Articles: chronic.
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Neuronal interactions are fundamental for information processing, cognition, and consciousness. Anesthetics reduce spontaneous cortical activity; however, neuronal reactivity to sensory stimuli is often preserved or augmented. How sensory stimulus-related neuronal interactions change under anesthesia has not been elucidated. In this study, the authors investigated the visual stimulus-related cortical neuronal interactions during stepwise emergence from desflurane anesthesia. ⋯ Neuronal interactions in the cerebral cortex are augmented during emergence from anesthesia. Visual flash stimuli enhance neuronal interactions in both wakefulness and anesthesia; the increase in interaction complexity is attenuated as poststimulus complexity reaches plateau. The critical changes in cortical neuronal interactions occur during transition to consciousness.
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Despite massive investments in the development of novel treatments for heterogeneous diseases such as COPD, the resources spent have only benefited a fraction of the population treated. Personalized health care to guide selection of a suitable patient population already in the clinical development of new compounds could offer a solution. This review discusses past successes and failures in drug development and biomarker research in COPD, describes research in COPD phenotypes and the required characteristics of a suitable biomarker for identifying patients at higher risk of progression, and examines the role of extracellular matrix proteins found to be upregulated in COPD. Novel biomarkers of connective tissue remodeling that may provide added value for a personalized approach by detecting subgroups of patients with active disease suitable for pharmacologic intervention are discussed.
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Intensive care medicine · Jul 2015
Acute kidney injury after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: risk factors and prognosis in a large cohort.
Characteristics of acute kidney injury (AKI) occurring after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are incompletely described. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of AKI, identifying risk factors and assessing the impact of AKI on outcome after OHCA. ⋯ AKI stage 3 was frequent after OHCA and was associated with poorer outcome. Improvement strategies in post-resuscitation care should consider AKI as a potential target of treatment.
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Several recent studies have shown that hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) therapy carry cognitive and motor therapeutic effects for patients with acquired brain injuries. The goal of this study was to address the specific effects of HBO₂ on memory impairments after stroke at late chronic stages. ⋯ Although further research is needed, the results illustrate the potential of HBO₂ for improving memory impairments in poststroke patients, even years after the acute event.