Urates in exhaled breath condensate of children with obstructive sleep apnea.

Background: Urate levels may be a marker of oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to find out are there any differences in urate concentrations in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) between children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and healthy children.

Materials And Methods: EBC was collected in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and clinically healthy children.

Sleep disordered breathing in children in a general population sample: prevalence and risk factors.

Study Objectives: Assess the prevalence based on clinically meaningful criteria (i.e., blood pressure) and identify risk factors of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) in a representative sample of elementary school children.

Blood pressure associated with sleep-disordered breathing in a population sample of children.

The current criteria for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children are not based on a clinically relevant outcome. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of blood pressure with SDB in a random sample of the local elementary school children (kindergarten through grade 5) using a 2-phased strategy. During phase 1, a brief questionnaire was completed for all of the children (N=5740) with a response rate of 78.

Effect of prenatal nicotine exposure on biphasic hypoxic ventilatory response and protein kinase C expression in caudal brain stem of developing rats.

Current evidence suggests that maternal smoking is associated with decreased respiratory drive and blunted hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) in the newborn. The effect of prenatal nicotine exposure on overall changes in HVR has been studied; however, there is limited data on the effect of nicotine exposure on each component of biphasic HVR. To examine this issue, 5-day timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats underwent surgical implantation of an osmotic minipump containing either normal saline (Con) or a solution of nicotine tartrate (Nic) to continuously deliver free nicotine at 6 mg.

Periodic limb movements in sleep and iron status in children.

Study Objectives: To assess potential relationships between serum iron and ferritin levels and the severity of periodic limb movement in sleep (PLMS) in a pediatric population, and to evaluate the response to supplemental iron therapy.

Design: A prospective study of all consecutively diagnosed children with PLMS (periodic limb movement index [periodic limb movements per hour of total sleep time, [PLMI] > 5) who underwent overnight polysomnographic evaluation. In all patients, complete blood count and serum iron and ferritin levels were obtained.

PDGF-beta receptor expression in the dorsocaudal brainstem parallels hypoxic ventilatory depression in the developing rat.

The temporal trajectory of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-beta receptor activation within the dorsocaudal brainstem parallels that of the mild hypoxic ventilatory depression (HVD) seen in adult rats. We hypothesized that enhanced PDGF-beta receptor activity may account for the particularly prominent HVD of developing mammals. To study this issue, 2-, 5-, 10-, and 20-d-old rats underwent hypoxic challenges (10% O(2) for 30 min) after pretreatment with either vehicle (Veh) or the selective PDGF-beta receptor antagonist CGP57148B (intraperitoneal 100 mg/kg).

Brainstem activation of platelet-derived growth factor-beta receptor modulates the late phase of the hypoxic ventilatory response.

The early phase of the biphasic ventilatory response to hypoxia in mammals is critically dependent on NMDA glutamate receptor activation within the nucleus of the solitary tract. However, the mechanisms underlying the subsequent development of the typical ventilatory roll-off are unclear and could underlie important roles in the functional and molecular adaptation to oxygen deprivation. Because the growth factor platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB can modulate the open channel probability of NMDA receptors by activating PDGF-beta receptors, its contribution to hypoxic ventilatory roll-off was examined.

Bridging the gap: medical directives for acute care nurse practitioners.

The following article describes the process by which a group of acute care nurse practitioners sought to address the legal challenges of working beyond the traditional scope of nursing practice. It was necessary to establish mechanisms for communicating a diagnosis, as well as for ordering diagnostic tests, treatments and procedures. Medical directives were viewed as an approach to address components of practice involving controlled acts not authorized to nursing.