[Diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol drinking, hypercholesterolemia. Screening of these stroke risk factors?].
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
M Wagner
Publications and source records attributed to M Wagner.
[Stroke risk factors in different age groups. What is the role of hypertension and obesity?].
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Adult↗
Determination of the pressure gradient in children with coarctation of the aorta by low-field magnetic resonance imaging.
During the past few years magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has gained increasing importance in the noninvasive examination of congenital heart defects. Practically all existing examinations have been carried out with a magnetic field strength exceeding 1 (T high-field MRI). Flow quantification is considered to be an advanced MRI application and, in the past, has been available for high-field systems only. Therefore until recently, functional examinations such as MRI tomographic flow quantification were reported exclusively for high-field MRI units. From December 1998 to December 1999, nine patients (five girls and four boys, mean age 130 plus minus 3.6 months, range 62-185 months) were investigated by means of MRI after a previous surgical repair or interventional balloon dilatation of a coarctation of the aorta (mean postinterventional time period 23 plus minus 0.4 months). The examination was carried out without sedation in an open low-field unit (Siemens Magnetom Open 0.2 T). Cardiac-triggered spin-echo sequences were used with a 3-mm to 7-mm slice thickness in an axial and a double oblique plane. The measurement of the immediate poststenotic flow velocity was done by flow-sensitive sequences developed for the study (phase-sensitive flow measurement sequences: TE, 6-12 msec; TR, 50 msec; flip angle, 60 degrees; Vmax, 200-1200 cm/sec; two acquisitions). All patients were examined on the same day with comparative echocardiographic procedures. In all cases, an excellent anatomical evaluation of the aortic arch was possible. The diameters of the residual stenosis were measured by MRI and correlated well r = 0.95; p ? 0.001; mean difference 0.44 +/- 2.47 mm) with echocardiographic results. No wall damage was observed in any of the cases studied. The pressure gradient of the stenosis calculated from the flow sequence was between 17 and 50 mmHg and corresponded well (r = 0.93; p = 0.001; mean difference 0.67 +/- 11 mmHg) with the results obtained from echocardiography. The study demonstrates that examination of the aortic arch is possible in a low-field MRI system, with its significant advantages (lower patient discomfort and more cost-effective examination). In addition, a quantitative flow measurement in low-field MRI was realized for the first time. Low-field MRI therefore seems to be a good, noninvasive method for examining patients with a poor echocardiographic representation of the aortic arch.
Adolescent↗
Monocomponent chemoembolization in oral and oropharyngeal cancer using an aqueous crystal suspension of cisplatin.
Intensification of intra-arterial chemotherapy with high-dose cisplatin and concomitant reduction of toxicity under the conditions of the head and neck was aimed at by combination of antineoplastic activity and embolizing effect in the same pharmacon. A cisplatin suspension in normal saline (5 mg in 1 ml) with precipitation of microembolizing cisplatin crystals was prepared. No additional pharmacons. Cisplatin dosage was 150 mg m(-2), maximum absolute dose 300 mg, maximum amount of fluid 60 ml. Thirty patients (UICC-Classification of tumours: I/2 patients, II/6, III/2; IV/20) were treated in a neoadjuvant setting with superselective chemoembolization using the cisplatin suspension. A control group (n=30) with the same tumour and nodal staging was treated with a usual cisplatin solution (150 mg m(-2) dissolved in 500 ml saline). In both groups, parallel intravenous infusion of sodium thiosulphate (9 g m(-2)). Endpoints were toxicity and response. Continuation of treatment by surgery or radiation. Overall remission was 70% in the study group and 46.7% in the control group after one cycle respectively. Systemic side-effects were very low (grade I WHO) in both groups. Side-effects were found to be similar to post-embolization syndrome (swelling, mild to moderate pain, leucocytosis without fever) in the study group. Chemoembolization in the head and neck area can be carried out routinely using this method.
Aged↗
Strategies for the identification and analysis of viral immune-evasive genes--cytomegalovirus as an example.
Co-evolution of herpesviruses with their hosts has resulted in multiple interactions between viral genes and cellular functions. Some interactions control genomic maintenance and replication in specific tissues, other affect the immune control at various stages. Few immunomodulatory functions of genes can be predicted by sequence homology. The majority of genes with immunomodulatory properties only become apparent in functional assays. This chapter reviews procedures which have been used for successful identification of immunomodulatory genes in the past and deals with recent methods which may be applicable for the identification of additional immunomodulatory functions unknown so far.
Animals↗
Seroprevalence of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. in two adjacent regions of eastern France and southwestern Germany.
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Antibodies, Bacterial↗
Different negative priming impairments in schizophrenia and subgroups of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
BACKGROUND: Inhibitory functioning is assumed to be deficient in some psychiatric disorders, most notably in patients with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). In order to investigate inhibitory functioning, priming tasks are commonly used. The present paradigm offers the opportunity to isolate specific distractor features (identity, location) for independent examination. METHODS: Negative priming (NP) for stimulus identity and location was examined in patients with schizophrenia (N = 16), patients with OCD (N = 15) and matched controls (N = 16). All groups performed a referent size-selection task in which they were instructed successively to select the larger one of two cardinal numbers. The deeper processing of both stimuli was expected to yield large NP effects that allow the detection of subtle group differences. RESULTS: Large NP effects were found for stimulus identity in all three groups. Schizophrenic patients differed from normal controls with respect to the amount of incidental location priming. Subgroup analyses of OCD patients showed NP impairments for checkers when the response-stimulus interval (RSI) was short, but large identity NP when the RSI was long. OCD non-checkers showed normal NP patterns with short RSI, but reduced identity NP with longer RSI. CONCLUSIONS: Schizophrenic patients do not show the ability to use spatial selective attention in order to guide their actions as shown by normal controls. Information processing was differentially impaired in OCD subgroups (checkers and non-checkers) dependent on RSI variation. This result supports those studies that found reduced NP in OCD patients and points to the necessity of differential subgroup studies.
Adult↗
The anammox case-a new experimental manifesto for microbiological eco-physiology.
The anaerobic ammonium oxidation process is a new process for ammonia removal from wastewater. It is also a new microbial physiology that was previously believed to be impossible. The identification of Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans and its relatives as the responsible bacteria was only possible with the development of a new experimental approach. That approach is the focus of this paper. The approach is a modernisation of the Winogradsky/Beyerinck strategy of selective enrichment and is based on the introduction of the molecular toolbox and modern bioreactor engineering to microbial ecology. It consists of five steps: (1) postulation of an ecological niche based on thermodynamic considerations and macro-ecological field data; (2) engineering of this niche into a laboratory bioreactor for enrichment culture; (3) black-box physiological characterisation of the enrichment culture as a whole; (4) phylogenetic characterisation of the enriched community using molecular tools; (5) physical separation of the dominant members of the enrichment culture using gradient centrifugation and the identification of the species of interest in accordance with Koch's postulates; (6) verification of the in situ importance of these species in the actual ecosystems. The power of this approach is illustrated with a case study: the identification of the planctomycetes responsible for anaerobic ammonium oxidation. We argue that this was impossible using molecular ecology or conventional 'cultivation based techniques' alone. We suggest that the approach might also be used for the microbiological study of many interesting microbes such as anaerobic methane oxidisers.
Bacteria, Anaerobic↗
[Induction of direct antimicrobial activity through mammalian toll-like receptors].
Drosophila, the toll gene controls a powerful innate defense system against bacteria and fungi. Conserved through evolution, the mammalian innate immune system retains a family of homologous Toll-like receptors (TLRs) that are activated by microbial ligands to release cytokines that instruct the adaptive immune responses. Here we show that TLR2 activation leads to killing of intracellular Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis in both mouse and human macrophages. In mouse macrophages, bacterial lipoprotein activation of TLR2 leads to a nitric oxide-dependent killing of intracellular tubercle bacilli. In human monocytes and alveolar macrophages, bacterial lipoproteins similarly activated TLR2 to kill intracellular M. tuberculosis, however by an antimicrobial pathway that is nitric oxide independent. TLR2+CD14+CD68+ macrophages were detected in human lesions of tuberculous lymphadenitis within granulomas and surrounding foci of necrosis. These data provide evidence that mammalian TLRs have retained not only the structural features of Drosophila Toll that allow them to respond to microbial ligands, but also the ability directly to activate antimicrobial effector pathways at the site of infection.
Animals↗
Detection and genotyping of human group A rotaviruses by oligonucleotide microarray hybridization.
A rapid and reliable method for the identification of five clinically relevant G genotypes (G1 to G4 and G9) of human rotaviruses based on oligonucleotide microarray hybridization has been developed. The genotype-specific oligonucleotides immobilized on the surface of glass slides were selected to bind to the multiple target regions within the VP7 gene that are highly conserved among individual rotavirus genotypes. Rotavirus cDNA was amplified in a PCR with primers common to all group A rotaviruses. A second round of nested PCR amplification was performed in the presence of indodicarbocyanine-dCTP and another pair of degenerate primers also broadly specific for all genotypes. The use of one primer containing 5'-biotin allowed us to prepare fluorescently labeled single-stranded hybridization probe by binding of another strand to magnetic beads. The identification of rotavirus genotype was based on hybridization with several individual genotype-specific oligonucleotides. This approach combines the high sensitivity of PCR with the selectivity of DNA-DNA hybridization. The specificity of oligonucleotide microchip hybridization was evaluated by testing 20 coded rotavirus isolates from different geographic areas for which genotypes were previously determined by conventional methods. Analysis of the coded specimens showed that this microarray-based method is capable of unambiguous identification of all rotavirus strains. Because of the presence of random mutations, each individual virus isolate produced a unique hybridization pattern capable of distinguishing different isolates of the same genotype and, therefore, subgenotype differentiation. This strain information indicates one of several advantages that microarray technology has over conventional PCR techniques.
Antigens, Viral↗
Long-term complete remission of oral cancer after anti-neoplastic chemotherapy as single treatment modality: role of local chemotherapy.
The impact of intra-arterial local chemotherapy on squamous cell carcinomas of the oral cavity is doubtful when considering long-term survival, especially in cases of nodal involvement. But even in patients with strictly local disease it is not possible to determine the effect of intra-arterial chemotherapy because it is mainly used as a neoadjuvant treatment modality. In the present paper, long-term courses of two patients are described who refused any further treatment after one cycle of intra-arterial chemotherapy with cisplatin followed by systemic chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and one cycle of intra-arterial chemotherapy with high-dose cisplatin, respectively. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the potential of local chemotherapy in responders. The impact of this treatment modality in incurable patients is discussed, too. This may offer a point in favor of use of intra-arterial chemotherapy in combination treatment regimens.
Aged↗
Population dynamics in wastewater treatment plants with enhanced biological phosphorus removal operated with and without nitrogen removal.
The population dynamics of activated sludge in a pilot plant with two activated sludge systems, both designed for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), but one of them with (BNP) and the other without (BP) nitrogen removal, was monitored during a period of 2.5 years. The influent water to the pilot plant was periodically manipulated by external addition of phosphorus (P), acetate and glucose, respectively. The population dynamics and the in situ physiology were monitored by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and microautoradiography. Significant P removal was observed in both systems throughout the whole period, with significant increases of the P removal when substrates were dosed. The activated sludge in both systems contained large amounts of dense clusters of gram-negative, methylene-blue staining coccoid rods during the whole period. A large part of the clusters belonged to the beta Proteobacteria, whereas the rest of the clusters belonged either to the Actinobacteria or to the alpha Proteobacteria. The relative abundance of Rhodocyclus-related bacteria in the activated sludge varied significantly in both systems during the whole period (from 6 to 18% in BNP, and from 4 to 28% in BP). However, no statistically significant correlation of the Rhodocyclus-related nor any of the other investigated bacterial groups to the P content of the activated sludge (correlation for all groups investigated was always < 0.5) was observed. A significant 33Pi uptake was observed by the beta Proteobacteria (part of them Rhodocyclus-related, the identity of the rest unknown) and the Actinobacteria. However, not all of the Rhodocyclus-related bacteria showed 33Pi uptake. The P removal in the investigated plants is thus believed to be mediated by a mixed population consisting of a part of the Rhodocyclus-related bacteria, the Actinobacteria and other, yet unidentified bacteria.
Autoradiography↗
Deammonification in biofilm systems: population structure and function.
For the development of alternative concepts for the cost effective treatment of wastewaters with high ammonium content and low C/N-ratio, autotrophic consortia of micro-organisms with the ability to convert ammonium directly into N2 are of particular interest. Several full-scale industrial biofilm plants eliminating nitrogen without carbon source for years in a stable process, are suspected for some time to harbor active anaerobic ammonium oxidizers in deeper, oxygen-limited biofilm layers. In order to identify the processes of the single-stage nitrogen elimination (deammonification) in biofilm systems and to allocate them to the responsible micro-organisms, a deammonifying moving-bed pilot plant was investigated in detail. 15N-labelled tracer compounds were used as well as 16S rDNA libraries and in situ identification of dominant organisms. The usage of rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide probes (FISH) was particularly emphasized on the ammonium oxidizers of the beta-subclass of Proteobacteria and on the members of the order Planctomycetales. The combined application of these methods led to a deeper insight into the population structure and function of a deammonifying biofilm.
Biofilms↗
[Thyrotoxicosis periodic hypokaliemic paralysis]
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Journal Article↗
[Thyrotoxicosis periodic hypokalemic paralysis].
Periodic hypokaliemic paralysis is an usual cause of severe hypokaliemia. Thyrotoxicosis periodic paralysis (TPP) is less common. Incidence is high in Asian people and rarely reported in caucasian people. We describe the case of a young caucasian male, with a TPP. Clinical symptoms of hypokaliemia are strong, when thyrotoxicosis symptoms appear only on blood tests. The clinical course is good with beta-blockers and antithyroid treatment. These treatments induce a total clinical and biological cure. In all the cases of hypokaliemic paralysis, even without symptom, an hyperthyroïdia must be searched for.
Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗
Enhanced affective startle modulation in salt-sensitive subjects.
Salt-sensitive normotensive men exhibit an enhanced pressor response to mental stress. Although an enhanced pressor response is associated with higher affective startle modulation in men, an association between salt sensitivity of blood pressure and affective startle modulation has not been studied so far. We studied reactivity to mental stress and startle modulation in 14 salt-sensitive healthy white male students and 14 salt-resistant control subjects, who were well matched for age, body mass index, physical fitness, and family history of hypertension. Subjects performed a computerized information-processing task under time pressure (manometer test), while heart rate and blood pressure were continuously registered. In a separate session, subjects viewed a series of 42 pictures of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), varying in pleasure and arousal, while acoustic startle probes were administered randomly, and electromyogram activity of the orbicular eye muscle was continuously recorded. Startle modulation was calculated as the difference between startle responses under negative and positive affective stimuli. In contrast to salt-resistant subjects, salt-sensitive subjects showed significantly enhanced startle amplitudes under negative stimuli and diminished amplitudes under positive stimuli. Thus, salt-sensitive subjects displayed a significantly higher startle modulation than did salt-resistant subjects (P<0.05). Subjective ratings of the presented IAPS pictures did not differ between the groups. The increased startle modulation of salt-sensitive subjects suggests an enhanced activity of the central nucleus of the amygdala. This enhanced central nervous responsiveness may contribute to higher sympathetic pressor reactivity and, thus, to the later development of hypertension in salt-sensitive individuals.
Adult↗
Evidence for additional genus-level diversity of Chlamydiales in the environment.
The medically important order Chlamydiales has long been considered to contain a few closely related bacteria which occur exclusively in animals and humans. This perception of diversity and habitat had to be revised with the recent identification of the genera Simkania, Waddlia, Parachlamydia, and Neochlamydia with the latter two comprising endosymbionts of amoebae. Application of a newly developed PCR assay for the specific amplification of a near full length 16S rDNA fragment of these novel Chlamydia-related bacteria on activated sludge samples revealed the existence of at least four additional, previously unknown evolutionary lineages of Chlamydiales (each showing less than 92% 16S rRNA sequence similarity with all recognized members of this order). These findings suggest that some waste water treatment plants represent reservoirs for a diverse assemblage of environmental chlamydiae, a discovery which might also be of relevance from the viewpoint of human public health.
Chlamydiales↗
Prevalence and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in the feces of healthy Austrians.
The aims of the study were to determine the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the feces of healthy Austrians and to characterize the isolates by various typing methods. Stool specimens from 505 healthy volunteers from the Tyrol were tested for the presence of L. monocytogenes using cold enrichment for 6 months and five different detection methods: conventional plating onto Palcam and Rapid'L.MONO agar, immunomagnetic separation (IMS) followed by conventional plating, enzyme-linked fluorescent immunoassay (ELFA), ELISA, and PCR. L. monocytogenes was isolated by conventional plating from one specimen (0.2%), and a further three were positive on immunomagnetic separation (0.8%). Only one specimen tested positive with ELFA and EIA, although it tested negative by conventional culture, IMS, and PCR. Eighteen of 505 samples were positive by PCR (3.6%), and this included three of the four culture-confirmed specimens. Serotyping, phage-typing, arsenic cadmium, antimicrobial-resistance typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed that multiple L. monocytogenes isolates from three of the four carriers were indistinguishable. Our data indicate that the Austrian fecal carriage rate is at least 0.8%. In view of a listeriosis incidence of 0.16/100,000 per year, the chances of fecal carriage developing into listeriosis appear to be very low.
Adolescent↗