Static platelet adhesion, flow cytometry and serum TXB2 levels for monitoring platelet inhibiting treatment with ASA and clopidogrel in coronary artery disease: a randomised cross-over study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite the use of anti-platelet agents such as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and clopidogrel in coronary heart disease, some patients continue to suffer from atherothrombosis. This has stimulated development of platelet function assays to monitor treatment effects. However, it is still not recommended to change treatment based on results from platelet function assays. This study aimed to evaluate the capacity of a static platelet adhesion assay to detect platelet inhibiting effects of ASA and clopidogrel. The adhesion assay measures several aspects of platelet adhesion simultaneously, which increases the probability of finding conditions sensitive for anti-platelet treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>With a randomised cross-over design we evaluated the anti-platelet effects of ASA combined with clopidogrel as well as monotherapy with either drug alone in 29 patients with a recent acute coronary syndrome. Also, 29 matched healthy controls were included to evaluate intra-individual variability over time. Platelet function was measured by flow cytometry, serum thromboxane B₂(TXB₂)-levels and by static platelet adhesion to different protein surfaces. The results were subjected to Principal Component Analysis followed by ANOVA, t-tests and linear regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of platelet adhesion measures were reproducible in controls over time denoting that the assay can monitor platelet activity. Adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet adhesion decreased significantly upon treatment with clopidogrel compared to ASA. Flow cytometric measurements showed the same pattern (r²= 0.49). In opposite, TXB₂-levels decreased with ASA compared to clopidogrel. Serum TXB₂and ADP-induced platelet activation could both be regarded as direct measures of the pharmacodynamic effects of ASA and clopidogrel respectively. Indirect pharmacodynamic measures such as adhesion to albumin induced by various soluble activators as well as SFLLRN-induced activation measured by flow cytometry were lower for clopidogrel compared to ASA. Furthermore, adhesion to collagen was lower for ASA and clopidogrel combined compared with either drug alone.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The indirect pharmacodynamic measures of the effects of ASA and clopidogrel might be used together with ADP-induced activation and serum TXB₂for evaluation of anti-platelet treatment. This should be further evaluated in future clinical studies where screening opportunities with the adhesion assay will be optimised towards increased sensitivity to anti-platelet treatment.</p

Swimming Performance of the Threatened Leopard Darter in Relation to Road Culverts

We investigated the relationship between swinming performance of the leopard darterPercinn pantherina evaluated in the laboratory and current velocities measured at the ends ofcorrugated-pipe and open-box culverts through road crossings. We tested leopard darters at eachof six current velocities ranging from 0 to 60 cmls and measured burst frequency and distance.We uscd analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze burst frequency and total distance coveredduring a 10-min period and found that at a current velocity of 25 cids, fish swam more frequentlyand for greater total distances than at higher or lower velocitics. When a nested ANOVA was usedto remove variation duc to individual fish, we found that distancesof individual bursts also differedsignificanlly and that fish in intermediate velocilies had longer bursts. Current velocitics in boxand pipe culverts tcnded to be higher than the velocitics measured in the lab, and sevcral crossingshad structural barriers, in addition to high current velocitics. Although there is no evidence thatculverts act as long-term barriers to n~igration or dispersal of leopard darters, they may preventmigratory activity during certain years, thereby negatively affecting localized populations

HIERARCHICAL SYNTHESIS OF EMBEDDED SYSTEMS USING EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHMS -- A Multi-Objective Approach

In this chapter, we propose an approach for the synthesis of heterogenous embedded systems, including allocation and binding problems. For solving these in general NP-complete problems, Evolutionary Algorithms have been proven to provide good solutions for search spaces of moderate size. For realistic embedded system applications, however, two more challenges must be considered: a) the complexity of the search space, and b) the multi-objective nature of the optimization problem to solve. I.e., the desired result of system synthesis is a design space exploration that provides the set of so-called Pareto-optimal solutions or an approximation thereof instead of just a single solution. Here, we propose a solution based on a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) which denotes a class of Evolutionary Algorithms that have recently proposed for design space exploration problems. Secondly, in order to reduce the complexity of typical search spaces, we propose a hierarchical problem and solution structure

Electronic system-level synthesis methodologies

With ever-increasing system complexities, all major semiconductor roadmaps have identified the need for moving to higher levels of abstraction in order to increase productivity in electronic system design. Most recently, many approaches and tools that claim to realize and support a design process at the so-called electronic system level (ESL) have emerged. However, faced with the vast complexity challenges, in most cases at best, only partial solutions are available. In this paper, we develop and propose a novel classification for ESL synthesis tools, and we will present six different academic approaches in this context. Based on these observations, we can identify such common principles and needs as they are leading toward and are ultimately required for a true ESL synthesis solution, covering the whole design process from specification to implementation for complete systems across hardware and software boundaries

Erfassung, Dokumentation und strahlenhygienische Bewertung vorliegender Aktivitaetsmessdaten aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als Folge des Reaktorunfalles im Kernkraftwerk Tschernobyl

Copy held by FIZ Karlsruhe; available from UB/TIB Hannover / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Radiation hygiene. Radiobiological, medical and physical topics of research

SIGLEAvailable from Bundesgesundheitsamt (BGA), Neuherberg (DE). Inst. fuer Strahlenhygiene / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman