Preparation of Monodispersed Nanoporous Eu(III)/Titania Loaded with Ibuprofen: Optimum Loading, Luminescence, and Sustained Release.

Functional nanomaterials are one of the potential carriers for drug delivery, whereas there are many prerequisites for this purpose. The carrier should be monodispersed, be fluorescent, and have a proper nanostructure to keep/release drug molecules to achieve controlled release, although preparing a nanomaterial which fulfills all the demands is still very challenging. In this paper, we show the preparation of monodispersed nanoporous amorphous titania submicron particles with fluorescent property. They adsorb a model drug molecule-ibuprofen-with their surface coverage up to 100%. Such a perfect loading does not decrease the fluorescent intensity because of any quenching effects but even maximize it. We also demonstrate the release behavior of IBU into simulated body fluid. Interestingly, the present carrier releases most of IBU in 6 h, whereas that modified with the polyethylene glycol moiety takes 48 h to finish releasing IBU, indicating its potential for controlled release applications.

Physiological and psychological evaluation of the wrapped warm footbath as a complementary nursing therapy to induce relaxation in hospitalized patients with incurable cancer: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The wrapped warm footbath (WW-footbath) was originally designed as a means to promote relaxation, positive emotion, comfort, pleasure, and enjoyment in hospitalized patients with incurable stomach cancer during palliative care. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the physiological and psychological effects of the WW-footbath as complementary nursing intervention to induce relaxation in hospitalized patients with incurable cancer. METHODS: Eighteen subjects were divided into a footbath group (n=9) and a control group (n=9). Heart rate variability analysis (per second) with wavelet transformation was used for evaluation of autonomic, sympathetic, and parasympathetic activities. Salivary secretory immunoglobulin A and salivary cortisol levels were used as neuroimmunological parameters. Pain and psychological conditions were measured using a visual analog scale and Face Scale (FS). RESULTS: The high-frequency component of heart rate variability was not significantly increased in either group. However, the low-frequency component versus high-frequency ratio was significantly decreased in the footbath group at periods after footbath (P=.017, P=.000, P=.000, P=.003). In the footbath group, the salivary secretory immunoglobulin A level was significantly increased (P=.019), and the cortisol level tended to be reduced. Changes in visual analog scale and FS scores showed that the footbath group experienced significant pain relief and relaxation (pain, P=.047; relaxation, P=.042; comfortability, P=.008; FS, P=.013). CONCLUSIONS: The WW-footbath significantly decreased sympathetic activity in hospitalized patients with incurable cancer and may have secondary benefit for pain relief. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The WW-footbath can promote relaxation in hospitalized patients with incurable cancer. Moreover, the WW-footbath appears to afford pain relief associated with enhanced overall comfort.

Diagnostic performance of a new multifunctional electrocardiograph during uninterrupted chest compressions in cardiac arrest patients.

BACKGROUND: External chest compression is considered to play a significant role in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but during a rhythm check, chest compressions must be discontinued to avoid artifacts. A new multifunctional electrocardiograph (ECG; Radarcirc) has been developed for use in clinical settings. METHODS AND RESULTS: The performance of the Radarcirc and conventional ECG (CoECG) during CPR was compared in a single-center, non-randomized, sequential self-controlled study. CPR was performed on 41 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients. Cardiac rhythm with and without chest compressions during a rhythm check was measured using leads I and II. When the rhythm changed during CPR, it was measured as another waveform. Fifty ECG recordings were obtained, of which 27 were asystole, 18 pulseless electrical activity, and 5 ventricular fibrillation (VF). The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) for VF was 0.448 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.274-0.622) for lead II of the CoECG, and 0.797 (95%CI 0.684-0.910) for lead II of the Radarcirc. The AUC for VF was 0.422 (95%CI 0.219-0.626) for lead I of the CoECG, and 0.987 (95%CI 0.975-1.00) for lead I of the Radarcirc. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnoses based on the data from Radarcirc were more accurate in predicting rhythm during chest compressions than those based on data from the CoECG.

Cardiac arrest during gamete release in chum salmon regulated by the parasympathetic nerve system.

Cardiac arrest caused by startling stimuli, such as visual and vibration stimuli, has been reported in some animals and could be considered as an extraordinary case of bradycardia and defined as reversible missed heart beats. Variability of the heart rate is established as a balance between an autonomic system, namely cholinergic vagus inhibition, and excitatory adrenergic stimulation of neural and hormonal action in teleost. However, the cardiac arrest and its regulating nervous mechanism remain poorly understood. We show, by using electrocardiogram (ECG) data loggers, that cardiac arrest occurs in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) at the moment of gamete release for 7.39+/-1.61 s in females and for 5.20+/-0.97 s in males. The increase in heart rate during spawning behavior relative to the background rate during the resting period suggests that cardiac arrest is a characteristic physiological phenomenon of the extraordinarily high heart rate during spawning behavior. The ECG morphological analysis showed a peaked and tall T-wave adjacent to the cardiac arrest, indicating an increase in potassium permeability in cardiac muscle cells, which would function to retard the cardiac action potential. Pharmacological studies showed that the cardiac arrest was abolished by injection of atropine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, revealing that the cardiac arrest is a reflex response of the parasympathetic nerve system, although injection of sotalol, a beta-adrenergic antagonist, did not affect the cardiac arrest. We conclude that cardiac arrest during gamete release in spawning release in spawning chum salmon is a physiological reflex response controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system. This cardiac arrest represents a response to the gaping behavior that occurs at the moment of gamete release.

Impairment of instantaneous autonomic regulation relates to blood pressure fall immediately after standing in the elderly and hypertensives.

The relation between changes in blood pressure and changes in autonomic activity over a very short period of time has not been reported thus far. To examine this relation, we here introduced a new method of power spectrum analysis with wavelet transformation, which has very fine time resolution and is able to assess changes in autonomic activity quantitatively even during movement. Our subjects were 15 hypertensive and 17 normotensive subjects. A head-up tilt test was performed in all subjects, and during the test, electrocardiogram and blood pressure were recorded continuously. The power spectrums for both parameters were calculated simultaneously every 5 s using wavelet transformation. The high frequency of the RR interval of the electrocardiogram (RR-HF) and low frequency of systolic blood pressure (SBP-LF) were defined and calculated as markers of parasympathetic and alpha-1 receptor blocker, bunazosin-sensitive sympathetic activity, respectively. Focusing on the changes for 2 min immediately after head-up tilting, it was found that the changes in SBP-LF and RR-HF were significantly delayed, by at least 40 s, in hypertensives compared with normotensives and also in elderly compared with non-elderly subjects. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the instantaneous change in RR-HF was the most important confounding factor for a fall in blood pressure immediately after head-up tilting. In conclusion, real-time changes in autonomic activity calculated by wavelet transformation may provide sensitive and useful information about acute changes in cardiovascular regulation, such as delayed reaction of the autonomic regulation after head-up tilting, that may be major causes of the blood pressure fall in hypertensive and elderly subjects.

Cold-water face immersion per se elicits cardiac parasympathetic activity.

BACKGROUND: Cold-water face immersion (FI) is known to produce physiological changes, including bradycardia, by stimulating the parasympathetic system. However, other factors such as sympathetic activity, intrapleural pressures, and changes in chemical mediators may also contribute to these changes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eight healthy volunteers underwent a series of experiments designed to observe the effects of FI on heart rate and its variability, as detected using wavelet transformation. Each subject was instructed to bend over and put the entire face into an empty basin with and without breathing (protocols 1 and 2, respectively), and then perform FI in warm-water (protocols 3 and 4, respectively) and cold-water (protocols 5 and 6, respectively) while breathing and breath holding. Change in the R-R interval with FI was only significantly greater for protocol 6 than for the control procedure (protocol 1). Also, changes in the natural logarithm of high-frequency power with FI were significantly greater for protocols 5 and 6 than the protocol 1. CONCLUSIONS: Bradycardia associated with cold-water FI is mainly attributed to cardiac vagal activity, which is independent of both the change in body position caused by bending over a basin and breath holding.

Changes in autonomic activity and baroreflex sensitivity with the hypertension process and age in rats.

1. Autonomic activity and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were compared in age-matched conscious groups of Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP). 2. Male WKY rats, SHR and SHRSP aged 4-30 weeks were used. Autonomic activity and BRS were estimated by power spectral and cross-spectral analysis of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and SBP-SBP (SS) interval fluctuations, respectively. 3. The time-course of heart rate (HR), SBP, the amplitude of the low-frequency component of SBP fluctuation (SBP-LF; prazosin-sensitive index) and the amplitude of the high-frequency component of the SS interval fluctuation (SS-HF; atropine-sensitive index) consisted of two periods. In the first period (up to 10 or 15 weeks of age), BP, SBP-LF and SS-HF increased with age. The order of SBP-LF was SHRSP > SHR > WKY rats throughout this period. During the second period, BP was sustained at certain levels in all strains, but changes in SBP-LF and SS-HF with age were different among strains. In particular, in SHRSP, SBP-LF markedly decreased with age after 10 weeks. Baroreflex sensitivity in WKY rats increased gradually with age, whereas the BRS in SHR and SHRSP decreased before 6 weeks of age and remained lower than that in WKY rats. 4. In conclusion, the present study shows that both prazosin-sensitive and atropine-sensitive indices are associated with the elevation of BP in all strains studied. However, hypertension after 15 weeks of age in SHRSP is sustained despite a paradoxical reduction in sympathetic activity with an abnormal control of BRS. Therefore, the contribution of autonomic activity to hypertension may be discussed separately as a developmental period and a sustained period.

Role of vagal control in vasovagal syncope.

The vasovagal reaction is thought to be caused by sympathetic withdrawal and vagal augmentation. While measurements of muscle sympathetic nerve activity support sympathetic withdrawal in tilt induced syncope, the results of previous attempts to quantify vagal control using spectral analyses of heart rate variability (HRV) remain controversial. The sampling period used in the HRV studies is related to the discordant results. In the present study, HRV was computed every second using wavelet transformation to clarify the role of vagal control in tilt induced syncope during the 80-degree head-up tilt test (positive: 10 patients with vasovagal syncope; negative: 10 patients with vasovagal syncope, and 10 control subjects). Autonomic modulations were assessed using the absolute power of the low frequency (LF) (0.04-0.15 Hz) and high frequency (HF) (0.15-2.00 Hz) oscillatory components of R-R variability. Although the LF did not change during the tilt procedure, a decrease in the systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and increases in the R-R interval and HF were observed for the last 30 seconds before the tilt induced syncope in the tilt-positive group. Analyzing the hemodynamic measurements and spectral indices for the last 5 minutes preceding the tilt induced syncope, the study found that the SAP, R-R interval, and HF changed simultaneously during the 30-second period immediately before the tilt induced syncope. Further, the HF was positively correlated with the R-R interval and negatively correlated with the SAP. In conclusion, continuous spectral analysis of the R-R interval demonstrated increased vagal influence on the heart in tilt induced syncope.