Coping is excellent in Swiss Children with inflammatory bowel disease: results from the Swiss IBD cohort study

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) starting during childhood has been assumed to impair quality of life (QoL) of affected children. As this aspect is crucial for further personality development, the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was assessed in a Swiss nationwide cohort to obtain detailed information on the fields of impairment. METHODS Data were prospectively acquired from pediatric patients included in the Swiss IBD Cohort Study. IBD activity was evaluated by PCDAI and PUCAI. The age adapted KIDSCREEN questionnaire was evaluated for 110 children with IBD (64 with Crohn's disease 46 with ulcerative colitis). Data were analyzed with respect to established reference values of healthy controls. RESULTS In the KIDSCREEN index a moderate impairment was only found for physical wellbeing due to disease activity. In contrast, mental well-being and social support were even better as compared to control values. A subgroup analysis revealed that this observation was restricted to the children in the German speaking part of Switzerland, whereas there was no difference compared to controls in the French part of Switzerland. Furthermore, autonomy and school variables were significantly higher in the IBD patients as compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS The social support for children with IBD is excellent in this cohort. Only physical well-being was impaired due to disease activity, whereas all other KIDSCREEN parameters were better as compared to controls. This indicates that effective coping and support strategies may be able to compensate the burden of disease in pediatric IBD patients.

Continuous milking of dairy cows disrupts timing of peak IgG concentration appearance in mammary secretions

The length of the dry period in commercial dairy production is under close scrutiny. While the main concern is the composition and volume of milk produced, the evaluation of colostrum quality under these new paradigms has suggested a decline in IgG concentrations, while some reports indicate no change. Colostrum quality has been defined as an adequate concentration (>50 mg/ml) of immunoglobulin in the secretions to provide the newborn with maximal disease resistance. We investigated the appearance of IgG in mammary pre- and post partum secretions in cows without a dry period (continuously milked, Dry0) and compared the secretions with cows that experienced a dry period of 60 d (Dry60). Blood was collected during the experimental period and plasma analysed for progesterone (P4) and prolactin (Prl). Approximately -6 d relative to parturition, the Dry0 animals exhibited increased concentration of IgG in their secretions to an average of ∼35 mg/ml that remained rather constant through subsequent pregnancy and following parturition. Dry0 cows were producing an average IgG concentration in parturition colostrum of 44·2±17·6 mg/ml that was not different than that of controls (66·86±16·8 mg/ml). However, Dry0 cows exhibited high variation, different peak times (day) of IgG concentration including times that occurred both pre and post parturition. IgG mass of the Dry0 cows remained rather constant pre- and post partum and did not show the same declining mass following parturition that was shown for the Dry60 cows. The change in plasma P4 and Prl were shown to have no timing effect on colostrum IgG concentration.

Der Glanz der monarchischenTheokratie und deren Verfall

Vorlage des Digitalisats: Teil 1 u. 2 in einem Band

Breathing manoeuvre-dependent changes in myocardial oxygenation in healthy humans.

AIMS CO₂ is an intrinsic vasodilator for cerebral and myocardial blood vessels. Myocardial vasodilation without a parallel increase of the oxygen demand leads to changes in myocardial oxygenation. Because apnoea and hyperventilation modify blood CO₂, we hypothesized that voluntary breathing manoeuvres induce changes in myocardial oxygenation that can be measured by oxygenation-sensitive cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). METHODS AND RESULTS Fourteen healthy volunteers were studied. Eight performed free long breath-hold as well as a 1- and 2-min hyperventilation, whereas six aquatic athletes were studied during a 60-s breath-hold and a free long breath-hold. Signal intensity (SI) changes in T₂*-weighted, steady-state free precession, gradient echo images at 1.5 T were monitored during breathing manoeuvres and compared with changes in capillary blood gases. Breath-holds lasted for 35, 58 and 117 s, and hyperventilation for 60 and 120 s. As expected, capillary pCO₂ decreased significantly during hyperventilation. Capillary pO₂ decreased significantly during the 117-s breath-hold. The breath-holds led to a SI decrease (deoxygenation) in the left ventricular blood pool, while the SI of the myocardium increased by 8.2% (P = 0.04), consistent with an increase in myocardial oxygenation. In contrast, hyperventilation for 120 s, however, resulted in a significant 7.5% decrease in myocardial SI/oxygenation (P = 0.02). Change in capillary pCO₂ was the only independently correlated variable predicting myocardial oxygenation changes during breathing manoeuvres (r = 0.58, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION In healthy individuals, breathing manoeuvres lead to changes in myocardial oxygenation, which appear to be mediated by CO₂. These changes can be monitored in vivo by oxygenation-sensitive CMR and thus, may have value as a diagnostic tool.

Differences in published characteristics of GLE60 and their consequences on computed radiation dose rates along selected flight paths

The radiation dose rates at flight altitudes can increase by orders of magnitude for a short time during energetic solar cosmic ray events, so called ground level enhancements (GLEs). Especially at high latitudes and flight altitudes, solar energetic particles superposed on galactic cosmic rays may cause radiation that exceeds the maximum allowed dosage limit for the general public. Therefore the determination of the radiation dose rate during GLEs should be as reliable as possible. Radiation dose rates along flight paths are typically determined by computer models that are based on cosmic ray flux and anisotropy parameters derived from neutron monitor and/or satellite measurements. The characteristics of the GLE on 15 April 2001 (GLE60) were determined and published by various authors. In this work we compare these results and investigate the consequences on the computed radiation dose rates along selected flight paths. In addition, we compare the computed radiation dose rates with measurements that were made during GLE60 on board two transatlantic flights.

Azacyclic FTY720 Analogues That Limit Nutrient Transporter Expression but Lack S1P Receptor Activity and Negative Chronotropic Effects Offer a Novel and Effective Strategy to Kill Cancer Cells in Vivo

FTY720 sequesters lymphocytes in secondary lymphoid organs through effects on sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptors. However, at higher doses than are required for immunosuppression, FTY720 also functions as an anticancer agent in multiple animal models. Our published work indicates that the anticancer effects of FTY720 do not depend on actions at S1P receptors but instead stem from FTY720s ability to restrict access to extracellular nutrients by down-regulating nutrient transporter proteins. This result was significant because S1P receptor activation is responsible for FTY720s dose-limiting toxicity, bradycardia, that prevents its use in cancer patients. Here, we describe diastereomeric and enantiomeric 3- and 4-C-aryl 2-hydroxymethyl pyrrolidines that are more active than the previously known analogues. Of importance is that these compounds fail to activate S1P1 or S1P3 receptors in vivo but retain inhibitory effects on nutrient transporter proteins and anticancer activity in solid tumor xenograft models. Our studies reaffirm that the anticancer activity of FTY720 does not depend upon S1P receptor activation and uphold the promise of using S1P receptor-inactive azacyclic FTY720 analogues in human cancer patients.

Transgenerational effects of land use on offspring performance and growth in Trifolium repens

entral European grasslands vary widely in productivity and in mowing and grazing regimes. The resulting differences in competition and heterogeneity among grasslands might have direct effects on plants, but might also affect the growth and morphology of their offspring through maternal effects or adaptive evolution. To test for such transgenerational effects, we grew plants of the clonal herb Trifolium repens from seeds collected in 58 grassland sites differing in productivity and mowing and grazing intensities in different treatments: without competition, with homogeneous competition, and with heterogeneous competition. In the competition-free treatment, T. repens from more productive, less frequently mown, and less intensively grazed sites produced more vegetative offspring, but this was not the case in the other treatments. When grown among or in close proximity to competitors, T. repens plants did not show preferential growth towards open spaces (i.e., no horizontal foraging), but did show strong vertical foraging by petiole elongation. In the homogeneous competition treatment, petiole length increased with the productivity of the parental site, but this was not the case in the heterogeneous competition treatment. Moreover, petiole length increased with mowing frequency and grazing intensity of the parental site in all but the homogeneous competition treatment. In summary, although the expression of differences between plants from sites with different productivities and land-use intensities depended on the experimental treatment, our findings imply that there are transgenerational effects of land use on the morphology and performance of T. repens.

Counting is a spatial process: evidence from eye movements

Spatial-numerical associations (small numbers-left/lower space and large numbers-right/upper space) are regularly found in simple number categorization tasks. These associations were taken as evidence for a spatially oriented mental number line. However, the role of spatial-numerical associations during more complex number processing, such as counting or mental arithmetic is less clear. Here, we investigated whether counting is associated with a movement along the mental number line. Participants counted aloud upward or downward in steps of 3 for 45 s while looking at a blank screen. Gaze position during upward counting shifted rightward and upward, while the pattern for downward counting was less clear. Our results, therefore, confirm the hypothesis of a movement along the mental number line for addition. We conclude that space is not only used to represent number magnitudes but also to actively operate on numbers in more complex tasks such as counting, and that the eyes reflect this spatial mental operation.

Does proximity to conspecific adults influence the establishment of ectomycorrhizal trees in rain forest?

Three ectomycorrhizal legume trees, Microberlinia bisulcata, Tetraberlinia bifoliolata and T. moreliana, form discrete groves in the southern part of Korup National Park, in southwest Cameroon and contribute c. 45–70% of stand basal area locally in a matrix of otherwise species-rich arbuscular mycorrhizal forest. A transplant experiment was performed to assess the importance of ectomycorrhizal infection associated with proximity to parents in seedling establishment of the grove-forming species. Nonectomycorrhizal seedlings of the three species were transplanted into plots of two forest types, one of high (HEM, within-grove) and one of very low (LEM, outside the grove) abundance of all three species as adult trees. For two species (T. moreliana and M. bisulcata) there was no difference in survival over 16 months, but for the third (T. bifoliolata) survival was best in HEM forest, and correlated with the basal area of adult trees of ectomycorrhizal species. Only one species (T. moreliana) increased in biomass over the experimental period; the others declined. There was no effect of forest type on overall growth of any species, but the survivors of two (T. moreliana and M. bisulcata) had heavier stems in the HEM forest. Differences in survival and growth of transplants between the three species were in accord with the ecology of the species as inferred from the frequency distributions of adult tree size in the forest. Seedlings became infected with ectomycorrhizas in both forest types; where there was a difference in extent of infection (T. moreliana) this was not related to survival or growth; and where there was a difference in survival (T. bifoliolata) this was not related to extent of infection. These results confirm that mycorrhizal inoculum associated with conspecific adults is neither a prerequisite nor a guarantee of seedling establishment, but indicates that in some circumstances there might be benefits of being close to parents. Further research is required to unravel the complexities of ectomycorrhizal community structure in this spatially and temporally heterogeneous forest, and to clarify the extent to which the various hosts share ectomycorrhizal partners.

Ms. lat. qu. 140 - Basilikon sive theatrum impp. Caesarum, regum, principum, ducum, marchionum, comitum, baronum

Handexemplar mit umfangreichen handschriftlichen Ergänzungen, überwiegend erstellt aus: Reusner, Elias: Basilikon opus genealogicum. Frankfurt am Main : Basse, 1592.