is mainly found in rhizomes of Curcuma longa, is believed to inhibit bile flow. To reevaluate this observation we investigated the influence of both curcuminoids on bile flow, bile acid concentration and excretion over a time period of 180 min in the bile fistula model in rats. Furthermore, we tested the ability of both curcuminoids to reduce cyclosporin-induced cholestasis.

Does cimetidine improve prospects for cancer patients?. A reappraisal of the evidence to date.

Background: Evidence first appeared in 1988 that cimetidine as an adjuvant may improve the survival of severely ill gastro-intestinal cancer patients when given peri- or postoperatively. Since then, several studies have appeared which suggest an anticancer activity for cimetidine, although few attempts have been made to corroborate their findings in large, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies.

Method: We reviewed the literature concerning cimetidine's potential anticancer activity, particularly with regard to gastro-intestinal cancers.

The toxic and metabolic effects of 23 aliphatic alcohols in the isolated perfused rat liver.

We investigated the acute toxic and metabolic effects of 23-aliphatic alcohols (16 saturated and 7 unsaturated) in the isolated perfused rat liver at a concentration of 65.1 mmol/l (approximately 0.3% ethanol).

Effects of garlic preparations on superoxide production by phorbol ester activated granulocytes.

Sulfur containing constituents of garlic are considered responsible for conveying the antioxidative properties of garlic preparations. The radical scavenging properties of garlic preparations against oxygen radicals, specifically their ability to inhibit the formation of superoxide anions, were investigated using human granulocytes activated with 10 nM phorbol myristyl acetate (PMA). A garlic powder preparation inhibited the production of superoxide with a calculated IC50 of 390 micrograms/ml.

The effects of garlic preparations against human tumor cell proliferation.

Epidemiological studies in China provide reason to suspect that a rich garlic content in the diet might reduce the proliferation of tumors in humans. We conducted experiments on human tumor cell lines and determined the influence of a garlic powder preparation, a garlic extract (reported as 8-10% L(+)-alliin enriched), and a combination thereof, on cellular proliferation in cell cultures, employing the widely used indirect neutral red procedure. Garlic powder failed to inhibit the growth of human hepatoma HepG2 or human colorectal carcinoma Caco2 cells at concentrations of up to 1000 micrograms/ml.

Influence of glycine on the damage induced in isolated perfused rat liver by five hepatotoxic agents.

Livers of fasted rats were perfused over 120 min in a recirculating hemoglobin-free system. Hepatotoxic injury induced by the addition of 1-butanol (130.2 mmol/l), CdCl2 (0.