[Prevention of acquired pneumonia during artificial ventilation (excluding the use of anti-infectious agents)].

Nosocomial pneumonia remains a serious complication which occurs in patients who are artificially ventilated; as neither frequency nor important sequelae have altered recently inspite of the progress which has been achieved both with diagnosis and treatment. Preventative measures ought to be developed and realistically assessed before their introduction. Today it is indispensable to measure the impact of these measures, whether they have been previously or recently proposed by therapeutic trials.

Evaluation by polymerase chain reaction of cytomegalovirus reactivation in intensive care patients under mechanical ventilation.

Objective: The study was undertaken to determine if critically ill patients under mechanical ventilation could reactivate latent cytomegalovirus (CMV) in either lung or blood.

Design: Prospective study in critically ill patients was performed in a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in a university hospital.

Patients: 23 non-immunocompromised, mechanically ventilated patients who were anti-CMV immunoglobulin G-positive.

Photoperiod duration and energy balance in the pigeon.

Energy balance, and daily rhythms in feeding activity, body temperature (Tb), metabolic rate (O2 consumption), and RQ (CO2/O2) that affect that balance, were studied in pigeons when the duration of the photophase gradually lengthened (LP group) or shortened (SP group) from an initial starting point at LD 12:12. The end point of change for the LP group was LD 21:3, and for the SP group was LD 3:21. Standard laboratory conditions were in effect (moderate ambient temperature; ad lib food and water).

Body fat reserves attenuate gastric ulcers induced by restricted feeding in rats.

The purpose of this experiment was to explicitly test the hypothesis that the depletion of fat reserves is a critical factor in the generation of ulcers in the glandular stomach. Fat reserves were systematically manipulated by using chow vs. high-fat diets and by using rats of different ages (3, 7, and 17 months).

Coupling between light- and food-entrainable circadian oscillators in pigeons.

Two experiments were conducted with a restricted feeding schedule to determine whether pigeons have a separate food-entrainable oscillator (FEO) and to assess the coupling strength between the FEO and the light-entrainable oscillator (LEO). In the baseline condition, the body temperature (Tb) and O2 consumption of two pigeons increased prior to light onset (LD 12:12 cycle) and food presentation (at the ninth hour of the light phase). In one experiment, when the LD cycle was phase delayed or advanced by 4 h while feeding time remained unchanged, the Tb and O2 rises prior to light-onset showed the expected delaying or advancing transients, but the rises prior to feeding also delayed or advanced for several days before returning to their proper phase position.

Activity-stress ulcers in rats: the role of preentrainment to meal time.

Rats housed in activity wheels (A-W) or hanging cages (H-C) received food restriction to 4 h/day for 15 days. Food was given at fixed times to entrain the feeding entrainable oscillator or at irregular times to prevent entrainment. One half of the rats received food in the light phase, the other half in the dark phase of the light-dark cycle.

Mortality attributable to nosocomial infections in the ICU.

Although a direct relationship between nosocomial infection and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients has not always been demonstrated formally, it is possible to conclude that nosocomial infections increase the risk of death in critically ill patients. A more precise analysis indicates that: 1) this effect is highly probable for pneumonia, doubtful for bacteremia, and uncertain for urinary tract infection; 2) risk increases with duration of stay in the ICU; 3) bacterial etiology modifies the risk; and 4) this effect is stronger in less severely ill patients, probably because the severity of underlying disease remains the most significant factor.

Evaluation of human cytomegalovirus latency in alveolar macrophages.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia is a major cause of illness in immunocompromised patients. The sites of human CMV (HCMV) latency are still not clearly defined. The present study was therefore designed to investigate the hypothesis that alveolar macrophages could constitute such a site.

Stress ulcers in rats: the role of food intake, body weight, and time of day.

Rats were housed in activity wheels (n = 32) or in hanging cages (n = 32) for 2 weeks. Food intake of rats in hanging cages was curtailed to match body weight to that of the activity group. All rats then received 6 g of food at one of four different times of day (n = 8, each mealtime) for 4 consecutive days and were sacrificed 24 h after the last meal.

Diet-induced obesity attenuates anticipation of food access in rats.

Rats were housed in hanging cages and given ad lib access to food (control), approximately 20 g food/day (lean), or a palatable high-fat diet (fat). After body weights diverged, rats were transferred to activity wheels. When food access was reduced to 2 h/day, all control and lean rats displayed anticipatory activity (AA), while only two of eight fat rats anticipated the meals.

Evidence for a separate food-entrainable circadian oscillator in the pigeon.

In Experiment 1, four pigeons lived in a metabolic chamber on a 12h:12h LD cycle where they maintained a reduced body weight by consuming a daily ration of food presented at the eighth hour of the photophase. Body temperature (Tb) and oxygen consumption (Vo2) increased prior to the daily feeding. The possibility that a food-entrainable oscillator timed these anticipatory responses was tested by four manipulations, conducted in successive phases, each of which involved eliminating the regularly scheduled food presentation, which is the putative entraining stimulus for such an oscillator, while the 12h:12h LD cycle remained in effect.

Resetting of a circadian clock by food pulses.

Rats with lesions of the suprachiasmatic nuclei were exposed to daily feeding until anticipatory activity (AA) developed. Meals were then phase advanced or delayed and presented for 1-4 consecutive days. The phase of the circadian pacemaker was assessed during probes of total food deprivation before or after 8 days of intervening ad lib feeding.

Resetting of a feeding-entrainable circadian clock in the rat.

Reentrainment of anticipatory activity (AA) after phase shifts of food access was studied in rats with lesions of the suprachiasmatic nuclei. Eight- or 10-h phase delays of feeding time resulted in delaying transients of AA. Twelve-h phase shifts and some 10-h phase advances resulted in rapid reentrainment (2-3 days) without visible transients.

[Morphological studies for the objective determination of a linear direct drill channel for standardized reconstruction or replacement of the anterior cruciate ligament].

In 30 definitive positioned, human, cadaver knee joints a single linear drill pass, in direction of the anterior cruciate ligament, suitable for reconstruction or replacement, was installed by the help of a drill guide through femur and tibia. Morphometric data of knee joints and drill passes underwent correlation- and regression analysis which showed, that the superficial drill holes in femur and tibia could be described by four functions to fix the course of a single linear drill pass individually.

[Expanded trans-pedicular spongiosa grafting--dorsal approach to filling of the intervertebral spaces with cancellous bone].

Internal fixation of dorsolumbar spinal fractures can be accomplished by dorsal plating or internal fixator. So far, the technique of transpedicular grafting has been applied to fill the vertebral body with cancellous bone. In this paper, we present a new technique of extended transpedicular bone grafting to fill the intervertebral space also.

Effects of vagotomy on entrainment of activity rhythms to food access.

Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy had little effect on anticipatory wheel running in rats maintained on 4 hr of food access per day. In ad lib conditions, sections of the anterior trunk of the vagus reduced total activity, but did not substantially affect its nocturnal distribution. During restricted feeding, rats with anterior trunk sections showed amounts of anticipatory wheel running comparable to controls, while vagotomized rats with suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) lesions showed a reduced amount of activity.

Nonsuture microsurgical vessel anastomosis using an absorbable cuff.

The nonabsorbable cuff used for nonsuture anastomosis can cause residual vessel stenosis as well as regional wall rigidity. Resulting disturbances in laminar flow promote the development of irregularities in the intimal endothelial vessel lining distal to the anastomosis. Using absorbable cuffs, the degree of stenosis can be appreciably reduced, thereby diminishing thrombogenic flow turbulence.

Entrainment of anticipatory activity to various durations of food access.

Rats with lesions of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) and intact rats were maintained on restricted feeding with the duration of food access ranging from 4 to 12 hr. All rats with SCN lesions displayed at least some anticipatory activity (AA) at all food access durations. The amount of AA diminished when food access was extended to 12 hr and was lowest in a group that was exposed only to a 10-hr access period.

Entrainment of activity to multiple feeding times in rats with suprachiasmatic lesions.

Entrainment of wheel running to two or three food access times per day was investigated in rats with SCN lesions. When two feeding times (1.5 hr each) were presented 8 hr apart, all rats entrained to both.

Forced dissociation of activity entrained to T cycles of food access in rats with suprachiasmatic lesions.

The ability of rats with suprachiasmatic lesions to entrain anticipatory wheel running to two food access times per day was investigated. In the presence of meal schedules with periods of 23.75 hr and 24 hr, two of seven rats entrained activity to both for many consecutive days, while other rats repeatedly shifted activity from one schedule to the other.

Entrainment of duodenal activity to periodic feeding.

The electrical activity of the antrum and proximal duodenum was recorded simultaneously with bar pressing for food in various feeding conditions. During restricted feeding (RF; food available from 1200 to 1600 hr; lights-on from 0800 to 2000 h), large-amplitude slow potentials of duodenal origin were observed 3-5 hr preceding food access. These potentials occurred in short trains at irregular intervals of approximately 1 min and appeared to be associated with the active phase of the migrating motility complex.

Coupling between feeding- and light-entrainable circadian pacemakers in the rat.

Activity of the rat can be entrained to LD cycles (light-entrainable rhythm = LER) and to periodic food access (feeding-entrainable rhythm = FER) and these responses appear to be mediated by separate circadian pacemaking systems. The purpose of this study was to explore interactions between these systems. In Experiment I, after entrainment of activity to a LD cycle and to restricted feeding, the LD cycle was phase delayed by 4 hr and rats were food deprived for 3 days.