Agenda S. Coloniensis : the exorcism rituals of Ferdinand von Bayern

"By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was already well underway in Europe. While Catholic reform had been taking place long before Luther and his ninety-five theses, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) was an integral part of the revitalization of Catholic doctrine and the Church's attempts at regaining ground lost to the Protestant reformers. Called to begin on March 15th with Pope Paul III's bull Laetare Jerusalem, the purpose of the meeting was threefold: heal the schism, reform, and retake cities in the Levant.1 In fact, the council solidified the schism between Catholics and Protestants, though it is debatable whether the divide was already too great by December 1545 when the meeting actually began."--Introduction.Includes bibliographical references

Truncated human endothelin receptor A produced by alternative splicing and its expression in melanoma

In this study, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify human endothelin receptor A (ETA) and ETB receptor mRNA. A truncated ETA receptor transcript with exons 3 and 4 skipped was found. The skipping of these two exons results in 109 amino acids being deleted from the receptor. The truncated receptor was expressed in all tissues and cells examined, but the level of expression varied. In melanoma cell lines and melanoma tissues, the truncated receptor gene was the major species, whereas the wild-type ETA was predominant in other tissues. A 1.9-kb ETA transcript was identified in melanoma cell lines by Northern blot, which was much smaller than the transcript in heart and in other tissues reported previously (4.3 kb). The cDNA coding regions of the truncated and wild-type ETA receptors were stably transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The truncated ETA receptor-transfected CHO cells did not show binding affinity to endothelin 1 (ET-1) or endothelin 3 (ET-3). The function and biological significance of this truncated ETA receptor is not clear, but it may have regulatory roles for cell responses to ETs

Impact of COVID-19 on global burn care

Burn care; COVID-19; Surgical proceduresCura de cremades; COVID-19; Procediments quirúrgicsCuidado de quemaduras; COVID-19; Procedimientos quirúrgicosBackground Worldwide, different strategies have been chosen to face the COVID-19-patient surge, often affecting access to health care for other patients. This observational study aimed to investigate whether the standard of burn care changed globally during the pandemic, and whether country´s income, geographical location, COVID-19-transmission pattern, and levels of specialization of the burn units affected reallocation of resources and access to burn care. Methods The Burn Care Survey is a questionnaire developed to collect information on the capacity to provide burn care by burn units around the world, before and during the pandemic. The survey was distributed between September and October 2020. McNemar`s test analyzed differences between services provided before and during the pandemic, χ2 or Fisher’s exact test differences between groups. Multivariable logistic regression analyzed the independent effect of different factors on keeping the burn units open during the pandemic. Results The survey was completed by 234 burn units in 43 countries. During the pandemic, presence of burn surgeons did not change (p = 0.06), while that of anesthetists and dedicated nursing staff was reduced (<0.01), and so did the capacity to manage patients in all age groups (p = 0.04). Use of telemedicine was implemented (p < 0.01), collaboration between burn centers was not. Burn units in LMICs and LICs were more likely to be closed, after adjustment for other factors. Conclusions During the pandemic, most burn units were open, although availability of standard resources diminished worldwide. The use of telemedicine increased, suggesting the implementation of new strategies to manage burns. Low income was independently associated with reduced access to burn care

Amelioration of type 1 diabetes following treatment of non-obese diabetic mice with INGAP and lisofylline

Type 1 diabetes mellitus results from the autoimmune and inflammatory destruction of insulin-producing islet β cells, rendering individuals devoid of insulin production. Recent studies suggest that combination therapies consisting of anti-inflammatory agents and islet growth-promoting factors have the potential to cause sustained recovery of β cell mass, leading to amelioration or reversal of type 1 diabetes in mouse models. In this study, we hypothesized that the combination of the anti-inflammatory agent lisofylline (LSF) with an active peptide fragment of islet neogenesis associated protein (INGAP peptide) would lead to remission of type 1 diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse. We treated groups of spontaneously diabetic NOD mice with combinations of LSF, INGAP peptide, or control saline parenterally for up to 6 weeks. Our results demonstrate that the mice receiving combined treatment with LSF and INGAP peptide exhibited partial remission of diabetes with increased plasma insulin levels. Histologic assessment of pancreata in mice receiving combined therapy revealed the presence of islet insulin staining, increased β cell replication, and evidence of Pdx1-positivity in ductal cells. By contrast, diabetic animals showed severe insulitis with no detectible insulin or Pdx1 staining. We conclude that the novel combination treatment with LSF and INGAP peptide has the potential to ameliorate hyperglycemia in the setting of established type 1 diabetes via the recovery of endogenous β cells and warrant further studies

Red Cells Genetically Deficient in Carbonic Anhydrase II Have Elevated Levels of a Carbonic Anhydrase Indistinguishable from Muscle CA III a

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71425/1/j.1749-6632.1984.tb12351.x.pd

The carbonic anhydrases: Widening perspectives on their evolution, expression and function

Now, some 55 years after its discovery in bovine red cells, carbonic anhydrase (CA), in all its varied forms, continues to challenge and intrigue physiologists, biochemists and molecular geneticists. This is so because of an increasing awareness of the many apparently diverse functions of the different CA isozymes encoded by this large multigene family, the continuing discovery of new CA, or CA-related, genes, and the extensive variation in their hormonal control, cellular expression and subcellular localization.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50190/1/950100603_ftp.pd

Expressions 2015

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/expressions/1025/thumbnail.jp

Regional Brain Activation During Meditation Shows Time and Practice Effects: An Exploratory FMRI Study†

Meditation involves attentional regulation and may lead to increased activity in brain regions associated with attention such as dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined whether DLPFC and ACC were activated during meditation. Subjects who meditate were recruited and scanned on a 3.0 Tesla scanner. Subjects meditated for four sessions of 12 min and performed four sessions of a 6 min control task. Individual and group t-maps were generated of overall meditation response versus control response and late meditation response versus early meditation response for each subject and time courses were plotted. For the overall group (n = 13), and using an overall brain analysis, there were no statistically significant regional activations of interest using conservative thresholds. A region of interest analysis of the entire group time courses of DLPFC and ACC were statistically more active throughout meditation in comparison to the control task. Moreover, dividing the cohort into short (n = 8) and long-term (n = 5) practitioners (>10 years) revealed that the time courses of long-term practitioners had significantly more consistent and sustained activation in the DLPFC and the ACC during meditation versus control in comparison to short-term practitioners. The regional brain activations in the more practised subjects may correlate with better sustained attention and attentional error monitoring. In summary, brain regions associated with attention vary over the time of a meditation session and may differ between long- and short-term meditation practitioners