Blockade Of γ-Aminobutyric Acid Transporters In Brain Synapses Protects Against Hyperbaric Oxygen-Induced Convulsions

Neuroscience and Behavioral Physiology - Respiration of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) suppresses the synthesis of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain, leading to weakening of inhibitory...     

Relationship between parameters of lipid peroxidation during obstructive jaundice and after bile flow restoration

Restoration of bile flow after 9-day cholestasis in rat liver normalized the content of lipid peroxidation products. The removal of the cholestatic factor after 12-day cholestasis was not followed by recovery of these parameters. We showed that measurement of serum concentration of lipid peroxidation products in patients with cholelithiasis during the preoperative period holds promise for selection of the optimum time for surgical treatment and prediction of the risk of postoperative complications. __________ Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 145, No. 1, pp. 39–42, January, 2008     

Sexual Function and Quality of Life for Women with Mild‐to‐Moderate Stress Urinary Incontinence

Introduction: Sexual function is affected by stress urinary incontinence with or without pelvic organ prolapse. The aim of the study was to describe the sexual function of women with mild‐to‐moderate stress urinary incontinence, with or without pelvic organ prolapse (up to stage 2) and examine correlations with symptoms and quality of life. This investigation was part of a large, randomized, clinical trial of women with stress urinary incontinence who participated in an exercise intervention. Methods: Women included in the study suffered from stress urinary incontinence as measured by a pad test and were interested in an exercise intervention. All participants underwent assessment for prolapse staging. Instruments included: the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ‐12), Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I‐QOL), and a health and urinary leakage questionnaire. Results: One hundred and eighty‐seven ambulatory women, aged 20 to 65 years, had a mean sexual function score of 36.9 (standard deviation [SD] 5.9). No significant correlation was found between the sexual function scores and quantity of urinary leakage. A significant correlation existed between the sexual function and I‐QOL scores (P < .001). An additional finding was that women with urgency symptoms were older (P= .04) and had significantly lower sexual function scores (mean 35.7; SD 6.4) than those who did not report urgency (mean 38.7; SD 4.6; P < .001). Discussion: Women with mild‐to‐moderate stress urinary incontinence, without or with lower stages of pelvic organ prolapse, demonstrated good sexual function, which correlated with physical and psychosocial factors. Health professionals need to perform multifaceted intake assessments on women with urinary leakage to customize their health promotion regimen.     

Systematic analysis of research underfunding in maternal and perinatal health

Background  Little published evidence supports the widely held contention that research in pregnancy is underfunded compared with other disease areas.
Objectives  To assess absolute and relative government and charitable funding for maternal and perinatal research in the UK and internationally.
Search strategy, selection criteria, data collection, and analysis  Major research funding bodies and alliances were identified from an Internet search and discussions with opinion leaders/senior investigators. Websites and annual reports were reviewed for details of strategy, research spend, grants awarded, and allocation to maternal and/or perinatal disease using generic and disease-specific search terms.
Main results  Within the imprecision in the data sets, ≤1% of health research spend in the UK was on maternal/perinatal health. Other countries fared better with 1–4% investment, although nonexclusive categorisation may render this an overestimate. In low-resource settings, government funders focused on infectious disease but not maternal and perinatal health despite high relative disease burden, while global philanthropy concentrated on service provision rather than research. Although research expenditure has been deemed as appropriate for 'reproductive health' disease burden in the UK, there are no data on the equity of maternal/perinatal research spend against disease burden, which globally may justify a manyfold increase.
Author's conclusions  This systematic review of research expenditure and priorities from national and international funding bodies suggests relative underinvestment in maternal/perinatal health. Contributing factors include the low political priority given to women's health, the challenging nature of clinical research in pregnancy, and research capacity dearth as a consequence of chronic underinvestment.     

Problems in standartization of population fluorographic screening

The authors have developed the methodology and techniques for standardizing fluorographic screening by using computed technology. The proposed does not require any manually written registration, the accounting of both patient and fluorogram in-and-outflows, the keeping on-going medical documents and paper archives. At the same time the technique allows one to form computerized lists, the dates of patients' visits, to control radiologists' activities, to supervise control over the use of hospital and mobile equipment, to plan expendable materials, etc. The efficiency and novelty of the technology are based on the computerization to make a diagnosis, and to set up a centralized bank of data on patients. This provides favorable conditions for continuous monitoring of fluographic screening of the population at any level of management and administration.