Das Dilatationsverhalten von Polyesterprothesen

In a prospective, randomized multicenter trial, 175 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were treated by conventional operation. Two types of polyester prostheses (Gelsoft Plus, Vascute Terumo Corp., Hamburg, Germany or Microvel, Boston Scientific, Ratingen, Germany) were selected randomly for implantation. Diameters ranged from 14 to 20 mm. The diameters of the grafts were measured by ultrasound postoperatively, as well as 6, 12, and 24 months after operation. Local and systemic complications were recorded. Dilation of the main body of the “Gelsoft plus” prosthesis was 19% within the first 12 months and 30% for the Microvel prosthesis. Extreme dilation was not observed. Thus, vascular prostheses must be chosen small enough and the dilation of 20–30% should be considered. The most frequent complication was incisional hernia (32%).     

Age-dependent Responses to Thermal Hyperalgesia and Mechanical Allodynia in a Rat Model of Acute Postoperative Pain

Background: Developmental differences in short- and long-term responses to pain, especially surgical pain, have received minimal attention. The purpose of the present study was to examine postoperative responses in rats of developmental ages paralleling the infant to young adult human.

Methods: The withdrawal threshold to von Frey filament testing and withdrawal latency to hind-paw radiant heating were determined before and for various times after hind-paw incision in rats 2, 4, and 16 weeks of age. Control rats of these ages were observed serially without surgery.

Results: In control animals, younger rats were more sensitive to mechanical stimulation and less sensitive to thermal stimulation. Paw incision resulted in similar changes to both types of stimulation in all age groups, peaking 4 h after surgery. However, the return to normal sensitivity to mechanical stimulation, as measured by return of threshold to 80% of normal, occurred more quickly in 2-week-old than in 4- and 16-week-old animals. In contrast, there was no age difference for time to return to normal sensitivity to thermal stimulation after surgery.     

On the road to automatic: dynamic aspects in the development of expertise.

One of the important steps on the road to becoming expert in a motor skill occurs when the individual can perform the movements in a seemingly effortless and automatic fashion. The authors review two lines of investigations, namely, fMRI and mathematically guided studies of the dynamics of skill acquisition, that suggest that this road to automatic involves two steps: (1) an increasing reliance on the self-regulatory aspects of the motor task, and (2) a minimization of the role of mechanisms based on intentionally directed corrective movements. The interplay between these two mechanisms implies that, at a given skill level, performance decreases whenever intention intervenes. The observation that psychological factors may be as important as mechanical repetition for the development of expertise has important implications for the design of neurorehabilitative strategies.     

Hypothalamic histamine levels in hyperthyroid,arthritic and C48/80-treated rats

Inflammation Research - .     

The structure and correlates of perfectionism in African American children.

This study examined the structure and symptom correlates of perfectionism in a sample of 6th-grade, urban, African American children using the Child and Adolescent Perfectionism Scale (CAPS; Flett, Hewitt, Boucher, Davidson, & Munro, 2000). Confirmatory factor analysis showed inadequate fit of the original subscales. Exploratory factor analysis suggested 3 dimensions of perfectionism: A Socially Prescribed and a Self-Oriented-Critical factor were described as maladaptive, whereas a Self-Oriented-Striving factor was proposed as adaptive. Cross-sectional correlations among the perfectionism dimensions and symptoms of psychopathology fit well with the adaptive versus maladaptive model. In addition, Socially Prescribed Perfectionism showed a robust predictive relation to 7th-grade internalizing symptoms, especially depression, in boys. Results are discussed in the context of the cultural and socioeconomic characteristics of this African American sample and suggestions for future research are provided.