Thermomechanical Behaviour and Interface of Overmoulded Soft Thermoplastic Vulcanizate Elastomers.

The influence of melt injection temperature on the thermomechanical behaviour of soft-soft overmoulded vulcanized thermoplastic elastomers (TPV) with different elastic properties was studied. Samples with two different overmoulding temperatures were tested under uniaxial loading conditions. The full deformation and temperature fields in each TPV were determined using digital image correlation technique and infrared thermography, respectively.

Erythrocyte sodium/potassium ATPase activity in severe preeclampsia.

Objective: Elevated blood levels of endogenous digitalis-like factors (EDLF) may decrease erythrocyte sodium pump activity in preeclampsia. As the highest EDLF levels might be expected in severe preeclampsia, we investigated sodium pump activity in that group of patients.

Study Design: Erythrocyte sodium pump activity was determined by (86)Rubidium uptake (in nM per hour per 10(6) cells) in women with severe preeclampsia and those with normal pregnancies, matched for gestational age, and in healthy nonpregnant women (n=12 in each group).

The hemodynamic effects of intravenous digoxin-binding fab immunoglobulin in severe preeclampsia: a double-blind, randomized, clinical trial.

Objective: An endogenous digitalis-like factor (EDLF) has been implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia (PE). This hypothesis is supported by two cases of preeclampsia in which administration of digoxin immune Fab (DIF) reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP).

Study Design: To study this observation further, we performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial to examine the effects on MAP of intravenous DIF given after delivery in 26 subjects with severe preeclampsia.

Sargassum fusiforme fraction is a potent and specific inhibitor of HIV-1 fusion and reverse transcriptase.

Sargassum fusiforme (Harvey) Setchell has been shown to be a highly effective inhibitor of HIV-1 infection. To identify its mechanism of action, we performed bioactivity-guided fractionation on Sargassum fusiforme mixture. Here, we report isolation of a bioactive fraction SP4-2 (S.

Inhibition of highly productive HIV-1 infection in T cells, primary human macrophages, microglia, and astrocytes by Sargassum fusiforme.

Background: The high rate of HIV-1 mutation and increasing resistance to currently available antiretroviral (ART) therapies highlight the need for new antiviral agents. Products derived from natural sources have been shown to inhibit HIV-1 replication during various stages of the virus life cycle, and therefore represent a potential source of novel therapeutic agents. To expand our arsenal of therapeutics against HIV-1 infection, we investigated aqueous extract from Sargassum fusiforme (S.

Chronic hypoxia alters vasoconstrictive responses of femoral artery in the fetal sheep.

The purpose of this study was to determine if mild hypoxia alters the responsiveness to vasoactive agents in the renal and the femoral arteries in the fetal sheep. Ten pregnant sheep were operated under halothane anesthesia at 116 to 124 days' gestation. A maternal tracheal catheter was placed for infusing compressed air (control group, n=5) or nitrogen (hypoxia group, n=5) starting on post operative day 6 and maintained for 5 days.

The Ronald McDonald House as an alternative to antepartum hospitalization.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the use of the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) for selected high-risk pregnant women.

Methods: Beginning in November of 1999, women on the Maternal Fetal Medicine service at Albany Medical Center Hospital (AMCH) were candidates for antepartum lodging at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). Women whose only indication for antepartum hospitalization was to maintain proximity to a tertiary care center were offered stays at the RMH.

The timing of elective delivery in preterm premature rupture of the membranes: a survey of members of the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Objective: We sought to assess the gestational age at which elective delivery is considered in an otherwise uncomplicated patient with preterm premature rupture of the membranes (PROM) by members of the Society of Maternal Fetal-Medicine (SMFM).

Study Design: A 3-page survey was mailed to members of the SMFM for this observational study. Information solicited included demographic data and practice patterns for the timing of delivery in patients with preterm PROM.

Left ventricular diastolic filling response to stationary bicycle exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of pregnancy and of maximal exercise on left ventricular diastolic filling response.

Study Design: Transmitral pulsed Doppler echocardiography was obtained in 10 healthy women during each trimester of pregnancy and at 12 weeks after delivery. Doppler studies were performed at rest and at each exercise workload.

An oxytocin receptor antagonist (atosiban) in the treatment of preterm labor: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with tocolytic rescue.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the oxytocin receptor antagonist atosiban in the treatment of preterm labor.

Study Design: A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with tocolytic rescue was designed. Five hundred thirty-one patients were randomized to receive, and 501 received, either intravenous atosiban (n = 246) or placebo (n = 255), followed by subcutaneous maintenance with the assigned agent.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Office of Rare Diseases (National Institutes of Health) workshop recommendations and review.

Objective: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare life-threatening cardiomyopathy of unknown cause that occurs in the peripartum period in previously healthy women. In April 1997, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Office of Rare Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a Workshop on Peripartum Cardiomyopathy to foster a systematic review of information and to develop recommendations for research and education.

Participants: Fourteen workshop participants were selected by NHLBI staff and represented cardiovascular medicine, obstetrics, immunology, and pathology.

Peripartum cardiomyopathy: summary of an international survey on peripartum cardiomyopathy.

Objective: The aim of this survey was to assess the evaluation, management, and future recommendations of patients with the diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy and to evaluate the interest in the creation of a prospective database regarding this rare disorder.

Study Design: A total of 116 surveys were sent to major teaching institutions in the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada, Crete, and South Korea after a national conference held at the National Institutes of Health regarding peripartum cardiomyopathy. This was an open-ended survey containing 17 specific questions regarding this disorder and its management.

Ventricular filling patterns of the right and left ventricles in normally grown fetuses: a longitudinal follow-up study from early intrauterine life to age 1 year.

Objective: Our goal was to determine the effects of advancing age on the Doppler diastolic filling indexes from early gestation to 1 year of life.

Study Design: Seventy-nine fetuses were studied. Initial Doppler studies were started at about the 16th week of gestation and repeated every 4-6 weeks until term, on postnatal day 1 and 2, and at ages 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months.

Renal Hemodynamics: Longitudinal Study from the Late Fetal Life to One Year of Age.

>Objective: To evaluate longitudinally the renal circulation from late gestation to the first year of life in order to understand fundamental changes within this vascular bed as the fetus adapts to major circulatory changes occurring during this time period.Methods: Sixteen healthy human fetuses were studied during the last trimester of the pregnancy, within 2 days of birth, at 6 weeks, at 6 months, and at 1 year. Using noninvasive color pulsed Doppler, blood flow velocities of the renal artery, the tricuspid and mitral valves in the fetus, and in the ascending aorta in the newborn/infants were obtained at each study.

Hyperemic response of the brachial artery during the second half of pregnancy.

Objective: To determine if women who developed preeclampsia had measurable differences in the vascular response postrelease of a 1-minute blood flow occlusion.

Methods: A total of 33 nulliparous patients were enrolled in this study during the second half of the pregnancy. All had baseline Doppler flow velocities while resting in the left lateral decubitus.

Chlamydia in pregnancy: a randomized trial of azithromycin and erythromycin.

Objective: To determine side effect profiles and cure rates of azithromycin compared with erythromycin in the treatment of chlamydial cervicitis complicating pregnancy.

Methods: Pregnant patients with positive DNA antigen assays for Chlamydia trachomatis were randomized to either azithromycin, 1 g oral slurry in a single dose, or erythromycin, 500 mg every 6 hours for 7 days. Repeat assays were planned for 3 weeks after therapy.

Giant glioependymal cyst resembling holoprosencephaly on prenatal ultrasound: case report and review of the literature.

We report the earliest in utero presentation of a 'giant' glioependymal cyst detected on routine prenatal ultrasound at 22 weeks estimated gestational age. The clinicopathologic features of these rare lesions are reviewed as well as previous reports of glioependymal cysts detected in utero. The effects of large intracranial cysts on neurodevelopment are discussed as well as the differential diagnosis of infantile intracranial cysts and therapeutic alternatives.

The modified Mueller-Hillis maneuver in predicting abnormalities in second stage labor.

Objective: To assess prospectively the utility of a modification of the Mueller-Hillis maneuver in predicting abnormalities of the second stage of labor.

Methods: The Mueller-Hillis maneuver was modified by limiting its use to the second stage of labor during a contraction. The maneuver was performed by one examiner; descent of 1 cm or more was deemed a positive maneuver.

Effects of pregnancy on the electrocardiogram in healthy subjects during strenuous exercise.

Objective: Our purpose was to examine the nature and the frequency of electrocardiographic changes at rest and after bicycle exercise in early and late gestation compared with a group of nonpregnant subjects.

Study Design: Thirty-nine pregnant subjects had electrically braked bicycle exercise early and late in gestation. Eight nonpregnant subjects served as controls.

M-mode echocardiographic evaluation of fetal and infant hearts: longitudinal follow-up study from intrauterine life to year one.

Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate cardiac variables, including right and left end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions by use of M-mode echocardiography during fetal, neonatal (transitional), and infancy periods to understand hemodynamic adaptation during these periods.

Study Design: Fifty-three fetuses were enrolled in this study. Echocardiography evaluations were started as early as the sixteenth week of gestation and were repeated every 4 to 6 weeks until term, on postnatal days 1 and 2, and at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months of age.

Gaucher's disease in pregnancy.

Gaucher's disease is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disease, resulting from a deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase, important for the physiologic recycling of cell membrane lipids. The clinical symptoms and disease presentations of Gaucher's disease are heterogeneous, including hepatosplenomegaly, bone "crisis" and fracture, anemia, thrombocytopenia and in some forms, rapid neurological decompensation. Similarly, the genetic variability of Gaucher's disease is diverse, and in some aspects affects phenotypic expression.

Maternal and fetal cardiovascular response to exercise during pregnancy.

With the two-dimensional Doppler echocardiogram and M-mode echocardiogram, one can study maternal and fetal cardiovascular physiology during rest and exercise. Using such noninvasive techniques, studies indicate that left ventricular function is maintained even during vigorous bicycle exercise in healthy pregnant subjects during the second half of pregnancy. In early pregnancy, the left ventricle adapts to strenuous bicycle exercise by increasing its contractile reserve, enhancing ventricular emptying, whereas in late pregnancy, the left ventricle increases its preload reserve without significantly increasing its contractile reserve.

Meconium-stained amniotic fluid-associated infectious morbidity: a randomized, double-blind trial of ampicillin-sulbactam prophylaxis.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of intrapartum prophylactic administration of ampicillin-sulbactam in reducing intraamniotic infection and postpartum endometritis in patients with meconium-stained amniotic fluid (AF).

Methods: Patients with intrapartum meconium-stained AF were randomized to receive either ampicillin-sulbactam or normal saline (placebo) intravenously at the time of diagnosis of meconium and every 6 hours until delivery. The outcomes of the two groups were compared with respect to intra-amniotic infection and postpartum endometritis.

Maternal right hypogastric artery blood flow during normal pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum.

Objective: To document and quantify the temporal hemodynamic changes occurring in the pelvic circulation in normal human pregnancy, and to compare these changes with those found 6 weeks postpartum.

Methods: Thirty-three patients had color pulsed Doppler evaluation of the right hypogastric artery six times during pregnancy and once 6 weeks postpartum. Pulsed Doppler waveforms were digitized to assess the time velocity integral (area under the Doppler curve = TVI) and the peak flow velocity (maximum velocity = PFV).

Effects of estrogen on nitric oxide biosynthesis and vasorelaxant activity in sheep uterine and renal arteries in vitro.

Objectives: Our purpose was to determine whether estrogen alters the relaxation responses to bradykinin and superoxide dismutase of the uterine and renal arteries and to determine the role of nitric oxide in that response.

Study Design: Ten nulliparous, ovariectomized nonpregnant sheep received either estradiol-17beta or vehicle solution. In vitro studies evaluating vasorelaxation were done with either bradykinin or superoxide dismutase.