Traumatic Tricuspid Regurgitation Following Cardiac Massage

We report a 66-yr-old male patient who developed tricuspid regurgitation secondary to internal cardiac massage. After uneventful off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, the subject experienced cardiac arrest in the intensive care unit. External cardiac massage was initiated and internal cardiac massage was performed eventually. A transesophageal echocardiography revealed avulsion of the anterior papillary muscle and chordae to the anterior leaflet after successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Emergency repair of the papillary muscle was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass

Effect of preoperative statin therapy on myocardial protection and morbidity endpoints following off-pump coronary bypass surgery in patients with elevated C-reactive protein level

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of preoperative statin therapy on myocardial protection and morbidity endpoints following off-pump coronary bypass graft surgery (OPCAB) in patients with elevated serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels. METHODS: Of the 492 patients who underwent multivessel OPCAB from March 2007 to February 2009, the records of 144 patients whose baseline hs-CRP level > 2 mg/L were reviewed. According to the history of preoperative statin therapy for at least one week, patients were classified as either statin group or control group (72 subjects each). Preoperative and operative characteristics and postoperative data including troponin (Tn)-T level and major morbidity endpoints were obtained and compared. Major morbidity endpoints were defined as permanent stroke, renal dysfunction, hemostatic re-exploration, deep sternal wound infection, and the number of patients requiring prolonged ventilation. RESULTS: Preoperative and operative characteristics were similar between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the incidence of morbidity endpoints between the two groups, except for the number of patients requiring dialysis, which was significantly lower in the statin group (8 vs. 1, P = 0.033). Tn-T level at 24 h after surgery was also significantly lower in the statin group. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we observed beneficial effects of preoperative statin therapy for at least one week in terms of less myocardial enzyme release and fewer patients requiring dialysis following OPCAB in patients whose preoperative hs-CRP was elevatedope

Introduction: transnational lesbian cultures

This Introduction sets out the aims and scope of this special journal issue. The issue examines the transnational shape and shaping of lesbian lives and cultures in and across China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It uses the expression “transnational lesbian cultures” to suggest that despite sometimes radically different sociopolitical and cultural contexts, the lived experiences of same-sex desire and their emotional attachments create particular affinities between women who love women, affinities that reach across the distinct cultural and social contexts that shape them. The articles brought together explore lesbian subcultures, film, graphic novels, music, and online intimacies. They show that as a cultural and political signifier and as an analytical tool, lesbian troubles and complicates contemporary sexual politics, not least by revealing some of the gendered structures that shape debates about sexuality in a range of critical, cultural and political contexts. While the individual pieces cover a wide range of issues and concerns—which are often highly specific to the historical, cultural, and political contexts they discuss—together they tell a story about contemporary transnational lesbian culture: one that is marked by intricate links between norms and their effects and shaped by the efforts to resist denial, discrimination, and sometimes even active persecution

Proliferative Activity of Pituitary Mammotrophs in Culture : a Morphological Study on DNA Synthesis Using In Vitro Bromodeoxyuridine Labeling Method

The present study was designed to investigate the proliferative activity of mammotroph in the long-term monolayer cultures of male rat pituitaries by use of bromodeoxyuridineflsrdl.ll-labeltnq technique combined with double immunohistochemical staining. Rat anterior pituitary cells were exposed to 100 uM BrdU for 4 hrs at 4, 7, 12, 15, 20, 25 and 30 days in the primary cultures. After fixation with modified Camoy's fixative, double immunohistochemical staining with anti-BrdU and antiprolactin antibody was performed. It was shown that the ratio of BrdU-Iabeled mammotrophs per 100 mammotrophs(BrdU Labeling Index) was 8.2% at 4 day and 8. 0% at 7 day in our cultures. Thereafter, it decreased until 30 days(1.7%). These results demonstrated that the increase in the proportion of mammotrophs observed in our previous monolayer cultures is caused, at least in part, by the cell division of mammortrophs

Biological characteristics of Chinese hamster ovary cells transfected with bovine Prnp

A normal prion protein (PrPc) is converted to a protease-resistant isoform by an apparent self-propagating activity in transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease. The cDNA encoding open reading frame (ORF) of the bovine prion protein gene (Prnp) was cloned from Korean cattle by PCR, and was transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells using lipofectamine. The gene expression of the cloned cDNA was confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blotting with the monoclonal antibody, 6H4. Cellular changes in the transfected CHO-K1 cells were investigated using parameters such as MTT, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, as well as nitric oxide (NO) production, and an apoptosis assay. In the MTT and LDH assays, the bovine PrnP-transfectant showed a lower proliferation rate than the wild-type (p < 0.05). Production of NO, after LPS or ConA stimulation, was not detected in either transfectants or CHO-K1 cells. In SOD assay under ConA stimulation, the SOD activity of transfectants was 10 times higher than that of CHO-K1 cells at 6 h after treatment (p < 0.05). The genomic DNA of both the transfectants and control cells began to be fragmented at 6 h after treatment with cyclohexamide. Caspase-3 activity was reduced by transfection with the bovine Prnp (p < 0.05). Conclusively, the viability of transfectants expressing exogenous bovine Prnp was decreased while the capacities for cellular protection against antioxidative stress and apoptosis were increased