To elucidate the role of tachykinins in bronchoconstriction induced by intravenous administration of bradykinin (Bk), we studied the effects of FK224, a neurokinin-1 (NK1) and neurokinin-2 (NK2) receptor antagonist, on the bronchoconstriction induced by intravenous (i.v.) administration of Bk (5-100 micrograms.kg-1) in guinea-pigs. Total pulmonary resistance -(RL) was measured using a pressure-...

1 Acknowledgements The work in this thesis 1 is a part of the OtaOnline research project at the Helsinki University of Technology. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the work. First, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Shosta Sulonen for all his support, guidance, constructive criticism and ideas. I would also like to thank my...

Background: Exogenous gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) increases slow-wave sleep and reduces daytime sleepiness and cataplexy in patients with primary narcolepsy. Objective: To examine nighttime sleep and daytime sleepiness in a 13year-old girl homozygous for succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) deficiency, a rare recessive metabolic disorder that disrupts the normal degradation of 4-aminobut...

We report a case of Hymenolepis diminuta infection in a 2-year-old Malaysian child. This case was initially reported as ‘normal’ after the examination of proglottids shed from the anus of the child at a private laboratory on two occasions. The putative proglottids shed was then referred to the Parasite Southeast Asia Diagnostic (Para:SEAD) Laboratory, Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medi...

Introduction The identification and quantification of hexavalent chromium in solid samples is an important factor in characterization studies. The speciation of elements is a developing feature of analytical methods; the evaluation of the environmental and biological impact of the Cr (VI) compounds on environmental matrices is fundamental because of their demonstrated toxicity and potential car...

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are used to treat hypertension. Most ARBs are metabolized by CYP2C9. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possible association between sex, polymorphisms in the CYP2C8 and CYP2C9 genes, and the pharmacokinetics of losartan, valsartan, candesartan, and telmisartan. The study population comprised 246 healthy volunteers from seven single-dose clinical tr...

The primate visual system is broadly organized into two segregated processing pathways, a ventral stream for object vision and a dorsal stream for space vision. Here, evidence from functional brain imaging in humans demonstrates that object representations are not confined to the ventral pathway, but can also be found in several areas along the dorsal pathway. In both streams, areas at intermed...