AIMS The optimal timing of percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC) remains controversial in asymptomatic patients with moderate mitral stenosis (MS). We sought to compare the long-term outcomes of early preemptive PMC and a conventional treatment strategy. METHODS AND RESULTS From 1997 to 2007, we prospectively enrolled 244 consecutive asymptomatic patients (191 women, age 51 ± 11 years) wit...

Do neural systems for planning motor actions play a functional role in understanding action language? Across multiple neuroimaging studies, processing action verbs correlates with somatotopic activity in premotor cortex (PMC). Yet, only one neurostimulation study supports a functional role for PMC in action verb understanding: paradoxically, inhibiting PMC made people respond faster to action v...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent mediator synthesized by a variety of cells involved in inflammatory reactions. We investigated the expression of NO synthase (NOS) in rat peritoneal mast cells (PMC). Small amounts of eNOS mRNA were detected basally, whereas neither mRNA for iNOS nor nNOS was detected in unstimulated PMC. Following stimulation by antigen, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), or anti-CD8 a...

AIMS We analysed reinterventions performed during long-term follow-up after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC) with a particular focus on freedom from mitral surgery and late results of repeat PMC. METHODS AND RESULTS In 912 patients who had good immediate results of PMC (valve area ≥1.5 cm² with mitral regurgitation ≤2/4), we analysed survival without reintervention (surgery or repeat ...

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) multicystatin (PMC) is a crystalline Cys protease inhibitor present in the subphellogen layer of potato tubers. It consists of eight tandem domains of similar size and sequence. Our in vitro results showed that the pH/PO(4)(-)-dependent oligomeric behavior of PMC was due to its multidomain nature and was not a characteristic of the individual domains. Using a single d...

As different areas within the PMC have different connectivity patterns with various cortical and subcortical regions, we hypothesized that distinct functional modules may be present within the PMC. Because the PMC appears to be the most active region during resting state, it has been postulated to play a fundamental role in the control of baseline brain functioning within the default mode netwo...

Rapid Adaptation to Social Change in Central Europe: Changes in Locus of Control, Attribution, Subjective Well-Being, Self-Direction, and Trust. This paper reviews research examining the impact of political and economic transition in post-communist Central European countries on social psychological processes. While other aspects of democratization in Central Europe have been well documented, on...