Fibromuscular dysplasia and multiple dissecting aneurysms of intracranial arteries. A further cause of Moyamoya syndrome

A 16-year-old boy, who had sudden left-sided hemiplegia, died two weeks following onset of symptoms. A right carotid angiogram showed stenosis at the termination of the internal carotid artery. The middle cerebral artery had a beaded appearance and some of its branches were occluded. A basal "moyamoya" syndrome and transdural anastomoses were present. At autopsy, multiple intracranial dissecting aneurysms were found. Arteries of the body displayed fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). The relevance of dysplastic changes of intracranial arteries and the relationship to moyamoya syndrome are discussed.     

Liquid metal alloy ion source based metal ion injection into a room-temperature electron beam ion source

We have carried out a series of measurements demonstrating the feasibility of using the Dresden electron beam ion source (EBIS)-A, a table-top sized, permanent magnet technology based electron beam ion source, as a charge breeder. Low charged gold ions from an AuGe liquid metal alloy ion source were injected into the EBIS and re-extracted as highly charged ions, thereby producing charge states as high as Au(60 +). The setup, the charge breeding technique, breeding efficiencies as well as acceptance and emittance studies are presented.     

Mechanical stress on suspended particles in two- and three-phase airlift loop reactors and bubble columns

The effect of power input, fluid phase viscosity and solids loading on the mechanical stress on suspended particles was examined. Experiments were carried out in an airlift loop reactor and a bubble column operated in two- and three-phase mode. The disintegration of a shear sensitive floc system was observed with an optical in-line particle system analyser and information about the mechanical stress was obtained by means of mathematical analysis of the raw data. The volumetric power input has been derived to be the governing factor and a linear dependence between volumetric power input and resulting mechanical stress was observed. The addition of a solid phase leads to a drastical change of mechanical stress on the particles with a dominating increase of the stress at high solids loadings. Likewise higher fluid phase viscosity leads to higher mechanical stress on the floc system.     

Alterations in ACE and ACE2 Activities and Cardiomyocyte Signaling Underlie Improved Myocardial Function in a Rat Model of Repeated Remote Ischemic Conditioning

Post-ischemic left ventricular (LV) remodeling and its hypothetical prevention by repeated remote ischemic conditioning (rRIC) in male Sprague–Dawley rats were studied. Myocardial infarction (MI) was evoked by permanent ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), and myocardial characteristics were tested in the infarcted anterior and non-infarcted inferior LV regions four and/or six weeks later. rRIC was induced by three cycles of five-minute-long unilateral hind limb ischemia and five minutes of reperfusion on a daily basis for a period of two weeks starting four weeks after LAD occlusion. Sham operated animals served as controls. Echocardiographic examinations and invasive hemodynamic measurements revealed distinct changes in LV systolic function between four and six weeks after MI induction in the absence of rRIC (i.e., LV ejection fraction (LVEF) decreased from 52.8 ± 2.1% to 50 ± 1.6%, mean ± SEM, p < 0.05) and in the presence of rRIC (i.e., LVEF increased from 48.2 ± 4.8% to 55.2 ± 4.1%, p < 0.05). Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was about five times higher in the anterior LV wall at six weeks than that in sham animals. Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) activity roughly doubled in post-ischemic LVs. These increases in ACE and ACE2 activities were effectively mitigated by rRIC. Ca²⁺-sensitivities of force production (pCa₅₀) of LV permeabilized cardiomyocytes were increased at six weeks after MI induction together with hypophosphorylation of 1) cardiac troponin I (cTnI) in both LV regions, and 2) cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) in the anterior wall. rRIC normalized pCa₅₀, cTnI and cMyBP-C phosphorylations. Taken together, post-ischemic LV remodeling involves region-specific alterations in ACE and ACE2 activities together with changes in cardiomyocyte myofilament protein phosphorylation and function. rRIC has the potential to prevent these alterations and to improve LV performance following MI.     

The Role of Tenascin C in Cardiac Reverse Remodeling Following Banding–Debanding of the Ascending Aorta

Background: Tenascin-C (TN-C) plays a maladaptive role in left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy following pressure overload. However, the role of TN-C in LV regression following mechanical unloading is unknown. Methods: LV hypertrophy was induced by transverse aortic constriction for 10 weeks followed by debanding for 2 weeks in wild type (Wt) and TN-C knockout (TN-C KO) mice. Cardiac function was assessed by serial magnetic resonance imaging. The expression of fibrotic markers and drivers (angiotensin-converting enzyme-1, ACE-1) was determined in LV tissue as well as human cardiac fibroblasts (HCFs) after TN-C treatment. Results: Chronic pressure overload resulted in a significant decline in cardiac function associated with LV dilation as well as upregulation of TN-C, collagen 1 (Col 1), and ACE-1 in Wt as compared to TN-C KO mice. Reverse remodeling in Wt mice partially improved cardiac function and fibrotic marker expression; however, TN-C protein expression remained unchanged. In HCF, TN-C strongly induced the upregulation of ACE 1 and Col 1. Conclusions: Pressure overload, when lasting long enough to induce HF, has less potential for reverse remodeling in mice. This may be due to significant upregulation of TN-C expression, which stimulates ACE 1, Col 1, and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) upregulation in fibroblasts. Consequently, addressing TN-C in LV hypertrophy might open a new window for future therapeutics.     

The Identification of Spelling Variants in English and German Historical Texts: Manual or Automatic?

In this article, we describe the respective approaches we havetaken when addressing issues of spelling variation in Germanand English historical texts. More specifically, we describean experiment to evaluate automatic techniques for the developmentof letter replacement heuristics against manually created goldstandards of known letter replacements rules. As will becomeclear, the motivation for the research differs according tothe team of researchers: the German researchers are seekingto develop a search engine for historical texts; the Englishresearchers want to improve the results obtained when applyingcorpus linguistic techniques (developed for modern language)to historical data. However, the respective teams do share alonger term goal of assessing whether it is possible to developa generic spelling detection tool for Indo-European languages.     

Startle responses measured in muscles innervated by facial and trigeminal nerves show common modulation.

Electromyographic (EMG) potentials of several head muscles were recorded simultaneously in freely moving rats with chronically implanted electrodes. The startle responses of m. temporalis, m. levator auris, and m. levator labii superior were compared. All muscles showed a parallel decrease in latency and an increase in response elicitability and amplitude with an increase in stimulus intensity. A significant latency difference of about 1 msec existed between m. levator auris and m. temporalis. The shortest latency of the EMG response in m. levator auris was 5.5 msec (110 dB SPL). A common fluctuation in response amplitude and latency was found in simultaneous recordings of muscles innervated by the facial and trigeminal nerve, respectively. This shows a common modulatory input to the startle pathway to the cranial motor nuclei. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strukturwandel in der Ingenieurtechnik der chemischen Industrie

Changes in the Structure of Engineering in the Chemical Industry. The poor profit situation has stimulated a discussion of the costs of engineering in the chemical industry. The allocation of engineering responsibilities to centralized organizational structures is at issue. This applies to planning just as much as to plant maintenance or to the workshops. These structures are regarded as inflexible, expensive and, in many cases, monopolistic. Decentralized units which are directly responsible to divisions or business units seem to be able to work more efficiently and cheaply. The best alternative, however, is considered to be the outsourcing of work to external firms on a far larger scale than up to now. The article deals with the reasons which have initiated the structural change and with the relating consequences thereto.