The role of age in post-cardiac arrest therapy in an elderly patient population.

AIM: We investigated the effect of age on post-cardiac arrest treatment outcomes in an elderly population, based on a local database and a systemic review of the literature. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively from medical charts and reports. Sixty-one comatose patients, cooled to 32-34 °C for 24 h, were categorized into three groups: younger group (≤65 years), older group (66-75 years), and very old group (>75 years). Circumstances of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), patients' characteristics, post-resuscitation treatment, hemodynamic monitoring, neurologic outcome and survival were compared across age groups. Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square test and binary logistic regression (BLR) were applied. In addition, a literature search of PubMed/Medline database was performed to provide a background. RESULTS: Age was significantly associated with having a cardiac arrest on a monitor and a history of hypertension. No association was found between age and survival or neurologic outcome. Age did not affect hemodynamic parameter changes during target temperature management (TTM), except mean arterial pressure (MAP). Need of catecholamine administration was the highest among very old patients. During the literature review, seven papers were identified. Most studies had a retrospective design and investigated interventions and outcome, but lacked unified age categorization. All studies reported worse survival in the elderly, although old survivors showed a favorable neurologic outcome in most of the cases. CONCLUSION: There is no evidence to support the limitation of post-cardiac arrest therapy in the aging population. Furthermore, additional prospective studies are needed to investigate the characteristics and outcome of post-cardiac arrest therapy in this patient group.

Synergistic effect of nikkomycin Z with caspofungin and micafungin against Candida albicans and Candida parapsilosis biofilms.

Antifungal lock therapy has received significant interest in the last few years because the frequently usage of intravascular devices is associated with an increasing number of catheter-related bloodstream infections caused by Candida species. Antifungal combinations with synergistic interaction can be a good choice for antifungal lock therapy; therefore, interactions were examined between two echinocandins (caspofungin and micafungin) and the chitin synthesis inhibitor nikkomycin Z against Candida albicans and C. parapsilosis biofilms. Susceptibility was evaluated using the XTT-based checkerboard microdilution method, while the nature of interactions was assessed by calculating fractional inhibitory concentration indices and using the Bliss independence model. Mathematic-based evaluations were supplemented with fluorescent LIVE/DEAD viability assay. The results obtained by statistical interaction analyses correlated well with the viability assay. The tested echinocandins with nikkomycin Z caused an extended cell death and the structure of the biofilm was sparse compared to the control, especially for C. albicans. The findings support the simultaneous usage of nikkomycin Z and caspofungin or micafungin in alternative therapies such as the antifungal lock therapy. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Antifungal lock therapy can be a potential therapeutic approach to eradicate the intraluminal Candida biofilms; however, there is no approved lock strategy against fungal species so far. The results of this study provide valuable evidence that nikkomycin Z acts synergistically in combination with caspofungin or micafungin against biofilms. In addition, this synergy was more pronounced for micafungin combined with nikkomycin Z. Therefore, nikkomycin Z can be considered as a potential agent in antifungal lock therapy especially with micafungin against C. albicans or C. parapsilosis biofilms.

Ellipsometric Analysis of Aligned Carbon Nanotubes for Designing Catalytic Support Systems.

Vertically aligned CNT carpets combined with inorganic semiconductors are expected good prospect in practical applications, especially in photocatalysis. If these devices are in production, a fast and non-invasive characterization method will be required. Ellipsometry is widely used in industry as an in-line monitoring tool, so in this study the applicability of ellipsometry for characterizing CNT carpets is investigated. It is shown that ellipsometric evaluation can provide information about the density and the optical properties of the nanotubes; however, the properties of the individual nanotubes (diameter, wall number) can not be taken into account during ellipsometric modeling. To overcome these limitations, numerical simulations are also presented.

Could vectors' fear of predators reduce the spread of plant diseases?

Predators influence the behaviour of prey and by doing so they potentially reduce pathogen transmission by a vector. Arthropod predators have been shown to reduce the consumption of plant biomass by pest herbivores, but their cascading non-consumptive effect on vector insects' feeding behaviour and subsequent pathogen transmission has not been investigated experimentally before. Here we experimentally examined predator-mediated pathogen transmission mechanisms using the plant pathogen Wheat Dwarf Virus that is transmitted by the leafhopper, Psammotettix alienus. We applied in situ hybridization to localize which leaf tissues were infected with transmitted virus DNA in barley host plants, proving that virus occurrence is restricted to phloem tissues. In the presence of the spider predator, Tibellus oblongus, we recorded the within leaf feeding behaviour of the herbivore using electrical penetration graph. The leafhopper altered its feeding behaviour in response to predation risk. Phloem ingestion, the feeding phase when virus acquisition occurs, was delayed and was less frequent. The phase when pathogen inoculation takes place, via the secretion of virus infected vector saliva, was shorter when predator was present. Our study thus provides experimental evidence that predators can potentially limit the spread of plant pathogens solely through influencing the feeding behaviour of vector organisms.

Evaluating the efficiency of the Dental Teacher system as a digital preclinical teaching tool.

AIM: To investigate the use of a preparation evaluation system for enhancing the learning and performance of undergraduate dental students when cutting preparations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of eighteen students each were randomly chosen from the fourth year of the dental programme. The task chosen for this study was to make a cavity in preparation for a mesio-occlusal ceramic onlay in a plastic tooth. The dimensions of the cavity were defined, and 2 burs of known size were used for preparation. For assessment, each tooth preparation was scanned with a digital scanner and analysed using the Dental Teacher software. In the control group, a second corrective preparation was made following the supervisor's instructions. In the test group, the second preparation was made based on Dental Teacher analysis. The final cavities were all scanned and assessed by Dental Teacher comparing the similarity of students' onlay cavity preparations to the ideal preparation. All data were recorded and analysed by the software, including cavity depth and width in the occlusal and proximal box, the extent of mesiobuccal cusp reduction and shoulder width around the mesiobuccal cusp. Finally, the data were statistically evaluated using a Wilcoxon matched pairs test and a Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: Three of the 6 cavity dimension parameters improved significantly in the test group whilst no improvement was found in the control group. A positive correlation was found between the improvement and the deviation measured for the first preparations, and it was stronger in the test group than in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The use of Dental Teacher helped students to learn the preparation technique for onlay restorations more efficiently and seems to be a promising and useful method to facilitate their individual performance. Student feedback showed a great demand for digital aids in education.

Activity of exogenous tyrosol in combination with caspofungin and micafungin against Candida parapsilosis sessile cells.

AIMS: Fungal quorum-sensing molecules may have an inhibitory effect as adjuvant against Candida biofilms. Therefore, in vitro activity of caspofungin and micafungin was evaluated against Candida parapsilosis biofilms in the presence of tyrosol. METHODS AND RESULTS: Interactions were assessed using fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) determination, metabolic activity-based time-kill experiments and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Tyrosol caused 1-16-fold and 2-32-fold decrease in median caspofungin and micafungin MICs respectively. Based on FICI, synergy was observed in isolates 27001 and 17820 with caspofungin and 27001 with micafungin. In time-kill experiments, the metabolic activity reduction was higher for micafungin compared to caspofungin at 24 h especially when used in 64 and 256 mg l-1 concentrations. In the case of micafungin, the 256 mg l-1  + 1 mmol l-1 combination caused significantly higher decrease in metabolic activity compared to the corresponding concentration alone (256 mg l-1 ) at 24 h (P < 0·05). SEM confirmed the higher killing effect of tested echinocandins with tyrosol. CONCLUSIONS: Considerable metabolic activity reduction and cell damage was detected for combinations especially in the case of micafungin. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our findings support the development of new alternative therapeutic strategies against C. parapsilosis biofilms.

Pregnancy Loss in Dairy Cattle: Relationship of Ultrasound, Blood Pregnancy-Specific Protein B, Progesterone and Production Variables.

Objectives were to determine associations between percentage pregnancy loss (PPL) in dairy cattle and: (i) pregnancy diagnosis by ultrasonography; (ii) pregnancy diagnosis by serum pregnancy-specific protein B (PSPB) concentrations, with or without serum progesterone concentrations; and (iii) production and environmental factors. This study included 149 822 pregnancy diagnoses conducted over 13 years in Holstein-Friesian cows in Hungarian dairy herds. The following were determined: PPL in cows diagnosed pregnant by transrectal ultrasonography 29-42 days after artificial insemination (AI; n = 11 457); PPL in cows diagnosed pregnant by serum PSPB 29-35 days after AI (n = 138 365); and PPL and its association with serum progesterone concentrations, PSPB and production/environmental variables. The definition of PPL was percentage of cows initially diagnosed pregnant based on ultrasonography or PSPB, but not pregnant when examined by transrectal palpation 60 -70 days after AI. The PPL was lower (p < 0.001) in cows following ultrasonographic vs PSPB diagnosis of pregnancy at 29-35 days (8.1 vs 19.3%, respectively), but was higher in cows following ultrasonographic pregnancy diagnosis on 29-35 vs 36-42 days (8.1 vs 7.1%, respectively, P < 0.05). Furthermore, 72.9% of pregnancies with ultrasound-detected morphological abnormalities resulted in pregnancy loss. As a subset of PSPB data, a fully quantitative PSPB assay was used for 20 430 samples; PPL in cows with a high PSPB concentration (>1.1 ng/ml) was lowest (15.0%), whereas cows with low concentrations of both PSPB and progesterone (0.6-1.1 and <2 ng/ml, respectively) had the highest PPL (76.3%; p < 0.0001). Furthermore, PPL was higher in cows with advanced parity and with high milk production, when ambient temperatures were high, although body condition score (BCS) had no effect on PPL. Finally, there were no significant associations between serum PSPB and environmental temperatures or number of post-partum uterine treatments.

Assessment of heat provocation tests on the human gingiva: the effect of periodontal disease and smoking.

UNLABELLED: Periodontal inflammation is associated with morphological changes in the blood vessels which may influence the regulation of gingival blood flow (GBF). Our aim was to adapt the heat provocation test to the human gingiva to assess vascular reactivity in periodontal inflammation. METHOD: GBF was recorded by Laser Doppler Flowmetry before and after heat provocation in healthy volunteers (n = 50). Heat was generated either by warm saline or a halogen lamp. The latter method was also utilized for a heat test in non-smoking and smoking patients with periodontal inflammation. The circulatory parameters were correlated to the inflammatory marker, i.e. gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) production measured by Periotron. RESULTS: Local application of heat caused a rapid, significant and transient increase in GBF regardless of the method used. The increase in the speed and not in the concentration of moving blood cells was responsible for increased GBF. Higher GCF values were correlated with increased peak flow, flux pulse amplitude and faster restoration of GBF after the test in non-smokers, but not in smokers. CONCLUSIONS: The heat test could be a valuable tool to check the vascular reactivity of gingival vessels. Moderate periodontal inflammation may facilitate gingival vascular responsiveness which can be suppressed by smoking.

Nesfatin-1 exerts long-term effect on food intake and body temperature.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the anorexigenic peptide, nesfatin-1 affects energy expenditure, and to follow the time course of its effects. DESIGN: Food intake duration, core body temperature, locomotor activity and heart rate of rats were measured by telemetry for 48 h after a single intracerebroventricular injection of 25 or 100 pmol nesfatin-1 applied in the dark or the light phase of the day. Body weight, food and water intake changes were measured daily. Furthermore, cold-responsive nesfatin-1/NUCB2 neurons were mapped in the brain. RESULTS: Nesfatin-1 reduced duration of nocturnal food intake for 2 days independently of circadian time injected, and raised body temperature immediately, or with little delay depending on the dose and circadian time applied. The body temperature remained higher during the next light phases of the 48 h observation period, and the circadian curve of temperature flattened. After light phase application, the heart rate was elevated transiently. Locomotion did not change. Daily food and water intake, as well as body weight measurements point to a potential decrease in all parameters on the first day and some degree of compensation on the second day. Cold-activated (Fos positive) nesfatin-1/NUCB2 neurones have been revealed in several brain nuclei involved in cold adaptation. Nesfatin-1 co-localised with prepro-thyrotropin-releasing hormone in cold responsive neurones of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, and in neurones of the nucleus raphe pallidus and obscurus that are premotor neurones regulating brown adipose tissue thermogenesis and skin blood flow. CONCLUSION: Nesfatin-1 has a remarkably prolonged effect on food intake and body temperature. Time course of nesfatin-1's effects may be varied depending on the time applied. Many of the nesfatin-1/NUCB2 neurones are cold sensitive, and are positioned in key centres of thermoregulation. Nesfatin-1 regulates energy expenditure a far more potent way than it was recognised before making it a preferable candidate anti-obesity drug.

Molecular Diagnostic Challenges and Complex Management of Consecutive Twin Pregnancies in a Family with CD40 Ligand Deficiency.

X-linked hyper-IgM syndrome (XHIGM) is a primary immunodeficiency disorder (PID) caused by mutation in the gene encoding the CD40 ligand (CD40L) expressed on activated T cells. Prenatal genotyping in carriers with twin pregnancies is more challenging than in women with singleton pregnancies. In addition, women with twin pregnancies may decide on selective termination for which the risk of loss of the healthy foetus may exceed 7%. We report here on a family affected by XHIGM. Diagnosis of the disease was made in a male patient as late as 33 years of age. After family screening, the sister of the proband conceived male twins in two consecutive pregnancies. In the first pregnancy, one of the male foetuses was hemizygous for the c.521A>G (Q174R) mutation in the CD40L gene. In the second pregnancy, ultrasound scan showed one foetus to have exencephaly and karyotyping revealed this foetus to have trisomy 18. Several options were discussed, but the parents decided on selective termination in both pregnancies. The interventions were successful in both cases, and the mother now has two healthy sons. This report demonstrates the way in which advanced technologies in molecular medicine and obstetric interventions may assist families with decisions about possible selective termination in case of life-threatening molecular or chromosomal disorders. Diagnosis of CD40L deficiency at the age of 33 years in the proband was striking and indicated that PIDs are still neglected as disease entities in the evaluation of patients with recurrent severe infectious diseases.

Genetic relatedness in wintering groups of house sparrows (Passer domesticus).

Social behaviour of group-living animals is often influenced by the relatedness of individuals, thus understanding the genetic structure of groups is important for the interpretation of costs and benefits of social interactions. In this study, we investigated genetic relatedness in feeding aggregations of free-living house sparrows (Passer domesticus) during the nonbreeding season. This species is a frequent model system for studies of social behaviour (e.g. aggression, social foraging), but we lack adequate information on the kin structure of sparrow flocks. During two winters, we ringed and observed sparrows at feeding stations, and used resightings to identify stable flock-members and to calculate association indices between birds. We genotyped the birds using seven highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, and estimated pairwise relatedness coefficients and relatedness categories (close kin vs. unrelated) by maximum likelihood method. We found that most birds were unrelated to each other in the flocks (mean +/- SE relatedness coefficient: 0.06 +/- 0.002), although most individuals had at least a few close relatives in their home flock (14.3 +/- 0.6% of flock-mates). Pairwise association between individuals was not significantly related to their genetic relatedness. Furthermore, there was no difference between within-flock vs. between-flock relatedness, and birds had similar proportions of close kin within and outside their home flock. Finally, relatedness among members of different flocks was unrelated to the distance between their flocks. Thus, sparrow flocks were not characterized by association of relatives, nevertheless the presence of some close kin may provide opportunity for kin-biased behaviours to evolve.

Transforming growth factor alpha induces angiogenesis and neurogenesis following stroke.

The cytokine transforming growth factor alpha (TGF alpha) has proangiogenic and proneurogenic effects and can potentially reduce infarct volumes. Therefore, we administered TGF alpha or vehicle directly into the area surrounding the infarct in female mice that received gender-mismatched bone marrow transplants from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing males prior to undergoing permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion. Newborn cells were tracked with bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labeling and immunohistochemistry at 90 days after stroke onset. We also studied the ingress of bone marrow-derived cells into the ischemic brain to determine whether such cells contribute to angiogenesis or neurogenesis. Infarct volumes were measured at 90 days poststroke. The results show that TGF alpha led to significant increments in the number of newborn neurons and glia in the ischemic hemisphere. TGF alpha also led to significant increments in the number of bone marrow-derived cells entering into the ischemic hemisphere. Most of these cells did not label with BrdU and represented endothelial cells that incorporated into blood vessels in the infarct border zone. Our results also show that infarct size was significantly reduced in animals treated with TGF alpha compared with controls. These results suggest that TGF alpha can induce angiogenesis, neurogenesis and neuroprotection after stroke. At least part of the pro-angiogenic effect appears to be secondary to the incorporation of bone marrow-derived endothelial cells into blood vessels in the infarct border zone.

Evaluation of the effect of ketoprofen and carprofen on platelet function in dogs studied by PFA-100 point-of-care analyser.

The effect of two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (carprofen and ketoprofen) on platelet adhesion and aggregation functions was evaluated by the PFA-100 analyser (Dade-Behring, CA, U.S.A.) using its collagen-adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and collagen-epinephrine (EPI) cartridges. The function of platelets was evaluated in 55 healthy dogs, in 7 dogs treated with ketoprofen and in 31 dogs treated with carprofen in a therapeutic dose for minimum 5 days. The therapeutic doses of carprofen had no effect on the closure time of PFA-100 (which is the marker of platelet function) but ketoprofen caused a significant increase when using collagen-EPI stimulation The closure times for both the healthy (control) and the treated dogs using EPI cartridges were often longer than the upper default cut-off point (300 sec) of the device. The PFA-100 analyser with collagen-ADP cartridges could be a useful tool for veterinary applications including the evaluation of platelet aggregation in dogs treated with NSAIDs. The upper cut-off point of PFA-100 might be extended.

Aerosol optical depth, aerosol composition and air pollution during summer and winter conditions in Budapest.

The dependence of aerosol optical depth (AOD) on air particulate concentrations in the mixing layer height (MLH) was studied in Budapest in July 2003 and January 2004. During the campaigns gaseous (CO, SO(2), NO(x), O(3)), solid components (PM(2.5), PM(10)), as well as ionic species (ammonium, sulfate and nitrate) were measured at several urban and suburban sites. Additional data were collected from the Budapest air quality monitoring network. AOD was measured by a ground-based sun photometer. The mixing layer height and other common meteorological parameters were recorded. A linear relationship was found between the AOD and the columnar aerosol burden; the best linear fit (R(2)=0.96) was obtained for the secondary sulfate aerosol due to its mostly homogeneous spatial distribution and its optically active size range. The linear relationship is less pronounced for the PM(2.5) and PM(10) fractions since local emissions are very heterogeneous in time and space. The results indicate the importance of the mixing layer height in determining pollutant concentrations. During the winter campaign, when the boundary layer decreases to levels in between the altitudes of the sampling stations, measured concentrations showed significant differences due to different local sources and long-range transport. In the MLH time series unexpected nocturnal peaks were observed. The nocturnal increase of the MLH coincided with decreasing concentrations of all pollutants except for ozone; the ozone concentration increase indicates nocturnal vertical mixing between different air layers.

Quantitative genetic aspects of coat color in horses.

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters for coat color in horses. Besides defining coat color classes (gray, chestnut, bay, and black), the phenotypes were also measured quantitatively according to standardized international procedures (Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage L*, a*, b*), where L* describes lightness, a* describes color saturation from red to green, and b* describes color saturation from yellow to blue. The total color saturation was derived from a* and b* and referred to as Chroma. A total of 294 horses from the breeds Lipizzan, Nonius, Arabian Pure Bred, Shagya Arabian, and Gidran were measured at neck, shoulder, and belly. Heritabilities (within and between breeds or color classes) and repeatabilities were estimated using REML from univariate animal models defined separately for gray and nongray horses. For gray horses, the estimated within-breed heritabilities for L* ranged from 0.45 to 0.49 and for a*, b*, and Chroma from 0.09 to 0.52, indicating moderate polygenic effect. For nongray horses, between-color class heritabilities were high (0.70 to 0.85) and within-color class heritabilities were negligible (except for L* measured on neck and belly, 0.21 and 0.34, respectively). Additionally, the importance of L* was described by the relation with the total melanin content of horse coat hair; for gray and nongray horses, a strong negative linear relationship was detected (P < 0.01). The spectrometric measures and the results of this study demonstrate a possible approach to the estimation of the polygenic component involved in coat color inheritance.

Novel amplitude and frequency demodulation algorithm for a virtual dynamic atomic force microscope.

Frequency-modulated atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM; also called non-contact atomic force microscopy) is the prevailing operation mode in (sub-)atomic resolution vacuum applications. A major obstacle that prohibits a wider application range is the low frame capture rate. The speed of FM-AFM is limited by the low bandwidth of the automatic gain control (AGC) and frequency demodulation loops. In this work we describe a novel algorithm that can be used to overcome these weaknesses. We analysed the settling times of the proposed loops and that of the complete system, and we found that an approximately 70-fold improvement can be achieved over the existing real and virtual atomic force microscopes. We show that proportional-integral-differential controllers perform better in the frequency demodulation loop than conventional proportional-integral controllers. We demonstrate that the signal to noise ratio of the proposed system is 5.7 × 10(-5), which agrees with that of the conventional systems; thus, the new algorithm would improve the performance of FM-AFMs without compromising the resolution.

Novel calretinin and reelin expressing neuronal population includes Cajal-Retzius-type cells in the neocortex of adult pigs.

Cajal-Retzius cells and their secreted product reelin are essential for the lamination of the cerebral cortex. In all species studied to date Cajal-Retzius cells form a transient neuronal population that almost completely disappears from the neocortex postnatally. Recently, in the hippocampal formation of adult domestic pig, we have found a large calretinin- and reelin-immunoreactive cell population that morphologically corresponded to Cajal-Retzius cells. In the present study, we examined calretinin- and reelin-immunoreactive neurons in layer I of the prefrontal, temporal, parietal and occipital neocortical areas of newborn, young adult and adult domestic pigs. Large numbers of bipolar or fusiform calretinin-positive cells were found in the upper half of layer I in all examined age groups. The morphology of these neurons resembled that of the Cajal-Retzius cells. Layer I was occupied by a dense calretinin-positive axonal plexus that was similar to the previously described axons of Cajal-Retzius cells in other species. In a similar location, where calretinin-positive cells occurred in layer I, large numbers of reelin-immunoreactive cells were found in all examined age groups. In addition, reelin colocalized with calretinin in layer I neurons. The number of calretinin and reelin-positive neurons decreased from 1 day to one year, but calretinin-positive Cajal-Retzius-type cells still comprised a remarkable large population in 12-month-old animals. Correlated light and electron microscopic examination of calretinin-labeled Cajal-Retzius-type cells indicated that these cells are integrated in the synaptic circuitry of the neocortex. Our results suggest that Cajal-Retzius cells do not disappear inevitably from the mature neocortex in all mammalian species. The function of this cell type is not known, but late persisting Cajal-Retzius-type cells in the domestic pig provide an opportunity to study their neuronal connections and the possible role of reelin in plasticity and regeneration of neocortex.