The effects of aging on arteries.

The age association and alterations in vascular structure and function at both the cellular and molecular levels are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for CV disease. The arterial remodeling during aging that may be enhanced by the CV risk factors are supersensitive to the age-related risk factors. The aging process may well be influenced by a combination of hereditary and environmental factors. Much can be done to modify environmental risk factors, very little to genetics except for choosing your parents.     

Hemichorea associated with polycythaemia vera

Abstract Chorea is a rare complication of polycythaemia vera. Polycythaemic chorea occurs predominantly in females and usually in generalised form. We present a 66-year-old woman with acute onset hemichorea-ballism with no vascular pathology in the basal ganglia region. A clear relationship was observed between the onset of chorea and worsening of haematological parameters in the patient. After repeated phlebotomies the patient's clinical status was improved. Polycythaemic chorea must be considered, especially in the elderly, as early diagnosis leads to effective treatment and prevention of complications.     

P300-based brain computer interface: reliability and performance in healthy and paralysed participants.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the use of the P300 event-related potential as a control signal in a brain computer interface (BCI) for healthy and paralysed participants. METHODS: The experimental device used the P300 wave to control the movement of an object on a graphical interface. Visual stimuli, consisting of four arrows (up, right, down, left) were randomly presented in peripheral positions on the screen. Participants were instructed to recognize only the arrow indicating a specific direction for an object to move. P300 epochs, synchronized with the stimulus, were analyzed on-line via Independent Component Analysis (ICA) with subsequent feature extraction and classification by using a neural network. RESULTS: We tested the reliability and the performance of the system in real-time. The system needed a short training period to allow task completion and reached good performance. Nonetheless, severely impaired patients had lower performance than healthy participants. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed system is effective for use with healthy participants, whereas further research is needed before it can be used with locked-in syndrome patients. SIGNIFICANCE: The P300-based BCI described can reliably control, in 'real time', the motion of a cursor on a graphical interface, and no time-consuming training is needed in order to test possible applications for motor-impaired patients.     

Synthesis of 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline derivatives and study of their effect on arterial pressure

A series of 1-alkyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines and the related 4-alkyl-1,2-dihydro-benzo[f]isoquinolines was synthesized using reactions of dialkylbenzylcarbinols and their naphthyl analogs with alkylcyanides. Experiments showed that 1-alkyl-6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinolines typically produce a hypotensive action, while the benzo-annelated structures usually exhibit a hypertensive effects. The most active compound decreases the arterial pressure in cats by 52 Torr and the effect lasts for about 4 hours. __________ Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 15–17, March, 2006.     

Light absorbing properties of indocyanine green (ICG) in solution and after adsorption to the retinal surface — an ex-vivo approach

BACKGROUND: To evaluate potential differences in light absorbing properties and stability of indocyanine green (ICG) adsorbed to the retinal surface and of ICG dissolved in water and balanced salt solution. METHODS: The retina of four human donor eyes was prepared by removing the vitreous from the retinal surface. The inner surface of the specimen was covered with two to three drops of a 0.05% or 0.15% ICG solution respectively. After 1 min, the dye was removed by careful irrigation using BSS plus. The retinal specimens were then investigated by diffuse reflection spectroscopy (UV/VIS/NIR Spectrometer Lambda 900/Perkin Elmer equipped with a PELA-1020 integrating sphere accessory) and their absorption evaluated by the Kubelka-Munk function. To control the sensitivity of the setting, diffuse reflectance spectra of ICG adsorbed to a cellulose membrane and Al(2)O(3) were measured. For comparison, absorption spectra of ICG dissolved in water and BSS plus solution were measured in relation to ICG concentration and time using an UV/VIS/NIR Spectrometer Lambda 900/Perkin Elmer. RESULTS: On the retinal surface, absorption spectra exhibited a steep increase of absorption beginning at 620 nm, with a maximum at 736 nm (0.05%) and a shoulder at 745 (0.15%) and a second maximum at approximately 800 nm for both concentrations. Repeated measurement of the retinal surface 13 days after the ICG exposure revealed no changes in the position of the maxima as compared to the initial measurements. Light absorbing properties of ICG on cellulose or Al(2)O(3) are similar to those seen on the retinal surface with respect to the pattern and location of absorption maxima. In contrast, ICG dissolved in water or BSS plus disclosed variations in absorption characteristics depending on dye concentration, solute and time of measurement. CONCLUSIONS: Absorption characteristics and stability of ICG bound to the retinal surface could be of relevance when investigating potential pathomechanisms of ICG related toxicity, which might be related not only to intraoperative but also to postoperative light exposure of patients after intravitreal use of ICG.