The bear in Eurasian plant names: Motivations and models

Ethnolinguistic studies are important for understanding an ethnic group's ideas on the world, expressed in its language. Comparing corresponding aspects of such knowledge might help clarify problems of origin for certain concepts and words, e.g. whether they form common heritage, have an independent origin, are borrowings, or calques. The current study was conducted on the material in Slavonic, Baltic, Germanic, Romance, Finno-Ugrian, Turkic and Albanian languages. The bear was chosen as being a large, dangerous animal, important in traditional culture, whose name is widely reflected in folk plant names. The phytonyms for comparison were mostly obtained from dictionaries and other publications, and supplemented with data from databases, the co-authors' field data, and archival sources (dialect and folklore materials). More than 1200 phytonym use records (combinations of a local name and a meaning) for 364 plant and fungal taxa were recorded to help find out the reasoning behind bear-nomination in various languages, as well as differences and similarities between the patterns among them. Among the most common taxa with bear-related phytonyms were Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Heracleum sphondylium L., Acanthus mollis L., and Allium ursinum L., with Latin loan translation contributing a high proportion of the phytonyms. Some plants have many and various bear-related phytonyms, while others have only one or two bear names. Features like form and/or surface generated the richest pool of names, while such features as colour seemed to provoke rather few associations with bears. The unevenness of bear phytonyms in the chosen languages was not related to the size of the language nor the present occurence of the Brown Bear in the region. However, this may, at least to certain extent, be related to the amount of the historical ethnolinguistic research done on the selected languages

Acute fulminant myocarditis successfully bridged to recovery with left ventricular assist device and complicated by flail mitral valve

Acute fulminant myocarditis is a life-threatening inflammatory disease of the myocardium characterized by the rapid deterioration of the hemodynamic status of the affected individual. With prompt recognition and appropriate management, complete recovery of ventricular function is likely within a few weeks. We introduce a 28-year-old man with acute fulminant myocarditis, who experienced circulatory collapse following acute angina and dyspnea. The patient had high troponin levels with low ejection fraction and normal coronary arteries. He was successfully bridged to recovery with a left ventricular assist device but was complicated by flail mitral valve. Perioperative myocardial biopsy was also compatible with myocarditis. At 4 months’ follow-up, the patient was stable with functional capacity I according to the New York Heart Association’s classification. A possible mechanism for this very rare complication is the rupture of the chordal structure secondary to the fragility of an inflamed subvalvular apparatus stretched by a recovered ventricle. © 2016, Tehran Heart Center. All rights reserved

LID - 10.1007/s00345-019-03046-5 [doi]

PURPOSE: Adrenergic and cholinergic pathways play an important role in contraction-relaxation harmony in human bladder. Functional changes in any proteins in these pathways may result in overactive bladder. We aimed to investigate whether single gene polymorphisms affecting adrenergic and cholinergic pathways are associated with OAB syndrome. METHODS: 60 patients with idiopathic OAB and 60 healthy controls were included in the study. A validated OAB-V8 questionnaire was given to all patients. Polymorphisms of ADRB3, ROCK2, and GEF gene were detected by PCR from whole blood samples. Genotypic structures of patients and controls were compared. The relationship between genotypic structures and OAB symptom scores were investigated. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in the genotype and allele frequencies between the patients and controls for all three SNP. While there was no relationship between ADRB3 and GEF gene polymorphisms and OAB scores in OAB patients, the OAB score in heterozygous polymorphic individuals was significantly higher than in homozygous polymorphic individuals in the ROCK2 gene (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: The polymorphisms of the ADRB3, ROCK2, and GEF genes were present in both OAB group and healthy controls, but were not associated with OAB syndrome

Relation of ADRB3, GEF, ROCK2 gene polymorphisms to clinical findings in overactive bladder.

PURPOSE: Adrenergic and cholinergic pathways play an important role in contraction-relaxation harmony in human bladder. Functional changes in any proteins in these pathways may result in overactive bladder. We aimed to investigate whether single gene polymorphisms affecting adrenergic and cholinergic pathways are associated with OAB syndrome. METHODS: 60 patients with idiopathic OAB and 60 healthy controls were included in the study. A validated OAB-V8 questionnaire was given to all patients. Polymorphisms of ADRB3, ROCK2, and GEF gene were detected by PCR from whole blood samples. Genotypic structures of patients and controls were compared. The relationship between genotypic structures and OAB symptom scores were investigated. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in the genotype and allele frequencies between the patients and controls for all three SNP. While there was no relationship between ADRB3 and GEF gene polymorphisms and OAB scores in OAB patients, the OAB score in heterozygous polymorphic individuals was significantly higher than in homozygous polymorphic individuals in the ROCK2 gene (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: The polymorphisms of the ADRB3, ROCK2, and GEF genes were present in both OAB group and healthy controls, but were not associated with OAB syndrome