Processes that occur before second cleavage determine third cleavage orientation in Xenopus.

As in many organisms, the first three cleavage planes of Xenopus laevis eggs form in a well-described mutually orthogonal geometry. The factors dictating this simple pattern have not been unambiguously identified. Here, we describe experiments, using static magnetic fields as a novel approach to perturb normal cleavage geometry, that provide new insight into these factors.

Presence of polyclonal Pseudomonas aeruginosa in an intensive care unit: a 27-month prospective study on molecular epidemiology.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated in 22.2% of 305 intensive care unit environmental cultures. A high genetic heterogeneity (18 pulsotypes) was evident.

[Risk and prognostic factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia in critically ill patients].

Background: To determine risk and prognostic factors in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in which an episode of bacteremia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been diagnosed.

Patients And Method: Cohort, observational, prospective, multicenter study. Patients admitted to 30 ICUs in Spain in whom one or more pathogens were isolated from blood cultures were included.

Initial risk class and length of hospital stay in community-acquired pneumonia.

The total medical costs of community-acquired pneumonia are directly related to the costs of hospital admission and length of stay. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the reasons for prolonged duration of stay in patients stratified in five risk classes for death, and to identify factors associated with prolonged stay. The study population consisted of 295 patients.

Studies on pharmaceutical ethnobotany in the region of Pallars (Pyrenees, Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula). Part I. General results and new or very rare medicinal plants.

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the region called Pallars--constituted by two districts, Pallars Sobirà and Pallars Jussà--situated in the Central Pyrenees, in North West Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula), with an approximate area of 2530 km(2) and a population of 19000. We obtained data on 437 plant species used for health care through interviews with 264 people. We detected 867 unreported or uncommon uses corresponding to 272 plant species, 52 of which had never or very rarely been cited as medicinal.

Genome size in 21 Artemisia L. species (Asteraceae, Anthemideae): systematic, evolutionary, and ecological implications.

Genome size was estimated by flow cytometry in 24 populations belonging to 22 Artemisia taxa (21 species, 1 with two subspecies), which represent the distinct subgenera, life forms, basic chromosome numbers, and ploidy levels in the genus. 2C nuclear DNA content values range from 3.5 to 25.

Participation of tyrosine phosphorylation in cytoskeletal reorganization, alpha(IIb)beta(3) integrin receptor activation, and aspirin-insensitive mechanisms of thrombin-stimulated human platelets.

Background: Fibrinogen binding to the active conformation of the alpha(IIb)beta(3) integrin receptor (glycoprotein IIb/IIIa) and cytoskeletal reorganization are important events in platelet function. Tyrosine phosphorylation of platelet proteins plays an essential role in platelet signal transduction pathways. We studied the participation of tyrosine kinases on these aspects of platelet reactivity and their importance in cyclooxygenase (COX)-1-independent mechanisms in thrombin-stimulated human platelets.

Evaluation of outcome of intravenous catheter-related infections in critically ill patients.

Fifty-seven patients developed an episode of catheter-related infection (CRI) in the bloodstream during their stay in the intensive care unit (cases) and were prospectively observed to establish the attributable mortality, increase in length of stay, and excess costs. Costs were estimated by multiplying the number of excess days of stay by the reimbursement provided. The outcomes for these cases were compared with those for matched control subjects without CRI.

Studies on pharmaceutical ethnobotany in the regions of L'Alt Empordà and Les Guilleries (Catalonia, Iberian Peninsula).

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in two regions (L'Alt Emporda and Les Guilleries), situated in North East Catalonia (Iberian Peninsula), with an approximate area of 800 km2 and a population of 68000. Through interviews with 73 people, data was obtained on the medicinal uses of 220 species. The most important findings are presented here concerning the ethnopharmacology of those areas.

Pharmacokinetics of the somatostatin analog lanreotide in patients with severe chronic renal insufficiency.

Objective: To characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of the somatostatin analog lanreotide in patients with severe chronic renal insufficiency.

Methods: Lanreotide was administered by intravenous bolus (7 microg/kg) to 12 patients with severe chronic renal insufficiency and to 12 healthy subjects. Lanreotide serum levels were determined by a radioimmunoassay procedure from time 0 until 24 hours after the administration.

Risk factors for developing pneumonia within 48 hours of intubation.

Two hundred fifty intubated patients were followed during the first 48 h after intubation in order to identify potential risk factors for developing pneumonia within this period. Thirty-two developed pneumonia during this time. Univariate analysis established that large volume aspiration, presence of sedation, intubation caused by respiratory/cardiac arrest or decrease in the level of consciousness, emergency procedure, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and Glasgow coma score < 9 were significantly associated with pneumonia.

Cleavage planes in frog eggs are altered by strong magnetic fields.

Early cleavages of Xenopus embryos were oriented in strong, static magnetic fields. Third-cleavage planes, normally horizontal, were seen to orient to a vertical plane parallel with a vertical magnetic field. Second cleavages, normally vertical, could also be oriented by applying a horizontal magnetic field.

Mortality as an outcome in hospital-acquired pneumonia.

The most common route of entry of pathogens into the lung in patients managed in the intensive-care unit is aspiration of contaminated oropharyngeal secretions or gastric contents. In intubated patients, the risk of this type of infection is particularly high. Knowledge of specific risk factors for specific microorganisms, along with the origin of acquisition (primary endogenous, secondary endogenous, or exogenous), will permit a more rational and effective method of prevention.

The role of Candida sp isolated from bronchoscopic samples in nonneutropenic patients.

Study Objectives: To determine the clinical significance of Candida sp isolated from bronchoscopic samples in patients with suspected pneumonia.

Design: A retrospective chart review was performed in all nonneutropenic adult patients with Candida sp isolates from respiratory secretions obtained by bronchoscopy over a 5-year period (1991 to 1995). Potential risk factors, therapeutic decisions, and outcome were recorded.

Recurrent hydrochlorothiazide-induced pulmonary edema.

Hydrochlorothiazide-induced pulmonary edema is an unusual but life-threatening adverse reaction. It causes hypoxemia, hypotension, tachycardia, fever, and occasionally electrocardiographic and echocardiographic abnormalities. The mechanism of production is, probably, idiosyncratic.

Pharmacy savings generated by preoperative administration of clonidine.

Study Objective: To evaluate the effects of the preoperative administration of clonidine by the oral, intramuscular (i.m.), or epidural routes, on isoflurane expense during total abdominal hysterectomy.

Recurrent Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in ventilated patients: relapse or reinfection?

A prospective observational study was performed to determine whether recurrent episodes of pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in ventilated patients were due to a relapse of the previous clone or to reinfection with a new one. Diagnosis was based on quantitative cultures of secretions obtained by bronchoscopy. Comparison of strains was made by chromosomal fingerprinting based on pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).

Erythrocyte promotion of platelet reactivity decreases the effectiveness of aspirin as an antithrombotic therapeutic modality: the effect of low-dose aspirin is less than optimal in patients with vascular disease due to prothrombotic effects of erythrocytes on platelet reactivity.

Background: Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, ASA) is widely used for secondary prevention of ischemic vascular events, although its protection only occurs in 25% of patients. We previously demonstrated that platelet reactivity is enhanced by a prothrombotic effect of erythrocytes in a thromboxane-independent manner. This diminishes the antithrombotic therapeutic potential of ASA.

[Bacteremias in intensive care].

Critical patients are exposed to monitorization and treatment systems which, in addition to the defense mechanism alterations which accompany their basic disease, favor their acquisition of nosocomial infections. Bacteremia's, along with respiratory infections, are the main nosocomial infections seen in Intensive Care Units (ICU's). Between 20 and 30% of the nosocomial bacteremia's occur in ICU's, which represents an incidence rate which varies from 2.

Survival in patients with nosocomial pneumonia: impact of the severity of illness and the etiologic agent.

Objective: To assess the impact of severity of illness at different times, using the Mortality Probability Models (MPM II), and the impact of etiologic agent on survival in patients with nosocomial pneumonia.

Design: Retrospective, observational study.

Setting: Fourteen-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in a teaching hospital.

Risk factors for infection by Acinetobacter baumannii in intubated patients with nosocomial pneumonia.

Study Objective: To investigate the epidemiology of infection by Acinetobacter baumannii in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: Three medical-surgical ICUs in teaching hospitals.

Stable magnetic field gradient levitation of Xenopus laevis: toward low-gravity simulation.

We have levitated, for the first time, living biological specimens, embryos of the frog Xenopus laevis, using a large inhomogeneous magnetic field. The magnetic field/field gradient product required for levitation was 1430 kG2/cm, consistent with the embryo's susceptibility being dominated by the diamagnetism of water and protein. We show that unlike any other earth-based technique, magnetic field gradient levitation of embryos reduces the body forces and gravity-induced stresses on them.

The value of routine microbial investigation in ventilator-associated pneumonia.

The use of microbiologic investigations in routine clinical practice, their value in guiding antibiotic prescription, and their influence on outcome were prospectively studied in 113 consecutive adults who developed ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Blood cultures were performed in 78.7% of cases, protected specimen brushing in 95.