Distinct Neural Processes for Memorizing Form and Meaning Within Sentences.

In order to memorize sentences we use both processes of language comprehension during encoding and processes of language production during maintenance. While the former processes are easily testable via controlled presentation of the input, the latter are more difficult to assess directly as language production is typically initiated and controlled internally. In the present event-related potential (ERP) study we track subvocal rehearsal of sentences, with the goal of studying the concomitant planning processes with the help of a silent cued-production task.

Dynamic right ventricular outflow obstruction: A rare cause of hypotension during anestesia induction.

Introduction: Dynamic obstruction of right ventricle outflow tract (RVOTO) is a rare condition that may acutely cause severe heart failure. It has been reported in some hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, after lung transplantation, and in some cases of hemodynamic instability after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Presentation Of Case: We report the case of a 71-year-old man who developed severe hypotension during the induction of general anesthesia for surgical coronary revascularization.

Spicy Adjectives and Nominal Donkeys: Capturing Semantic Deviance Using Compositionality in Distributional Spaces.

Sophisticated senator and legislative onion. Whether or not you have ever heard of these things, we all have some intuition that one of them makes much less sense than the other. In this paper, we introduce a large dataset of human judgments about novel adjective-noun phrases.

Ultrasound artifacts mimicking pleural sliding after pneumonectomy.

Study Objective: To determine the presence of pleural sliding on chest ultrasonography (US) in a series of patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit (SICU).

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: 16-bed SICU of a University hospital.

Compression of the inferior vena cava in bowel obstruction.

Introduction: We investigated whether (a) the inferior vena cava (IVC) is compressed in bowel obstruction and (b) some tracts are more compressed than others.

Methods: Two groups of abdominal computed tomography (CT) examinations were collected retrospectively. Group O (N = 69) scans were positive for bowel obstruction, group C (N = 50) scans were negative for diseases.

Blood from the right atrium may provide closer estimates of mixed venous saturation than blood from the superior vena cava. A pilot study.

Background: As a rule, central venous catheters (CVC) should not be positioned in the right atrium (RA) to avoid the risk of perforation and cardiac tamponade. However, in ICUs where ECG monitoring can detect any initial damage of the atrial wall, CVCs may probably be safely positioned in the RA. We investigated whether mixed venous saturation (SvO2) was better estimated by measuring central venous saturation (ScvO2) in the RA or in the superior vena cava (SVC) in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

A case of myocardial infarction effectively treated by emergency coronary stenting soon after a Bentall-De Bono aortic surgery.

Postoperative ischemia may complicate cardiac surgery, despite myocardial protection and recent technical developments. Its medical management in the intensive cardiac care unit is usually efficient, although sometimes it requires the revision of the surgical site. In other cases, urgent coronary angiography and subsequent coronary stenting may resolve the situation.

Is early tracheostomy a risk factor for mediastinitis after median sternotomy?

Early tracheostomy may increase the risk of mediastinitis after median sternotomy. Patients who had postoperative tracheostomy after cardiac surgery in the period 2000-2005 were retrospectively analyzed (total: 5095 patients) to evaluate the incidence of mediastinitis and sternal wound infections. Fifty-seven cases (1.

The immediate life support (ILS) course--the Italian experience.

Aim Of The Study: The 1-day immediate life support course (ILS) was started in the United Kingdom and adopted by the ERC to train healthcare professionals who attend cardiac arrests only occasionally. Currently, there are no reports about the ILS course from outside the UK. In this paper we describe our initial Italian experience of teaching ILS to nurses.

Managing latex-free mitral valve replacement.

The management of cardiac surgery patients with latex allergy can be challenging. We describe successful mitral valve replacement in a latex-allergic patient using an integrated multidisciplinary approach. We also provide a list of some available latex-free products or latex-free alternatives.

4G/5G PAI-1 promoter polymorphism and acute-phase levels of PAI-1 following coronary bypass surgery: a prospective study.

Background And Objective: The 4G/5G plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) promoter polymorphism has been associated with basal PAI-1 levels, with ischemic heart disease, and with adverse prognosis in critically ill patients. We hypothesized it might also influence the acute-phase levels of PAI-1 following coronary bypass surgery.

Methods: In 111 consecutive patients undergoing elective coronary bypass surgery, 4G/5G genotyping and serial plasma PAI-1 activity and antigen levels were prospectively measured before surgery, daily up to 72 h, and at discharge.

Genetic control of postoperative systemic inflammatory reaction and pulmonary and renal complications after coronary artery surgery.

Background: Although some data suggest that the individual genetic predisposition for developing major or minor degrees of postoperative systemic inflammatory reaction may influence postoperative morbidity, this hypothesis has not been clinically tested to date. Methods and results The -174 G/C polymorphism of the promoter of the interleukin 6 gene was determined preoperatively in 111 consecutive patients submitted to primary isolated coronary artery bypass. The results of the genetic analysis were then correlated with the postoperative interleukin 6 levels and the development of postoperative renal and pulmonary complications.

The -174G/C interleukin-6 polymorphism influences postoperative interleukin-6 levels and postoperative atrial fibrillation. Is atrial fibrillation an inflammatory complication?

Background: It has been suggested that inflammation can have a role in the development of atrial arrhythmias after cardiac surgery and that a genetic predisposition to develop postoperative complications exists. This study was conceived to verify if a potential genetic modulator of the systemic inflammatory reaction to cardiopulmonary bypass (the -174 G/C polymorphism of the promoter of the Interleukin-6 gene) has a role in the pathogenesis of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF). Patients and Results- In 110 primary isolated coronary artery bypass patients the -174G/C Interleukin-6 promoter gene variant was determined.

[Inflammatory and fibrinolytic activation after coronary artery bypass with extracorporeal circulation].

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the course of the main inflammatory and fibrinolytic markers in patients undergoing primary elective coronary artery bypass graft with extracorporeal circulation.

Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients (105 males, 8 females) undergoing primary isolated coronary artery bypass with normo- (37 degrees C) or hypothermic (26 degrees C) systemic perfusion were prospectively studied. The clinical course of the patients was recorded and inflammatory and fibrinolytic markers (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, interleukin-6, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, platelets and white blood cell counts) were determined before surgery, 24, 48 and 72 hours thereafter, and at hospital discharge.

Normothermia does not improve postoperative hemostasis nor does it reduce inflammatory activation in patients undergoing primary isolated coronary artery bypass.

Background: Despite its common acceptance in clinical practice, the effective benefits of normothermic systemic perfusion during coronary artery bypass operations are far from established.

Methods: A total of 113 patients undergoing primary isolated coronary artery bypass were randomly assigned to normothermic (37 degrees C) or hypothermic (26 degrees C) systemic perfusion. The clinical course of the patients was prospectively recorded, and several inflammatory and fibrinolytic markers (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, interleukin 6, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, platelets, and white blood cell counts) were determined before surgical intervention; 24, 48, and 72 hours thereafter; and at hospital discharge.

Relation of the -174 G/C polymorphism of interleukin-6 to interleukin-6 plasma levels and to length of hospitalization after surgical coronary revascularization.

Interleukin (IL)-6 plasma levels are predictive of major cardiovascular events. The -174 G/C promoter polymorphism of the IL-6 gene affects basal levels in vivo and transcription rates in vitro, but its association with IL-6 acute phase levels among patients with coronary artery disease has not been investigated. In 111 patients with multivessel coronary artery disease undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery, we prospectively assessed genotype at position -174 and serial blood levels of IL-6 and other inflammatory indexes.

Pulsatile normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass and plasma catecholamine levels.

The aim of the study was to assess plasma catecholamine levels in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization and relate them to pulsatile (P) and nonpulsatile (NP) normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Twenty-eight patients were randomly assigned to different CPB management: 15 patients were assigned to group 'P', 13 patients to group 'NP'. During normothermic extracorporeal circulation, group 'P' received pulsatile perfusion, while group 'NP' received nonpulsatile perfusion.

A pump-prime aprotinin dose in cardiac surgery: appraisal of its effects on the hemostatic system.

Objectives: To examine pump-prime aprotinin action on coagulation and fibrinolysis in patients undergoing primary coronary revascularization.

Design: A prospective randomized study.

Setting: A university hospital.

The relationship between systemic oxygen uptake and delivery during moderate hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass: critical values and effects of vasodilation by hydralazine.

The relationship between oxygen delivery (DO2) and uptake (VO2) has been studied during moderately hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in 15 patients undergoing myocardial revascularization. As soon as nasopharyngeal temperature was lowered to 32 degrees C, blood flow was decreased from 2.4 to 2.

Secondary alcohol metabolites mediate iron delocalization in cytosolic fractions of myocardial biopsies exposed to anticancer anthracyclines. Novel linkage between anthracycline metabolism and iron-induced cardiotoxicity.

The cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOX) and other quinone-containing antitumor anthracyclines has been tentatively attributed to the formation of drug semiquinones which generate superoxide anion and reduce ferritin-bound Fe(III), favoring the release of Fe(II) and its subsequent involvement in free radical reactions. In the present study NADPH- and DOX-supplemented cytosolic fractions from human myocardial biopsies are shown to support a two-step reaction favoring an alternative mechanism of Fe(II) mobilization. The first step is an enzymatic two-electron reduction of the C-13 carbonyl group in the side chain of DOX, yielding a secondary alcohol metabolite which is called doxorubicinol (3.