•Toxicity tests were carried on Artemia franciscana with copper sulphate pentahydrate & sodium dodecyl sulphate.•Acute, long-term & hatching toxicity tests were intercalibrated to evaluate their ...reliability and reproducibility.•The good intercalibration results strongly support standardization and use in the regulatory protocols.•Acute hatching test shows more sensitivity than acute mortality test and EC50 values comparable to acute tests with other species.
The brine shrimp, Artemia spp., is widely used in ecotoxicology as a target biological model. Although several protocols were available in the early 1980s, only the 24-h acute mortality toxicity test was evaluated in a European intercalibration exercise during that period. Nevertheless, documentation of standard methods serving to provide specifications, guidelines or detailed characteristics of the 24-h protocol is still unavailable. This paper present the results of an intercalibration study of three toxicity-testing protocols using Artemia franciscana: (a) the 24-h static acute mortality test, (b) the 48-h static hatching test and (c) the 14-d static-renewal long-term mortality test. A first tier of experiments was conducted by a reference laboratory, which investigated the repeatability of the three methods. The feasibility and reproducibility of these protocols were then investigated by an intercomparison exercise involving 11 participants for the acute mortality test, seven for the acute hatching test and nine for the long-term mortality test. Protocols were tested on reference toxicants (copper sulphate pentahydrate and sodium dodecyl sulphate). The coefficients of variation were <20% and <50% for intra- and interlaboratory activities, respectively. These results encourage the standardization of the proposed methods and their use as regulatory procedures.
The use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) due to H1N1 virus infection is controversial. In this multicenter study we aimed to assess the efficacy of NIV ...in avoiding endotracheal intubation (ETI) and to identify predictors of success or failure.
In this prospective multicenter study, 98 patients with new pulmonary infiltrate(s) sustained by H1N1 virus and a PaO(2)/FiO2<300 were eligible for study; 38/98 required immediate ETI, while the others received NIV as a first line therapy; 13/60 patients failed NIV and were intubated after 5.8+5.5 hours from enrolment. The remaining 47/60 patients were successfully ventilated with NIV.
Hospital mortality was significantly higher in those patients who failed NIV vs. those who succeeded (53.8% vs. 2.1%; OR=0.52, P<0.001). ETI was associated with higher number of infectious complications, mainly sepsis and septic shock. The OR of having one of these events in the NIV failure group vs. NIV success was 16.7, P<0.001. According to logistic regression model, a SAPS II>29 and a PaO(2)/FIO(2)≤127 at admission and PaO2/FIO(2)≤149 after 1 hr of NIV were independently associated with the need for ETI.
The early application of NIV, with the aim to avoid invasive ventilation, during the H1N1 pandemics was associated with an overall success rate of 47/98 (48%). Patients presenting at admission with an high SAPS II score and a low PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio and/or unable to promptly correct gas exchange are at high risk of intubation and mortality.
Morbidity and mortality after conventional open repair of post-dissecting thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA) remain high despite the improvement of results. Recently, "hybrid" open de-branching ...procedures combined with endovascular stent-grafting of the atherosclerotic thoracic aortic aneurisms have been performed, as an alternative approach. However, patients with significant cardiac, pulmonary or renal comorbidities, may represent an unfit cohort also for such hybrid procedures, and, of consequence, may be resigned to medical treatment. Recent experiences with fenestrated and branched stent-grafts have opened new opportunities in the treatment of extensive aortic aneurysms involving the visceral and renal arteries, particularly in case of atherosclerotic aneurysms. Post-dissection thoracoabdominal aneurysms present with additional challenges such as narrow true lumen at the level of the visceral vessels origin, and the lack of a stable distal landing zone. In this report, we discuss the role of fenestrated and branched stent-grafts as feasible treatment of post-dissecting TAAA.
Background Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), particularly carboxymethyl(lysine)‐adducts (CML), exert part of their cellular effects by binding to a receptor, named receptor for AGEs (RAGE). The ...soluble form of this receptor (sRAGE) has been shown to have an athero‐protective role. We hypothesized the existence of a relationship between the AGE–RAGE axis and the occurrence of symptoms related to carotid atherosclerosis in nondiabetic conditions.
Materials and methods We evaluated plasma levels of CML and sRAGE (by ELISA), and tissue levels (tAGEs and tRAGE, semiquantitatively, by immunohistochemistry) in endarterectomy carotid plaque tissue in 29 nondiabetic patients. At the time of surgery, 10 patients were asymptomatic and 19 were symptomatic.
Results Plasma levels of sRAGE were higher in symptomatic patients than in asymptomatic patients median (interquartile range): 676 (394–858) pg mL−1 vs. 347 (284–479) pg mL−1, P = 0·009. In symptomatic patients, plasma levels of sRAGE correlated positively with CML (r = 0·60, P < 0·01), C‐reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0·618, P < 0·01) and fibrinogen (r = 0·522, P<0·005), while in asymptomatic patients, no correlation was observed. Although tissue and plasma levels of AGEs and RAGE did not correlate between each other, tAGEs and tRAGE were also positively correlated only in symptomatic patients (χ2 = 8·93, P = 0·003).
Conclusions Plasma levels of sRAGE are higher in symptomatic than asymptomatic carotid atherosclerosis. Higher levels of sRAGE in symptomatic patients may be markers of a higher degree of vascular inflammation in such patients.
Momentum measurement by the angular method in the Emulsion Cloud Chamber De Serio, M.; Ieva, M.; Simone, S. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
10/2003, Letnik:
512, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present the first automated momentum measurement in an Emulsion Cloud Chamber, consisting of multiple sandwiches of lead plates and nuclear emulsion sheets. The measurement is based on the ...detection of the multiple Coulomb scattering analysed by the so-called angular method. A 3
X
0 chamber was exposed to 2, 3 and
4
GeV/c
π
−. A pion momentum resolution of 36% at
4
GeV/c
, 35% at
3
GeV/c
and 28% for
2
GeV/c
was achieved.
Measurements of the atmospheric flux of muons and other charged particles have been performed at the external site of the Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS, Italy,
1000
m
a.s.l.
), in view of the OPERA ...experiment. Scintillation counters and nuclear emulsion plates have been used. Rates and angular distributions at several depths of Fe shielding are presented and compared with Monte Carlo simulations.
Acute type A aortic dissection and coarctation of the aorta is a rare associated disease. A case of two-stage repair is presented. Firstly the ascending aorta and the right hemi-arch was replaced ...using deep hypo-thermic circulatory arrest. Cardiopulmonary bypass was proximally instituted, in a patient with total aortic isthmus occlusion, using right axillary artery cannulation. Distally arterial perfusion was obtained cannulating the bilateral hypoplasic femoral arteries. Ten months later a left subclavian artery-descending thoracic aorta bypass was performed.
Proximal pseudoaneurysm of ascending-abdominal aortic bypass is an uncommon surgical disease. We report a repair of complete detachment of proximal anastomosis of the ascending-abdominal aortic ...bypass in a 68-year-old man that underwent surgery in 1988 for chronic descending thoracic aortic aneurysm treated with thromboesclusion technique. The clinical, diagnostic, and operative aspects are discussed.
In this paper, the usefulness of different kinds of 'target' and 'threshold' reference points, their practical application for Nephrops norvegicus, the accuracy of their estimates and uncertainty ...levels are discussed. This study refers to the stock settled on the northern Tyrrhenian grounds around the Tuscan archipelago north of Elba island. Growth and mortality rates as well as some reproductive aspects (age at first maturity, fecundity at age, etc.) were incorporated into stock assessment models and allowed to estimate the present status for the Nephrops fishery and to define the more safe and productive fishing strategy for the species. The estimated current F value is well under the values of the target reference points F
(Fmsy = M)
and F
0.1
suggesting that the species is only lightly exploited. The stock replacement analysis suggests that, with the current fishing strategy, the surviving adult stock biomass is able to ensure population self-renewal.
This paper demonstrates the inadequacy of F
max
as a threshold reference point for Nephrops norvegicus. In fact, with current fishing strategy, the yield-per-recruit curves are very flat over a relatively moderate rate of fishing mortality and hence a very high (and economically inefficient) effort increase should be necessary in order to reach the maximum yield-per-recruit. At this high mortality rate, the probability of population rebuilding should be extremely reduced and risk of stock collapse increased.
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