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The proposed work described the synthesis of neutral ionophores; 4,8-diaza-3,3,10,10-tetramethyl-1,2-dithiacyclodecane (S1), 5,8-diaza-3,3,10,10-tetramethyl-1,2 dithiacyclodecane-N,N''-diacetic acid (S2) and N,N''-bis(2,2-dimethyl-2-mercaptoethyl)ethylenediamine-N,N-diacetic acid (S3) used for comparative analysis in determination of molybdenum(v) as PVC-based membrane sensors. The best result was obtained with sensor no. 7 based on S3 ionophore with membrane composition (w/w, mg%); 5.0(S) : 30.0(PVC) : 5.0(KTpClPB) : 60.0(o-NPOE) showing a working range of 2.3 × 10-7-1.0 × 10-2 M with a detection limit of 1.2 × 10-7 M and a toleration of non-aqueous media up to 15% with slope of 11.7 mV/decade of activity. The sensor no. 7 can also be used to assess the Mo(v) concentration in different natural samples (water bodies, soils, root nodules and urine samples) with comparative analysis of ETAAS and spectrophotometric methods. The proposed sensor no. 7 can be used 2.5 months without any distortion in results after that leaching of ionophore was observed from the membrane phase in aqueous solutions of Mo(v). The proposed sensor has shown a good dynamic response time of 11 s.

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the 12-month effectiveness of the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) in diabetic versus non-diabetic patients enrolled in the E-Five Registry., Design and Setting: The E-Five Registry is a prospective, multicentre registry of 8314 patients presenting with symptomatic coronary artery disease treated with the Endeavor (ZES). Patients were treated at 188 centres located in 37 countries across Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific., Patients: There were 2721 (32.7%) patients with diabetes (DM) and among these patients 682 were insulin-treated (ITDM) and 2039 were non-insulin-treated diabetic patients (NITDM). Interventions All enrolled patients received an Endeavor ZES and were followed for 12 months., Main Outcome Measurements: The primary outcome measure was major adverse cardiac event (MACE) at 12 months. Secondary endpoints included target lesion revascularisation (TLR), target vessel revascularisation (TVR), target vessel failure (TVF) and stent thrombosis., Results: Compared with non-DM patients, DM patients had higher rates of MACE (9.7% vs 6.4%, p<0.001), TLR (5.3% vs 4.0%, p=0.028) and Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definite and probable stent thrombosis (1.5% vs 0.9%, p=0.041). Compared with non-DM patients, ITDM patients had higher rates of MACE (12.6% vs 6.4%, p<0.001). ITDM patients had higher rates of death (6.7% vs 1.7%, p<0.001), cardiac death (4.5% vs 1.2%, p<0.001) and TLR (6.5% vs 4.0%, p=0.011) than non-DM patients., Conclusions: The Endeavor ZES performed well in DM patients; however, DM patients experienced higher rates of adverse clinical events compared with non-DM patients. TRIAL REG NO:, Clinical Trial Registration Information: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NTC00623441.

Pruritus is a well-known manifestation of various cholestatic disorders. Increased opioidergic tone is one of the mechanisms for this. This prospective, uncontrolled study was done to determine the efficacy of intravenous naloxone in pruritus of acute cholestasis. Twenty-two patients with severe pruritus (based on visual analogue scale [VAS] score of 0-100 and associated symptoms) were treated with intravenous naloxone (0.4 mg every 8 hours) for at least 48 hours. Viral hepatitis E was found to be the most common etiology for cholestatic pruritus (n=12). Eighteen patients (81.8%) patients had significant reduction in VAS after 48 hours of starting naloxone; these patients also showed reduction in alkaline phosphatase and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase. There was no side-effect or 'breakthrough' phenomenon noted in any patient over next 6 weeks. Naloxone is safe and efficacious in symptomatic improvement in cholestatic pruritus.

Objectives: Breathing exercises practiced in various forms of meditations such as yoga may influence autonomic functions. This may be the basis of therapeutic benefit to hypertensive patients., Design: The study design was a randomized, prospective, controlled clinical study using three groups., Subjects: The subjects comprised 60 male and female patients aged 20-60 years with stage 1 essential hypertension., Intervention: Patients were randomly and equally divided into the control and other two intervention groups, who were advised to do 3 months of slow-breathing and fast-breathing exercises, respectively. Baseline and postintervention recording of blood pressure (BP), autonomic function tests such as standing-to-lying ratio (S/L ratio), immediate heart rate response to standing (30:15 ratio), Valsalva ratio, heart rate variation with respiration (E/I ratio), hand-grip test, and cold pressor response were done in all subjects., Results: Slow breathing had a stronger effect than fast breathing. BP decreased longitudinally over a 3-month period with both interventions. S/L ratio, 30:15 ratio, E/I ratio, and BP response in the hand grip and cold pressor test showed significant change only in patients practicing the slow-breathing exercise., Conclusions: Both types of breathing exercises benefit patients with hypertension. However, improvement in both the sympathetic and parasympathetic reactivity may be the mechanism that is associated in those practicing the slow-breathing exercise.

Two patients, aged 60 and 63 years, presented with a pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta arising from the cannulation site or suture line after previous cardiac surgery. Successful exclusion of the aneurysm was performed in both patients percutaneously using Amplatzer muscular ventricular septal defect occluders.

The E-Five is a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter global registry of patients receiving the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES; Medtronic Vascular, Santa Rosa, CA) for the treatment of coronary artery stenosis. All consecutive procedures were included in the registry, without any specific anatomic or clinical exclusion criteria. Since October 2005, 8,318 patients have been enrolled in the E-Five Registry at 188 hospitals in Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, and 10,343 lesions have been treated. The primary end point is the rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 1 year. Of the lesions treated, 60.3% were American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) type B2 or C lesions, and 16.5% were bifurcation stenoses. The average lesion length was 18.50 +/- 10.60 mm, and 50.6% of the lesions were > or =16 mm long. Clinical data have been analyzed for 1,989 of the patients (23.9%) receiving the Endeavor ZES in this registry, with 30-day clinical outcomes available for 1,985 of these 1,989 patients (99.8%). The acute procedure success rate in these patients was 98.6%, comparable with procedure success rates observed in previous Endeavor ZES clinical trials. The 30-day rate of MACE in these patients was just 1.7%, comparable with 30-day rates of MACE observed in previous ENDEAVOR clinical trials. In an early analysis of a subgroup of patients enrolled in the E-Five Registry, the Endeavor ZES demonstrated encouraging acute and 30-day outcomes in a real-world population of patients who underwent single-vessel or multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention.

Al(3+) selective sensor has been fabricated from poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix membranes containing neutral carrier morin as ionophore. Best performance was exhibited by the membrane having composition as morin:PVC:sodium tetraphenyl borate:tri-n-butylphosphate in the ratio 5:150:5:150 (w/w, mg). This membrane worked well over a wide activity range of 5.0x10(-7) to 1.0x10(-1)M of Al(3+) with a Nernstian slope of 19.7+/-0.1mV/decade of Al(3+) activity and a limit of detection 3.2x10(-7)M. The response time of the sensor is approximately 5s and membrane could be used over a period of 2 months with good reproducibility. The proposed sensor works well over a pH range (3.5-5.0) and demonstrates good discriminating power over a number of mono-, di- and trivalent cations. The sensor can also be used in partially non-aqueous media having up to 20% (v/v) methanol, ethanol or acetone content with no significant change in the value of slope or working activity range. The sensor has also been used in the potentiometric titration of Al(3+) with EDTA and for its determination in zinc plating mud and red mud.

N,N',N'',N'''-1,5,8,12-tetraazadodecane-bis(salicylaldiminato)(H(2)L) has been used as ionophore for preparing Mn(2+) selective sensor. Membranes of different composition with regard to ratio of H(2)L:PVC:NPOE:NaTPB have been prepared and investigated. The best performance was obtained with the membrane of composition 10:150:150:10 (H(2)L:PVC:NPOE:NaTPB) (w/w; mg). This membrane generated linear potential response in the concentration range of 5.0x10(-6) to 1.0x10(-1)M with a Nernstian slope of 30.0mV/decade of activity and fast response time (10s). Hydrogen ion does not effect to the performance of sensor in the pH range 3.0-6.5. The sensor was found to be sufficient selective for Mn(2+) over a number of alkali, alkaline and heavy metal ions and could therefore be used for the determination of manganese in various samples by direct potentiometry.

Coronary stent technology has rapidly evolved from a mechanical solution to abrupt vessel closure and elastic recoil following plain balloon angioplasty, to become a vector for local drug delivery and modification of coronary plaque pathophysiology. The advent of drug-eluting stents (DES) has significantly reduced restenosis, although there is increasing concern over the risk of late stent thrombosis, particularly following cessation of antiplatelet therapy. Here we consider the limitations of the current generation of DES, and review recent advances in platform, carrier, and pharmacological technology, and their place in future clinical practice.

The purpose of this paper is to review what is known regarding the anatomy of the coronary venous system, and the commonly used techniques for its selective catheterization. This is with regard to new innovative percutaneous techniques that have led to a burgeoning interest in methods of access to the coronary veins. Anatomical variation in the epicardial system exists, and the additional role of the Thebesian venous system may have important clinical implications. Catheter-based techniques for coronary vein retroperfusion may provide alternative treatment modalities for patients with no option for revascularization using conventional techniques. Furthermore, the use of the coronary venous system has now been reported for the regional delivery of drugs, cells and genes to protect and/or regenerate the myocardium. Finally, the use of the coronary venous system by the cardiac electrophysiologist is reviewed.

Development of inexpensive adsorbents from industrial wastes for the treatment of wastewaters is an important area in environmental sciences. Blast furnace slag, dust and sludge from steel plants, and carbon slurry from fertilizer plants after their treatment have been utilized as inexpensive adsorbents for the removal of phenols, which are an important class of pollutants as they are highly toxic. The characterization of the four adsorbents prepared has shown that the carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from carbon slurry possesses high porosity and maximum surface area (380 m2/g) as compared to the other three adsorbents (4-28 m2/g). The adsorption of four phenols (phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol) on these adsorbents is parallel to their porosity and surface area order. The uptake of the phenols on carbonaceous adsorbent is substantial and found to be 17.2, 50.3, 57.4, and 132.5 mg/g for phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 4-chlorophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol, respectively. The detailed adsorption studies on carbonaceous adsorbent have indicated that the adsorption process follows the Langmuir isotherm, is first order, and is pore diffusion controlled. As adsorption of phenols on prepared carbonaceous adsorbent is significant, its performance has been evaluated with respect to standard activated charcoal. The results indicate that the phenols removal efficiency of carbonaceous adsorbent is about 45% to that of a standard activated charcoal sample. Thus, the carbonaceous adsorbent can be used for the removal of phenols as a low-cost alternative (approximately 0.1 U.S. dollars/kg) to activated charcoal.

Objective: Treatment of bleeding gastric varices (GVs) is still controversial, mainly because of anecdotal studies or inclusion of patients with GVs located at different sites that have variable incidences of bleeding. A prospective study was undertaken to compare the efficacy and safety of GV sclerotherapy using alcohol and GV obturation using cyanoacrylate glue., Methods: Thirty-seven consecutive patients with portal hypertension and endoscopic evidence of isolated GVs, 17 presenting with histories of active bleeding, were randomized to receive endoscopic intervention either with alcohol (n = 17) or with cyanoacrylate glue (n = 20) injection. Variceal obliteration, rebleeding, or death was the endpoint., Results: The glue was significantly more effective in achieving variceal obliteration than alcohol (100% vs 44%, p < 0.05). Furthermore, this could be achieved in a significantly shorter period (2.0 +/- 1.6 vs 4.7 +/- 3.2 wk, p < 0.05) and with a smaller volume of the agent. Cyanoacrylate glue injection could achieve arrest of acute GV bleeding more often than alcohol (89% vs 62%), and the need for rescue surgery was less; the difference was, however, not significant. Six patients died from uncontrolled GV bleeding, four being in the alcohol group. During a mean follow-up of 15.4 +/- 3.7 months there was no recurrence of GVs in either group., Conclusions: Our results show that cyanoacrylate is more effective and achieves GV obliteration faster than injection sclerotherapy with alcohol. It also appears to be more useful in controlling acute GV bleeding, with less of a need for rescue surgery.