Summary
Background Previous studies have suggested a possible influence of ghrelin on foetal growth. After birth, the regulation of this newly discovered orexigenic peptide is largely unknown.
...Objective To study the relationship between circulating levels of ghrelin and enteral nutritional state in preterm infants during the first months of life.
Methods Ghrelin levels were measured in a cross‐sectional study by radioimmunoassay on the second day after birth (n = 51), at 3 months (n = 63) and at 6 months (n = 53) of corrected postnatal age. Complete data sets of auxological parameters, biochemical values, perinatal diseases, nutritional management and therapy were determined.
Results All infants showed levels of ghrelin in postnatal serum. In correlation analyses and multivariable linear regression models, ghrelin was strongly related to enteral caloric intake on the second day after birth (all P < 0·01). At 6 months of corrected postnatal age, infants who were exclusively breastfed/formula fed had significantly lower ghrelin levels than infants with solid foods (Mann–Whitney U‐test: P = 0·027).
Conclusion Ghrelin levels were positively correlated with the enteral nutritional state in preterm infants on the second day after birth. The introduction of solid foods increased the ghrelin levels in a group of preterm infants at 6 months of corrected postnatal age.
The lack of suitable target vessels remains a challenge for aortocoronary bypass grafting in end-stage coronary heart disease. This study aimed to investigate the arterialization of cardiac veins as ...an alternative myocardial revascularization strategy in an experimental long-term model in pigs. Selective retrograde perfusion of a coronary vein (aorta to coronary vein bypass, retrobypass) before ligation of the ramus interventricularis paraconalis (equivalent to the left anterior descending artery in humans) was performed in 20 German Landrace pigs (Sus scrofa domestica). Retroperfusion of the left anterior descending vein was performed in 10 pigs (RP+) but not in the other 10 (RP-), and the vena cordis magna was ligated (L+) in 5 pigs in each of these groups but left open (L-) in the remaining animals. Hemodynamic performance (for example, cardiac output) was significantly better in the group that underwent selective retroperfusion with proximal ligation of vena cordis magna (RP+L+; 4.1 L/min) compared with the other groups (RP+L-, 2.5 L/min; RP-L+, 2.2 L/min; RP-L-, 1.9 L/min). Long-term survival was significantly better in RP+L+ pigs (112±16 d) than in all other groups. Histologic follow-up studies showed significantly less necrosis in the RP+L+ group compared with all other groups. Venous retroperfusion is an effective technique to achieve long-term survival after acute occlusion of the left anterior descending artery in a pig model. In this model, proximal ligation of vena cordis magna is essential.
Customer reviews are a fundamental part of online markets to establish trust between customers and sellers. Sharing experiences about products and services, however, is accompanied with the ...(sometimes involuntary) sharing of personal information. This is in conflict with growing concerns of data security calling for more privacy in online settings. Anonymous reputation systems could be one instrument to ensure more privacy in such markets. However, the impact of anonymity on the propensity to leave reviews is unclear. In this experimental study we therefore analyze whether the degree of anonymity of customers affects their propensity to leave reviews in an online market. We find that the amount of ratings drops significantly when subjects are anonymous pointing to self-expression as a driver of customer reviews. Moreover, we find that altruistic subjects are not affected by the introduction of anonymity and, hence, provide significantly more reviews compared to non-altruists under anonymity. When we remove the veil of anonymity, this difference between altruists and non-altruists disappears and, overall, market outcomes increase.
Objective: We investigated to determine whether colposcopic, histologic, and virologic parameters of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia are influenced by a patient’s age.
Study Design: A cohort of ...967 women with a mean age of 37.1 years underwent screening for detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by colposcopy, cytologic examination, and testing for high-risk human papillomaviruses with the Hybrid Capture System (Digene, Silver Springs, Md) and a general primer and type-specific primer polymerase chain reaction system. Cervicography was used for documentation and reproducible evaluation of the colposcopic appearance of the cervix. In 86% of patients with trivial colposcopic changes of doubtful significance (100/116) and 89% of patients with colposcopic changes consistent with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (89/99), punch biopsy specimens were taken for histologic evaluation.
Results: In patients with trivial colposcopic changes of doubtful significance, histologically confirmed cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was almost as frequent (32%, 37/116) as in patients with colposcopic changes consistent with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (43%, 43/99, difference not significant). The ratio between colposcopic evidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and trivial colposcopic changes was 1.9 in patients <35 years old with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, versus 0.5 in patients ≥35 years old with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (
P = .005). Patients with trivial colposcopic changes of doubtful significance were older (median age 36 years) than were patients with colposcopic changes consistent with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (median age 29 years,
P = .008). In patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia who had no or trivial colposcopic changes, the thickness of neoplastic epithelium was smaller (
P = .008) and the number of cellular layers was lower (
P = .01) than in patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia who had colposcopic changes consistent with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. In patients <35 years old the rate of positive results for a high-risk human papillomavirus (
P < .005) and the viral load (difference not significant) were higher than in women ≥35 years old. The rate of positive results for high-risk human papillomaviruses differed independently of age among patients with normal colposcopic findings, patients with trivial colposcopic changes of doubtful significance, and patients with colposcopic changes consistent with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (
P < .005).
Conclusions: In women ≥35 years old cervical lesions associated with intraepithelial neoplasia are thinner and thus less colposcopically conspicuous than those in women <35 years old. Patients ≥35 years old with acetowhite cervical lesions consistent with trivial changes of doubtful significance should therefore undergo punch biopsy for histologic evaluation. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1998;179:1298-304.)
Bioinspired metal-based nanoparticles have potential uses in many applications, but before possible commercial exploitation, it is essential to clarify the pathways of their production and deposition ...inside the organisms, for example, in bacteria. The technique of magnetic force microscopy (MFM) could be used to evaluate the nanoparticles' magnetic properties, in addition to allowing tracing their location inside or outside of bacteria, which could help to understand pathways of their biosynthesis. In this work, using MFM and analyzing the interaction of magnetic tip with nanoparticles and bacteria imbedded in resin at different heights above the surface, and comparing gradients of forces recorded by magnetic and non-magnetic tips, a condition was found, which allows measuring the pure magnetic response of Pd-Fe nanoparticles. For these nanoparticles, the interplay between magnetic and van der Waals forces is described at small distances to the surface. Experimental data are compared with simulations, based on the calculation of the distribution of the magnetic field around a nanoparticle, which defines magnetic force acting on the MFM tip.
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