Effects of hemodialysis on circulating adrenomedullin concentrations in patients with end-stage renal disease

To characterize the determinants of circulating levels of adrenomedullin (AM), the plasma levels of this peptide were measured in 58 patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis, Predialysis plasma levels of AM were more than twice as high in patients on hemodialysis as compared to controls. In hemodialysis patients with heart failure (NYHA classes II-IV) or hypertensive HD patients plasma levels of AM were significantly higher than in patients with end-stage renal disease only. Plasma levels of AM were clot altered immediately by hemodialysis but decreased significantly 14-20 h after hemodialysis, AM plasma levels before hemodialysis and 14-20 h after hemodialysis were correlated with the corresponding mean arterial pressure

PROPERTIES OF SPUTTERED NiO THIN FILMS

Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films were deposited on unheated Si substrates by reactive d.c. magnetron sputtering. A pure metallic nickel target was sputtered in a mixture of argon and oxygen. The oxygen content in the gas mixture was changed in the range from 20 to 44 % . After deposition the prepared NiO films were annealed at 500 • C for 8 hours in dry air. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Only as-deposited films in the metal-sputtering mode are crystalline. Annealing in dry air gives rise to crystalline phases in all samples. All examined NiO films were semiconductors and their conductance increased by four orders of magnitude between 25 and 350 • C

High performance n-channel organic field-effect transistors and ring oscillators based on C60 fullerene films

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