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Biomedical subjects

F Popescu

Publications and source records attributed to F Popescu.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2004

Ambient ozone in forests of the Central and Eastern European mountains.

Ambient ozone (O(3)) concentrations in the forested areas of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) mountains measured on passive sampler networks and in several locations equipped with active monitors are reviewed. Some areas of the Carpathian Mountains, especially in Romania and parts of Poland, as well as the Sumava and Brdy Mountains in the Czech Republic are characterized by low European background concentrations of the pollutant (summer season means approximately 30 ppb). Other parts of the Carpathians, especially the western part of the range (Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland), some of the Eastern (Ukraine) and Southern (Romania) Carpathians and the Jizerske Mountains have high O(3) levels with peak values >100 ppb and seasonal means approximately 50 ppb. Large portions of the CEE mountain forests experience O(3) exposures that are above levels recommended for protection of forest and natural vegetation. Continuation of monitoring efforts with a combination of active monitors and passive samplers is needed for developing risk assessment scenarios for forests and other natural areas of the CEE Region.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1997

Isolated myocyte contractile function is normal in postinfarct remodeled rat heart with systolic dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Postinfarction ventricular remodeling is associated with lengthening and contractile dysfunction of the remote noninfarcted myocardium. Mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: We studied serial changes in global left ventricular (LV) structure and function in infarcted (1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks after myocardial infarction) and sham-operated rat hearts and correlated them with structural and functional changes in myocytes isolated from the remote LV myocardium in the same hearts. Rats with myocardial infarction developed significant remodeling. The heart weight-to-body weight ratios were increased. LV volumes at filling pressure of 10 mm Hg were higher (305+/-28 versus 215+/-12 microL, P<.01). This was accompanied by global LV dysfunction (in vivo LV end-diastolic pressure, 4+/-1 versus 23+/-1.6 mm Hg; Langendorff LV developed pressure, 105+/-4 versus 62+/-9 mm Hg, P<.001 for both). Myocytes isolated from these hearts showed significant structural remodeling (LV myocytes, 24% longer and 15% wider; right ventricular myocytes, 38% longer and 31% wider, all P<.05). LV myocyte length correlated with changes in LV volume (r=.79) and function (LV developed pressure, r=-.81). However, LV myocytes from the same hearts showed normal contractile function and intracellular Ca2+ transients at baseline and during inotropic stimulation with increasing extracellular Ca2+ (1 to 6 mmol/L). The shortening-frequency relationship was also similar in myocytes from sham and myocardial infarction rats. CONCLUSIONS: Postinfarct LV remodeling occurs predominantly by myocyte lengthening rather than by myocyte slippage. However, contractile function of the unloaded myocytes from the remote noninfarcted LV myocardium of the remodeled heart is normal. Therefore, myocyte contractile abnormalities may not contribute to global dysfunction of the remodeled heart. Reduced myocyte mass and nonmyocyte factors like increased wall stress, altered LV geometry, and changes in the myocardial interstitium may be more important in the genesis of postinfarct LV dysfunction in this model.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

The effect of body protein supply on resistance to cadmium.

Six groups of 15 rats were fed on three diets, each differing in the quantity and quality of protein (17.87 as opposed to 8.85 g%, with or without the addition of 0.5 g methionine), one group of each pair of animals being injected subcutaneously with 0.3 mg Cd/kg body weight/day, for 13 weeks. The low protein diet increased the effects of cadmium, rendering them significantly more harmful than in animals which were given the normal protein diet. The incorporation of 0.5 g% DL-methionine in the low protein diet, without increasing the total nitrogen content, diminished the most marked effects induced by the same amounts of cadmium, so that their mean values were not significantly different from those found in the normal protein group treated with the same dose of the metal. The results show that a quantitatively and qualitatively adequate protein supply increased the resistance of the organism to cadmium, diminishing significantly the severity of symptoms induced by the metal.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Biochemical assessment of thiamin status in patients with neurosis.

The thiamin status of 65 patients with neurosis was studied soon after their admission to the psychiatric department; 49 healthy persons were also studied. In comparison with the control group, the patients with neurosis had a twice as low thiamin excretion and a 22% lower erythrocyte transketolase (p less than 0.001), while their blood pyruvate and pyruvate excretions were 31-38% higher (p less than 0.001).

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Computed tomography in establishing the therapeutic management of lung cancer].

Computer tomography (CT), a noninvasive method of high complexity, compelled recognition in pneumological practice, becoming indispensable. The present study deals with 59 patients suspected of bronchopulmonary cancer, who were submitted to computer tomography, besides other examinations. CT contribution in establishing the diagnosis, the therapeutical line (particularly in determining the surgery moment) as well as the correlations (concordance and discordance) between the information offered by CT and by other conventional (radiological, bronchological) methods are analysed. The association of thin needle trans-thoracic biopsy (TNB) to CT ensures an important histologic confirmation which amounts to 75% of investigated cases, according to our statistical data.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Bone scintigraphy in acromegaly. Preliminary report on 10 cases.

The present study investigates if bone scintigraphy could be used as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in acromegaly. Bone scintigraphy (99m Tc-diphosphonate) was performed in 10 acromegalic (7 active and 3 inactive acromegaly) vs 12 control patients. Isotope uptake (in counts/cell) was assessed in the area of interest 3-4 hours after diphosphonate administration. Three views were chosen: cranium lateral (I)/frontal (II), and the hands (III). Between the acromegalic and control patients there were significant differences (x = p less than 0.001; xx = p less than 0.05) for the following areas: I-parietal: 66.5 vs 24.82x; I-occipital: 58.4 vs 23x; I-mediosphenoidal temporal: 55.2 vs 21.36x: I-nasal: 55.9 vs 38.73 xx; II-frontal: 46.8 vs 16.64 x; II-nasal: 59.8 vs 40.27 xx; III-left metacarpal: 21.67 vs 15.36 xx; III-right metacarpal: 21.78 vs 16.18 xx. Surprisingly, bone isotope uptake at the mandibular level, both in lateral and frontal view, showed no significant differences between acromegalic and control patients (55.2 vs 45 and 59.8 vs 44.5). Between the active and nonactive acromegalic patients there were no significant differences in any area. Bone scintigraphy, therefore, does not represent a useful index for disease activity. However, the results gave rise to two interesting problems: the acromegalic bone seems to have the same metabolic activity irrespective of the disease status; why is bone isotope uptake the same in acromegalics with pronounced prognathism as in the controls with normal mandible?

Acromegaly↗