Neck-drooping Posture in Oriental White-Backed Vultures (Gyps bengalensis): An Unsuccessful Predictor of Mortality and Its Probable Role in Thermoregulation

BACKGROUND Scleroderma, when complicated with pulmonary hypertension (PHT), presents a worse prognosis; recently treatment with new drugs seems to offer good perspectives, especially in early diagnosis and treatment. The standard approach for diagnosing PHT consists in measurement of the pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) by means of echodoppler. AIM OF INVESTIGATION Aim of this work is evaluating the significance of the NT-proBNP parameter, matched to echodoppler, in diagnosing scleroderma PHT. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty (60) patients, who came to observation for progressive systemic sclerosis underwent echodoppler in order to measure the PAP (normal values up to 30 mmHg). NT-proBNP was determined on serum sample using ECLIA method by Modular E170 (Roche Diagnostics); manufacturer reference values for age and gender were used. Forty-three (43) patients underwent a further NT-proBNP sampling 5 days later in order to assess parameter stability. RESULTS PHT and non- PHT patients showed statistically different (p < 0,001) medians (126 vs 69 pg/ml). No pathologic values of NT-proBNP were measured in the group with PAP < 30 mmHg, while 27% of cases who had PAP between 30 and 40 showed pathologic concentrations. The positivity ratio increases to 57% in patients showing PAP > 40 mmHg. No relevant correlation (r = 0,2) was found between PAP and NT-proBNP. Mean average between the two sampling groups was 31%. CONCLUSIONS In scleroderma patients, combination of NT-proBNP and PAP seems to improve the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, especially in presence of borderline pulmonary pressure values. We therefore propose the biochemical observation of NT-proBNP when PAP is > 30 mmHg and in monitoring the evolution of the pathology.

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Wound-induced tumor progression: A probable role in recurrence after tumor resection

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ◽

10.1016/s0278-2391(99)90301-4 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 57 (4) ◽

pp. 480

Author(s):

I.E Shami

Keyword(s):

Tumor Progression ◽

Tumor Resection ◽

Probable Role

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A probable role for vaccines containing thimerosal in thimerosal hypersensitivity

Contact Dermatitis ◽

10.1111/j.1600-0536.1991.tb01694.x ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 178-182 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

Junko Osawa ◽

Kazuko Kitamura ◽

Zenro Ikezawa ◽

Hiroshi Nakahma

Keyword(s):

Probable Role

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Lead-Induced Inclusion Bodies: Composition and Probable Role in Lead Metabolism

Environmental Health Perspectives ◽

10.1289/ehp.747121 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 121-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

John F. Moore ◽

Robert A. Goyer

Keyword(s):

Inclusion Bodies ◽

Lead Metabolism ◽

Probable Role

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Pain of Extinction: The Death of a Vulture

Cultural Studies Review ◽

10.5130/csr.v16i2.1702 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thom Van Dooren

Keyword(s):

Gyps Bengalensis ◽

Ethical Response

In the mid-1990s it was discovered that populations of three species of Asian vulture were disappearing at an unprecedented rate throughout India and the surrounding region. In attempting to convey the gravity of this situation we are often drawn to present it through numbers and data, to recount, for example, that 99 per cent of the Oriental white-rumped vultures (Gyps bengalensis) are now gone. But is this an appropriately ethical response to the mass death of vultures and the likely extinction of their species? In contrast to these more conventional accounts of extinctions, this article takes up the pain of vultures and the claim for response and responsibility that this pain issues. Writing about pain brings individual vultures (and others) back into our accounts as ethical subjects. But inside the multispecies communities of life that we all inescapably inhabit, I argue that this responsibility requires a worldliness beyond discrete individuals, and consequently must be understood as a generative opening, drawing us into entangled accountabilities.

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Spinal Tolerance and Dependence: Some Observations on the Role of SpinalN-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors and Phosphorylation in the Loss of Opioid Analgesic Responses

Pain Research and Management ◽

10.1155/2000/514020 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 33-39

Author(s):

Tony L Yaksh ◽

Xiao-Ying Hua

Keyword(s):

Nmda Receptor ◽

Opioid Analgesic ◽

Dose Effect ◽

Concurrent Treatment ◽

Analgesic Effects ◽

Delta Opioids ◽

Probable Role ◽

Pkc Isozymes ◽

The Right

The continuous delivery of opiates can lead to a reduction in analgesic effects. In humans, as in other animals, some component of this change in sensitivity seems likely to have a strong pharmacodynamic component. Such loss of effect, deemed to be tolerance in the present article, can be readily demonstrated in animals with repeated bolus and continuous intrathecal infusion of mu and delta opioids and alpha-2 adrenergic agonists. Research has shown that this loss of effect can be diminished by concurrent treatment withN-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists and by the suppression of the activity of spinal protein kinase C (PKC). This suggests in part the probable role of PKC-mediated phosphorylation in the right shift in the dose-effect curves observed with continuous opiate or adrenergic exposure. Importantly, this right shift is seen to occur in parallel with an increase in the phosphorylating activity in the dorsal horn and in the expression of several PKC isozymes. The target of this phosphorylation is not certain. Phosphorylation of the NMDA receptor enhances its functionality, while phosphorylation of the opioid receptor or associated channels seems to diminish their activity or to enhance internalization. While the focus is on several specific components, the accumulating data emphasize the biological complexity of these changes in spinal drug reactivity.

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