Selection of reference genes for normalisation of real-time RT-PCR in brain-stem death injury in Ovis aries

Background: Heart and lung transplantation is frequently the only therapeutic option for patients with end stage cardio respiratory disease. Organ donation post brain stem death (BSD) is a prerequisite, yet BSD itself causes such severe damage that many organs offered for donation are unusable, with lung being the organ most affected by BSD. In Australia and New Zealand, less than 50% of lungs offered for donation post BSD are suitable for transplantation, as compared with over 90% of kidneys, resulting in patients dying for lack of suitable lungs. Our group has developed a novel 24 h sheep BSD model to mimic the physiological milieu of the typical human organ donor. Characterisation of the gene expression changes associated with BSD is critical and will assist in determining the aetiology of lung damage post BSD. Real-time PCR is a highly sensitive method involving multiple steps from extraction to processing RNA so the choice of housekeeping genes is important in obtaining reliable results. Little information however, is available on the expression stability of reference genes in the sheep pulmonary artery and lung. We aimed to establish a set of stably expressed reference genes for use as a standard for analysis of gene expression changes in BSD

Respiratory burst function of ovine neutrophils

Background: Respiratory burst function resulting in the release of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion (O(2)(-)) from neutrophils is one of the key mechanisms of the innate immune system, and maladaptive control of this mechanism is thought to play a pivotal role in the development of pathologies such as acute lung injury and sepsis. Ovine models of these pathologies are limited by the poor understanding of ovine neutrophil respiratory burst function

Overview of a Project to Determine the Surface Temperatures of Insulated Glazing Units: Thermographic Measurement and Two-Dimensional Simulation

© 1996. American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org). Published in ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 102, Part 2. For personal use only. Additional reproduction, distribution, or transmission in either print or digital form is not permitted without ASHRAE’s prior written permission.A collaborative research project was undertaken to generate surface temperature profiles for the indoor side of seven different double and triple-glazed insulated glazing units exposed to the ASHRAE winter design condition. Four research groups produced four sets of results in a blind study. Two sets were measured by means of thermography and two were generated using two-dimensional numerical simulation. In addition, each simulation group produced results using simplified methods. Companion papers each present results from the individual studies along with some observations and commentary. This paper, an overview, presents a compilation of results and provides the opportunity for a variety of comparisons. Good agreement was found among all four sets of data. Simplified simulation models also show promise. The reassurance offered by these accomplishments is important because both the measurement and simulation methods are in the early stages of development. In addition, details found in individual temperature profiles provide valuable insights regarding the mechanisms of window heat transfer.Natural Resources Canada || Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council || Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy || Office of Buildings and Community Systems || Building Systems Division of the U.S. Department of Energy || The University of Massachusett

The use of chilled condensers for the recovery of perfluorocarbon liquid in an experimental model of perfluorocarbon vapour loss during neonatal partial liquid ventilation

Background: Perfluorocarbon (PFC) vapour in the expired gases during partial liquid ventilation should be prevented from entering the atmosphere and recovered for potential reuse. This study aimed to determine how much PFC liquid could be recovered using a conventional humidified neonatal ventilator with chilled condensers in place of the usual expiratory ventilator circuit and whether PFC liquid could be recovered when using the chilled condensers at the ventilator exhaust outlet. Methods: Using a model lung, perfluorocarbon vapour loss during humidified partial liquid ventilation of a 3.5 kg infant was approximated. For each test 30 mL of FC-77 was infused into the model lung. Condensers were placed in the expiratory limb of the ventilator circuit and the amounts of PFC (FC-77) and water recovered were measured five times. This was repeated with the condensers placed at the ventilator exhaust outlet. Results: When the condensers were used as the expiratory limb, the mean (± SD) volume of FC77 recovered was 16.4 mL (± 0.18 mL). When the condensers were connected to the ventilator exhaust outlet the mean (± SD) volume of FC-77 recovered was 7.6 mL (± 1.14 mL). The volume of FC-77 recovered was significantly higher when the condenser was used as an expiratory limb. Conclusion: Using two series connected condensers in the ventilator expiratory line 55% of PFC liquid (FC-77) can be recovered during partial liquid ventilation without altering the function of the ventilator circuit. This volume of PFC recovered was just over twice that recovered with the condensers connected to the ventilator exhaust outlet

A concise synthesis of a methyl ester 2-resorcinarene: A chair-conformation macrocycle

Anions are important hydrogen bond acceptors in a range of biological, chemical, environ-mental and medical molecular recognition processes. These interactions have been exploited for the design and synthesis of ditopic resorcinarenes as the hydrogen bond strength can be tuned through the modification of the substituent at the 2-position. However, many potentially useful compounds, especially those incorporating electron-withdrawing functionalities, have not been prepared due to the challenge of their synthesis: their incorporation slows resorcinarene formation that is accessed by electrophilic aromatic substitution. As part of our broader campaign to employ resorcinarenes as selective recognition elements, we need access to these specialized materials. In this article, we report a straightforward synthetic pathway for obtaining a 2-(carboxymethyl)-resorcinarene, and resorcinarene esters in general. We discuss the unusual conformation it adopts and propose that this arises from the electron-withdrawing nature of the ester substituents that renders them better hydrogen bond acceptors than the phenols, ensuring that each of them acts as a donor only. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations show that this conformation arises as a consequence of the unusual configurational isomerism of this compound and interruption of the archetypal hydrogen bonding by the ester functionality

Selective Use of Pericardial Window and Drainage as Sole Treatment for Hemopericardium from Penetrating Chest Trauma

Background Penetrating cardiac injuries (PCIs) are highly lethal, and a sternotomy is considered mandatory for suspected PCI. Recent literature suggests pericardial window (PCW) may be sufficient for superficial cardiac injuries to drain hemopericardium and assess for continued bleeding and instability. This study objective is to review patients with PCI managed with sternotomy and PCW and compare outcomes. Methods All patients with penetrating chest trauma from 2000 to 2016 requiring PCW or sternotomy were reviewed. Data were collected for patients who had PCW for hemopericardium managed with only pericardial drain, or underwent sternotomy for cardiac injuries grade 1–3 according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Cardiac Organ Injury Scale (OIS). The PCW+drain group was compared with the Sternotomy group using Fisher’s exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum test with P\u3c0.05 considered statistically significant. Results Sternotomy was performed in 57 patients for suspected PCI, including 7 with AAST OIS grade 1–3 injuries (Sternotomy group). Four patients had pericardial injuries, three had partial thickness cardiac injuries, two of which were suture-repaired. Average blood drained was 285mL (100–500 mL). PCW was performed in 37 patients, and 21 had hemopericardium; 16 patients proceeded to sternotomy and 5 were treated with pericardial drainage (PCW+drain group). All PCW+drain patients had suction evacuation of hemopericardium, pericardial lavage, and verified bleeding cessation, followed by pericardial drain placement and admission to intensive care unit (ICU). Average blood drained was 240mL (40–600 mL), and pericardial drains were removed on postoperative day 3.6 (2–5). There was no significant difference in demographics, injury mechanism, Revised Trauma Score exploratory laparotomies, hospital or ICU length of stay, or ventilator days. No in-hospital mortality occurred in either group. Conclusions Hemodynamically stable patients with penetrating chest trauma and hemopericardium may be safely managed with PCW, lavage and drainage with documented cessation of bleeding, and postoperative ICU monitoring. Level of evidence Therapeutic study, level IV