Therapeutic trial of silicone in peptic ulcer

In a controlled double-blind trial of the therapeutic effectiveness of silicone in patients with duodenal ulcer, the silicone tested was shown to be slightly less effective than placebo medication. The relatively good early response of chronically recurring ulcer disease appeared to be due to the emotional impact of “a new treatment of ulcers.”Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44434/1/10620_2005_Article_BF02232021.pd

Silicones in experimental peptic ulceration

In the search for a silicone as uniformly successful as the one used earlier, in preventing and treating experimental peptic ulceration in animals, 30 different silicones were used in pylorus-ligated rats, Mann-Williamson dogs and histamine ulcerated dogs. None were found to be uniformly effective and the initial encouraging results reported by us could not be reproduced with subsequent silicone preparations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44435/1/10620_2005_Article_BF02232022.pd

Non-Invasive Assessment of Endothelial Shear Stress in Myocardial Bridges Using Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography

Myocardial bridging (MB) is a segment of coronary arteries with an intramural course, typically spared from atherosclerosis, while the adjacent proximal segment is reported to be atherosclerosis-prone, a phenomenon contributed to local endothelial shear stress (ESS). We aimed to describe the ESS milieu in coronaries with MBs combining coronary computed tomography angiography with computational fluid dynamics and to investigate the association of atherosclerosis presence proximal to MBs with hemorheological characteristics. Patients (n = 36) were identified and 36 arteries with MBs (11 deep and 25 superficial) were analyzed. ESS did not fluctuate 5 mm proximally to MBs vs 5 mm within MBs (0.94 vs 1.06 Pa, p = .56). There was no difference when comparing ESS in the proximal versus mid versus distal MB segments (1.48 vs 1.37 vs 1.9 Pa, p = ns). In arteries with plaques (n = 12), no significant ESS variances were observed around the MB entrance, when analyzing all arteries (p = .81) and irrespective of morphological features of the bridged segment (deep MBs; p = .65, superficial MBs; p = .84). MBs are characterized by homogeneous, atheroprotective ESS, possibly explaining the absence of atherosclerosis within bridged segments. The interplay between ESS and atherosclerosis is potentially not different in arteries with MB compared with arteries without bridges

Blood donation and altruism: the mechanism of altruism (MOA) approach

Is blood donation a pure altruistic act? The answer to this question has profound implications for the type of interventions we can adopt and the way in which research is conducted into blood donor behaviour. This review will address this question and the implications of the answer by introducing the mechanisms of altruism (MOA) approach. As a behaviour, it is argued that blood donation, is altruistic, but the motivation for the act may not be. The MOA approach draws on insights from biology, economics and psychology to identify the key MOA that can be used to describe the motivations of blood donors. The MOA requires identifying congruency between self-report measures of motivations and behavioural indices of MOA derived from economic games. Using the MOA approach, we will show that blood donation is not pure altruism (caring about the welfare of others at personal expense) but rather a mixture of warm-glow giving (finding the act of donation emotionally rewarding) and reluctant altruism (cooperation in the face of free-riding rather than punishment of free-riders). With motivations that are not purely altruistic, six novel avenues for interventions are described: (1) charitable and financial incentives, (2) guilt priming, (3) norms focused on donor rates, (4) voluntary reciprocal altruism (VRA) (5) warm-glow appeals and (6) empathizing with a single case. We show how the MOA approach provides a framework for other theoretical models and present a model of donor motivation across the donation cycle

Non-Invasive Assessment of Endothelial Shear Stress in Myocardial Bridges Using Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography.

Myocardial bridging (MB) is a segment of coronary arteries with an intramural course, typically spared from atherosclerosis, while the adjacent proximal segment is reported to be atherosclerosis-prone, a phenomenon contributed to local endothelial shear stress (ESS). We aimed to describe the ESS milieu in coronaries with MBs combining coronary computed tomography angiography with computational fluid dynamics and to investigate the association of atherosclerosis presence proximal to MBs with hemorheological characteristics. Patients (n = 36) were identified and 36 arteries with MBs (11 deep and 25 superficial) were analyzed. ESS did not fluctuate 5 mm proximally to MBs vs 5 mm within MBs (0.94 vs 1.06 Pa, p = .56). There was no difference when comparing ESS in the proximal versus mid versus distal MB segments (1.48 vs 1.37 vs 1.9 Pa, p = ns). In arteries with plaques (n = 12), no significant ESS variances were observed around the MB entrance, when analyzing all arteries (p = .81) and irrespective of morphological features of the bridged segment (deep MBs; p = .65, superficial MBs; p = .84). MBs are characterized by homogeneous, atheroprotective ESS, possibly explaining the absence of atherosclerosis within bridged segments. The interplay between ESS and atherosclerosis is potentially not different in arteries with MB compared with arteries without bridges