Aprotinin reduces cardiac troponin I release and inhibits apoptosis of polymorphonuclear cells during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery

Objectives: In addition to blood-sparing effects, aprotinin may have cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory effects during cardiopulmonary bypass-assisted cardiac surgery. In this study, the authors examined whether aprotinin had cardioprotective and/or anti-inflammatory effects in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Design: A prospective randomized clinical trial. Setting: University hospital. Participants: Fifty patients were randomized to control (n = 25) or aprotinin treatment (n = 25) groups. Interventions: Aprotinin was given as a loading dose (2 x 10(6) KIU) followed by a continuous infusion at 5 x 10(5) KIU/h until skin closure. Measurements and Main Results: Blood samples for cardiac troponin I; interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-10; tumor necrosis factor a; and elastase were taken after anesthesia induction, completion of revascularization, and 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours after revascularization. Blood samples were taken to assess for apoptosis in polymorphonuclear cells. Baseline plasma levels for cardiac troponin I did not differ between groups but were significantly lower in aprotinin-treated patients at the time of revascularization (P = 0.03) and 6 hours (p = 0.004) and 24 hours (p = 0.03) later. Aprotinin significantly reduced apoptosis in polymorphonuclear cells compared with control-treated patients (p = 0.04). There were no differences in plasma cytokine or elastase levels between groups. Conclusions: The authors conclude that aprotinin reduces perioperative cardiac troponin I release and attenuates apoptosis in polymorphonuclear cells but has no significant effects on plasma cytokine levels in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Water kent geen grenzen : samen werken aan agrarisch waterbeheer

Waterbeheer door boeren, waarbij het nog de vraag is of grootschalige toepassing op boerenbedrijven mogelijk is. Voorbeelden zijn het project Functionele Agrobiodiversiteit (FAB) Hoeksche Waard (p. 9) en demonstratieprojecten bij individuele boeren, zoals het agrarische informatiebedrijf Helder Water (pag 8.) en het project Boeren met water (p. 9). Stuwbeheer, waterzuivering en rietteelt zijn andere voorbeelden van waterbeheer door boere

The quorum-sensing molecules farnesol/homoserine lactone and dodecanol operate via distinct modes of action in Candida albicans

Living as a commensal, Candida albicans must adapt and respond to environmental cues generated by the mammalian host and by microbes comprising the natural flora. These signals have opposing effects on C. albicans, with host cues promoting the yeast-to-hyphal transition and bacteria-derived quorum-sensing molecules inhibiting hyphal development. Hyphal development is regulated through modulation of the cyclic AMP (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway, and it has been postulated that quorum-sensing molecules can affect filamentation by inhibiting the cAMP pathway. Here, we show that both farnesol and 3-oxo-C12-homoserine lactone, a quorum-sensing molecule secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, block hyphal development by affecting cAMP signaling; they both directly inhibited the activity of the Candida adenylyl cyclase, Cyr1p. In contrast, the 12-carbon alcohol dodecanol appeared to modulate hyphal development and the cAMP signaling pathway without directly affecting the activity of Cyr1p. Instead, we show that dodecanol exerted its effects through a mechanism involving the C. albicans hyphal repressor, Sfl1p. Deletion of SFL1 did not affect the response to farnesol but did interfere with the response to dodecanol. Therefore, quorum sensing in C. albicans is mediated via multiple mechanisms of action. Interestingly, our experiments raise the possibility that the Burkholderia cenocepacia diffusible signal factor, BDSF, also mediates its effects via Sfl1p, suggesting that dodecanol's mode of action, but not farnesol or 3-oxo-C12-homoserine lactone, may be used by other quorum-sensing molecules

Evidence of different climatic adaptation strategies in humans and non-human primates

Abstract: To understand human evolution it is critical to clarify which adaptations enabled our colonisation of novel ecological niches. For any species climate is a fundamental source of environmental stress during range expansion. Mammalian climatic adaptations include changes in size and shape reflected in skeletal dimensions and humans fit general primate ecogeographic patterns. It remains unclear however, whether there are also comparable amounts of adaptation in humans, which has implications for understanding the relative importance of biological/behavioural mechanisms in human evolution. We compare cranial variation between prehistoric human populations from throughout Japan and ecologically comparable groups of macaques. We compare amounts of intraspecific variation and covariation between cranial shape and ecological variables. Given equal rates and sufficient time for adaptation for both groups, human conservation of non-human primate adaptation should result in comparable variation and patterns of covariation in both species. In fact, we find similar amounts of intraspecific variation in both species, but no covariation between shape and climate in humans, contrasting with strong covariation in macaques. The lack of covariation in humans may suggest a disconnect in climatic adaptation strategies from other primates. We suggest this is due to the importance of human behavioural adaptations, which act as a buffer from climatic stress and were likely key to our evolutionary success

Angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of two-color XUV-NIR ionization with polarization control

Electron emission caused by extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation in the presence of a strong near infrared (NIR) field leads to multiphoton interactions that depend on several parameters. Here, a comprehensive study of the influence of the angle between the polarization directions of the NIR and XUV fields on the two-color angle-resolved photoelectron spectra of He and Ne is presented. The resulting photoelectron angular distribution strongly depends on the orientation of the NIR polarization plane with respect to that of the XUV field. The prevailing influence of the intense NIR field over the angular emission characteristics for He(1s) and Ne(2p) ionization lines is shown. The underlying processes are modeled in the frame of the strong field approximation (SFA) which shows very consistent agreement with the experiment reaffirming the power of the SFA for multicolor-multiphoton ionization in this regime

Financial phantasmagoria: corporate image-work in times of crisis

Our purpose in this article is to relate the real movements in the economy during 2008 to the ?image-work? of financial institutions. Over the period January?December 2008 we collected 241 separate advertisements from 61 financial institutions published in the Financial Times. Reading across the ensemble of advertisements for themes and evocative images provides an impression of the financial imaginaries created by these organizations as the global financial crisis unfolded. In using the term ?phantasmagoria? we move beyond its colloquial sense of a set of strange images designed to dazzle towards the more technical connotation used by Ranci�re (2004) who suggested that words and images can offer a trace of an overall determining set-up if they are torn from their obviousness so they become phantasmagoric figures. The key phantasmagoric figure we identify here is that of the financial institution as timeless, immortal and unchanging; a coherent and autonomous entity amongst other actors. This notion of uniqueness belies the commonality of thinking which precipitated the global financial crisis as well as the limited capacity for control of financial institutions in relation to market events. It also functions as a powerful naturalizing force, making it hard to question certain aspects of the recent period of ?capitalism in crisis?

Bacterial genomics reveal the complex epidemiology of an emerging pathogen in Arctic and boreal ungulates

Northern ecosystems are currently experiencing unprecedented ecological change, largely driven by a rapidly changing climate. Pathogen range expansion, and emergence and altered patterns of infectious disease, are increasingly reported in wildlife at high latitudes. Understanding the causes and consequences of shifting pathogen diversity and host-pathogen interactions in these ecosystems is important for wildlife conservation, and for indigenous populations that depend on wildlife. Among the key questions are whether disease events are associated with endemic or recently introduced pathogens, and whether emerging strains are spreading throughout the region. In this study, we used a phylogenomic approach to address these questions of pathogen endemicity and spread for Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, an opportunistic multi-host bacterial pathogen associated with recent mortalities in arctic and boreal ungulate populations in North America. We isolated E. rhusiopathiae from carcasses associated with large-scale die-offs of muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and from contemporaneous mortality events and/or population declines among muskoxen in northwestern Alaska and caribou and moose in western Canada. Bacterial genomic diversity differed markedly among these locations; minimal divergence was present among isolates from muskoxen in the Canadian Arctic, while in caribou and moose populations, strains from highly divergent clades were isolated from the same location, or even from within a single carcass. These results indicate that mortalities among northern ungulates are not associated with a single emerging strain of E. rhusiopathiae, and that alternate hypotheses need to be explored. Our study illustrates the value and limitations of bacterial genomic data for discriminating between ecological hypotheses of disease emergence, and highlights the importance of studying emerging pathogens within the broader context of environmental and host factors

Optical Scattering Lengths in Large Liquid-Scintillator Neutrino Detectors

For liquid-scintillator neutrino detectors of kiloton scale, the transparency of the organic solvent is of central importance. The present paper reports on laboratory measurements of the optical scattering lengths of the organic solvents PXE, LAB, and Dodecane which are under discussion for next-generation experiments like SNO+, Hanohano, or LENA. Results comprise the wavelength range from 415 to 440nm. The contributions from Rayleigh and Mie scattering as well as from absorption/re-emission processes are discussed. Based on the present results, LAB seems to be the preferred solvent for a large-volume detector.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication by Rev. Scient. Instr