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Caspases play an important role in programmed cell death. Caspase-3 is a key executioner of apoptosis, whose activation is mediated by the initiator caspases, caspase-8 and caspase-9. The present study tested the hypothesis that cerebral hypoxia results in increased activation and expression of caspases-3, -8, and -9 in the cytosolic fraction of the cerebral cortex of newborn piglets. To test this hypothesis the activity and expression of caspases-3, -8, and -9 were determined in newborn piglets divided into normoxic and hypoxic groups. Caspase activity was determined spectrofluorometrically using enzyme specific substrates. The expression of caspase protein was assessed by Western blot analysis using enzyme specific antibody. Caspases-3, -8, and -9 activity and expression was significantly higher in the hypoxic group than in the normoxic group. These results demonstrate that hypoxia induces activation and increased expression of both the initiator caspases and the executioner caspase in the cerebral cortex of newborn piglets. We conclude that hypoxia results in stimulation of both the pathways of caspase-3 activation.

Purpose-Healthcare is becoming an important part of people's online content consumption, with people searching for information on diseases or medical problems, treatments or procedures, particular doctors or hospitals, or about parking. This paper aims to investigate what users deem essential on patient-oriented interactive e-health tools on hospital web sites. Design/methodology/approach-The findings are based on 242 patients/users from diverse backgrounds in a purposive sample. A modified Delphi technique was used in two rounds of survey to collect and analyze data. Findings-The respondents highly desire core-business tools, especially access to medical records and lab results, while discounting hospitals' efforts to connect to social media. Hospitals' e-health implementation on their web sites has greatly lagged behind the users' needs for interacting with hospitals online. It is concluded that, while continuing to provide traditional functional tools, hospitals should expedite their development in providing core e-business tools and emerging functional tools in order to accomplish multiple objectives, including service, education, and marketing. Research limitations/implications-Hospitals' e-health development efforts have been behind the users' expectations at large. Future research should explore whether such lagging has resulted mainly from the lack of technical know-how, lack of funding, and/or lack of vision on the administrative level. Practical implications-The paper provides solid empirical evidence for US hospitals to (re)consider how to prioritize their efforts in implementing e-health online so as to build a user-centric web site. Originality/value-Most US hospitals have implemented some form of e-health online to serve their patients/users, but rarely have researchers studied such efforts. As a result, hospitals have had little evidence to gauge their implementation success. This is the first empirical study that investigates from the patient/user perspective the usefulness of various interactive e-health tools online.

: Intraoperative live 3-dimensional epicardial echocardiography is as valuable as multiplane TEE and MSCT imaging in the detection of thoracic aortic dissection. In the assessment of the aortic arch vessel involvement, MSCT and live 3-dimensional epicardial echocardiography are superior (P < 0.05), whereas live 3-dimensional epicardial echocardiography and TEE are superior in detection of site of intimal tear (P < 0.05).

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