bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effects of Posture and Prolonged Pneumoperitoneum on Hemodynamic Parameters during Laparoscopy
Authors: Meininger Dirk , Westphal Klaus , Bremerich Dorothee H. , Runkel Heiner , Probst Michael , Zwissler Bernhard , Byhahn Christian 
Published: January 2008

AbstractBackgroundThe present prospective study was designed to evaluate hemodynamic changes associated with head‐down positioning and prolonged pneumoperitoneum during totally endoscopic robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy.MethodsTen American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I–III patients undergoing totally endoscopic robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy were enrolled in the study. Invasive hemodynamic parameters were measured by transpulmonary arterial thermodilution using the PiCCO® system with a femoral artery catheter. Cardiac index (CI), heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), intrathoracic blood volume (ITBV), and central venous pressure (CVP) were recorded with the patient in the supine position, after head‐down tilt, intraoperatively after 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, and 4 h of pneumoperitoneum at an insufflation pressure of 12 mmHg, after deflation still with head‐down positioning, and finally, with the patient in the supine position.ResultsPlacing the patient in the Trendelenburg (head‐down) position caused a significant increase in CVP (from 9.9 ± 3.4 to 15.1 ± 2.3 mmHg), whereas all other hemodynamic parameters remained nearly unaffected. The induction of pneumoperitoneum resulted in a significant increase in MAP (from 74.9 ± 12.9 to 95.4 ± 11.9 mmHg). No other parameter was affected. Even at 4 h of pneumoperitoneum only mild hemodynamic changes were observed. After release of the pneumoperitoneum with the patient still in the head‐down position, HR (49.0 ± 4 versus 63.9 ± 12.4 min−1) and after placing the patient in the supine position, CI (2.4 ± 0.2 versus 3.3 ± 0.7 l min−1 m−2) increased significantly, whereas CVP returned to baseline values.ConclusionsPatients undergoing totally endoscopic radical prostatectomy with 4 h of pneumoperitoneum in the Trendelenburg position experienced no significant hemodynamic depression during posture and pneumoperitoneum.
Nephrotoxicity as a cause of acute kidney injury in children
Authors: Patzer Ludwig 
Published: January 2008

AbstractMany different drugs and agents may cause nephrotoxic acute kidney injury (AKI) in children. Predisposing factors such as age, pharmacogenetics, underlying disease, the dosage of the toxin, and concomitant medication determine and influence the severity of nephrotoxic insult. In childhood AKI, incidence, prevalence, and etiology are not well defined. Pediatric retrospective studies have reported incidences of AKI in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) of between 8% and 30%. It is widely recognized that neonates have higher rates of AKI, especially following cardiac surgery, severe asphyxia, or premature birth. The only two prospective studies in children found incidence rates of 4.5% and 2.5% of AKI in children admitted to PICU, respectively. Nephrotoxic drugs account for about 16% of all AKIs most commonly associated with AKI in older children and adolescents. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antibiotics, amphotericin B, antiviral agents, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcineurin inhibitors, radiocontrast media, and cytostatics are the most important drugs to indicate AKI as significant risk factor in children. Direct pathophysiological mechanisms of nephrotoxicity include constriction of intrarenal vessels, acute tubular necrosis, acute interstitial nephritis, and—more infrequently—tubular obstruction. Furthermore, AKI may also be caused indirectly by rhabdomyolysis. Frequent therapeutic measures consist of avoiding dehydration and concomitant nephrotoxic medication, especially in children with preexisting impaired renal function.
The impact of nematode parasites on the behaviour of an Australian lizard, the gidgee skink Egernia stokesii
Authors: Fenner Aaron L. , Bull C. Michael 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe Australian scincid lizard Egernia stokesii lives in social groups and is infected with two nematode species: Pharyngodon tiliquae and Thelandros trachysauri. This study asked whether those nematodes affected levels of lizard activity in field populations. In a laboratory colony, application of a combination of ivermectin and fenbendazole reduced nematode egg count in lizard scats after 12 weeks. In the field, the same doses of those antihelminthic drugs were applied to lizards in six social groups across three populations, and a saline control was given to lizards in six adjacent groups. Observations showed significant changes in behaviour between the two groups developing over 2 months. Drug‐treated lizards spent more time basking and moved about for longer times during observation sessions. The results suggest that nematode infection altered host behaviour and reduced fitness. No influence of social group size was detected on the impact of parasitic nematodes.
Effects of the herbicide isopropyl‐N‐phenyl carbamate on microtubules and MTOCs in lines of Nicotiana sylvestris resistant and sensitive to its action
Authors: Yemets Alla , Stelmakh Oksana , Blume Yaroslav B. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractTo clarify the mechanism of isopropyl‐N‐phenyl carbamate (IPC) action on higher plant cells the sensitivity of microtubules (cortical network and mitotic arrays) and microtubule organizing centers to IPC treatment (30 μM) in IPC‐resistant and sensitive Nicotiana sylvestris lines was studied. It was clearly demonstrated that IPC does not depolymerize plant MTs but causes the MTOC damage in cells, which results in MTOC fragmentation, splitting of the spindle poles and in abnormal division spindle formation. It was also found that IPC‐resistance of mutant N. sylvestris line correlates not with tubulin resistance to IPC action but possibly with resistance of one of the proteins involved in MTOC composition.
Effects of tyrosine kinase and phosphatase inhibitors on microtubules in Arabidopsis root cells
Authors: Yemets Alla , Sheremet Yarina , Vissenberg Kris , Van Orden Jürgen , Verbelen Jean‐Pierre , Blume Yaroslav B. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractTo investigate the role of tyrosine phosphorylation/dephosphorylation processes in plant cells the morphology of Arabidopsis thaliana primary roots and the organization of cortical microtubules (MTs) were studied after inhibition of protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs). It was found that all tested types of PTKs inhibitors (herbimycin A, genistein and tyrphostin AG 18) altered root hair growth and development, probably as a result of their significant influences on MTs organization in root hairs. The treatment also led to MTs reorientation and disruption in epidermis and cortex cells of both elongation and differentiation zones of primary roots. Enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation after treatment with a PTPs inhibitor (sodium orthovanadate) resulted in intense induction of root hair development and growth and caused a significant shortening of the elongation zone. It also led to changes of MTs orientation from transverse to longitudinal in epidermis and cortex cells of the elongation and differentiation zones of the root. From the data obtained we can suppose that tyrosine phosphorylation can be involved in the dynamics and organization of MTs in different types of plant cells.
Prepulse inhibition and “psychosis-proneness” in healthy individuals: An fMRI study
Authors: Kumari Veena , Antonova Elena , Geyer Mark A. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractObjectivePrepulse inhibition (PPI) of the startle response provides an operational index of sensorimotor gating that is reliably demonstrable in both human and animal subjects. Patients with schizophrenia, first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia, patients with schizotypal personality disorder and healthy individuals scoring high on psychometric measures of psychosis-proneness display reduced PPI. This study examined associations between individual differences in “psychosis-proneness” and brain activity during a tactile prepulse inhibition paradigm previously found to reveal activation in controls and deficient activation in schizophrenia patients in the striatum, thalamus, insula, hippocampal, temporal, inferior frontal, and inferior parietal regions.MethodsFourteen right-handed healthy men underwent psychophysiological testing and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a 15-min tactile PPI paradigm involving the use of tactile stimuli as both the pulse (a 40-ms presentation of 30 psi air-puff) and the prepulse (a 20-ms presentation of 6 psi air-puff presented 30-ms or 120-ms before the pulse). Individual differences in “psychosis-proneness” were assessed with Psychoticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R).ResultsHigh psychosis-proneness was associated with lower PPI and reduced activity in the inferior frontal gyrus, insula extending to putamen and thalamus, parahippocampal gyrus, and inferior parietal and middle temporal regions. No regional activity correlated positively with psychosis-proneness.ConclusionsThe present observations extend the findings observed previously in people with schizophrenia to people with high psychosis-proneness, providing support to continuum theories of psychosis with implications for understanding trait-related neural deficits in schizophrenia.
Impact of prolonged referral interval on colposcopic outcomes in women with moderate or severe dysplasia
Authors: Fakokunde Biodun , Selo‐Ojeme Dan 
Published: January 2008

AbstractObjectiveTo ascertain the impact of long referral to first colposcopy interval on disease outcome in women with high‐grade cervical smear tests.MethodsData from 316 women categorized into Group 1 (seen 180 days after referral) and Group 2 (seen within 180 days of referral) were analyzed using χ2 test with Yates correction. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.ResultsWomen in Group 1 were less likely to need treatment (33.8% [25/74] vs 55.8% [135/242]; OR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.25–0.78; P = 0.0004) and less likely to have high‐grade disease (24.3% [18/74] vs 45.9% [111/242]); OR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.21–0.68; P = 0.001) than women in Group 2. There was no significant difference between the groups in proportion of women with invasive disease.ConclusionIn women with high‐grade smears the need for excisional treatment and the risk of invasive disease may be reduced by prolonged referral interval.
Influences of weight loss on long-term diabetes outcomes
Authors: Aucott Lorna S. 
Published: January 2008

Increasing rates of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) follow the obesity ‘epidemic’, with 86% of patients with T2DM being overweight and over half being obese. Literature has highlighted that being overweight or obese increases the risk of diabetes. Weight loss for obese patients is associated with clinical improvements, although this evidence is mostly from short-term studies. As part of a Health Technology Assessment systematic review the long-term (≥2 years) effects of weight loss on change in diabetes-related outcome measures for those with diabetes, or risk of developing diabetes for those without diabetes, was investigated in obese individuals. Eleven studies published between 1966 and 2001 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (Caucasian, BMI >28 kg/m2, adults, no eating disorders, weight loss and changes in diabetes-outcome measures). Results of these studies indicated that intentional weight loss reduces the risk of developing diabetes in the long term and those participants with T2DM often have reduced clinical symptoms and mortality risk. These results have been verified and enhanced by literature published since this review. A similar systematic review was conducted as part of a six-phase project, the PRevent Obesity GRowing Economic Synthesis Study. This review excluded BMI >34 kg/m2 and was restricted to lifestyle interventions (or intentional weight loss). Limited information relating to diabetes was gained, with only a non-significant increasing trend for mortality from diabetes for severe weight cycling practices being suggested. Other results indicated a relationship between weight loss and fasting plasma glucose, but because of the heterogeneity of participation groups and lack of definition in relation to diabetes this relationship was not formalised. In summary, weight loss is beneficial for long-term diabetes outcomes for overweight, obese and morbidly-obese participants. There is little research evidence for those individuals who are overweight or just obese, indicating areas of future research in terms of prevention of both obesity and diabetes.
“Names which he loved, and things well worthy to be known”: Eighteenth-Century Jesuit Natural Histories ofParaquariaand Río de la Plata
Authors: de Asúa Miguel 
Published: January 2008

ArgumentThe eighteenth-century natural histories ofParaquaria, a Jesuit province in South America ranging from the tropical forest to Río de la Plata (the River Plate), constitute a rich and consistent tradition of nature writing. The way the material is organized, the frequent use of lists of aboriginal names, and the focus on naming, all attest to the missionaries' preoccupation with language, understandable given that they were engaged in writing dictionaries and thesauri of the native tongues. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this body of work went through a series of appropriations, reflecting the various intellectual programs that contributed to the making of the national tradition in Argentina. While these natural histories are still often interpreted in terms of Argentina's national history, science, and literature, I will argue that they should be considered a product of a mixed culture oriented toward the practical and religious goals that are characteristic of most of Jesuit missionary culture, the result of the missionaries' attempt at organizing their experience of the wilderness and their encounter with the aboriginal peoples.
Consumerism and the Rise of Balloons in Europe at the End of the Eighteenth Century
Authors: Lynn Michael R. 
Published: January 2008

ArgumentThe history of ballooning has received considerable attention from historians examining the technological innovations behind it as well as from scholars interested in aeronautical anecdotes concerning launches and disasters. The cultural importance of this new machine, however, remains less fully analyzed. This essay explores one facet of that history through a discussion of the commodification of launches in France and Great Britain. These two countries, which have larger middling classes as well as a higher degree of commercialization in general, provided a fertile environment for aeronauts seeking to instruct and entertain an audience willing to fund ballooning. Balloonists had to invent ways to market this scientific discovery and determine how best to attract paying customers. The audience was entertained while simultaneously empowered to act as witnesses to what balloonists presented as a scientific experiment.
Valuing health properly
Authors: HAUSMAN DANIEL M. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThis comment on Paul Dolan's essay, ‘Developing methods that really do value the “Q” in the QALY,’ seconds his critique of current preference-based methods of valuing health states but disputes both his assumption that health states should be appraised by their bearing on well-being and his conclusion that the bearing of health states on well-being should be measured in terms of subjective experience. This comment defends instead the view that health states should be valued in terms of the range of activities that they permit.
The flavonoid luteolin inhibits niacin‐induced flush
Authors: Papaliodis D , Boucher W , Kempuraj D , Theoharides T C 
Published: January 2008

Background and purpose:Sustained release niacin effectively lowers serum cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides, while raising HDL. However, 75% of patients experience cutaneous warmth and itching known as flush, leading to discontinuation. Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) reduces this flush only by about 30%, presumably through decreasing prostaglandin D2(PGD2). We investigated whether niacin‐induced flush in a rat model involves PGD2and 5‐HT, and the effect of certain flavonoids.Experimental approach:Three skin temperature measurements from each ear were recorded with an infrared pyrometer for each time point immediately before i.p. injection with either niacin or a flavonoid. The temperature was then measured every 10 min for 60 min.Key results:Niacin (7.5 mg per rat, equivalent to a human dose of 1750 mg per 80 kg) maximally increased ear temperature to 1.9±0.2oC at 45 min. Quercetin and luteolin (4.3 mg per rat; 1000 mg per human), administered i.p. 45 min prior to niacin, inhibited the niacin effect by 96 and 88%, respectively. Aspirin (1.22 mg per rat; 325 mg per human) inhibited the niacin effect by only 30%. Niacin almost doubled plasma PGD2and 5‐HT, but aspirin reduced only PGD2by 86%. In contrast, luteolin inhibited both plasma PGD2and 5‐HT levels by 100 and 67%, respectively.Conclusions and implications.Niacin‐induced skin temperature increase is associated with PGD2and 5‐HT elevations in rats; luteolin may be a better inhibitor of niacin‐induced flush because it blocks the rise in both mediators.British Journal of Pharmacology(2008)153, 1382–1387; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707668; published online 28 January 2008
Role of neuronal voltage‐gated K+channels in the modulation of the nitrergic neurotransmission of the pig urinary bladder neck
Authors: Hernández M , Barahona M V , Recio P , Navarro‐Dorado J , Bustamante S , Benedito S , García‐Sacristán A , Prieto D , Orensanz L M 
Published: January 2008

Background and purpose:As nitric oxide (NO) plays an essential role in the inhibitory neurotransmission of the bladder neck of several species, the current study investigates the mechanisms underlying the NO‐induced relaxations in the pig urinary bladder neck.Experimental approach:Urothelium‐denuded bladder neck strips were dissected and mounted in isolated organ baths containing a physiological saline solution at 37 °C and continuously gassed with 5% CO2and 95% O2, for isometric force recording. The relaxations to transmural nerve stimulation (EFS), or to exogenously applied acidified NaNO2solution were carried out on strips pre‐contracted with phenylephrine, and treated with guanethidine and atropine, to block noradrenergic neurotransmission and muscarinic receptors, respectively.Key results:EFS (0.2–1 Hz) and addition of acidified NaNO2solution (1 μM–1 mM) evoked frequency‐ and concentration‐dependent relaxations, respectively. These responses were potently reduced by the blockade of guanylate cyclase and were not modified by the K+channel blockers iberiotoxin, charybdotoxin, apamin or glibenclamide. The voltage‐gated K+(Kv) channels inhibitor 4‐aminopyridine, greatly enhanced the nitrergic relaxations evoked by EFS, but did not affect the NaNO2solution‐induced relaxations.Conclusions and implications:NO, whose release is modulated by pre‐junctional Kv channels, relaxes the pig urinary bladder neck through a mechanism dependent on the activation of guanylate cyclase, in which post‐junctional K+channels do not seem to be involved. Modulation of Kv channels could be useful in the therapy of the urinary incontinence produced by intrinsic sphincteric deficiency.British Journal of Pharmacology(2008)153, 1251–1258; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707669; published online 28 January 2008
Agonist binding, agonist affinity and agonist efficacy at G protein‐coupled receptors
Authors: Strange P G 
Published: January 2008

Measurements of affinity and efficacy are fundamental for work on agonists both in drug discovery and in basic studies on receptors. In this review I wish to consider methods for measuring affinity and efficacy at G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Agonist affinity may be estimated in terms of the dissociation constant for agonist binding to a receptor using ligand binding or functional assays. It has, however, been suggested that measurements of affinity are always contaminated by efficacy so that it is impossible to separate the two parameters. Here I show that for many GPCRs, if receptor/G protein coupling is suppressed, experimental measurements of agonist affinity using ligand binding (Kobs) provide quite accurate measures of the agonist microscopic dissociation constant (KA). Also in pharmacological functional studies, good estimates of agonist dissociation constants are possible. Efficacy can be quantitated in several ways based on functional data (maximal effect of the agonist (Emax), ratio of agonist dissociation constant to concentration of agonist giving half maximal effect in functional assay (Kobs/EC50), a combined parameterEmaxKobs/EC50). Here I show thatEmaxKobs/EC50provides the best assessment of efficacy for a range of agonists across the full range of efficacy for full to partial agonists. Considerable evidence now suggests that ligand efficacy may be dependent on the pathway used to assess it. The efficacy of a ligand may, therefore, be multidimensional. It is still, however, necessary to have accurate measures of efficacy in different pathways.British Journal of Pharmacology(2008)153, 1353–1363; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707672; published online 28 January 2008
Heart rate in the pathophysiology of coronary blood flow and myocardial ischaemia: benefit from selective bradycardic agents
Authors: Heusch G 
Published: January 2008

Starting out from a brief description of the determinants of coronary blood flow (perfusion, pressure, extravascular compression, autoregulation, metabolic regulation, endothelium‐mediated regulation and neurohumoral regulation) the present review highlights the overwhelming importance of metabolic regulation such that coronary blood flow is increased at increased heart rate under physiological circumstances and the overwhelming importance of extravascular compression such that coronary blood flow is decreased at increased heart rate through reduction of diastolic duration in the presence of severe coronary stenoses. The review goes on to characterize the role of heart rate in the redistribution of regional myocardial blood flow between a normal coronary vascular tree with preserved autoregulation and a poststenotic vasculature with exhausted coronary reserve. When flow is normalized by heart rate, there is a consistent close relationship of regional myocardial blood flow and contractile function for each single cardiac cycle no matter whether or not there is a coronary stenosis and what the actual blood flow is. β‐Blockade improves both flow and function along this relationship. When the heart rate reduction associated with β‐blockade is prevented by pacing, α‐adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction is unmasked and both flow and function are deteriorated. Selective heart rate reduction, however, improves both flow and function without any residual negative effect such as unmasked α‐adrenergic coronary vasoconstriction or negative inotropic action.British Journal of Pharmacology(2008)153, 1589–1601; doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0707673; published online 28 January 2008