New aspects of airway mechanics in pre-term infants

High-frequency respiratory impedance data measured noninvasively by the high-speed interrupter technique (HIT), particularly the first antiresonance frequency (f(ar,1)), is related to airway wall mechanics. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and repeatability of HIT in unsedated pre-term infants, and to compare values of f(ar,1) from 18 pre-term (post-conceptional age 32-37 weeks, weight 1,730-2,910 g) and 18 full-term infants (42-47 weeks, 3,920-5,340 g). Among the pre-term infants, there was good short-term repeatability of f(ar,1) within a single sleep epoch (mean (sd) coefficient of variance: 8 (1.7)%), but 95% limits of agreement for repeated measures of f(ar,1) after 3-8 h were relatively wide (-41 Hz; 37 Hz). f(ar,1) was significantly lower in pre-term infants (199 versus 257 Hz), indicating that wave propagation characteristics in pre-term airways are different from those of full-term infants. The present authors suggest that this is consistent with developmental differences in airway wall structure and compliance, including the influence of the surrounding tissue. Since flow limitation is determined by wave propagation velocity and airway cross-sectional area, it was hypothesised that the physical ability of the airways to carry large flows is fundamentally different in pre-term than in full-term infants.

Myocardial contrast echocardiography for the distinction of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from athlete's heart and hypertensive heart disease

BACKGROUND: Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is able to measure in vivo relative blood volume (rBV, i.e., capillary density), and its exchange frequency b, the constituents of myo-cardial blood flow (MBF, ml min-1 g-1). This study aimed to assess, by MCE, whether left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) can be differentiated from LVH in triathletes (athlete's heart, AH) or from hypertensive heart disease patients (HHD). METHODS: Sixty individuals, matched for age (33 +/- 10 years) and gender, and subdivided into four groups (n = 15) were examined: HCM, AH, HHD and a group of sedentary individuals without LVH (S). rBV (ml ml-1), b (min-1) and MBF, at rest and during adenosine-induced hyperaemia, were derived by MCE in mid septal, lateral and inferior regions. The ratio of MBF during hyperaemia and MBF at rest yielded myocardial blood flow reserve (MBFR). RESULTS: Septal wall rBV at rest was lower in HCM (0.084 +/- 0.023 ml ml-1) than in AH (0.151 +/- 0.024 ml ml-1, p <0.01) and in S (0.129 +/- 0.026 ml ml-1, p <0.01), but was similar to HHD (0.097 +/- 0.016 ml ml-1). Conversely, MBFR was lowest in HCM (1.67 +/- 0.93), followed by HHD (2.8 +/- 0.93, p <0.01), by S (3.36 +/- 1.03, p <0.001) and by AH (4.74 +/- 1.46, p <0.0001). At rest, rBV <0.11 ml ml-1 accurately distinguished between HCM and AH (sensitivity 99%, specificity 99%), similarly MBFR < or =1.8 helped to distinguish between HCM and HHD (sensitivity 100%, specificity 77%). CONCLUSIONS: rBV at rest, most accurately distinguishes between pathological LVH due to HCM and physiological, endurance-exercise induced LVH.

Stent thrombosis with ticagrelor versus clopidogrel in patients with acute coronary syndromes: an analysis from the prospective, randomized PLATO trial

BACKGROUND We aimed to describe the effects of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel on stent thrombosis in the Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes (PLATO) trial. METHODS AND RESULTS Of 18 624 patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes, 11 289 (61%) had at least 1 intracoronary stent. Ticagrelor reduced stent thrombosis compared with clopidogrel across all definitions: definite, 1.37% (n=71) versus 1.93% (n=105; hazard ratio [HR], 0.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.50-0.90; P=0.0091); definite or probable, 2.21% (n=118) versus 2.87% (n=157; HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.59-0.95; P=0.017); and definite, probable, and possible, 2.94% (n=154) versus 3.77 (n=201; HR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62-0.95). The reduction in definite stent thrombosis was consistent regardless of acute coronary syndrome type, presence of diabetes mellitus, stent type (drug-eluting or bare metal stent), CYP2C19 genetic status, loading dose of aspirin, dose of clopidogrel before randomization, and use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors at randomization. The reduction in stent thrombosis with ticagrelor was numerically greater for late (>30 days; HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.24-0.96) and subacute (4 hours-30 days; HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.39-0.93) compared with acute (<24 hours; HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.43-2.05) stent thrombosis or for patients compliant to therapy (ie, taking blinded study treatment ≥80% of the time) compared with less compliant patients. Randomization to ticagrelor was a strong independent inverse predictor of definite stent thrombosis (HR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.48-0.88). CONCLUSION Ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel reduces the incidence of stent thrombosis in patients with acute coronary syndromes, with consistent benefit across a broad range of patient, stent, and treatment characteristics.

Ultra-early intravenous stroke thrombolysis: do all patients benefit similarly?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We previously reported increased benefit and reduced mortality after ultra-early stroke thrombolysis in a single center. We now explored in a large multicenter cohort whether extra benefit of treatment within 90 minutes from symptom onset is uniform across predefined stroke severity subgroups, as compared with later thrombolysis. METHODS Prospectively collected data of consecutive ischemic stroke patients who received i.v. thrombolysis in 10 European stroke centers were merged. Logistic regression tested association between treatment delays, as well as excellent 3-month outcome (modified Rankin scale, 0-1), and mortality. The association was tested separately in tertiles of baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. RESULTS In the whole cohort (n=6856), shorter onset-to-treatment time as a continuous variable was significantly associated with excellent outcome (P<0.001). Every fifth patient had onset-to-treatment time≤90 minutes, and these patients had lower frequency of intracranial hemorrhage. After adjusting for age, sex, admission glucose level, and year of treatment, onset-to-treatment time≤90 minutes was associated with excellent outcome in patients with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 7 to 12 (odds ratio, 1.37; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.70; P=0.004), but not in patients with baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale>12 (odds ratio, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-1.32; P=0.99) and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 0 to 6 (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.78-1.39; P=0.80). In the latter, however, an independent association (odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-2.01; P<0.01) was found when considering modified Rankin scale 0 as outcome (to overcome the possible ceiling effect from spontaneous better prognosis of patients with mild symptoms). Ultra-early treatment was not associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS I.v. thrombolysis within 90 minutes is, compared with later thrombolysis, strongly and independently associated with excellent outcome in patients with moderate and mild stroke severity.

Rainfall input, throughfall and stemflow of nutrients in a central African rain forest dominated by ectomycorrhizal trees

Incident rainfall is a major source of nutrient input to a forest ecosystem and the consequent throughfall and stemflow contribute to nutrient cycling. These rain-based fluxes were measured over 12 mo in two forest types in Korup National Park, Cameroon, one with low (LEM) and one with high (HEM) ectomycorrhizal abundances of trees. Throughfall was 96.6 and 92.4% of the incident annual rainfall (5370 mm) in LEM and HEM forests respectively; stemflow was correspondingly 1.5 and 2.2%. Architectural analysis showed that ln(funneling ratio) declined linearly with increasing ln(basal area) of trees. Mean annual inputs of N, P, K, Mg and Ca in incident rainfall were 1.50, 1.07, 7.77, 5.25 and 9.27 kg ha(-1), and total rain-based inputs to the forest floor were 5.0, 3.2, 123.4, 14.4 and 37.7 kg ha-1 respectively. The value for K is high for tropical forests and that for N is low. Nitrogen showed a significantly lower loading of throughfall and stemflow in HEM than in LEM forest, this being associated in the HEM forest with a greater abundance of epiphytic bryophytes which may absorb more N. Incident rainfall provided c. 35% of the gross input of P to the forest floor (i. e., rain-based plus small litter inputs), a surprisingly high contribution given the sandy P-poor soils. At the start of the wet season leaching of K from the canopy was particularly high. Calcium in the rain was also highest at this time, most likely due to washing off of dry-deposited Harmattan dusts. It is proposed that throughfall has an important `priming' function in the rapid decomposition of litter and mineralization of P at the start of the wet season. The contribution of P inputted from the atmosphere appears to be significant when compared to the rates of P mineralization from leaf litter.

Complete Genome Sequences of Virulent Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae Strains F38 and ILRI181

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae is a severe epidemic affecting mainly domestic Caprinae species but also affects wild Caprinae species. M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae belongs to the "Mycoplasma mycoides cluster." The disease features prominently in East Africa, in particular Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. CCPP also endangers wildlife and thus affects not only basic nutritional resources of large populations but also expensively built-up game resorts in affected countries. Here, we report the complete sequences of two M. capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae strains: the type strain F38 and strain ILRI181 isolated druing a recent outbreak in Kenya. Both genomes have a G+C content of 24% with sizes of 1,016,760 bp and 1,017,183 bp for strains F38 and ILRI181, respectively.

Tuning the in vitro cell cytotoxicity of dinuclear arene ruthenium trithiolato complexes: Influence of the arene ligand

A new series of cationic dinuclear arene ruthenium complexes bridged by three thiophenolato ligands, [(η6-arene)2Ru2(μ2-SR)3]+ with arene = indane, R = met: 1 (met = 4-methylphenyl); R = mco: 4 (mco = 4-methylcoumarin-7-yl); arene = biphenyl, R = met: 2; R = mco: 5; arene = 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene, R = met: 3; R = mco: 6, have been prepared from the reaction of the neutral precursor [(η6-arene)Ru(μ2-Cl)Cl]2 and the corresponding thiophenol RSH. All cationic complexes have been isolated as chloride salts and fully characterized by spectroscopic and analytical methods. The molecular structure of 1, solved by X-ray structure analysis of a single crystal of the chloride salt, shows the two ruthenium atoms adopting a pseudo-octahedral geometry without metal–metal bond in accordance with the noble gas rule. All complexes are stable in H2O at 37 °C, but only 1 remains soluble in a 100 mM aqueous NaCl solution, while significant percentages (30–60 %) of 2–6 precipitate as chloride salts under these conditions. The 4-methylphenylthiolato complexes (R = met) are highly cytotoxic towards human ovarian cancer cells, the IC50 values being in the sub-micromolar range, while the 4-methylcoumarin-7-yl thiolato complexes (R = mco) are only slightly cytotoxic. Complexes 1 and 3 show the highest in vitro anticancer activity with IC50 values inferior to 0.06 μM for the A2780 cell line. The results demonstrate that the arene ligand is an important parameter that should be more systematically evaluated when designing new half-sandwich organometallic complexes.

Der Zug der Israeliten aus Ägypten nach Canaan : ein Beitrag zur biblischen Länder- und Völkerkunde

von Gustav Unruh

Impact of cardiovascular risk factors on severity of peripheral artery disease

OBJECTIVE The development of peripheral artery disease is affected by the presence of cardiovascular risk factors. It is unclear, whether particular risk factors are leading to different clinical stages of peripheral artery disease. The aim of this retrospective cross-sectional study was to assess the association of cardiovascular risk factors with the presence of critical limb ischaemia. METHODS The study cohort was derived from a consecutive registry of patients undergoing endovascular therapy in a tertiary referral centre between January 2000 and April 2014. Patients undergoing first-time endovascular intervention for chronic peripheral artery disease of the lower extremities were included. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the association of age, sex, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, smoking, and renal insufficiency with critical limb ischaemia vs. intermittent claudication. RESULTS A total of 3406 patients were included in the study (mean age 71.7 ± 11.8 years, 2075 [61%] male). There was a significant association of age (OR 1.67, 95%-CI 1.53-1.82, p < 0.001), male gender (OR 1.23, 95%-CI 1.04-1.47, p = 0.016), diabetes (OR 1.99, 95%-CI 1.68-2.36, p < 0.001) and renal insufficiency (OR 1.62, 95%-CI 1.35-1.96, p < 0.001) with the likelihood of critical limb ischaemia. Smoking was associated with intermittent claudication rather than critical limb ischaemia (OR 0.78, 95%-CI 0.65-0.94, p = 0.010), while hypertension and dyslipidaemia did not show an association with critical limb ischaemia. CONCLUSIONS In peripheral artery disease patients undergoing first-time endovascular treatment, age, male gender, diabetes, and renal insufficiency were the strongest predictors for the presence of critical limb ischaemia.

Candidaten-Liste zur Wahlmannschaft des 180sten Berliner Wahl-Bezirks, geordnet nach der Anzahl der Stimmen ...

Welsch (Projektbearbeiter): Aufzählung von 37 Kandidaten

Newe Zeitung : Von reichen Weitzenähren, Welches vns Gott in dem 1608. Jar, vnferrn von der Statt Augspurg, im Landt zu Bayrn, hat sehen lassen

Ill. handkoloriert

Organic temperature proxies in the subpolat region around Iceland

Subpolar regions are key areas to study natural climate variability, due to their high sensitivity to rapid environmental changes, particularly through sea surface temperature (SST) variations. Here, we have tested three independent organic temperature proxies (UK'37, TEX86 and LDI) on their potential applicability for SST reconstruction in the subpolar region around Iceland. UK'37, TEX86 and TEXL86 temperature estimates from suspended particulate matter showed a substantial discrepancy with instrumental data, while long chain alkyl diols were below detection limit in most of the stations. In the northern Iceland Basin, sedimenting particles revealed a seasonality in lipid fluxes i.e. high fluxes of alkenones and GDGTs were measured during late spring-summer, and high fluxes of long chain alkyl diols during late summer. The flux-weighted average temperature estimates had a significant negative (ca. 2.3°C for UK'37) and positive (up to 5°C for TEX86) offset with satellite-derived SSTs and temperature estimates derived from the underlying surface sediment. UK'37 temperature estimates from surface sediments around Iceland correlate well with summer mean sea surface temperatures, while TEX86 derived temperatures correspond with both annual and winter mean 0-200 m temperatures, suggesting a subsurface temperature signal. Anomalous LDI-SST values in surface sediments, and low mass flux of 1,13- and 1,15-diols compared to 1,14-diols, suggest that Proboscia diatoms are the major sources of long chain alkyl diols in this area rather than eustigmatophyte algae, and therefore the LDI cannot be applied in this region.