Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is associated with a high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCID). Most frequently SCID occurs in patients with NYHA class II and III. Aim: To evaluate the influence of prolonged carvedilol therapy on SCID risk in CHF patients. Methods: The study included 86 patients (81 men and 5 women) aged 56.8 +/- 9.19 (35-70) years with CHF in NYHA class II and III receivin

Background Injection of DNA encoding exogenic proteins into muscle tissue combined with electroporation often results in a transient increase of the encoded protein concentration in the muscle and the blood. The reduction is normally due to an immune response against the exogenic protein but other factors may also be involved. How various electroporation parameters affect the concentration kinetic

Mitogenic effects of the extracellular nucleotides ATP and UTP are mediated by P2Y(1), P2Y(2), and P2Y(4) receptors. However, it has not been possible to examine the highly expressed UDP-sensitive P2Y(6) receptor because of the lack of stable, selective agonists. In rat aorta smooth muscle cells (vascular smooth muscle cells; VSMC), UDP and UTP stimulated (3)H-labeled thymidine incorporation with

A new key palaeomagnetic pole (Plat. = 64.3 degrees S, Plon. = 271.0 degrees E, N = 14, A(95) = 9.2 degrees; Q = 5) is calculated from a primary magnetization isolated in early Neoproterozoic Aguapei basic sills and dykes hosted by 1.3-1.0 Ga sedimentary rocks from the southwestern part of the Amazon craton. The characteristic remanence carried by stable, pseudo-single domain titanomagnetite shows

A review is presented dealing with electrocatalytic NADH oxidation at mediator-modified electrodes, summarising the history of the topic, as well as the present state of the art.

The angiotensin II-induced vasodilatation was evaluated in rat middle cerebral artery, especially regarding endothelium-derived hyperpolarising factor (EDHF), by use of a pressurised arteriograph. The angiotensin II dilatation was partly antagonised by inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase and cyclo-oxygenase. The remaining dilatation was inhibited by the potassium channel blockers, charybdotoxin an

BACKGROUND: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a low-grade spindle cell neoplasm involving both dermis and subcutis. Its diagnosis may be difficult to render from cytologic smears, as it shares some features with other spindle cell lesions occurring in the skin and soft tissue.METHODS: Fourteen aspiration smears from 12 patients with primary, recurrent, or metastatic DFSP, examined by fine-

The interface between bone and artificial-joint implants consists of soft tissue. This tissue varies from fibrocartilage to loose fibrous tissue. Tissues that resemble those can be found in normal joints. Sixteen knees with unicompartmental knee prostheses, revised because of excessive wear of the tibial insert, were studied. Synovium, synovial fluid, cartilage, and bone from the nonreplaced compa

The objective of this article reflects upon the isomorphic relationship between ideas across disciplines. In this instance we are considering the value of a well established methodology, cross methodology, adopted from macroeconomics and ideas from political science. The cross methodology is used as a means of considering the relationship between data collected for security purposes and individual

We reconstructed forest development and disturbance events (fire and logging) during the last 1000 yr with tree-ring data, pollen and charcoal analysis from a semi-natural Fagus sylvatica-Picea abies forest (ca. I km(2)) in the hemiboreal zone. According to pollen analysis, Quercus robur together with Pinus sylvestris was abundant in the forest until the turn of the 18th/19th centuries when these

This study was directed towards personality-related, value system and sociodemographic variables of nursing students in a situation of change, using a longitudinal perspective to measure their improvement in principle-based moral judgement (Kohlberg; Rest) as possible predictors of stress. Three subgroups of students were included from the commencement of the first three-year academic nursing prog

We investigate the temporal confinement of high order harmonic pulses generated by a femtosecond (fs) infrared (IR) pulse with a time varying polarization. We use a set of two birefringent quartz plates to modulate the IR polarization. It produces a short temporal gate of linear polarization where harmonics are efficiently generated during a small fraction of the IR pulse. By rotating one of the p