Penetrating abdominal injury caused by nonlethal ammunition.
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Abdominal Injuries↗
Biomedical subjects
A Strauss
Publications and source records attributed to A Strauss.
Are low basal serum levels of the thyroid stimulating hormone (b-TSH) a risk factor for switches into states of expansive syndromes (known in Germany as "maniform syndromes" in bipolar I depression?
Switching over from depression into states known an "maniform" in Germany ("expansive syndromes") been frequently, observed and appears to be partially related to the type of antidepressive medication. Apart from the medication, some evidence suggests that additional factors such as thyroid function may be relevant for the switchover. With this background, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the hypothesis that depressed bipolar patients with lower basal TSH serum levels (b-TSH) on admission at the hospital as inpatients are at a higher risk of switching from depression into "maniform" states than depressed bipolar patients with higher b-TSH. From a total of 158 bipolar depressed patients, 16 patients developed mania during their hospital stay. After dividing the sample of patients at the median b-TSH into one group with lower b-TSH (N = 78) and another group with higher b-TSH (N = 79), we found that the switchover rate to mania was significantly higher in the group of patients with lower b-TSH (15.4%) than in the group of patients with higher b-TSH (5.1 %). These findings suggest that lower b-TSH may be a risk factor for switching over from depression into "maniform" states in bipolar depressed patients.
Bipolar Disorder↗
[Effect of repetitive prenatal corticosteroid medication on intrauterine growth and growth in early childhood].
OBJECTIVE: The evaluation of the effects of repeated antenatal corticosteriod (CS) medication on birth size and size at the age of 4 years. METHODS: 82 children exposed to CS initially between 26 and 28 weeks of gestation were matched with 82 controls of the same gestational age and sex. RESULTS: No differences were observed between the CS and control groups with regard to weight, head circumference, and length at birth and at the age of 4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Our study failed to demonstrate that repetitive antenatal medication with CS in order to induce lung maturation has a negative impact on intrauterine growth and growth in early childhood.
Betamethasone↗
Contrast-enhanced high resolution magnetic resonance imaging of pigmented malignant melanoma using Mn-TPPS4 and Gd-DTPA: experimental results.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of the paramagnetic metalloporphyrin Mn-TPPS4 (using Gd-DTPA as the reference) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of pigmented malignant melanoma in an animal model. High resolution MRI (2.0 T, 2.0 cm surface coil, T1-weighted FLASH two-dimensional sequence) was performed on 15 mice (C57bl6) with intracutaneous implanted melanoma (B16F1) before and after intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA (Magnevist, Schering AG, Berlin, Germany) and Mn-TPPS4 (Porphyrin Products, Logan, Utah, USA). The images were evaluated quantitatively by calculating the percentage enhancement, the slope of the signal intensity-to-time curves, the percentage increase in the signal intensity, and the signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios. The qualitative evaluation was accomplished by visual assessment of the enhancement, the demarcation of the tumours from the surrounding tissue, and the homogeneity of the tumours. Contrast medium-enhanced images showed an increase in signal intensity for all the tumours, with no significant difference between the contrast media. Specific accumulation of the contrast media in the melanoma could not be proved. Demarcation of tumours from the surrounding tissue is better after administration of contrast media; regressive changed areas were better depicted.
Animals↗
[What do medical students in the 6th clinical semester know about psychiatric emergencies?].
OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the knowledge of medical students in psychiatric emergencies. METHODS: Medical students were questioned concerning their knowledge about psychiatric emergencies, shortly before finishing their theoretical part of the medical training program. RESULTS: Findings indicated that medical students have significant deficits in psychiatric knowledge. Nevertheless, most students reported to be interested in psychiatry and to acknowledge the importance of psychiatric knowledge for general practioners. CONCLUSIONS: The reasons for the reported deficits cannot be sufficiently explained by a lack of interest in psychiatry or a negation of the importance of knowledge in psychiatry for general practioners and may hint to conceptual problems in the organisation of the medical training programs.
Adolescent↗
Tyrosine phosphorylation of tub and its association with Src homology 2 domain-containing proteins implicate tub in intracellular signaling by insulin.
A mutation in the tub gene leads to maturity-onset obesity, insulin resistance, and progressive retinal and cochlear degeneration in mice. tub is a member of a growing family of genes that encode proteins of unknown function that are remarkably conserved across species. The absence of obvious transmembrane domain(s) or signal sequence peptide motif(s) suggests that Tub is an intracellular protein. Additional sequence analysis revealed the presence of putative tyrosine phosphorylation motifs and Src homology 2 (SH2)-binding sites. Here we demonstrate that in CHO-IR cells, transfected Tub is phosphorylated on tyrosine in response to insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 and that in PC12 cells, insulin but not EGF induced tyrosine phosphorylation of endogenous Tub. In vitro, Tub is phosphorylated by purified insulin receptor kinase as well as by Abl and JAK 2 but not by epidermal growth factor receptor and Src kinases. Furthermore, upon tyrosine phosphorylation, Tub associated selectively with the SH2 domains of Abl, Lck, and the C-terminal SH2 domain of phospholipase Cgamma and insulin enhanced the association of Tub with endogenous phospholipase Cgamma in CHO-IR cells. These data suggest that Tub may function as an adaptor protein linking the insulin receptor, and possibly other protein-tyrosine kinases, to SH2-containing proteins.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
Deficit syndromes in schizophrenic patients 15 years after their first hospitalisation: preliminary results of a follow-up study.
This study is a follow-up study on broadly defined schizophrenic disorders. Patients were assessed standardized at the time of their first hospitalization (admission and discharge) and reassessed in an standardized manner 15 years later. The aim of the analyses presented here was to evaluate the frequency of patients with markedly expressed negative symptoms in terms of deficit syndrome and to analyze which of the variables assessed at the time of first hospitalization were predictive concerning deficit syndromes at follow-up. Results indicate that nearly one third of patients have developed a deficit syndrome 15 years after their first hospitalization. These patients are characterized by severe impairments in important areas of life, such as partnership or employment. Furthermore, apart from more pronounced negative symptoms, these patients also have more paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms than schizophrenic patients without deficit syndromes. Predictive signs for non-development of a deficit syndrome 15 years later were good global functioning, female gender, pronounced depressive symptoms and good treatment response concerning negative and paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms at first hospitalization. A longer duration of symptoms prior to first hospitalization, lack of a partnership, pronounced negative symptoms at admission and at discharge were predictive of developing a deficit syndrome. Results are discussed with regard to the literature and to methodological limitations.
Adult↗
[Mn-TPPS4 in the diagnosis of malignant skin tumors. In vivo studies with high resolution magnetic resonance tomography in melanotic melanoma].
PURPOSE: Some authors postulate an avidity of certain porphyrin derivatives for tumors. The aim of this study was to examine the contrast enhancement of implanted melanotic melanoma after application of Mn-TPPS4 to achieve a better characterization of this malignant skin tumor. MATERIAL AND METHOD: High-resolution MR imaging (2.0 Tesla, 2.0-cm surface-coil, T1-weighted FLASH-2D-sequence) was performed on 15 mice (C57b16) with intracutaneous implanted melanoma (B16F1), before and after intravenous administration of either Gd-DTPA (Magnevist, Schering, Berlin) as a reference contrast medium, or Mn-TPPS4 (Porphyrin Products, Schering, Berlin). The images were evaluated quantitatively by calculating percentage enhancement, slope of signal intensity-to-time curves, percentage increase of the signal intensity, signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise-ratios. The qualitative evaluation was accomplished by visual assessment of the enhancement, the demarcation of the tumors from the surrounding tissue and the homogeneity of the tumors. RESULTS: Contrast medium-enhanced images showed an increased signal intensity from all tumors with no signifikant difference between the contrast media. Demarcation of tumors from the surrounding tissue was better following administration of contrast media; regressive and altered areas was more clearly depicted. CONCLUSION: A specific accumulation of the metalloporphyrin Mn-TPPS4 in melanotic melanoma could not be proved. Based on the small and insignifikant differences in the results obtained with the two contrast media, and on the side effects of the metalloporphyrin, the usefulness of Mn-TPPS4 as a contrast medium for MRT is limited.
Animals↗
Structural basis for the high affinity of amino-aromatic SH2 phosphopeptide ligands.
An anthranyl moiety placed at the N terminus of a phosphotyrosine peptide potentiates the inhibitory effect of this small peptide on the binding of the Grb2 SH2 domain to the EGF receptor. Using molecular modeling procedures based on the Lck SH2 domain structure, this observation was rationalized in terms of a suitably favorable pi-pi stacking interaction between the anthranyl moiety and the arginine alphaA2 (ArgalphaA2) residue side-chain of Grb2 SH2. The crystal structure of the Grb2 SH2 domain in complex with the inhibitor 2-Abz-EpYINQ-NH2 (IC50 26 nM) has been solved in two different crystal forms at 2.1 and 1.8 A resolution. This structure confirms the modeling based on the Lck SH2 domain. The ArgalphaA2 residue is conserved in most SH2 domains. Thus, as expected, the anthranyl group also confers high affinity to small peptide ligands of other SH2 domains such as Lck-, PLC-gamma-amino-terminal and p85 amino-terminal SH2 domains as demonstrated by structure affinity relationships (SAR) data. These potent peptides with an amino-terminal surrogate group and the structure of Grb2 SH2 domain in complex with one such peptide represent good starting points for the design and optimization of new inhibitors of many SH2 domains.
Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
Antidepressant-associated maniform states in acute treatment of patients with bipolar-I depression.
Medical records of 158 patients with bipolar depression were analysed for the incidence of a switch from depression to maniform states (mania and hypomania). Relation to psychopharmacological treatment was investigated. Thirty-nine (25%) patients of the total sample had switched to a maniform state during the treatment period in the hospital. Among that group the phenomenon occurred in 23 patients (15%) as a hypomania and in 16 patients (10%) as a mania. Patients with a switch were significantly more often treated with tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) than patients without switch (79.5% vs 51.3%). Mood stabilising medication might reduce the risk for switching, especially in patients treated with TCA; however, it seems not totally sufficient, since 59% of the switched patients received mood stabilisers. The switch phenomenon was not associated with sociodemographic or clinical data.
Antidepressive Agents↗
Meconium has no lecithin or sphingomyelin but affects the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio.
OBJECTIVE: Although a few studies have evaluated the effect of meconium on the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio for testing of fetal lung maturity, to date these studies have assessed only the lecithin-sphingomyelin ratio of amniotic fluid contaminated with meconium. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine whether meconium by itself has a lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio and, if so, (2) to determine whether the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio is constant. STUDY DESIGN: A lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio was obtained by standard thin-layer chromatography on the first meconium stool of 20 neonates between 31 weeks and term. A quantitative assay was then performed on a sample from each gestational age (7 samples ranging from 31 weeks to term) to confirm the presence of lecithin and sphingomyelin. RESULTS: The 20 samples had atypical thin-layer chromatographic migratory patterns in the zones for lecithin and sphingomyelin. The presumed lecithin/sphingomyelin ratios ranged from 1.1 to 3.6, with no correlation with gestational age. However, the quantitative assay did not detect the presence of lecithin or sphingomyelin in any of the analyzed samples. CONCLUSIONS: Meconium does not appear to contain lecithin or sphingomyelin but has an unidentified moiety whose migratory pattern, as shown by qualitative standard thin-layer chromatography, is similar to that of lecithin with sphingomyelin. Therefore the presence of meconium in amniotic fluid may falsely raise or lower the lecithin/sphingomyelin ratio and confuse fetal lung maturity interpretations.
Chromatography, Thin Layer↗
Influence of Lif, the lysostaphin immunity factor, on acceptors of surface proteins and cell wall sorting efficiency in Staphylococcus carnosus.
Proteins harboring a C-terminal cell wall sorting signal are covalently linked to pentaglycine acceptors within the staphylococcal peptidoglycan. This pentaglycine was modified when the lysostaphin immunity factor (Lif) of Staphylococcus simulans was expressed in Staphylococcus carnosus, likely by the exchange of two glycine residues for serine residues. A reporter protein was efficiently linked to the modified acceptor, indicating that the sorting reaction is not strictly dependent on the wild-type structures of the acceptors.
Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
Biochemical characterization of purified, human recombinant Lys304-->Glu medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase containing the common disease-causing mutation and comparison with the normal enzyme.
Recombinant, normal human medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCADH) and the common, human disease-causing K304E mutant ([Glu304]MCADH) protein were expressed in Escherichia coli using an optimized system, and the enzymes were purified to apparent homogeneity. The crucial factor leading to the production of active [Glu304]MCADH protein is the expression in E. coli cells at reduced temperature (28 degrees C). Expression in the same system at 37 degrees C results in very low amounts of active mutant protein. Several catalytic and physicochemical parameters of these two proteins have been determined and were compared to those of purified pig kidney MCADH. Although [Glu304]MCADH has approximately the same rate of substrate reduction with dodecanoyl-CoA and the same V(max) as human MCADH with the best substrate for the latter, octanoyl-CoA, the K(m) in the mutant MCADH is fourfold higher, which generates a correspondingly lower catalytic efficiency. Importantly, V(max) obtained using the natural acceptor, electron transfer flavoprotein, is only a third that for human MCADH. The V(max)/K(m) versus chain-length profile of the mutant shows a maximum with dodecanoyl-CoA which differs markedly from that of human MCADH, which has maximal efficiency with octanoyl-CoA. The substrate specificity of the mutant is broader with a less pronounced activity peak resembling long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The purified mutant enzyme exhibits a reduced thermal stability compared to human wild-type MCADH. The major difference between the two proteins expressed in E. coli is the more pronounced lability of the K304E mutant in crude extracts, which suggests a higher susceptibility to attack by endogenous proteases. Differences between tetrameric [Glu304]MCADH which survives the first step(s) of purification and corresponding MCADH are minor. The overall differences in properties of [Glu304]MCADH together with its impaired folding and tetramer assembly may contribute to the generation of the abnormalities observed in patients homozygous for the K304E mutation.
Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase↗
Recombinant hirustasin: production in yeast, crystallization, and interaction with serine proteases.
A synthetic gene coding for the 55-amino acid protein hirustasin, a novel tissue kallikrein inhibitor from the leech Hirudo medicinalis, was generated by polymerase chain reaction using overlapping oligonucleotides, fused to the yeast alpha-factor leader sequence and expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Recombinant hirustasin was secreted mainly as incompletely processed fusion protein, but could be processed in vitro using a soluble variant of the yeast yscF protease. The processed hirustasin was purified to better than 97% purity. N-terminal sequence analysis and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry confirmed a correctly processed N-terminus and the expected amino acid sequence and molecular mass. The biological activity of recombinant hirustasin was identical to that of the authentic leech protein. Crystallized hirustasin alone and in complex with tissue kallikrein diffracted beyond 1.4 A and 2.4 A, respectively. In order to define the reactive site of the inhibitor, the interaction of hirustasin with kallikrein, chymotrypsin, and trypsin was investigated by monitoring complex formation in solution as well as proteolytic cleavage of the inhibitor. During incubation with high, nearly equimolar concentration of tissue kallikrein, hirustasin was cleaved mainly at the peptide bond between Arg 30 and Ile 31, the putative reactive site, to yield a modified inhibitor. In the corresponding complex with chymotrypsin, mainly uncleaved hirustasin was found and cleaved hirustasin species accumulated only slowly. Incubation with trypsin led to several proteolytic cleavages in hirustasin with the primary scissile peptide bond located between Arg 30 and Ile 31. Hirustasin appears to fall into the class of protease inhibitors displaying temporary inhibition.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
[Amnionic infection syndrome by retro-amniotic uterine abscess: false-negative bacteriological diagnostic amniocentesis].
UNLABELLED: In general intra-amniotic infection causes severe fetal compromise. Prematurity resulting from preterm labor, premature rupture of membranes, maternal fever, maternal or fetal septicemia and fetal tachycardia is the major problem of this clinical syndrome. Therefore early detection of chorioamnionitis gains high prospective value. Gram's staining method from amniotic fluid provides a quick and reliable diagnostic tool (sensitivity 63.8%, specificity 97.7%). A localized extra-amniotic abscess demonstrates the special case of a false negative amniocentesis performed for bacteriological reasons. CONCLUSION: In suspected amniotic infection the obstetrical management has always to take into account all different parameters--clinical symptoms, chemistry and microbiological analysis. Nevertheless Gram's stain is a reliable and quick method to verify amniotic infection syndrome.
Abdominal Abscess↗
Structural basis for specificity of Grb2-SH2 revealed by a novel ligand binding mode.
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Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
[Correlation between symptoms and diagnosis in pharmacotherapeutic decision process].
Evaluation of influence of psychopathological symptoms (AMDP System) and diagnosis (ICD-9) on the choice of drug therapy (neuroleptics or antidepressants) for psychiatric in-patients was the aim of this work. Statistical analysis of 3745 patients led to three different decision-making procedures. These procedures are based on symptoms or diagnoses alone or on both symptoms and diagnosis. CART-Analysis was used for statistical analysis. Reclassification errors for neuroleptics were always larger than reclassification errors for antidepressants. The results show that both symptoms (error neuroleptics 20.2%, respectively antidepressants 15.0%) and diagnosis (20.8%, resp. 11.9%) alone are not sufficient to explain the choice of drug therapy. Lowest error rates were gained in a hierarchical model for the choice of drug treatment where both diagnosis and symptoms were used (17.1%, resp. 10.1%).
Antidepressive Agents↗
High yield expression and secretion of the ovine pregnancy recognition hormone interferon-tau by Pichia pastoris.
The early conceptus (embryo and associated membranes) of domestic ruminats signals its presence to the maternal uterus through production of interferon-tau (IFN-tau). Production of IFN-tau ensures continued production of progesterone, the hormone of pregnancy, by the ovarian corpus luteum. This paper reports the high-level expression and efficient secretion of biologically active recombinant ovine IFN-tau (rOvIFN-tau) by Pichia pastoris. The developed method produces more than 80% pure recombinant ovine IFN-tau, obviating the need for further purification for many purposes. Initial fermentation studies produced IFN-tau at 280 mg/liter and demonstrate the potential of this system for large-scale production of IFN-tau.
Animals↗