Intracranial variables in propofol or sevoflurane-anesthestized dogs subjected to subarachnoid administration of iohexol

The effects of subarachnoid administration of iohexol on intracranial hemodynamic in dogs anesthetized with propofol or sevoflurane were evaluated. Thirty adult animals (10.9±2.9kg) were distributed into two groups: PG, where propofol was used for induction (10±0.5mg/kg), followed by a continuous rate infusion at 0.55±0.15mg/kg/hour, and SG, where sevoflurane was administered for induction (2.5 MAC) and for anesthetic maintenance (1.5 MAC). A fiberoptic catheter was implanted on the right superficial cerebral cortex to monitor intracranial pressure (ICP). After 30 minutes, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected at the cisterna magna and iohexol was injected. The measurements were performed before CSF collection (TA), after the iohexol injection (T0), and at 10-minute intervals (T10 to T60). Intracranial pressure decreased at T0 in SG. Cerebral perfusion pressure at T0 was higher than at TA, T50 and T60 in PG, but in SG, the mean value at T0 was higher than the ones from T20 to T60. Mean arterial pressure at T0 was higher than at TA in PG, while in SG, the values from T20 to T60 were lower than at T0. The heart rate at T60 was lower than at T0 in PG. Cardiac output at TA was lower than at T60 in SG. The cerebrospinal fluid collection and administration of iohexol promoted decrease in intracranial pressure in sevolflurane-anesthetized dogs and increase in cerebral perfusion pressure in propofol-anesthetized dogs

Assessing the future global impacts of ozone on vegetation.

Ozone is a major secondary air pollutant, the current concentrations of which have been shown to have significant adverse effects on crop yields, forest growth and species composition. In North America and Europe, emissions of ozone precursors are decreasing but in other regions of the world, especially Asia, where much less is known about its impacts, they are increasing rapidly. There is also evidence of an increase in global background ozone concentrations, which will lead to significant changes in global ozone exposure over this century, during which direct and indirect effects of other changes in the global atmosphere will also modify plant responses to ozone. This paper considers how far our current understanding of the mechanisms of ozone impacts, and the tools currently used for ozone risk assessment, are capable of evaluating the consequences of these changing global patterns of exposure to ozone. Risk assessment based on relationships between external concentration and plant response is inadequate for these new challenges. New models linking stomatal flux, and detoxification and repair processes, to carbon assimilation and allocation provide a more mechanistic basis for future risk assessments. However, there are a range of more complex secondary effects of ozone that are not considered in current risk assessment, and there is an urgent need to develop more holistic approaches linking the effects of ozone, climate, and nutrient and water availability, on individual plants, species interactions and ecosystem function