Risk of Obesity Among Children Aged 2-6 Years Who Had Prolonged Screen Time in Taiwan: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of obesity in preschool children with prolonged screen time in Taiwan.

Methods: Using a nationwide survey with random sampling, we collected information on 8378 preschool children aged 2-6 years among 206 preschools in Taiwan from 2016 to 2019. Socioeconomic data, body mass index, and lifestyle of the preschool children and their caregivers were compared among the groups of preschool children who had moderate and prolonged daily screen time.

Embolic occlusion of internal carotid artery in conscious rats: Immediate effects of cerebral ischemia.

In most preclinical models of focal ischemic stroke, vascular occlusion is performed under general anesthesia. However, anesthetic agents exert confounding effects on mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), cerebrovascular tone, oxygen demand, and neurotransmitter receptor transduction. Moreover, the majority of studies do not use a blood clot, which more fully models embolic stroke.

Brain water as a function of age and weight in normal rats.

Rats are frequently used for studying water content of normal and injured brain, as well as changes in response to various osmotherapeutic regimens. Magnetic resonance imaging in humans has shown that brain water content declines with age as a result of progressive myelination and other processes. The purpose of this study was to quantify changes in brain water content during rat development and aging.

Effects of Volume Replacement for Urinary Losses from Mannitol Diuresis on Brain Water in Normal Rats.

Background/objective: It is frequently recommended that urine output following perioperative mannitol administration be replaced 1:1 with an isotonic crystalloid solution. It is possible that this strategy could increase brain water by reducing the serum osmolality achieved with prior mannitol administration. Therefore, brain water content of rats treated with mannitol alone or mannitol plus normal saline (NS) was studied over a range of urinary replacement ratios.

A novel atherothrombotic model of ischemic stroke induced by injection of collagen into the cerebral vasculature.

Background: Most ischemic strokes in humans are caused by ruptured arterial atheroma, which activate platelets and produce thrombi that occlude cerebral vessels.

Methods: To simulate these events, we threaded a catheter through the internal carotid artery toward the middle cerebral artery (MCA) orifice and injected collagen directly into the cerebral circulation of male C57Bl/6 mice and Wistar rats.

Results: Laser-Doppler flowmetry demonstrated reductions in cerebral blood flow (CBF) of ∼80% in mice and ∼60% in rats.

Comparison of equivolume, equiosmolar solutions of mannitol and hypertonic saline with or without furosemide on brain water content in normal rats.

Background: Mannitol and hypertonic saline (HS) are used by clinicians to reduce brain water and intracranial pressure and have been evaluated in a variety of experimental and clinical protocols. Administering equivolume, equiosmolar solutions in healthy animals could help produce fundamental data on water translocation in uninjured tissue. Furthermore, the role of furosemide as an adjunct to osmotherapy remains unclear.

Infarct volume after hyperacute infusion of hypertonic saline in a rat model of acute embolic stroke.

Introduction: Hypertonic saline (HS) can treat cerebral edema arising from a number of pathologic conditions. However, physicians are reluctant to use it during the first 24 h after stroke because of experimental evidence that it increases infarct volume when administered early after reperfusion. Here, we determined the effect of HS on infarct size in an embolic clot model without planned reperfusion.

Apparatus and simple method of monitoring neuromuscular function.

The use of muscle relaxant is an integral part of anesthetic management in present-day practice. Clinically, the neuromuscular blockade is evaluated by determining the thumb twitching to train-of-four (TOF) ulnar nerve stimulation at elbow.(1-3) There are many ways for the assessment of twitch response, such as the use of electromyography(4,5); force displacement transducer techniques(2,6-9); and most recently, the acceleration transducer-based system of neuromuscular monitoring.

Age-dependent effects of testosterone in experimental stroke.

Although male sex is a well-recognized risk factor for stroke, the role of androgens in cerebral ischemia remains unclear. Therefore, we evaluated effects of testosterone on infarct size in both young adult and middle-aged rats (Wistar, 3-month versus 14-month old) and mice (C57/BL6, 3-month versus 12-month old) subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion. In young adult groups, castrates displayed less ischemic damage as compared with intact males and castrates with testosterone replacement (Cortex: 24% in castrates versus 42% in intact versus 40% with testosterone; Striatum: 45% versus 73% versus 70%) at 22 h reperfusion.

Effect of hypertonic saline concentration on cerebral and visceral organ water in an uninjured rodent model.

Objective: Hypertonic saline has been shown to be an effective osmotic agent to reduce brain water and hence brain volume and intracranial pressure. A direct correlation between dose and effect has been demonstrated, but no studies have compared the effects of different concentrations of the same osmotic load of hypertonic saline over time. We compared the effects of different tonicity of infused hypertonic saline on cerebral, lung, and small bowel water extraction over time under controlled conditions.

Hypertonic saline: first-line therapy for cerebral edema?

This article highlights the experimental and clinical data, controversies and postulated mechanisms surrounding osmotherapy with hypertonic saline (HS) solutions in the neurocritical care arena and builds on previous reviews on the subject. Special attention is focused on HS therapy on commonly encountered clinical paradigms of acute brain injury including traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-operative "retraction edema", intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), tumor-associated cerebral edema, and ischemia associated with ischemic stroke.

Osmotherapy with hypertonic saline attenuates water content in brain and extracerebral organs.

Objective: Because of their beneficial effects in patients with hemorrhagic shock and multiple-system trauma, hypertonic saline solutions are increasingly being used perioperatively for volume resuscitation. Although the anti-edema effects of hypertonic saline on brain are well documented in a variety of brain injury paradigms, its effects on the water content on other organs has not been studied rigorously. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a) hypertonic saline when given as an intravenous bolus and continuous infusion attenuates water content of small bowel, lung, and brain in rats without neuro-injury; and b) attenuation of stroke-associated increases in lung water is dependent on achieving a target serum osmolality.

Diagnosis and treatment of vascular air embolism.

Vascular air embolism is a potentially life-threatening event that is now encountered routinely in the operating room and other patient care areas. The circumstances under which physicians and nurses may encounter air embolism are no longer limited to neurosurgical procedures conducted in the "sitting position" and occur in such diverse areas as the interventional radiology suite or laparoscopic surgical center. Advances in monitoring devices coupled with an understanding of the pathophysiology of vascular air embolism will enable the physician to successfully manage these potentially challenging clinical scenarios.

Adjuvant bupivacaine scalp block facilitates stabilization of hemodynamics in patients undergoing craniotomy with general anesthesia: a preliminary report.

Study Objective: To evaluate the effect of 0.25% bupivacaine scalp block on alterations in hemodynamics and plasma catecholamine metabolites during general anesthesia in patients undergoing frontotemporal craniotomy.

Design: Prospective, clinical study.

Plasma arginine-vasopressin following experimental stroke: effect of osmotherapy.

Neurohumoral responses have been implicated in the pathogenesis of ischemia-evoked cerebral edema. In a well-characterized animal model of ischemic stroke, the present study was undertaken to 1) study the profile of plasma arginine-vasopressin (AVP), and 2) determine whether osmotherapy with mannitol and various concentrations of hypertonic saline (HS) solutions influence plasma AVP levels. Halothane-anesthetized adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion with the intraluminal filament technique.

Effect of duration of osmotherapy on blood-brain barrier disruption and regional cerebral edema after experimental stroke.

Osmotherapy is the cornerstone of medical management for cerebral edema associated with large ischemic strokes. We determined the effect of duration of graded increases in serum osmolality with mannitol and hypertonic saline (HS) on blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption and regional cerebral edema in a well-characterized rat model of large ischemic stroke. Halothane-anesthetized adult male Wistar rats were subjected to transient (2-h) middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) by the intraluminal occlusion technique.

Ischemic neuroprotection with selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist is gender specific.

Background And Purpose: We demonstrated previously that treatment with selective kappa-opioid receptor (KOR) agonist BRL 52537 hydrochloride [(+/-)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl) acetyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl) methylpiperidine] (1) has a long therapeutic window for providing ischemic neuroprotection, and (2) attenuates ischemia-evoked NO production in vivo in rats. Neuronally derived NO has been shown to be deleterious in the male but not in the female rodent model of focal ischemic stroke. We tested the hypothesis that BRL provides significant neuroprotection from transient focal ischemia in male but not in female rats.

Increases in lung and brain water following experimental stroke: effect of mannitol and hypertonic saline.

Objective: Pulmonary edema is a serious condition following brain injury of diverse etiologies, including large hemispheric infarctions. We have previously shown that treatment with hypertonic saline attenuates cerebral edema associated with experimental ischemic stroke. In a well-characterized animal model of large ischemic stroke, we tested the hypotheses that lung water increases following cerebral ischemia and determined the effects of osmotherapy with hypertonic saline and mannitol on total lung water, as well as on cerebral edema.

Effects of combined estrogen and progesterone on brain infarction in reproductively senescent female rats.

Recent data from the Women's Health Initiative have highlighted many fundamental issues about the utility and safety of long-term estrogen use in women. Current hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women incorporates progestin with estrogen, but it is uncertain if combined therapy provides major cerebrovascular risks or benefits to these women. No experimental animal stroke studies have examined combined hormone administration.

Experimental spinal cord ischemia: model characterization and improved outcome with arterial hypertension.

Objective: Paraplegia from spinal cord ischemia is a devastating complication of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair. Perioperative hypoperfusion of the spinal cord is a critical determinant of residual neurologic deficits. We determined if functional and histologic outcome is dependent on systemic blood pressure in a rat model of spinal cord ischemia.

Prolonged opportunity for ischemic neuroprotection with selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist in rats.

Background And Purpose: We have previously demonstrated that pretreatment with selective kappa-opioid agonist BRL 52537 hydrochloride [(+/-)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl) acetyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl) methylpiperidine], provides ischemic neuroprotection following transient focal ischemia in rats. The present study was undertaken to a) define "therapeutic opportunity" for ischemic neuroprotection with BRL 52537, and b) determine if BRL 52537 attenuates ischemia-evoked efflux of dopamine and its metabolites in the striatum in vivo following transient focal ischemia.

Methods: Using the intraluminal filament technique, halothane-anesthetized male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).

Kappa-opioid receptor selectivity for ischemic neuroprotection with BRL 52537 in rats.

Unlabelled: Kappa-opioid receptors (KOR) have been implicated in neuroprotection from ischemic neuronal injury, but less work has been performed with transient focal cerebral ischemia to determine the role of KOR during reperfusion. We tested the effects of a selective and specific KOR agonist, BRL 52537 hydrochloride [(+/-)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)acetyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)methylpiperidine], and the standard KOR antagonist, nor-binaltorphimine dihydrochloride [nor-BNI; 17,17'-(dicyclopropylmethyl)-6,6',7,7'-6,6'-imino-7,7'-binorphinan-3,4',14,14'-tetrol], on functional and histological outcome after transient focal ischemia in the rat. By use of the intraluminal filament technique, halothane-anesthetized adult male Wistar rats were subjected to 2 h of middle cerebral artery occlusion confirmed by laser Doppler flowmetry.

Neuroprotective kappa-opioid receptor agonist BRL 52537 attenuates ischemia-evoked nitric oxide production in vivo in rats.

Background And Purpose: Kappa-opioid receptors (KOR) have been implicated in neuroprotection from ischemic neuronal injury. We tested the effects of a selective and specific KOR agonist, BRL 52537 hydrochloride [(+/-)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)acetyl-2-(1-pyrrolidinyl) methylpiperidine], on infarct volume and nitric oxide production after transient focal ischemia in the rat.

Methods: With the use of the intraluminal filament technique, halothane-anesthetized male Wistar rats (weight, 250 to 300 g) were subjected to 2 hours of focal cerebral ischemia confirmed by Doppler flowmetry.

Hypertonic saline ameliorates cerebral edema associated with experimental brain tumor.

Cerebral edema commonly accompanies brain tumors and frequently leads to lethal intracranial compartmental shifts and elevated intracranial pressure. Therapeutic modalities for tumor-associated cerebral edema include diuretics, osmotherapy, and corticosteroids. Recently, hypertonic saline (HS) has received attention as an osmotic agent in the treatment of cerebral edema from diverse causes.

Global brain water increases after experimental focal cerebral ischemia: effect of hypertonic saline.

Objective: Isolated experiments suggest that global cerebral edema is a sequela of large hemispheric ischemic lesions, presumably as an extension of the initial ischemic insult into areas of vital, noninjured tissue. Diuretics and osmotic agents are controversial and poorly defined therapeutic modalities after large infarction. By using a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), we tested the hypothesis that significant edema occurs in the contralateral uninjured hemisphere and that this postischemic complication can be manipulated by hypertonic saline therapy.