Serum oxytocin concentrations in elective caesarean delivery: a randomized comparison of three infusion regimens

Background: The aim of this study was to determine serum oxytocin concentrations following different regimens of prophylactic oxytocin administration in women undergoing elective caesarean delivery. Methods: Thirty healthy pregnant patients were randomized, after clamping of the umbilical cord, to receive intravenous oxytocin in one of the following groups: G1 (n = 9), 10 IU of oxytocin infused over 30 min (0.33 IU/min); G2 (n = 11), 10 IU of oxytocin infused over 3 min and 45 s (2.67 IU/min); and G3 (n = 10), 80 IU of oxytocin infused over 30 min (2.67 IU/min). Both patient and surgeon were blinded to allocation. Uterine tone was assessed by surgical palpation. Serum oxytocin concentration was determined by enzyme immunoassay before anaesthesia (T0) and at 5 (T5), 30 (T30) and 60 (T60) min after the start of oxytocin infusion. Results: Serum oxytocin concentrations (mean standard error, ng/mL) were not significantly different in the groups at T0 (0.06 +/- 0.02, 0.04 +/- 0.02 and 0.07 +/- 0.04, respectively, P = 0.76), and T60 (0.65 +/- 0.26, 0.36 +/- 0.26 and 0.69 +/- 0.26, respectively, P = 0.58). G3 showed higher concentrations than G1 at 15 (3.65 +/- 0.74 versus 0.71 +/- 0.27, P = 0.01) and at T30 (6.19 +/- 1.19 versus 1.17 +/- 0.37, P < 0.01), and were higher than G2 at T30 (6.19 +/- 1.19 versus 0.41 +/- 0.2, P < 0.01). Haemodynamic data and uterine tone were considered satisfactory and similar in all groups. No additional uterotonic agents were needed. Conclusion: Serum oxytocin measurements made using enzyme immunoassay in healthy pregnant women undergoing elective caesarean delivery showed that administration of 80 IU oxytocin over 30 min resulted in higher serum oxytocin levels after 5 and 30 min than the two other regimens. The concentrations did not differ between groups at 60 min. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Local Corticosterone Infusion Enhances Nocturnal Pineal Melatonin Production In Vivo

Melatonin, an important marker of the endogenous rhythmicity in mammals, also plays a role in the body defence against pathogens and injuries. In vitro experiments have shown that either pro- or anti-inflammatory agents, acting directly in the organ, are able to change noradrenaline-induced pineal indoleamine production. Whereas corticosterone potentiates melatonin production, incubation of the gland with tumour necrosis factor-alpha decreases pineal hormonal production. In the present study, we show that nocturnal melatonin production measured by intra-pineal microdialysis is enhanced in pineals perfused with corticosterone at concentrations similar to those measured in inflamed animals. In vitro experiments suggest that this enhancement may be due to an increase in the activity of the two enzymes that convert serotonin to N-acetylserotonin (NAS) and NAS to melatonin. The present results support the hypothesis that the pineal gland is a sensor of inflammation mediators and that it plays a central role in the control of the inflammatory response.

The reactions of specific neuron types to intestinal ischemia in the guinea pig enteric nervous system

Damage following ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) is common in the intestine and can be caused during abdominal surgery, in several disease states and following intestinal transplantation. Most studies have concentrated on damage to the mucosa, although published evidence also points to effects on neurons. Moreover, alterations of neuronally controlled functions of the intestine persist after I/R. The present study was designed to investigate the time course of damage to neurons and the selectivity of the effect of I/R damage for specific types of enteric neurons. A branch of the superior mesenteric artery supplying the distal ileum of anesthetised guinea pigs was occluded for 1 h and the animals were allowed to recover for 2 h to 4 weeks before tissue was taken for the immunohistochemical localization of markers of specific neuron types in tissues from sham and I/R animals. The dendrites of neurons with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunoreactivity, which are inhibitory motor neurons and interneurons, were distorted and swollen by 24 h after I/R and remained enlarged up to 28 days. The total neuron profile areas (cell body plus dendrites) increased by 25%, but the sizes of cell bodies did not change significantly. Neurons of type II morphology (intrinsic primary afferent neurons), revealed by NeuN immunoreactivity, were transiently reduced in cell size, at 24 h and 7 days. These neurons also showed signs of minor cell surface blebbing. Calretinin neurons, many of which are excitatory motor neurons, were unaffected. Thus, this study revealed a selective damage to NOS neurons that was observed at 24 h and persisted up to 4 weeks, without a significant change in the relative numbers of NOS neurons.

A single-step procedure for the preparation of palladium nanoparticles and a phosphine-functionalized support as catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions

We here report the preparation of supported palladium nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by pendant phosphine groups by reacting a palladium complex containing the ligand 2-(diphenylphosphino)benzaldehyde with an amino-functionalized silica surface The Pd nanocatalyst is active for Suzuki cross-coupling reaction avoiding any addition of other sources of phosphine ligands The Pd intermediates and Pd NPs were characterized by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and transmission electron microscopy techniques The synthetic method was also applied to prepare magnetically recoverable Pd NPs leading to a catalyst that could be reused for up to 10 recycles In summary we gathered the advantages of heterogeneous catalysis magnetic separation and enhanced catalytic activity of palladium promoted by phosphine ligands to synthesize a new catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions The Pd NP catalyst prepared on the phosphine-functionalized support was more active and selective than a similar Pd NP catalyst prepared on an amino-functionalized support (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved

Recoverable rhodium nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance in hydrogenation reactions

We here report the first magnetically recoverable Rh(0) nanoparticle-supported catalyst with extraordinary recovery and recycling properties. Magnetic separation has been suggested as a very promising technique to improve recovery of metal-based catalysts in liquid-phase batch reactions. The separation method is significantly simple, as it does not require filtration, decantation, centrifugation, or any other separation technique thereby, overcoming traditional time- and solvent-consuming procedures. Our new magnetically separable catalytic system, comprised of Rh nanoparticles immobilized on silica-coated magnetite nanoparticles, is highly active and could be reused for up to 20 times for hydrogenation of cyclohexene (180,000 mol/mol(Rh)) and benzene (11,550 mol/mol(Rh) under mild conditions. (c) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All fights reserved.

Preparation of recoverable Ru catalysts for liquid-phase oxidation and hydrogenation reactions

We here report the synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance of new supported Ru(III) and Ru(0) catalysts. In contrast to most supported catalysts, these new developed catalysts for oxidation and hydrogenation reactions were prepared using nearly the same synthetic strategy, and are easily recovered by magnetic separation from liquid phase reactions. The catalysts were found to be active in both forms, Ru(III) and Ru(0), for selective oxidation of alcohols and hydrogenation of olefins, respectively. The catalysts operate under mild conditions to activate molecular oxygen or molecular hydrogen to perform clean conversion of selected substrates. Aryl and alkyl alcohols were converted to aldehydes under mild conditions, with negligible metal leaching. If the metal is properly reduced, Ru(0) nanoparticles immobilized on the magnetic support surface are obtained, and the catalyst becomes active for hydrogenation reactions. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FUSION ENHANCEMENT/SUPPRESSION AND IRREVERSIBILITY IN REACTIONS INDUCED BY WEAKLY BOUND NUCLEI

We show that halo effects enhance fusion cross sections of weakly bound systems, comparing with the situation when there is no-halo. We introduce dimensionless fusion functions and energy variable quantity to investigate systematical trends in the fusion cross sections of weakly bound nuclei at near-barrier energies. We observe very clearly complete fusion suppression at energies above the barrier due to dynamic effects of the breakup on fusion. We explain this suppression in terms of the repulsive polarization potential produced by the breakup.

CLUSTER MODEL FOR REACTIONS INDUCED BY WEAKLY BOUND AND/OR EXOTIC HALO NUCLEI WITH MEDIUM-MASS TARGETS

An experimental overview of reactions induced by the stable, but weakly-bound nuclei (6)Li, (7)Li and (9)Be, and by the exotic, halo nuclei (6)He, (8)B, (11)Be and (17)F On medium-mass targets, such as (58)Ni, (59)Co or (64)Zn, is presented. Existing data on elastic scattering, total reaction cross sections, fusion, breakup and transfer channels are discussed in the framework of a CDCC approach taking into account the breakup degree of freedom.

Astrophysical S factors for fusion reactions involving C, O, Ne, and Mg isotopes

Using the Sao Paulo potential and the barrier penetration formalism we have calculated the astrophysical factor S(E) for 946 fusion reactions involving stable and neutron-rich isotopes of C, O, Ne, and Mg for center-of-mass energies E varying from 2 to approximate to 18-30 MeV (covering the range below and above the Coulomb barrier). We have parameterized the energy dependence, S(E), by an accurate universal 9-parameter analytic expression and present tables of fit parameters for all the reactions. We also discuss the reduced 3-parameter version of our fit which is highly accurate at energies below the Coulomb barrier, and outline the procedure for calculating the reaction rates. The results can be easily converted to thermonuclear or pycnonuclear reaction rates to simulate various nuclear burning phenomena, in particular, stellar burning at high temperatures and nucleosynthesis in high density environments. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Low-energy nuclear reactions with double-solenoid based radioactive nuclear beam

The University of Notre Dame, USA (Becchetti et al, Nucl. Instrum. Metho ds Res. A505, 377 (2003)) and later the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (Lichtenthaler et al, Eur. Phys. J. A25, S-01, 733 (2005)) adopted a system based on superconducting solenoids to produce low-energy radioactive nuclear beams. In these systems the solenoids act as thick lenses to collect, select, and focus the secondary beam into a scattering chamb er. Many experiments with radioactive light particle beams (RNB) such as (6)He, (7)Be, (8)Li, (8)B have been performed at these two facilities. These low-energy RNB have been used to investigate low-energy reactions such as elastic scattering, transfer and breakup, providing useful information on the structure of light nuclei near the drip line and on astrophysics. Total reaction cross-sections, derived from elastic scattering analysis, have also been investigated for light system as a function of energy and the role of breakup of weakly bound or exotic nuclei is discussed.

Indirect study of (11)B(p,alpha(0))(8)Be and (10)B(p,alpha)(7)Be reactions at astrophysical energies by means of the Trojan Horse Method: recent results

Nuclear (p,alpha) reactions destroying the so-called ""light-elements"" lithium, beryllium and boron have been largely studied in the past mainly because their role in understanding some astrophysical phenomena, i.e. mixing-phenomena occurring in young F-G stars [1]. Such mechanisms transport the surface material down to the region close to the nuclear destruction zone, where typical temperatures of the order of similar to 10(6) K are reached. The corresponding Gamow energy E(0)=1.22 (Z(x)(2)Z(X)(2)T(6)(2))(1/3) [2] is about similar to 10 keV if one considers the ""boron-case"" and replaces in the previous formula Z(x) = 1, Z(X) = 5 and T(6) = 5. Direct measurements of the two (11)B(p,alpha(0))(8)Be and (10)B(p,alpha)(7)Be reactions in correspondence of this energy region are difficult to perform mainly because the combined effects of Coulomb barrier penetrability and electron screening [3]. The indirect method of the Trojan Horse (THM) [4-6] allows one to extract the two-body reaction cross section of interest for astrophysics without the extrapolation-procedures. Due to the THM formalism, the extracted indirect data have to be normalized to the available direct ones at higher energies thus implying that the method is a complementary tool in solving some still open questions for both nuclear and astrophysical issues [7-12].

Dynamic effects of breakup on fusion reactions of weakly bound nuclei

The traditional reduction methods to represent the fusion cross sections of different systems are flawed when attempting to completely eliminate the geometrical aspects, such as the heights and radii of the barriers, and the static effects associated with the excess neutrons or protons in weakly bound nuclei. We remedy this by introducing a new dimensionless universal function, which allows the separation and disentanglement of the static and dynamic aspects of the breakup coupling effects connected with the excess nucleons. Applying this new reduction procedure to fusion data of several weakly bound systems, we find a systematic suppression of complete fusion above the Coulomb barrier and enhancement below it. Different behaviors are found for the total fusion cross sections. They are appreciably suppressed in collisions of neutron-halo nuclei, while they are practically not affected by the breakup coupling in cases of stable weakly bound nuclei. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An imaginary potential with universal normalization for dissipative processes in heavy-ion reactions

In this work we present new coupled channel calculations with the Sao Paulo potential (SPP) as the bare interaction, and an imaginary potential with system and energy independent normalization that has been developed to take into account dissipative processes in heavy-ion reactions. This imaginary potential is based on high-energy nucleon interaction in nuclear medium. Our theoretical predictions for energies up to approximate to 100 MeV/nucleon agree very well with the experimental data for the p, n + nucleus, (16)O + (27)Al, (16)O + (60)Ni, (58)Ni + (124)Sn, and weakly bound projectile (7)Li + (120)Sn systems. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Disentangling static and dynamic effects of low breakup threshold in fusion reactions

A new technique to analyze fusion data is developed. From experimental cross sections and results of coupled-channel calculations a dimensionless function is constructed. In collisions of strongly bound nuclei this quantity is very close to a universal function of a variable related to the collision energy, whereas for weakly bound projectiles the effects of breakup coupling are measured by the deviations with respect to this universal function. This technique is applied to collisions of stable and unstable weakly bound isotopes.

Indirect study of (p, alpha) and (n, alpha) reactions induced on boron isotopes

Several experiments were performed to investigate both (p, alpha) and (n, alpha) reactions induced on boron isotopes, by means of Quasi-Free (QF) reactions induced on deuteron target. The experimental study of the astrophysically relevant, (11)B(p, alpha(0))(8)Be reaction was performed by selecting the QF-contribution on the (2)H((11)B, alpha(8)(0)Be)n reaction. Moreover, due to the large interest of a better understanding of (n, alpha) reactions both for nuclear and astrophysical developments, a preliminary study of the (10)B(n, alpha)(7)Li through the QF (2)H((10)B, alpha(7)Li)p reaction was also performed. The results concerning the two experiments will be shown and discussed.