Atypical antipsychotic (clozapine) self-poisoning in late pregnancy presenting with absent fetal heart rate variability without acidosis and delayed peristalsis in the newborn baby: a case report.

A case of an attempted suicide with atypical antipsychotic (clozapine) in late pregnancy is reported. Toxic effects of clozapine in the mother as well as in the fetus and newborn were observed. It should be remembered as a rare cause of unexplained loss of consciousness in pregnant women, a cause of abnormalities on fetal cardiotocogram as well as a cause of delayed peristalsis in a newborn baby.

Adrenomedullin is a novel marker of tumor progression in neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Adrenomedullin is a multi-functional polypeptide hormone. Its involvement in angiogenesis and vasodilator action support the hypothesis that adrenomedullin may be a secretory product of neuroendocrine tumors and contribute to tumor progression. Plasma levels of adrenomedullin were measured by radioimmunoassay in 46 patients with neuroendocrine carcinomas of the gastroenteropancreatic and bronchial system. Tissue expression of adrenomedullin was studied using monoclonal antibodies on pretreated paraffin embedded tissues in a group of 31 patients. Adrenomedullin plasma levels were significantly elevated in patients compared to healthy age-matched controls (p < 0.001). The highest plasma levels were found in patients with neuroendocrine carcinomas of bronchial, midgut and unknown origin. Patients with progressive disease had higher plasma levels than patients with stable disease (p < 0.001). Of the examined tumor samples, 55 % showed cytoplasmic staining for adrenomedullin > 5 % of the total tumor area. Plasma levels and tissue expression of adrenomedullin did not correlate with functional activity of the tumors or presence of the carcinoid syndrome, but did with tumor progression (p < 0.001 and p < 0.014). In conclusion, plasma and tissue expression of the angiogenic peptide adrenomedullin are predictive of tumor progression in patients with neuroendocrine carcinomas. Adrenomedullin might represent a useful prognostic marker in patients with neuroendocrine carcinomas.

Perioperative care and the role of the theater nurse: a Swedish perspective.

A model for perioperative care has been used in which the theater nurse visits the patient both before and after surgery. The model stresses a holistic patient view. Preoperative and postoperative visits enable the nurse to give and discuss detailed information about all aspects of the surgery. Experiences from using the model during the last 6 years are reported and discussed.

Surface biopassivation of replicated poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic channels and application to heterogeneous immunoreaction with on-chip fluorescence detection.

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) appeared recently as a material of choice for rapid and accurate replication of polymer-based microfluidic networks. However, due to its hydrophobicity, the surface strongly interacts with apolar analytes or species containing apolar domains, resulting in significant uncontrolled adsorption on channel walls. This contribution describes the application and characterization of a PDMS surface treatment that considerably decreases adsorption of low and high molecular mass substances to channel walls while maintaining a modest cathodic electroosmotic flow. Channels are modified with a three-layer biotin-neutravidin sandwich coating, made of biotinylated IgG, neutravidin, and biotinylated dextran. By replacing biotinylated dextran with any biotinylated reagent, the modified surface can be readily patterned with biochemical probes, such as antibodies. Combination of probe immobilization chemistry with low nonspecific binding enables affinity binding assays within channel networks. The example of an electrokinetic driven, heterogeneous immunoreaction for human IgG is described.