Essential fatty acids and their long-chain polyunsaturated metabolites in maternal and cord plasma triglycerides during late gestation

The fatty acid composition of plasma lipids was determined in 41 pairs of mothers and their term infants at time of birth (38-42 postmenstrual weeks) by high-resolution capillary gas-liquid chromatography, Linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids were found at smaller concentrations in cord than in maternal triglycerides, in contrast to strikingly higher proportions of their long-chain polyunsaturated metabolites (IC-PUFA), which indicates a preferential maternofetal transport for certain physiologically important LC-PUFA. While no significant gestational age-dependent changes occurred in maternal plasma triglycerides, the values for most of the fetal long-chain n-3 metabolites increased with the duration of gestation, possibly reflecting an increased transplacental fatty acid passage during late pregnancy or a maturation of desaturation in the fetal liver, Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel

FADS Gene Cluster Polymorphisms: Important Modulators of Fatty Acid Levels and Their Impact on Atopic Diseases

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) play an important role in several physiological processes and their concentration in phospholipids has been associated with several complex diseases, such as atopic disease. The level and composition of LC-PUFAs in the human body is highly dependent on their intake in the diet or on the intake of fatty acid precursors, which are endogenously elongated and desaturated to physiologically active LC-PUFAs. The most important enzymes in this reaction cascade are the Delta(5) and Delta(6) desaturase. Several studies in the last few years have revealed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 2 desaturase encoding genes (FADS1 and FADS2) are highly associated with the concentration of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids, showing that beside nutrition, genetic factors also play an important role in the regulation of LC-PUFAs. This review focuses on current knowledge of the impact of genetic polymorphisms on LC-PUFA metabolism and on their potential role in the development of atopic diseases. Copyright (c) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base

Сучасні тенденції в методиці викладання англійської мови

In the interference scheduling problem, one is given a set of n communication requests described by sourcedestination pairs of nodes from a metric space. The nodes correspond to devices in a wireless network. Each pair must be assigned a power level and a color such that the pairs in each color class can communicate simultaneously at the specified power levels. The feasibility of simultaneous communication within a color class is defined in terms of the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) that compares the strength of a signal at a receiver to the sum of the strengths of other signals. The objective is to minimize the number of colors as this corresponds to the time needed to schedule all requests. We introduce an instance-based measure of interference, denoted by I, that enables us to improve on previous results for the interference scheduling problem. We prove upper and lower bounds in terms of I on the number of steps needed for scheduling a set of requests. For general power assignments, we prove a lower bound of Ω(I/(log ∆ log n)) steps, where ∆ denotes the aspect ratio of the metric. When restricting to the two-dimensional Euclidean space (as previous work) the bound improves to Ω(I / log ∆). Alternatively, when restricting to linear power assignments, the lower bound improves even to Ω(I). The lower bounds are complemented by an efficient algorithm computing a schedule for linear power assignments using onl

Magnetization, crystal structure and anisotropic thermal expansion of single-crystal SrEr2O4

The magnetization, crystal structure, and thermal expansion of a nearly stoichiometric Sr$_{1.04(3)}$Er$_{2.09(6)}$O$_{4.00(1)}$ single crystal have been studied by PPMS measurements and in-house and high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction. No evidence was detected for any structural phase transitions even up to 500 K. The average thermal expansions of lattice constants and unit-cell volume are consistent with the first-order Gr\"uneisen approximations taking into account only the phonon contributions for an insulator, displaying an anisotropic character along the crystallographic \emph{a}, \emph{b}, and \emph{c} axes. Our magnetization measurements indicate that obvious magnetic frustration appears below $\sim$15 K, and antiferromagnetic correlations may persist up to 300 K.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure, 2 table

Curing tinnitus with a Cochlear Implant in a patient with unilateral sudden deafness: a case report

Cochlear implantation is a routine procedure for patients with bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss. Some reports demonstrated a suppression of tinnitus as a side-effect after implantation. We describe the case of a 55-year-old man suffering from severe right-sided tinnitus in consequence of sudden right-sided deafness. Multiple therapeutic efforts including intravenous steroids and tympanoscopy with grafting of the round window remained unsuccessful. One year after onset of symptoms right-sided cochlear implantation was performed, which resulted in a complete abolishment of tinnitus after activating the implant. Severe unilateral tinnitus after sudden deafness might represent a new indication for cochlear implantation

P-274: Activated endothelin system in polyglobulia

The role of the endothelin system, the functional counterpart of NO, in the pathophysiology of polyglobulia remains still elusive. Therefore a novel erythropoietin overexpressing mouse was generated, with hematocrit levels of about 80%. Hence, we analyzed vascular contractions to ET-1 and big endothelin-1 (big ET-1), endothelin-1 (ET-1) promoter activity, ET-1 immunochemistry, endothelin-1 (ET-1)-protein tissue levels, ETA/B-receptor mRNA expression in this novel transgenic model of severe polyglobulia. For analysis of ET-1 promotor activity, EPO transgenic mice were mated with homozygous transgenic mice expressing the lacZ gene under control of the human ET-1 promoter and immunochistochemistry for gal blue was performed in lacZ transgenic animals. Notwithstanding markedly increased eNOS expression, NO-mediated endothelium-dependent relaxation and circulating and vascular tissue NO levels indicating enhanced bioavailability of NO, ET-1 tissue levels were also augmented in heart, kidney, liver and aorta (2.2±0.3 vs. 0.5±0.1 pg/mg tissue; P<0.01) of transgenic polyglobulic animals. Accordingly, immunohistochemistry demonstrated enhanced expression of ET-1 protein in the vascular wall of polyglobulic animals as compared to controls (p< 0.05), while increase of ET-1 promoter activity was confined to the perivascular tissue (P<0.05). NOS inhibition with L-NAME unmasked increased vascular reactivity to ET-1 and bigET-1 and aortic ETA/B receptor mRNA gene expression was enhanced (p<0.05 vs. controls). Administration of the NOS inhibitor L-NAME led to acute vasoconstriction of peripheral resistance vessels, hypertension and death of transgenic mice within 2 days, while wildtypes did not show increased mortality. Treatment with the ETA antagonist darusentan doubled survival time of transgenic polyglobulic mice after NO synthase inhibition (p<0.01 vs placebo). In conclusion, in this study we provide first evidence that the tissue endothelin system is activated by polyglobulia. Together with a stimulated NO system it contributes to cardiovascular regulation in pathophysiological conditions associated with increased hematocri

The role of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Germany – A focus group study of GPs

BACKGROUND: There has been a marked increase in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in recent years worldwide. In Germany, apart from 'Heilpraktiker' (= state-licensed, non-medical CAM practitioners), some general practitioners (GPs) provide CAM in their practices. This paper aims to explore the attitudes of GPs about the role of CAM in Germany, in relation to the healthcare system, quality of care, medical education and research. Furthermore, experiences of GPs integrating CAM in their daily practice were explored. METHODS: Using a qualitative methodological approach 3 focus groups with a convenience sample of 17 GPs were conducted. The discussions were transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: The majority of the participating GPs had integrated one or more CAM therapies into their every-day practice. Four key themes were identified based on the topics covered in the focus groups: the role of CAM within the German healthcare system, quality of care, education and research. Within the theme 'role of CAM within the healthcare system' there were five categories: integration of CAM, CAM in the Statutory Health Insurance, modernisation of the Statutory Health Insurance Act, individual healthcare services and 'Heilpraktiker'. Regarding quality of care there were two broad groups of GPs: those who thought patients would benefit from standardizing CAM and those who feared that quality control would interfere with the individual approach of CAM. The main issues identified relating to research and education were the need for the development of alternative research strategies and the low quality of existing CAM education respectively. CONCLUSION: The majority of the participating GPs considered CAM as a reasonable complementary approach within primary care. The study increased our understanding of GPs attitudes about the role of CAM within the German healthcare system and the use of 'Heilpraktiker' as a competing CAM-provider. It seems to be a need for increased funding for research, better education and remuneration by the Statutory Health Insurance in order to improve access to 'Integrative medicine' in Germany

Corneae from body donors in anatomy department: valuable use for clinical transplantation and experimental research

Background: Explanted corneae are highly needed for the surgical management of patients with severe corneal diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether the body donors from the Institute of Anatomy are a suitable source of donor corneae. Methods: At the Institute of Anatomy at Saarland University Medical Center in Homburg, corneae are prelevated from body donors who had consented to the removal of tissues for transplantation purposes during their lifetime. Following the report of death, the LIONS Eye Bank is informed and the contraindications of corneal explantation are clarified. Obtaining a blood sample within 24 h postmortem is mandatory. Results: The Institute of Anatomy had 150 body donors in the time period from January 2018 to June 2019. Out of these, 68 (45.3%) were reported to the Eye Bank. The age of the donors (median 82 years (range: 57–96)) is not critical since the quality of the corneae depends on the number of endothelial cells (mean: 2109 ± 67 cells/mm2 (range: 511–2944 cells/mm2)). Contraindications were present in 19 (12.6%) cases. The corneae were extracted from 49 (32.7%) body donors. Out of these 98 corneae, 46 (46.9%) were successfully transplanted. Of all non-transplanted corneae, 6 (6.1%) were microbiologically contaminated, 10 (10.2%) had a positive serology, 22 (22.5%) had an endothelial cell count < 2000 cells/mm2 and 6 (6.1%) are at time of this analysis still in culture medium. The non-transplanted tissues were used for research. Conclusions: Explanted corneae from the Institute of Anatomy are a valuable option in obtaining grafts for corneal transplantation, which is why we are working toward on expanding cooperation with this department