Diagnosing left lower lobe pneumonia: usefulness of the ''spine sign'' on lateral chest radiographs

Percutaneous cardiopulmonary assist devices (PCPS) have become available in interventional cardiology within recent years. These tools offer the opportunity of performing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in high-risk patients characterized by significant stenoses of several coronary arteries and a poor left ventricular function. It is unclear for which patients PCPS are necessary and which patients will profit by PTCA as compared to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Therefore, the anticipated risk of CABG and of PTCA without assist devices was calculated according to risk scores and compared with our results of assisted PTCA. In addition the long-term survival rate was investigated. In 35 patients (mean 65.5 years of age, 12 females, 23 males), we performed PTCA concomitant with the use of cardiac assist devices. The indications for the use of a cardiac assist device were severely impaired LV function (EF 30% +/- 8.9%) in combination with significant coronary artery disease (2.7 +/- 0.3 vessels) and a significant supply area of the vessel to be dilated. In 6 patients, PCPS was started before coronary angioplasty because of hemodynamic instability. In 21 cases, PCPS was on a standby basis without being connected to the patient's circulation. In 8 patients, a left heart assist device, the 14F-Hemopump, was inserted percutaneously. The patients were analyzed using risk scores of angioplasty and of coronary bypass graft surgery. The calculated risk of hemodynamic compromise during PTCA according to the risk scores was more than 50%. The anticipated risk of a fatal outcome following CABG would have been 19.8%. PTCA was performed on an average of 2.0 coronary arteries per patient and was successful in 85%. We observed a decline in angina pectoris classification (CCS) from 3.5 to 1.6. An average reduction of 1.1 NYHA class was achieved. The in-hospital mortality was 8.6% (3 patients: 1 x sepsis, 1 x early reocclusion, 1 x cerebral embolism). At 24 months follow-up, a re-PTCA was necessary in four cases because of restenosis. In the remainder, NYHA and CCS class were stable during the follow-up period. An additional five patients died during the first year and two patients in the second year. We conclude that PTCA with the use of a cardiac assist device shows favorable short-term results in a subset of patients with extended coronary artery disease and severely impaired LV function who are not suitable for nonsupported PTCA or CABG due to their risk profile. However, the long term results are not satisfying and stress the need for complete revascularisation with CABG once the patient's condition is stabilized by means of supported PTCA.     

Effect of delta-THC on ethanol withdrawal in mice

Delta-THC (10 mg/kg, i.p.) administered to mice immediately after withdrawal from a 3-day exposure to ethanol vapor was found to intensify withdrawal reactions. No effect was seen when delta-THC was administered chronically during the exposure to ethanol.     

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAP kinase) immunoreactivity in the rhesus monkey brain

Phosphorylation of both tyrosine and serine residues of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) was stimulated by the adhesion of BALB/c mouse 3T3 cells to fibronectin, but phosphorylation of threonine was not detectable. Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors also stimulated the phosphorylation of serine and tyrosine of FAK in cells adhered to poly-L-lysine, but epidermal growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor did not. A fusion protein of fibronectin and basic fibroblast growth factor effectively induced the phosphorylation of FAK. Phosphorylation of FAK in the rat myoblast L-6 cell line, which lacks fibroblast growth factor receptors, was not stimulated by fibroblast growth factors, suggesting that the interaction of fibroblast growth factors with their receptors might cause the phosphorylation of FAK.     

Sites of interaction of streptogramin A and B antibiotics in the peptidyl transferase loop of 23 S rRNA and the synergism of their inhibitory mechanisms

Streptogramin antibiotics contain two active A and B components that inhibit peptide elongation synergistically. Mutants resistant to the A component (virginiamycin M1 and pristinamycin IIA) were selected for the archaeon Halobacterium halobium. The mutations mapped to the universally conserved nucleotides A2059 and A2503 within the peptidyl transferase loop of 23 S rRNA (Escherichia coli numbering). When bound to wild-type and mutant haloarchaeal ribosomes, the A and B components (pristinamycins IIA and IA, respectively) produced partially overlapping rRNA footprints, involving six to eight nucleotides in the peptidyl transferase loop of 23 S rRNA, including the two mutated nucleotides. An rRNA footprinting study, performed both in vivo and in vitro, on the A and B components complexed to Bacillus megaterium ribosomes, indicated that similar drug-induced effects occur on free ribosomes and within the bacterial cells. It is inferred that position 2058 and the sites of mutation, A2059 and A2503, are involved in the synergistic inhibition by the two antibiotics. A structural model is presented which links A2059 and A2503 and provides a structural rationale for the rRNA footprints.     

Comparison of acid and amyloglucosidase hydrolysis for estimation of non‐structural polysaccharides in feed samples

Enzymatic methods (amyloglucosidase) and methods based on acid solutions (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 M H₂SO₄ for 1, 2 and 3 h at 100 °C) for the hydrolysis of non‐structural carbohydrates from different feed samples were compared. The monomeric units resulting from the enzymatic and acid hydrolysis were determined by the glucose oxidase and reducing sugar methods. There was a significant effect of acid concentration and of time of hydrolysis on the glucose and reducing sugar values in the hydrolysate. Glucose values were similar for both the amyloglucosidase method and the most intense conditions of hydrolysis (0.3 M for 3 h) for some samples. Under these conditions, however, the reducing sugar values were higher. No acid hydrolysis method was found to estimate correctly the total non‐structural carbohydrates, but α‐linked glucose polymers in biological samples may be determined by sample hydrolysis with a 0.3 M H₂SO₄ solution for 3 h at 100 °C since the glucose in the hydrolysate is determined by the glucose oxidase method and the sucrose content of the sample is negligible. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry