Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome: mortality data from the US national surveillance system

OBJECTIVE: To describe some of the most severe features of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) and identify potential prognostic indicators. METHODS: Systematic review of data from initial case reports and from followup supplemental death report forms forwarded to the national surveillance system administered by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). RESULTS: As of August 10, 1991 36 deaths related to EMS had been reported to CDC. Among all patients fitting the surveillance case definition for EMS, we found that patients who died were older, had higher absolute leukocyte and eosinophil counts, and reported a greater frequency of cough or dyspnea, neuropathy, hepatomegaly, leukocytosis, and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. All patients who died had illnesses affecting multiple organ systems. Of the 36 patients who died, 33 (92%) had neuromuscular sequelae, 29 (81%) had pulmonary complications, and 23 (64%) had cardiac manifestations. The most commonly observed disease process leading to death was progressive polyneuropathy and myopathy (24 of the 36 reported deaths) which produced complications of pneumonia and sepsis or respiratory failure due to weakness; cardiomyopathy was the underlying cause of death for 4 patients, primary pulmonary disease for 3, sudden death attributed to arrhythmia for 2, stroke for 2, and septic complications of therapy for one. CONCLUSION: Although neuromuscular complications were the most prominent sequelae among patients reported to have died, this is clearly a multisystemic disease. Older age and involvement of more than one organ system suggest a particularly poor prognosis, and the neuromuscular, pulmonary and cardiovascular sequelae appear to be the most worrisome.     

Microbial community dynamics in replicate membrane bioreactors - Natural reproducible fluctuations

We operated 4 replicate membrane bioreactors (MBRs) in parallel to test if an acclimated seed inoculum would evolve similarly following even distribution into replicates. A cloning and sequencing library of 16S rRNA genes was obtained from the seed inoculum complemented with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP; n = 18 per reactor) analysis over the study period (n = 113 d) that targeted the 16S rRNA gene. The amoA functional gene was also monitored by T-RFLP. The T-RFLP results were analyzed by means of diversity indices, an adaptation of a moving window of similarity approach within each MBR, and non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMS) accompanied with multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP) to assess community interrelationships amongst MBRs. Based on the 16S rRNA microbial communities, the 4 MBRs initially diverged away from one another, followed by a convergence on Day 4. From thereon, the 16S rRNA-based communities evolved similarly throughout (average p-value = 0.49 from pair-wise MRPP). In contrast, the nitrifying communities did not undergo any discernable shift over time amongst MBRs according to T-RFLP analysis of amoA and revealed one cluster by NMS (average p-value = 0.83 from pair-wise MRPP). The study demonstrates that acclimated microbial communities evolve similarly over time in engineered systems when operational parameters are left unchanged.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Application of New Rhodium Complexes for Indirect Electrochemical Cofactor Regeneration

Electroenzymatic synthesis often suffers from electrochemical reaction steps which proceed slower than the coupled enzyme reaction. For indirect electrochemical cofactor regeneration, we here report two new mediators with superior properties compared to the established rhodium complex (2,2′‐bipyridyl)(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)rhodium [Cp*Rh(2,2′‐bipyridine)]. After constructing a robotic system for fast and reliable cyclic voltammetry measurements, we screened twelve rhodium complexes with substituted 2,2′‐bipyridine ligands for their reduction potentials and catalytic activity towards the reduction of NADP. Promising complexes were investigated in more detail by cyclic voltammetry and under batch electrolysis conditions. The new complexes Cp*Rh(5,5′‐methyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine) and Cp*Rh(4,4′‐methoxy‐2,2′‐bipyridine) reduced NADP to NADPH three times faster than the established mediator, resulting in volumetric productivities of up to 136 mmol L⁻¹ d⁻¹ and turnover frequencies of up to 113 h⁻¹. This increased reaction rate of these new mediators makes indirect electrochemical approach significantly more competitive to other methods of cofactor regeneration. Abbreviations: ADH=alcohol dehydrogenase; Ag|AgCl=silver|silver chloride reference electrode; bpy=2,2′‐bipyridine; ci=current increase; Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl; CV=cyclic voltammetry; Ep=peak potential; equiv=equivalent; NADP/NADPH=nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidised/reduced form.     

Electrodeposition of palladium-dotted nickel nanowire networks as a robust self-supported methanol electrooxidation catalyst

Journal of Materials Science - Mass activity and long-term stability are two major issues in current fuel cell catalyst designs. While supported catalysts normally suffer from poor long-term...     

Toxizitätsreduktion durch (Grundwasser-) Sanierung?

The usage of an automatized and continuously (on-line) working biomonitor for the surveillance of groundwater remediation is presented and the data are compared to different discontinuous acute biotests. The use of an on-line biomonitor at the SAFIRA groundwater remediation testsite showed to be superior to the discontinuous tests. The long-time surveillance of two different remediation techniques revealed a decrease in remediation efficiency of one technique while the other technique -using activated carbon- did not show any reduction in efficiency. The validation of these results with other acute biotests (algae, fishembryo, daphnia and genotoxicity) indicated a complex groundwater contamination which can not be explained by the quantitatively main contaminant monochlorobenzene. It is suggested to use ecotoxicological biotests and knowledge in parallel to the conventional chemical analysis before a remediation strategy is designed. All anthropogenic contaminations (toxic or unwanted) should be identified beforehand such that the developed remediation techniques would be more target-oriented.     

Determination of CFTR densities in erythrocyte plasma membranes using recognition imaging

CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) is a cAMP-regulated chloride (Cl(-)) channel that plays an important role in salt and fluid movement across epithelia. Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common genetic disease among Caucasians, is caused by mutations in the gene encoding CFTR. The most predominant mutation, F508del, disturbs CFTR protein trafficking, resulting in a reduced number of CFTR in the plasma membrane. Recent studies indicate that CFTR is not only found in epithelia but also in human erythrocytes. Although considerable attempts have been made to quantify CFTR in cells, conclusions on numbers of CFTR molecules localized in the plasma membrane have been drawn indirectly. AFM has the power to provide the needed information, since both sub-molecular spatial resolution and direct protein recognition via antibody-antigen interaction can be observed. We performed a quantification study of the CFTR copies in erythrocyte membranes at the single molecule level, and compared the difference between healthy donors and CF patients. We detected that the number of CFTR molecules is reduced by 70% in erythrocytes of cystic fibrosis patients.     

Starch Phosphate Hydrogels. Part I: Synthesis by Mono‐phosphorylation and Cross‐linking of Starch

Starch‐based hydrogels were synthesized by cross‐linking monostarch monophosphates (MSMP) with different di‐ and tricarboxylic acids such as succinic, adipic or citric acid. Phosphorylation of starch was performed in a semi‐dry process using a mixture of primary and secondary sodium phosphates. The phosphorus content and degree of substitution of phosphate groups (DS_P) of the resulting MSMP were determined using a photometric method. For structural characterization of starch phosphates ³¹P NMR was used. Investigations showed that MSMP hydrogels were strong water absorbing polymer networks with a free swelling capacity (FSC) of up to 185 g water / g dry hydrogel.