Anatomical study with clinical significance of communicating and visceral branching of the cervical and upper thoracic sympathetic trunk.

Current advances in the management of the autonomic nervous system in various cardiovascular diseases, and in treatments for pain or sympathetic disturbances in the head, neck, or upper limbs, necessitate a thorough understanding of the anatomy of the cervicothoracic sympathetic trunk. Our objective was to enhance our understanding of the origin and distribution of communicating branches and visceral cervicothoracic sympathetic nerves in human fetuses. This was achieved through a comprehensive topographic systematization of the branching patterns observed in the cervical and upper thoracic ganglia, along with the distribution of communicating branches to each cervical spinal nerve.

The reverse LICAP flap: A laterally based submammary perforator flap for breast reconstruction.

Introduction: The traditional donor sites for autologous breast reconstruction include the abdomen, thigh, buttock, and posterior thorax. Herein, we describe the use of the reverse lateral intercostal perforator (LICAP) flap originating from the submammary region as an option for breast reconstruction.

Methods: Fifteen patients (30 breasts) were included in this retrospective review.

Safety Study on Ketoprofen in Pigs: Evaluating the Effects of Different Dosing and Treatment Scheme on Hematological, Hepatic, and Renal Parameters.

A safety study on ketoprofen 10% was carried out on pigs using a different dosing and treatment scheme. Forty healthy crossbreed pigs with similar age, weight, and body condition score were distributed into five treatment groups. The pigs were intramuscularly injected once with different doses of ketoprofen: 3 mg/kg (group 1X), 6 mg/kg (group 2X), 9 mg/kg (group 3X).

New avenues for increasing yield and stability in C3 cereals: exploring ear photosynthesis.

Small grain cereals such as wheat, rice and barley are among the most important crops worldwide. Any attempt to increase crop productivity and stability through breeding implies developing new strategies for plant phenotyping, including defining ideotype attributes for selection. Recently, the role of non-foliar photosynthetic organs, particularly the inflorescences, has received increasing attention.

Growth hormone secretagogue receptor constitutive activity impairs voltage-gated calcium channel-dependent inhibitory neurotransmission in hippocampal neurons.

Key Points: Presynaptic Ca 2 voltage-gated calcium channels link action potentials arriving at the presynaptic terminal to neurotransmitter release. Hence, their regulation is essential to fine tune brain circuitry. Ca 2 channels are highly sensitive to G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) modulation.

The Importance of Bioactivation in Computer-Guided Drug Repositioning. Why the Parent Drug is Not Always Enough.

Although bioactivation is a well-documented process and the role of active metabolites in the drug discovery field has long been recognized, drug metabolites are usually ignored in virtual screening campaigns oriented to drug repositioning. The present article discusses different issues related to overlooking of the active metabolites in virtual screening campaigns, including an overview of the essential aspects of drug biotransformation and a summary of computational approaches that can provide solutions to those issues. Some valuable computational resources connected with this topic are also overviewed.

Drawing the Yongquan protocol into the different stages of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation sequence.

Aim: To introduce new applications into the ILCOR-cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) "chain" sequence.

Methods: Stages of the CPR sequence ("chain"): prior to the application of chest massage: assess the victim's state of consciousness and lung-heart failure; seek help (call 911), or in situations in which it is impossible to start the ILCOR protocol: (1) if the victim is trapped in car crash, overturned car, landslide, massive number of victims or catastrophe; or (2) delayed CPR. During chest compression: Yongquan is simultane- ously stimulated by a third rescuer.

Hematology and serum biochemistry of free-ranging nutria (Myocastor coypus).

Information on reference blood values in the literature is lacking for many wild rodents. In this study, comprehensive reference intervals (RIs) for a wide range of analytes from 101 healthy free-ranging nutria were determined. Animals were captured in Buenos Aires, Argentina (37degrees 50'S, 57 degrees 34'W), and southward (38 degrees 60'S, 58 degrees 23'W), encompassing major biotopes of agricultural pampas with dunes and grassland steppes on the east coast.

Is the E/V p index useful for evaluating prognosis in chronic heart failure with atrial fibrillation? A pilot study.

Background: The ratio of transmitral peak E wave velocity to color flow propagation velocity (E/V p index) has proved to be a significant predictor of prognosis in cardiac diseases with sinus rhythm. However, its usefulness in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure has not yet been established. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using the E/V p index for the prediction of mortality and heart failure hospitalization in this group.

Intracellular trafficking of Bordetella pertussis in human macrophages.

Although Bordetella pertussis has been observed to survive inside macrophages, its ability to resist or evade degradation in phagolysosomes has not been defined. We here investigated the trafficking of B. pertussis upon entry into human macrophages.

Cholesterol-dependent attachment of human respiratory cells by Bordetella pertussis.

Bordetella pertussis is a re-emerging human respiratory pathogen whose infectious process is not fully understood, hampering the design of effective vaccines. The nature of bacterial attachment to host cells is a key event in the outcome of the infection. However, host cell receptors involved in B.

Cholesterol-rich domains are involved in Bordetella pertussis phagocytosis and intracellular survival in neutrophils.

Bordetella pertussis-specific antibodies protect against whooping cough by facilitating host defense mechanisms such as phagocytosis. However, the mechanism involved in the phagocytosis of the bacteria under non-opsonic conditions is still poorly characterized. We report here that B.

Iron stress increases Bordetella pertussis mucin-binding capacity and attachment to respiratory epithelial cells.

Whooping cough is a reemerging infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by Bordetella pertussis. The incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms of host colonization hampers the efforts to control this disease. Among the environmental factors that commonly determine the bacterial phenotype, the concentration of essential nutrients is of particular importance.

Profiling the Bordetella pertussis proteome during iron starvation.

Regulation of gene expression in response to local iron concentration is commonly observed in bacterial pathogens that face this nutrient limitation during host infection. In this study, a proteomic approach was used to analyze the differential protein expression of Bordetella pertussis under iron limitation. Whole cell lysates (WCL) and outer membrane fractions of bacteria grown either under iron-starvation or iron-excess conditions were analyzed by two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis.

Adenylate cyclase influences filamentous haemagglutinin-mediated attachment of Bordetella pertussis to epithelial alveolar cells.

Attachment to epithelial cells in the respiratory tract is a key event in Bordetella pertussis colonization. Filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA) is an important virulence factor mediating adhesion to host cells. In this study, the relevance of the interaction between FHA and adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT) during bacterial attachment was investigated.

Bordetella pertussis attachment to respiratory epithelial cells can be impaired by fimbriae-specific antibodies.

Bordetella pertussis attachment to host cells is a crucial step in colonization. In this study, we investigated the specificity of antibodies, induced either by vaccination or infection, capable of reducing bacterial adherence to respiratory epithelial cells. Both sera and purified anti-B.

QSPR modeling the aqueous solubility of alcohols by optimization of correlation weights of local graph invariants.

Optimization of correlation weights of local graph invariants is an approach to model molecular properties and/or activities of chemical or/and biological interest. The essence of the approach may be described by means of three main steps: first, a descriptor which is a function of the weights of local graph invariants must be defined by the suitable choice among the different possibilities from the pool of molecular descriptors; second, correlation weights values which produce as large as possible correlation coefficient value between the selected property values and the descriptor data under consideration are calculated by Monte Carlo optimization procedure (the correlation coefficient is used as the quality objective function); third, a relationship such as property = C0 + C1 descriptor has to be calculated and validated with structures of some training set resorting to the standard least square method. We obtain quite satisfactory results using this calculation procedure to model the aqueous solubility of alcohols whose statistical characteristics are: n = 30, r = 0.

Resourcing issues.

Diabetes is a chronic, progressive disease and achieving appropriate control of glycaemia and the other associated cardiovascular risk factors is essential to prevent its long-term complications. Currently, recovery and rehabilitation from the cardiovascular complications of diabetes are the major focus of diabetes care rather than primary and secondary prevention of diabetes and its complications. This focus, coupled with limited funding and other resource issues, means that diabetes care and outcomes are generally suboptimal.

Cytotoxicity and cytoadherence of human and murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes against Junin virus infected targets in the absence of anti-viral antibody and complement.

Human and murine polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) lysed L cells infected with Junin Virus (JV) in an in vitro system free of antiviral antibody and complement. Infected VERO cells proved to be resistant to the cytolytic effect. Murine PMN showed an increased adherence on JV-infected L cells but did not attach to VERO cells.

Protective effect of a low-dose of cyclophosphamide in experimental infection of guinea pigs with Junin virus.

Administration of cyclophosphamide (CY) to guinea pigs infected with a lethal strain of Junin virus (JV) delayed the time of death, with survival of a small number of animals. Virological studies showed a temporary decrease of virus concentration in blood and viscera shortly after the CY injection. In the pathological study no differences were found in the organic lesions present in CY-treated and nontreated animals, with the exception of the pulmonary alterations.