Activated protein C improves pial microcirculation in experimental endotoxemia in rats.

Introduction: The brain is one of the first organs affected clinically in sepsis. Microcirculatory alterations are suggested to be a critical component in the pathophysiology of sepsis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of recombinant human activated protein C (rhAPC) on the pial microcirculation in experimental endotoxemia using intravital microscopy.

PHANTOM-S: the prehospital acute neurological therapy and optimization of medical care in stroke patients - study.

Rationale: Time from symptom onset to treatment is closely associated with the effectiveness of intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke patients. Hospitals are encouraged to take every effort to shorten delay of treatment. Despite combined efforts to streamline procedures in hospitals to provide treatment as soon as possible, most patients receive tissue plasminogen activator with considerable delay and very few of them within 90 mins.

Functional separation of septic and aseptic surgical procedures.

Current evidence does not favour constructional over functional separation of septic and aseptic surgical procedures in terms of overall hygiene maintenance and incidence of skin and soft tissue infections. In both laminar and turbulent flow air operating theatres, air is not a relevant source of pathogens if surface disinfection is carried out properly.Final cleaning after a septic procedure includes a thorough wipe-disinfection of all potentially contaminated near and distant surfaces, including maintaining the necessary and effective exposure time of the chosen surface disinfectant.

Effectiveness of false profile radiographs in detection of pelvic discontinuity.

Pelvic dissociation is a rare but serious potential complication of total hip arthroplasty. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the false profile view compared with traditional radiographs in detecting pelvic dissociation. Ten cadaver pelves were skeletonized, and noncemented acetabular hip arthroplasty components were implanted.

Full-field accommodation in rhesus monkeys measured using infrared photorefraction.

Purpose: Full-field photorefraction was measured during accommodation in anesthetized monkeys to better understand the monkey as a model of human accommodation and how accommodation affects off-axis refraction.

Methods: A photorefraction camera was rotated on a 30-cm-long rod in a horizontal arc, with the eye at the center of curvature of the arc so that the measurement distance remained constant. The resistance of a potentiometer attached to the rotation center of the rod changed proportionally with the rotation angle.

Rituximab in relapsing or refractory ANCA-associated vasculitis: a case series of 16 patients.

Objectives: Cyclophosphamide (CYC) and corticosteroids are generally considered standard induction therapy for anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). However, a subset of patients are refractory or intolerant to this treatment. Rituximab, a chimeric anti-CD20 antibody, has emerged as a second-line therapy, although controlled studies are scarce in patients with relapsing or refractory disease.

In vivo dual substrate bioluminescent imaging.

Our understanding of how and when breast cancer cells transit from established primary tumors to metastatic sites has increased at an exceptional rate since the advent of in vivo bioluminescent imaging technologies. Indeed, the ability to locate and quantify tumor growth longitudinally in a single cohort of animals to completion of the study as opposed to sacrificing individual groups of animals at specific assay times has revolutionized how researchers investigate breast cancer metastasis. Unfortunately, current methodologies preclude the real-time assessment of critical changes that transpire in cell signaling systems as breast cancer cells (i) evolve within primary tumors, (ii) disseminate throughout the body, and (iii) reinitiate proliferative programs at sites of a metastatic lesion.

Conflict-induced perceptual filtering.

In a variety of conflict paradigms, target and distractor stimuli are defined in terms of perceptual features. Interference evoked by distractor stimuli tends to be reduced when the ratio of congruent to incongruent trials is decreased, suggesting conflict-induced perceptual filtering (i.e.

Accuracy and resolution of in vitro imaging based porcine lens volumetric measurements.

There is considerable interest in determining lens volume in the living eye. Lens volume is of interest to understand accommodative changes in the lens and to size accommodative IOLs (A-IOLs) to fit the capsular bag. Some studies have suggested lens volume change during accommodation.

β3 integrin-EGF receptor cross-talk activates p190RhoGAP in mouse mammary gland epithelial cells.

Active RhoA localizes to plasma membrane, where it stimulates formation of focal adhesions and stress fibers. RhoA activity is inhibited by p190RhoGAP following integrin-mediated cell attachment to allow sampling of new adhesive environments. p190RhoGAP is itself activated by Src-dependent tyrosine phosphorylation, which facilitates complex formation with p120RasGAP.

Evaluation of the effects of gender and estradiol treatment on the intestinal microcirculation during experimental sepsis.

Intestinal barrier dysfunction plays an important role in sepsis. Females may tolerate sepsis better than males, which could be due to the relative resistance of the female intestine to gut injury and inflammation when subjected to sepsis. In this study the intestinal microcirculation was investigated in 50 female and 40 male rats divided in to 9 groups of 10 animals.

Conflict adaptation in time: foreperiods as contextual cues for attentional adjustment.

Interference evoked by distractor stimulus information, such as flankers in the Eriksen task, is reduced when the proportion of conflicting stimuli is increased. This modulation is sensitive to contextual cues such as stimulus location or color, suggesting attentional adjustment to conflict contingencies on the basis of context information. In the present study, we explored whether conflict adjustment is modulated by temporal variation of conflict likelihood.

Deconstructing the mechanisms and consequences of TGF-β-induced EMT during cancer progression.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a potent pleiotropic cytokine that regulates mammalian development, differentiation, and homeostasis in essentially all cell types and tissues. TGF-β normally exerts anticancer activities by prohibiting cell proliferation and by creating cell microenvironments that inhibit cell motility, invasion, and metastasis. However, accumulating evidence indicates that the process of tumorigenesis, particularly that associated with metastatic progression, confers TGF-β with oncogenic activities, a functional switch known as the "TGF-β paradox.

Down-regulation of epithelial cadherin is required to initiate metastatic outgrowth of breast cancer.

Reduced epithelial cadherin (E-cad) is a hallmark of invasive carcinomas that have acquired epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypes. Here we show that down-regulated E-cad expression induced by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and EMT preceded breast cancer outgrowth in three-dimensional (3D) organotypic assays and in the lungs of mice. Pharmacological inhibitors against focal adhesion kinase prevented metastatic outgrowth of newly seeded organoids, but not that of their fully established counterparts.

Acupuncture does not influence brainstem auditory evoked potentials: a volunteer crossover study.

Background: Although acupuncture is effective for treating several conditions, its site specificity is questionable.

Objective: To investigate whether acupuncture influences the brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP).

Methods: 10 healthy volunteers were enrolled according to inclusion criteria.

Multitasking in adults with ADHD.

Adults with ADHD have problems in everyday multitasking situations presumably because of deficits in executive functions. The present study aims to find out (a) whether adults with ADHD show deficient multitasking performance in a standardized task, (b) how they perceive the multitasking situation, and (c) which task structure might be beneficial for them as compared with adults without ADHD. Therefore, we experimentally compared task performance, mood, and motivation in a group of 45 men with ADHD (M-age = 34.

Reinvestigation of the M emission spectrum of uranium-92.

The M spectrum of the element uranium was reinvestigated by using both high-resolution wavelength dispersive (WD) spectrometry as well as energy dispersive (ED) spectrometry. Thereby we observed relative intensities that deviate from data in the literature. These discrepancies were not only observed for the weak U M lines but also for major lines.

The effect of auricular acupuncture on fentanyl requirement during hip arthroplasty: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Although auricular acupuncture (AA) is suggested to be effective in treatment of pain, it has not yet been used for intraoperative analgesia. Therefore, we studied whether the AA reduces intraoperative analgesic requirement during total hip arthroplasty (THA).

Methods: One hundred and twenty patients scheduled for THA were enrolled in this patient-anesthesiologist-blinded study.

Use of a free-functioning muscle transfer from a paralyzed lower extremity to restore upper extremity elbow flexion.

This report documents the use of a free-functioning gracilis muscle transfer from a lower extremity paralyzed from a spinal cord injury to restore elbow flexion in the patient's upper extremity which was paralyzed from a brachial plexus injury. The transfer was performed nine months after injury and resulted in functional elbow flexion. Clinical examination and EMG analysis document function of the transferred muscle with grade 4 muscle strength.

Shoulder arthroplasty in hemophilic arthropathy.

Background: Currently there is little information available on shoulder arthroplasty in patients with painful hemophilic arthropathy. The purpose of this study was to report the results of shoulder arthroplasty in a series of patients, many with long-term follow-up.

Methods: The departmental database was queried for shoulder arthroplasties done in patients with painful hemophilic arthropathy from 1977 to 2007.

[Prevention of infections under anesthetic breathing with breathing filters: concerted recommendations of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene e.V. (DGKH) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin e.V. (DGAI)].

An interdisciplinary working group from the German Society of Hospital Hygiene (DGKH) and the German Society for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care (DGAI) worked out the following recommendations for infection prevention during anesthesia by using breathing system filters (BSF). The BSF shall be changed after each patient. The filter retention efficiency for airborne particles is recommended to be >99% (II).