Despite the common association of human lice with abandoned or neglected people, no procedure to assess pediculosis, aimed to detect signs of neglect, exists. Investigating the two most common forms of head louse infestation, regular and severe, we define lice-markers of neglect and develop a protocol and survey form to record and assess pediculosis. The study of head lice from a deceased victim of neglect helped unravel time-length since death, frequency of exposure to neglect and the cause and circumstances related to the death. Nit-clusters are markers of neglect, indicating length and frequency of neglect episodes. In the case study used here that culminated in the death of the victim, sustained abandonment started circa 2 years before discovery. The lice suggested that death was caused by overconsumption of a powerful calcium channel blocker, an antihypertensive, an excess of which in lice food supply (blood) stops oogenesis. Despite hosting thousands of adult females on the hair, lice reproduction stopped and nits were no longer developed or deposited on the hairs at the root end. This short distance of the shaft with no nits provided a time estimation of overdosing of almost 2 months before death.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether n-3 PUFA result in an effect on endothelial function that is in addition to that of acute exercise. For 4 weeks, male Sprague–Dawley rats were subjected to a diet based on n-3 PUFA or a standard diet. In each diet group, ten rats were submitted to an acute treadmill exercise while the remaining ten acted as sedentary controls. The running speed was progressively increased until the animals were exhausted. Endothelial function was then assessed by measuring isometric tension in rings of the thoracic aorta. In vessels precontracted with 0·1 μm-phenylephrine, responses to acetylcholine (ACh) were significantly improved following acute exercise in all diet groups. When PUFA supplementation was compared to the standard diet no significant difference was found in response to ACh, either at rest or after an acute exercise. Pretreatment of rings with Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl esther (50 μm) inhibited the ACh-mediated vasorelaxation in all groups. Response to 10 μm-nifedipine, an L-type Ca2+ channel antagonist, was similarly enhanced after acute exercise in both standard and PUFA diets. Furthermore, response to 0·01 μm-nifedipine was significantly higher after acute exercise only in the PUFA diet. In conclusion, in our ‘healthy’ rat model with ‘normal’ baseline endothelial function, acute exercise improves response to ACh while PUFA supplementation alone or in combination with acute exercise has no effect on endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation. However, PUFA may potentiate the acute exercise effect on smooth muscle cell relaxation via L-type Ca2+ channel modifications.

Background and objective: Myocardial ischaemia and infarction are major complications immediately after coronary artery bypass grafting. They may be due to incomplete surgical revascularization, perioperative anaesthetic management or vasospasm of arterial grafts, e.g. the internal mammary artery. Infusions of nifedipine or milrinone have been advocated to prevent spasm of the mammary artery. The study compared the incidence of myocardial ischaemia after continuous infusion of either nifedipine (0.2 µg kg−1 min−1) or milrinone (0.375 µg kg−1 min−1) in patients with compromised left ventricular function scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass graft.

Methods: After Institutional Review Board approval, this double-blinded randomized clinical study enrolled 30 adult patients with compromised left ventricular function (ejection fraction <0.4) scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass grafting after written informed consent had been obtained. Ischaemia was detected by Holter electrocardiographic monitoring. The incidence of myocardial cell death was monitored by serial determinations of the creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and troponin-I.

Results: New ST elevation ≥0.2 mV or new ST depression ≤0.1 mV occurred in five of 15 patients in the milrinone group (33.3%) and in 13 of 15 patients (86.6%) in the nifedipine group (P < 0.05). There were increases in CK-MB and troponin-I in both groups. Twenty-four hours postoperatively, CK-MB (P = 0.003) and troponin-I (P = 0.001) were significantly higher in the nifedipine group.

Conclusions: Perioperative continuous infusion of milrinone, compared with nifedipine, results in a significantly lower incidence of myocardial ischaemia and myocardial cell damage after elective coronary artery bypass grafting.