461 research outputs found

    Vasa Nervorum in rat major pelvic ganglion are innervated by nitrergic nerve fibers

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    INTRODUCTION The vasa nervorum comprises a network of small diameter blood vessels that provide blood supply to nerves and ganglia. The cell bodies of autonomic nerves innervating the urogenital organs are housed in the major pelvic ganglia (MPG) in rats. The vasa nervorum of rat MPG have not been characterized previously, and it is not known whether these blood vessels are innervated by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) containing nitrergic nerves. AIM To characterize the blood vessels in and around the rat MPG and to assess their nitrergic innervation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Characterization of small blood vessels in and around the rat MPG and expression of nNOS in nerve fibers around those blood vessels. METHODS MPG were obtained from healthy Sprague Dawley rats, fixed in paraformaldehyde, frozen and sectioned using a cryostat. The blood vessels and their nitrergic innervation were assessed with immunohistochemistry using antibodies against alpha-smooth muscle actin (smooth muscle marker), CD31 (endothelial marker), collagen IV (basal membrane marker) and nNOS. The immunofluorescence was imaged using a laser scanning confocal microscope. RESULTS The neuronal cell bodies were contained within a capsule in the MPG. Blood vessels were observed within the capsule of the MPG as well as outside the capsule. The blood vessels inside the capsule were CD31-positive capillaries with no smooth muscle staining. Outside the capsule capillaries, arterioles and venules were observed. The extra-capsular arterioles and venules, but not the capillaries were innervated by nNOS-positive nerve fibers. CONCLUSIONS This study, to our knowledge, is the first to demonstrate the blood vessel distribution pattern and their nitrergic innervation in the rat MPG. While similar studies in human pelvic plexus are warranted, these results suggest that the blood flow in the MPG may be regulated by nitrergic nerve fibers and reveal a reciprocal relationship between nerves and blood vessels. Beetson KA, Smith SF, Muneer A, Cameron NE, Cotter MA, and Cellek S. Vasa nervorum in rat major pelvic ganglion are innervated by nitrergic nerve fibers. J Sex Med **;**:**-**

    Sexual enhancement products for sale online : raising awareness of the psychoactive effects of Yohimbine, Maca, Horny Goat Weed and Ginkgo Biloba

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    Copyright © 2014 Ornella Corazza et al.This is an open access article distributed under theCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedIntroduction. The use of unlicensed food and herbal supplements to enhance sexual functions is drastically increasing. This phenomenon, combined with the availability of these products over the Internet, represents a challenge from a clinical and a public health perspective. Methods. A comprehensive multilingual assessment of websites, drug fora, and other online resources was carried out between February and July 2013 with exploratory qualitative searches including 203 websites. Additional searches were conducted using the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). Once the active constitutes of the products were identified, a comprehensive literature search was carried out using PsycInfo and PubMed. Results. The most common sexual enhancement products available on the Internet were identified. Their active ingredients included yohimbine, maca, horny goat weed and Ginkgo biloba. These four substances were reported with the occurrence of adverse events and the induction of psychological symptoms, such as mood changes, anxiety, and hallucinations as well as addictive behaviours. Conclusions. Uncontrolled availability of sexual enhancement products that contain potentially harmful substances is a major public healthconcern.Thepossible impact on population health, particularly among subjects with psychiatric disorders, usually at risk for sexual dysfunction, may be significant. This new trend needs to be extensively studied and monitoredPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

    Synergy between 5-HT4 receptor stimulation and phosphodiesterase 4 inhibition in facilitating acetylcholine release in human large intestinal circular muscle

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    Background: Gastroprokinetic properties of 5-HT4 receptor agonists, such as prucalopride, are attributed to activation of 5-HT4 receptors on cholinergic nerves innervating smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal smooth muscle layer, increasing acetylcholine release and muscle contraction. In porcine stomach and colon, phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 has been shown to control the signaling pathway of these 5-HT4 receptors. The aim of this study was to investigate the PDE-mediated control of these 5-HT4 receptors in human large intestine. Methods: Circular smooth muscle strips were prepared from human large intestine; after incubation with [H-3]-choline, electrically induced tritium outflow was determined as a measure for acetylcholine release. The influence of PDE inhibition on the facilitating effect of prucalopride on electrically induced acetylcholine release was studied. Key Results: The non-selective PDE inhibitor IBMX enhanced the facilitating effect of prucalopride on electrically induced acetylcholine release. The selective inhibitors vinpocetine (PDE1), EHNA (PDE2) and cilostamide (PDE3) did not influence, while rolipram and roflumilast (PDE4) enhanced the prucalopride-induced facilitation to the same extent as IBMX. Conclusions & Inferences: In human large intestinal circular muscle, the intracellular pathway of 5-HT4 receptors facilitating cholinergic neurotransmission to large intestinal circular smooth muscle is controlled by PDE4. If the synergy between 5-HT4 receptor agonism and PDE4 inhibition is confirmed in a functional assay with electrically induced cholinergic contractions of human large intestinal circular smooth muscle strips, combination of a selective 5-HT4 receptor agonist with a selective PDE4 inhibitor might enhance the in vivo prokinetic effect of the 5-HT4 receptor agonist in the large intestine

    Antifibrotic synergy between phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and selective oestrogen receptor modulators in Peyronie’s disease models

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    Background: Peyronie's disease (PD) is a fibrotic disorder of the penile tunica albuginea, characterised by the formation of a localised fibrous plaque that can lead to deformity and erectile dysfunction. Nonsurgical therapeutic options for PD are limited in efficacy and safety. Myofibroblasts are key cells in the pathogenesis of PD, and inhibition of myofibroblast transformation has been suggested as a therapeutic option. Objective: To identify potential drugs using a novel phenotypic assay and then to test them using in vitro and in vivo models of PD. Design, setting, and participants: We have developed and validated a phenotypic screening assay that measures myofibroblast transformation, by which we tested 21 compounds that were suggested to be efficacious in treating PD. The successful hits from this assay were further tested using in vitro and in vivo models of PD. Results and limitations: The new assay was able to detect transforming growth factor-β1–induced myofibroblast transformation. Using this assay, phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i) and selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) were identified to significantly inhibit myofibroblast transformation. A PDE5i (vardenafil) and an SERM (tamoxifen) inhibited myofibroblast transformation, collagen gel contraction, and extracellular matrix production in a synergistic fashion. In a rat model of PD, the antifibrotic effect of the combination of vardenafil and tamoxifen was greater than that of each drug alone. This study is limited by not providing a molecular mechanism for the proposed synergy. Conclusions: This is the first demonstration of a synergistic activity between a PDE5i and an SERM discovered through a phenotypic screening approach. Future clinical trials using a combination of these drugs should be considered during the active phase of PD, given the early evidence of benefit in both in vitro and in vivo models. Patient summary: This report suggests that the combination of a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor and a selective oestrogen receptor modulator may be efficacious in treating Peyronie's disease in its active phase

    The Effect of Aspect on Landslide and Its Relationship with Other Parameters

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    Aspect is one of the parameters used in the preparation of landslide susceptibility maps. The procedure of this easily accessible and conclusive parameter is still a matter of debate in the literature. Each landslide area has its own morphological structure, so it is not possible to make a generalization for the aspect. In other words, there is no aspect in which landslides develop in particular. Generally, landslides occur in areas facing more than one direction. The biggest reason for this is that those areas are under the influence of other parameters. Therefore, it is wrong to evaluate the aspect, alone. Since it is a part of the system, it should be evaluated together with other conditioning factors. In this research, many landslides susceptibility studies have been investigated. The directions and causes of landslides have been determined from the studies. In addition, the criteria of the used aspect classes have been investigated. In the literature, the number of class intervals chosen, and their reasons were investigated, and the effects of this parameter were tried to be revealed in new sensitivity studies

    Radyal tipteki bir çamur pompası optimizasyonu ve analizi

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    06.03.2018 tarihli ve 30352 sayılı Resmi Gazetede yayımlanan “Yükseköğretim Kanunu İle Bazı Kanun Ve Kanun Hükmünde Kararnamelerde Değişiklik Yapılması Hakkında Kanun” ile 18.06.2018 tarihli “Lisansüstü Tezlerin Elektronik Ortamda Toplanması, Düzenlenmesi ve Erişime Açılmasına İlişkin Yönerge” gereğince tam metin erişime açılmıştır.Pompalarda akı? üç boyutlu, oldukça karı?ık ve yüksek derecede türbülanslıdır. Klasik tasarım metodolojisi bir boyutlu akı? yakla?ımı esasına dayanmaktadır. Bu nedenle Hesaplamalı Akı?kanlar Dinamiği temel tasarımdan sonra çark optimizasyonu için çok önemli bir araçtır. Bu tezde kapalı çarklı radyal ticari bir çamur pompasının HAD yardımıyla optimizasyonu yapılmı?tır. Optimizasyon çalı?ması için kanat sayısı, kanat açısı, salyangoz dili ve ara kanatçık birer parametre olarak belirlenmi?tir. Uzun süren analiz çalı?maları için HAD yazılımı olan Fluent 14 kullanılmı?tır. Optimizasyon çalı?ması sonucu mevcut pompa performansı ilk duruma göre %10 artırılmı?tır. Son olarak ticari çamur pompasının farklı çamurları iletmesi durumunda performansı literatürde bilinen Engin ve Gür korelasyonu ile tahmin edilmi?tir. Anahtar kelimeler: Radyal çamur pompası, Hesaplamalı akı?kanlar dinamiği (HAD), Optimizasyon, Pompa performansı, Kapalı çarkThree dimensional flows in the pumps are quite complicated due to high degree of turbulence. The classical design methodology is basically based on one-dimensional flow approximation. Therefore Computational Fluid Dynamics is a crucial tool to optimize an impeller after basic design. In this thesis, a commercial centrifugal slurry pump with shrouded impeller has been optimized using CFD. The number of blades, blade angles, scroll tongue, and use of secondary blades have been considered as the parameters to be optimized. Fluent 14 has been employed as the CFD code for this long-run study. The optimization results showed that the existing pump efficiency could be improved at least 10%. Furthermore the performance of the commercial slurry pump has been predicted for different kinds of slurries using correlation proposed by Engin and Gur. Keywords: Centrifugal slurry pump, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Optimization, Pump performance, Closed type impelle

    Unwinding Fibrosis in Peyronie's Disease

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    Diagnosis of erectile dysfunction can be used to improve screening for Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

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    AIMS: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of four undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes mellitus risk scores accounting for erectile dysfunction status. METHODS: This was a population-based cross-sectional study. Type 2 diabetes was defined according to a oral glucose tolerance test and self-reported physician diagnosis. Erectile dysfunction was defined according to the answer to the question, 'Have you had difficulties obtaining an erection in the last 6 months?' (yes/no). The risk scores used were the FINDRISC, LA-FINDRISC, American Diabetes Association score and the Peruvian Risk Score. A Poisson regression model was fitted to assess the association between Type 2 diabetes and erectile dysfunction. The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve was estimated overall and by erectile dysfunction status. RESULTS: A total of 799 men with a mean (sd) age of 48.6 (10.7) years were included in the study. The overall prevalence of Type 2 diabetes was 9.3%. Compared with healthy men, men with Type 2 diabetes had 2.71 (95% CI 1.57-4.66) higher chances of having erectile dysfunction. Having excluded men aware of Type 2 diabetes status (N=38), the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of three of the risk scores (not the American Diabetes Association score) improved among those who had erectile dysfunction in comparison with those who did not; for example, the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of the LA-FINDRISC score was 89.6 (95% CI 78.7-99.9) in men with erectile dysfunction and 76.5 (95% CI 68.5-84.4) overall. CONCLUSIONS: In a population-based study, erectile dysfunction was more common in men with Type 2 diabetes than in the otherwise healthy men. Screening for erectile dysfunction before screening for Type 2 diabetes seems to improve the accuracy of well-known risk scores for undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes

    A multiple timepoint pre-post evaluation of a ‘sexual respect’ dvd to improve competence in discussing sex with patients with disability

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    Sexual problems are common after chronic illnesses and disability, yet research indicates that this is a neglected area in healthcare services. Evaluation studies provide evidence of the effectiveness of education in enhancing professionals’ knowledge, skills, and comfort in addressing patients’ sexual concerns. However, there are limited evaluations aimed at improving ability to discuss sexuality when working with people with disabilities. The overall aim of this study was to evaluate a ‘Sexual Respect’ DVD as an intervention to improve competence in addressing ‘sexuality and disability’. A mixed methods design was used with both quantitative and qualitative components. Nursing students’ self-report ratings of knowledge, confidence, comfort and willingness (to discuss sexuality) levels were collected across four time points: baseline, pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. Data were analysed using one-way repeated measures ANOVAs with post hoc comparisons. Open-ended qualitative comments relating to the barriers and facilitators to discussing sexuality were analysed using content analysis and subsequent frequency analysis. Reported barriers included lack of knowledge about sex¬uality and disability issues, the patient’s level of disability, and waiting for the patient to raise sexuality issues first. Facilitators included education/training, written information, and if the patient raised it first. Overall, the DVD intervention had a significant and positive impact on nursing students’ self-reported knowledge, confidence, comfort and willingness levels. The findings are discussed in relation to the PLISSIT model, which emphasises the importance of a proactive approach to addressing sexuality issues
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