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Remarkable Advances (remarkable + advance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

Changes in age-associated neurodegenerative diseases in the last half century

GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2002
Asao Hirano
Age-associated neurodegenerative diseases are a serious and growing problem for mankind, and their etiologies are still unknown. The author has been studying the neuropathology of fatal neurodegenerative diseases endemic to the native Chamorro population on Guam during the last half a century. During this time, remarkable advances in scientific technology, such as the application of electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics, have contributed to numerous discoveries in classic neurological diseases. In addition, various new diseases have been recognized. This communication reviews Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase positive Lewy body-like inclusions in the anterior horn cells, in order to elucidate these pathological findings as well as remarkable changes observed in certain other age-related neurodegenerative diseases. [source]

Welfare, husbandry and veterinary care of wild animals in captivity: changes in attitudes, progress in knowledge and techniques

INTERNATIONAL ZOO YEARBOOK, Issue 1 2003
J. K. KIRKWOOD
Since the first zoos were founded, attitudes to keeping wild animals in captivity have changed considerably. A much firmer conviction that animals have the capacity for consciousness and thus suffering, has been one factor in the growth in concern for welfare in recent decades. The pursuit of conservation goals and higher welfare standards has driven remarkable advances in the husbandry, veterinary science and care of wild animals. [source]

Nutritional Effect of Dialysis Therapy

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 3 2003
Tsutomu Sanaka
Abstract: The prognosis of patients with end-stage renal disease has been improved by the recent remarkable advances in medical and engineering technology. However, there are still many unsolved problems in the clinical field. One of the problems is an intractable malnutrition characterized by clinical manifestations including hypoproteinemia and decrease in muscular volume, which is associated with deterioration in the quality of the patient's life. Malnutrition in hemodialysis patients involves abnormal energy metabolism and aberrant amino acid metabolism. In the most malnourished patients, immunodefense mechanisms and homeostasis are disrupted, greatly influencing the prognosis. Moreover, when the performance of dialyzer used is too high, the dialysis treatment might remove a necessary nutrient for the patient. There is also a possibility that the protein catabolism is accelerated when the biocompatibility is inferior. On the other hand, in malnutri-tion, the circulating level of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) falls while the level of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) is remarkably increased. It has been recognized that IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 are indicators reflecting the initiation of a malnutritional state in patients with chronic renal failure, although there are many indicators such as albumin, prealbumin, and anthropometric measurement for nutritional assessment. We have suggested that r-hGH and IGF-1 improve the malnutritional state by alleviating hypoproteinemia and abnormality of serum amino acid profile in uremic patients on hemodialysis. The serum IGF-1/IGFBP-1 ratio is useful not only as a nutritional parameter but also as a predicting index of responsiveness to r-hGH. It is necessary to examine the problem from various angles to improve malnutrition in the dialysis patient, while considering the above mentioned. [source]

Progress and Future Perspectives in Mechanical Circulatory Support

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS, Issue 5 2001
Yukiyasu Sezai
Abstract: Progress in several types of artificial organs in the cardiovascular field has significantly contributed to advancements in cardiac surgery. Due to the progress of high technology in fields other than medicine, both cardiac surgery and artificial organs have shown rapid and remarkable advances. In recent years, several types of blood pumps have been developed that are widely used not only as the main pump of cardiopulmonary bypass but also for circulatory support of postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock. In this article, the progress and current status of percutaneous cardiopulmonary support systems and ventricular assist devices (VADs) are described. In addition, new centrifugal and axial pumps, which are compact and implantable clinical use devices, are introduced. I believe that by making developments toward the clinical application of artificial hearts or VADs, not only in Japan but also in cooperation with colleagues at various institutions throughout the world, we will be able to make some contributions to the progress in the field of cardiac surgery. In the 20th century, medical research showed remarkable advances, mainly in medical electronics and pathophysiology. However, in the next century, we have to focus on other research fields, namely artifical organs and gene technology. [source]