Oral contraceptive use and vaginal candida colonization

Fungal vaginal infections/colonisations can be divided into a symptomatic vaginal candidiasis and an asymptomatic vaginal Candida-carriage. The latter seems to be a predisposing factor for the development of a symptomatic vaginal candidiasis. The fungal organism isolated most frequently is Candida albicans, followed by Candida glabrata, which was previously also known as Torulopsis glabrata. To a lower extend, other Candida species such as Candida tropicalis and Candida krusei can be prevalent in the vulvovaginal region. Predisposing factors for vaginal candidiasis are gravidity, diabetes mellitus or a therapy with immunosuppressive agents. Also gestagenes showed to be a pre-disposing factor for vaginal candidiasis. Divergent results concerning the predisposition to vaginal candidiasis or colonisation due to oral contraception have so far been reported. Therefore we performed a study with two healthy collectives of female volunteers (n = 2 x 60) which were different concerning the taking of oral contraceptives. Overall, in 17% of the subjects (20/120) yeast could be cultured out of the vaginal secretions. There was no evidence for a higher rate of Candida-colonisation in subjects taking oral contraceptives. Further, there was no evidence for a relationship between the length of the taking of oral contraceptives and the rate of vaginal yeast-carriage. Also the type of oral contraceptive (combination or sequential contraceptive) had no influence on the frequency of Candida-carriage. Candida albicans was the most prevalent yeast (16/20), followed by Candida glabrata (4/20).     

Expression of deletion-containing dystrophins in mdx muscle: implications for gene therapy and dystrophin function

The expression of full-length dystrophin and various dystrophin deletion mutants was monitored in mdx mouse muscle after intramuscular injection of dystrophin-encoding plasmid DNAs. Recombinant dystrophin proteins, including those lacking either the amino terminus, carboxyl terminus, or most of the central rod domain, showed localization to the plasma membrane. This suggests that there are multiple attachment sites for dystrophin to the plasma membrane. Only those constructs containing the carboxyl terminus were able to stabilize dystrophin-associated proteins (DAP) at the membrane, consistent with other studies that suggest that this domain is critical to DAP binding. Colocalization with DAP was not necessary for membrane localization of the various dystrophin molecules. However, stabilization and co-localization of the DAP did seem to be a prerequisite for expression and/or stabilization of mutant dystrophins beyond 1 wk and these same criteria seemed important for mitigating the histopathological consequences of dystrophin deficiency.     

ATMOSPHERIC FREEZE-DRYING PART 2 : MODELLING DRYING KINETICS USING ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS

This paper describes the modelling of atmospheric pressure freeze-drying using a fluidized bed of adsorbent. The original feature of this modelling, based on a model of the “Uniformly Retreating Ice Front” type, is the coupling of the laws of heat and mass transfer as well as the introduction into the model of adsorbent sorption isotherms. The model which describes dehydration kinetics has been validated further to experiments on potatoes. The working parameters of the facility were optimized thanks to the model. This new freeze-drying process may well be useful for small freeze-dried products dried at a temperature close to their melting point.     

From static approximations to full-wave analysis: The analysis of planar line discontinuities

A comparison of different methods for the characterization of planar line discontinuities with emphasis on microstrip discontinuities is given, thereby describing the present state of the art in this area of microwave circuit CAD. Quasi-static equivalent circuit models, the magnetic wall waveguide model of microstrip discontinuities, full-wave analysis techniques like the orthogonal series expansion and mode matching techniques, the spectral domain analysis technique using roof-top functions, and the finite-difference time-domain technique are described briefly and compared with respect to their numerical efficiency and their capabilities.     

Ueber die zusammensetzung und die Untersuchung der Cichorienwurzel

Zusammenfassung Obwohl diese Studie noch sehr unvollst?ndig ist, erlaubt sie doch, sich über den praktischen Nutzen Rechenschaft zu geben, den man aus dem Vorhandensein der betr?chtlichen Menge Inulin und verg?hrbarer K?rper in der Cichorienwurzel wird ziehen k?nnen. Diese Substanzen sind, wie wir sehen, leicht in Alkohol überführbar. Es bleibt zu untersuchen, welches die praktischen Erfolge einer solchen Verwendung der Cichorie sein werden und ob ihre industrielle Ausbeutung lohnen wird. Die Topinamburknollen, die in ihren Eigenschaften der Cichorienwurzel nahe stehen, nehmen schon jetzt eine wichtige Stelle in der Alkoholindustrie ein.