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Biomedical subjects

H Strauss

Publications and source records attributed to H Strauss.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Equipment of a land-based emergency medical service in Bavaria: a questionnaire].

BACKGROUND: Currently valid DIN regulations concerning the emergency equipment in physician-staffed rescue vehicles are not well defined for every single item. This leads to variations in the equipment in different ambulances. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the differences with some exemplary equipment purchases. METHODS: All 218 physician-staffed rescue vehicles in Bavaria received a questionnaire asking for current emergency medical equipment and planned items. RESULTS: A reply was received from 177 of the 218 bases (81%). The main results were that 88% of all bases had a 12-lead ECG, a portable emergency ventilator was available at 93% of all bases, 77% had alternative airway management devices (set for emergency coniotomy 71%, laryngeal mask 26%), expiratory CO(2 )measuring was available at 32% and 31 bases (18%) had fibrinolytic drugs in the emergency vehicles. CONCLUSIONS: There are vast differences among the emergency physician-staffed ambulances concerning the equipment which means that medical treatment according to current recommendations is not always possible at all bases.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Intracellular domain of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: the importance of being unfolded.

Bioinformatics methods with subsequent verification by experimental data were applied to the structural investigation of the intracellular loop of the delta-subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Three complementary methods were used: prediction of secondary structure elements, prediction of ordered/disordered protein regions and prediction of short functional binding motifs. The output of five different algorithms was used for the secondary structure construction. Most of the intracellular domain is predicted to be unfolded. The predictions correlate well with the experimental data of limited proteolysis and NMR performed on the mostly monomeric fraction of heterologously expressed Torpedo intracellular domain protein. Twelve functional binding motifs within the disordered regions of the nAChR intracellular domain are predicted. Identification of proteins that interact with the intracellular domain will provide a better understanding of protein-protein interactions involved in nAChR assembly, trafficking and clustering.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2003

FISH shows that Desulfotomaculum spp. are the dominating sulfate-reducing bacteria in a pristine aquifer.

The hydrochemistry and the microbial diversity of a pristine aquifer system near Garzweiler, Germany, were characterized. Hydrogeochemical and isotopic data indicate a recent activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the Tertiary marine sands. The community structure in the aquifer was studied by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Up to 7.3 x 10(5) cells/mL were detected by DAPI-staining. Bacteria (identified by the probe EUB338) were dominant, representing 51.9% of the total cell number (DAPI). Another 25.7% of total cell were affiliated with the domain Archaea as identified by the probe ARCH915. Within the domain Bacteria, the beta-Proteobacteria were most abundant (21.0% of total cell counts). Using genus-specific probes for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), 2.5% of the total cells were identified as members of the genus Desulfotomaculum. This reflects the predominant role these microorganisms have been found to play in sulfate-reducing zones of aquifers at other sites. Previously, all SRB cultured from this site were from the spore-forming genera Desulfotomaculum and Desulfosporosinus.

Archaea↗
PubMed1996

Analysis of respiratory water--a new method for evaluation of myocardial energy metabolism.

Aerobic ATP synthesis via oxidative phosphorylation causes a proportional production of respiratory water. Thus the amount of respiratory water produced at a given time should be a reliable measure of the current ATP demand of the mammalian myocardium. Respiratory water from isolated rabbit hearts was labeled by using the stable oxygen isotope 18O. The hearts were perfused according to the method of Langendorff (O. Langendorff. Pfluegers Arch. 61: 291-332, 1895) with 18O2-equilibrated Krebs-Henseleit solution. Control hearts were exclusively perfused with carbogen-equilibrated Krebs-Henseleit solution. Myocardial tissue was then lyophilized; the extracted water and samples from the coronary venous effluent were converted to CO2 by using the guanidine hydrochloride technique. The delta 18O values within the CO2 samples were determined by mass spectrometry and related to the standard mean ocean water (SMOW) scale. Compared with control hearts, the 18O-labeled hearts exhibited a significant increase of delta 18O values from tissue water (-47.50 +/- 0.64 vs. -40.35 +/- 2.05% SMOW; P < 0.05). The values were also significantly increased in the coronary venous effluent after a perfusion time of only 50 s (-47.50 +/- 0.64 vs. -43.66 +/- 0.91% SMOW; P < 0.05). Thus this first adaptation of the guanidine hydrochloride technique on microliter samples of myocardial tissue water and coronary venous effluent demonstrates that this method can be used to evaluate both respiratory activity and the kinetics of cardiac metabolic processes.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1995

Maternal social and physical contact: links to early infant attachment behaviors.

The relationship between maternal physical and social contact styles and infant attachment behavior under stress and nonstress conditions was studied at 2 different age points during the 1st year of life. The infants (29 girls and 15 boys) and their mothers were observed in their homes at 4 and 7 months of age. Maternal physical and social contact behaviors during an unstructured observation were rated on the Clarke-Stewart Rating Scales. Infant attachment behaviors in semistructured interactions with their mothers and with a stranger were rated on the Attachment Indicators Rating Scale. Scores on all attachment behaviors were subjected to a principal-axes factor analysis with varimax rotation, and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to assess effects of maternal social and physical contact at 4 and 7 months. A significant link was found between maternal physical contact at 4 months and the infant's attachment behavior under conditions of stress and play at both 4 and 7 months. Maternal social contact at 4 months was linked to attachment behavior in play situations, but not in stress situations. By the age of 7 months, the infants' attachment behavior under both stress and play conditions was linked to concurrent social and physical maternal contact. Maternal physical and social contacts at 4 and 7 months were linked to concurrent infant proximal attachment behavior, but such contacts at 4 months were not predictive of later infant proximal behaviors. These findings suggest that the relationship between the intensity and style of maternal contact and infant attachment behavior varies with age.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

[User evaluation of a psychiatric day center].

When community mental health centres were introduced in Copenhagen, day centres were attached to them. With the purpose of highlighting users' perspective in psychiatry, 48 patients in a psychiatric day centre were included in the study one year after the opening of the day centre. User satisfaction was investigated by means of a questionnaire, which was completed by the patient, while information on other aspects of the patients' lives was gathered from interviews with the patients and from case-records. The users of psychiatric day centres were mostly schizophrenic patients. The average number of years since first contact with psychiatric services was 12. In comparison with an age and sex-matched population in Copenhagen, patients were more isolated. There was a insignificant tendency towards use of psychiatric bed capacity decreasing from the one year period before the opening of the day centre to the one year period after. The users were very satisfied with the treatment in the day centre. The majority expressed that they trusted the staff, and that they believed that the treatment in the centre had affected their situation in a positive way. It is concluded that psychiatric day centres are useful and should form a part of psychiatric services.

Cohort Studies↗
PubMed1993

A reassessment of cardiac toxicity associated with Taxol.

Cardiac toxicity was first noted in patients receiving Taxol during continuous cardiac monitoring, which was performed because of the high incidence of serious hypersensitivity reactions noted early in phase I trials. After cardiac events were documented, patients with cardiac disease and those on medications known to alter cardiac conduction were excluded from most trials. The cardiac events reported with Taxol from the initiation of NCI-sponsored clinical trials through August 1992 are summarized. Adverse cardiac events were reviewed in four clinical databases: 1) the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program's Adverse Drug Reaction database following treatment of more than 3400 patients; 2) all cardiac toxicities in patients on GOG-111 who were randomized to cisplatin plus either Taxol or cyclophosphamide; 3) cardiac toxicity in 198 patients who received 618 courses of Taxol with or without cisplatin during continuous cardiac monitoring; and 4) cardiac toxicities reported for the first 696 patients on NCI TRC-9103 for ovarian cancer. Published reports of studies of taxine's cardiac effects, and of cardiac toxicity associated with yew poisoning, Cremophor EL, and H1 and H2 antagonists, are also reviewed. In patients without significant cardiac risk factors, asymptomatic sinus bradycardia is frequent (approximately 30%). Heart block and conduction abnormalities occur infrequently and are often asymptomatic. The casual relationship of Taxol to atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and cardiac ischemia is less clear because many patients had other conditions known to be associated with cardiac events. Nevertheless, the incidence of serious cardiac events was low. Routine cardiac monitoring is not required for patients without risk factors. There are, however, insufficient data to make treatment recommendations for patients with cardiac disease and those taking medications that alter cardiac conduction. To maximize patient safety and the clinical database, physicians who administer Taxol should continue to be alert to potential cardiac toxicities associated with Taxol.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Carbon isotope evidence for the stepwise oxidation of the Proterozoic environment

The oxidation of the Earth's crust and the increase in atmospheric oxygen early in Earth history have been linked to the accumulation of reduced carbon in sedimentary rocks. Trends in the carbon isotope composition of sedimentary organic carbon and carbonate show that during the Proterozoic aeon (2.5-0.54 Gyr ago) the organic carbon reservoir grew in size, relative to the carbonate reservoir. This increase, and the concomitant release of oxidizing power in the environment, occurred mostly during episodes of global rifting and orogeny.

Atmosphere↗
PubMed1986

Design of a multicenter, double-blind study to assess the effects of prophylactic diltiazem on early reinfarction after non-Q-wave acute myocardial infarction: diltiazem reinfarction study.

This protocol describes the design of an international study to examine the potential prophylactic effect of 14 days of diltiazem therapy to prevent early reinfarction in patients initially presenting with non-Q-wave acute myocardial infarction. Reinfarction was defined by the detection of a secondary elevation of plasma MB-creatine kinase. The results of clinical trials, instrumental in this protocol design, that established the increased propensity for early reinfarction after initial non-Q-wave infarction are described and the implications of the present study are discussed.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗
PubMed1986

The Goldstein-Scheerer Cube Test: a developmental-regressive study.

The Goldstein-Scheerer Cube Test was analyzed within a developmental frame of reference because Goldstein and Scheerer's criteria of pathological thought processes were found to be parallel to stages of development in concept formation. In addition to accuracy of the reproduction, the shape of the design frame and any rotations also were studied. Hypotheses were that the younger the subjects, the more global and diffuse their reproduction, while with increasing age the designs would be more accurate. A developmental gradient was suggested on a priori theoretical considerations. Thus, a gradient that consisted of three stages of perceptual matching, superceded by five stages of abstract analysis of the design, was envisaged. With regard to the frame and position of the reproduction, the breaking up of the square frame was considered most regressive. Among the rotations, those of 90%-180% were seen as more regressive than those of 45%; distinctions were made according to the causes of the rotations. The test was administered to samples of children aged 5, 7, 9, and 11 years, respectively (N = 171). The hypotheses generally were supported. The stages of the gradient of the configuration of the pattern showed very high scalability. The ranking among the shape of the frame of the copies and the various rotations of the copies relative to the design were supported. The 5-year-olds were significantly different from the three older age groups, as predicted. The results indicate a regressive hierarchy among faulty reactions to the Cube Test.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Genetically-engineered microorganisms: I. Identification, classification, and strain history.

We have argued that accurate identification of the microorganism will form a cornerstone of the assessment of potential hazard. Appropriate methodology for identification exists, and is continually under development and refinement. Organizations such as the American Type Culture Collection will perform certified identifications for relatively low cost. Thus there appears to be little reason that an organism should not be identified insofar as current microbiology allows prior to submission for PMN review. We suggest that a complete microbiological characterization be considered an essential element of an acceptable PMN. To accomplish this, however, current institutional arrangements for the protection of trade secret information needed in the process of identification may need to be improved. An accurate identification of the strain will often provide access to important information with which to evaluate its ecology, pathogenicity, biochemistry, and genetics. Specialized texts, the scientific literature, and professional consultation are ready sources of such information. However, a major effort should be made to establish a data base that can specifically address the needs of biohazard evaluation. This could be done, in part, by collecting information about the construction, and about the behavior in the environment of genetically-engineered microorganisms that are now under development and will soon be tested or used. Identification information may also eventually be useful for the formulation of hypotheses about possible modes of harm or about relative safety, based on phylogenetic relationships. This is a very difficult undertaking at present, however. Microbial taxonomy is currently in a process of radical reevaluation as new macromolecular sequence information reveals previously unsuspected phylogenetic relationships, and disturbs categorizations based on older types of traits such as morphology, etc. This means that both inferences about relative safety and about possible modes of harm from taxonomic relationships must be highly tentative based on current information. Regulatory authorities may wish to consider requesting confirmatory DNA hybridization data or other macromolecular sequence comparisons in cases where strong arguments related to safety must be made from taxonomic information in relatively poorly studied groups of organisms. Detailed strain histories would provide valuable information for safety evaluations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Bacteria↗