Two different one-dimensional structural motifs in [catena-{Cu(tacn)}2Pd(CN)4]Br2.[catena-Cu(tacn)Pd(CN)4]2.H2O (tacn is 1,4,7-triazacyclononane).

The title compound, catena-poly[[bis[(triazacyclononane-kappa(3)N,N',N'')copper(II)]-di-mu-cyanido-kappa(4)N:C-palladate(II)-di-mu-cyanido-kappa(4)C:N] dibromide bis[[(triazacyclononane-kappa(3)N,N',N'')copper(II)]-mu-cyanido-kappa(2)N:C-[dicyanidopalladate(II)]-mu-cyanido-kappa(2)C:N] monohydrate], {[Cu(2)Pd(CN)(4)(C(6)H(15)N(3))(2)]Br(2).[Cu(2)Pd(2)(CN)(8)(C(6)H(15)N(3))(2)].H(2)O}(n), (I), was isolated from an aqueous solution containing tacn.

Serum S100B protein in early management of patients after mild traumatic brain injury.

Background And Purpose: Neuronal protein S100B assays are available now with a perspective of being an early screening tool for serious intracranial injury. The aim of the study was to correlate early S100B measurements and initial CCT findings in the patients sustaining mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI).

Methods: The prospective study included patients of all ages with a history of MTBI.

Photodynamic effect of hypericin in primary cultures of human umbilical endothelial cells and glioma cell lines.

Hypericin is the most powerful naturally occurring photosensitizer and as such there is renaissant interest in the potentials of this compound for anticancer photodynamic therapy (PDT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypericin-mediated photodynamic therapy effects on normal human umbilical endothelial cells (HUVECs) in comparison with cancer human glioma cell lines U-87 MG and U-373 MG, in in vitro conditions. The data suggest that endothelial cells as well as glioma cell lines are sensitive only to photoactivated hypericin.

Effect of flavonoids on daunorubicin-induced toxicity in H9c2 Cardiomyoblasts.

Daunorubicin (DNR) is one of the most important antitumor agents belonging to the anthracycline group. However, its use is seriously limited by the development of cardiac toxicity. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of quercetin, pycnogenol and naringenin on daunorubicin-induced cytoxicity in H9c2 cells.

Open field behavior and habituation in rats irradiated on the head with gamma-rays.

The goal of this work was to establish the effects of irradiation of the head with gamma-rays on selected forms of innate behavior, as well as on the habituation process to new environment in the open field test in rats. During a 5-day control period behavioral parameters reflecting motoric and explorative activities, as well as anxiety (6 parameters in total) were followed daily in 20 male Sprague-Dawley rats in an open field. Fourteen animals were repeatedly tested after irradiation of the head with a single dose of 10 Gy of gamma-rays.

Social support as a predictor of perceived health status in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: The main aim of this study was to investigate whether different levels of perceived social support are associated with different levels of perceived health status in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Methods: Two hundred and seven MS patients (38.4+/-10.

Local transcutaneous cooling of the spinal cord in the rat: effects on long-term outcomes after compression spinal cord injury.

This study tested efficiency of a novel thermoelectric cooler for local transcutaneous spinal cord cooling. Spinal cord compression was made by epidural balloon inflation at T8-T9 level of the spinal cord. Experimental animals (n=20) were divided into two groups.

Comparative TOF-SIMS and MALDI TOF-MS analysis on different chromatographic planar substrates.

A comparison is made between two high resolution, surface-based, mass spectrometric methods: time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF-MS) in indication of abietic and gibberellic acids molecular profiles on different chromatographic thin layers. The analytes were applied to silica gel chromatographic thin layers with SIMS on-line interfacing channel, monolithic silica gel ultra-thin layers, and thin layers specifically designed for direct Raman spectroscopic analysis. Two MALDI matrices were used in this research: ferulic acid and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid.

In vitro effect of pesticides (dichlofluanid, endosulfan, simazine, tolylfluanid and triallate) on proliferative activity of animal derived cell cultures.

In this study pesticides with different chemical structures (dichlofluanid, endosulfan, simazine, tolylfluanid and triallate) were examined for their potential cytotoxic effect on proliferative activity of cell cultures of mammalian origin. Cell lines Madin-Darby Bovine Kidney (MDBK), Rabbit Kidney (RK13), Porcine Kidney (PK15), and semicontinual line of Bovine Embryonic Pulmonary Cells (BEPC) were used in the study. From these cell cultures cell proliferative activity was suppressed most intensively in PK15 culture by endosulfan (10(-1) - 10(-6) M).

Inhomogeneous sandpile model: Crossover from multifractal scaling to finite-size scaling.

We study an inhomogeneous sandpile model in which two different toppling rules are defined. For any site only one rule is applied corresponding to either the Bak, Tang, and Wiesenfeld model [P. Bak, C.

The effect of long-term reduction of aortic blood flow on spinal cord gray matter in the rabbit. Histochemical study of NADPH-diaphorase.

1. The aim of this work was to study the influence of reduced aortic blood flow on NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-d) staining in the gray matter of L4-S3 spinal cord segments. 2.

Survival of mouse embryos after vitrification depending on the cooling rate of the cryoprotectant solution.

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the rate of cooling of eight-cell mouse embryos to the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196 degrees C) and their developmental capacity after thawing on the basis of their ability to leave the zona pellucida ('hatching') during in vitro culturing. Eight-cell embryos were obtained from superovulated female mice and divided into three experimental and one control group. Embryos from the experimental groups were cryopreserved by the vitrification method using ethylene glycol as cryoprotectant.

Thin-layer chromatography analysis of fructooligosaccharides in biological samples.

This study presents the application of a rapid, simple and inexpensive thin-layer chromatography (TLC) for the analysis of fructooligosaccharides (FOSs) as feed additives (prebiotics) in complicated biological samples with minimal pre-treatment. Prebiotics have been monitored in different parts of the intestinal tract (jejunum, ileum and colon) of monogastric animals to which commercially available dietetic products containing fructooligosaccharides Raftifeed IPX, Raftilose and polysaccharide maltodextrin have been added into the feed. Thereby it contributes to a clarification of fructooligosaccharides and polysaccharides transformation in the digestive system.

Protective effect of selected flavonoids on in vitro daunorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity.

Flavonoids are an ubiquitous group of polyphenolic substances with varied chemical structures present in foods of plant origin and act as free radical scavenging and chelating agents with a variety of biological activities. Using a model of spontaneously beating, cultured adult rat cardiomyocytes, this study examined the cardioprotective role of quercetin, naringenin, pycnogenol and a model antioxidant, trolox, against daunorubicin-induced toxicity. Cardiomyocyte protection was assessed by MTT test and extracellular lactate dehydrogenase detection.

Sarcomatous dedifferentiated renal cell carcinoma mimicking a severe purulent kidney infection.

Sarcomatous renal cell carcinomas (SRCCs) originate from a dedifferentiation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). They are characterized by an aggressive course and very poor prognosis. Less known is their ability to imitate inflammatory diseases of the kidney.

Introduction to time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry application in chromatographic analysis.

New on-line analytical system coupling thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high selective identification unit-time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) is introduced in this article. Chromatographic mixture separation and analyte surface deposition followed with surface TOF-SIMS analysis on-line allows to identify the analytes at trace and ultratrace levels. The selected analytes with different detectability and identification possibility were analysed in this hyphenated unit (Methyl Red indicator, Terpinolen and Giberrelic acid).

Fluorescence spectroscopic study of hypericin-photosensitized oxidation of low-density lipoproteins.

By means of UV-VIS absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the photosensitizer hypericin (Hyp) interacts nonspecifically with low-density lipoproteins (LDL), most probably with the lipid fraction of LDL. The molar ratio of monomeric Hyp binding to nonoxidized LDL and mildly oxidized LDL is 30:1. Increasing the Hyp concentration further leads to the formation of Hyp aggregates inside the LDL molecule.

Aggregation dynamics of nonmagnetic particles in a ferrofluid.

Nonmagnetic microspheres confined in a ferrofluid layer are denoted by magnetic holes. They form aggregates due to dipolar interactions when an external magnetic field is exerted. Their cluster-cluster aggregation was studied for various magnetic fields using optical microscopy, both for small spheres of diameters, d=1.

Experimental anterior lens capsule transplantation for chronic corneal ulcers-Bowman's layer replacement?

Purpose: This study was designed to measure the value of allografted anterior lens capsule in the reepithelialization of recurrent corneal ulcers.

Methods: Mechanical ulcers of uniform size were created with a 6-mm corneal trephine in both eyes of four Chinchilla male rabbits at one-third corneal depth. Following initial epithelial regrowth, an identical injury was created in the same area of each cornea a second time.

Cyclic voltammetry study of glucose and insulin interactions with supported lipid membrane.

The effect of D-glucose and insulin on conducting properties of supported bilayer lipid membranes (s-BLM) modified by anthraquinone-2-sulphonic acid (AQS) at the presence of potassium ferricyanide was studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV). Both the oxidation and the reduction current peaks were found to decrease at the presence of glucose in concentration range varying from 10 to 320 mM. The influence of insulin on membrane properties is ambiguous.

Self-organized criticality: robustness of scaling exponents.

We investigate a deterministic, conservative, undirected, critical height sandpile model with dissipation of an energy at boundaries that can simulate avalanche dynamics. It was derived from the Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld model [P. Bak, C.

Midodrine hydrochloride in the treatment of vasovagal syncope.

Therapy of vasovagal syncope is still a subject of debate. Various pharmacotherapies were proposed. However, they are often not tolerated or ineffective.

Protective and therapeutic effect of silymarin on the development of latent liver damage.

Radioprotective and therapeutical effect of silymarin (Flavobion) on development and repair of latent injury in rat liver was examined by its application during the continual gamma irradiation (dose rates 0.2 and 0.6 Gy/day) or after acute gamma irradiation (dose 6 Gy).

Hemoperfusion with alpha-amanitin: an in vitro study.

The authors carried out sixteen hemoperfusions with alpha-amanitin in vitro in a closed system using active charcoal, Amberlite XAD-2 and Amberlite XAD-4 in hemoperfusion capsules. As a perfusion solution 4 liters of 0.9% NaCl solution was used.

[An immediate measurement of intravesical pressure. A natural method of a urodynamic test in children with myelodysplasia].

A comparison of bladder leak point pressure values measured during conventional filling cystometry with 8 F, and then with 4-5 F catheter was performed in 20 infants with myelodysplasia. In 12 (60%) of them, the larger catheter led to artificial findings, especially in children less than one year old. This was observed in 9 (82%) of 11 infants in this age-group.