[Competence Network Stroke. A successful model for stroke research].

In 1999 the German Ministry of Education and Research initiated a funding initiative for competence networks in health research in order to improve research and health care for major diseases with high morbidity and relevance to public health. All major players in a given field were invited to cooperate. The aims were to improve horizontal as well as vertical networking in order to improve research quality and the transfer of new results into general clinical practice.

Exogenous surfactant reduces ventilator-induced decompartmentalization of tumor necrosis factor alpha in absence of positive end-expiratory pressure.

Objective: To determine the effect of pretreatment with exogenous surfactant on ventilator-induced decompartmentalization of TNF-alpha.

Design And Setting: Prospective, randomized, animal study in the experimental laboratory of a university.

Subjects And Interventions: Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=102) received lipopolysaccharide either intratracheally or intraperitoneally to stimulate TNF-alpha production; one-half of the animals were pretreated with surfactant.