Urological emergencies

Every general practitioner has to deal with urologic emergencies. The most frequent illnesses are urinary retention, acute scrotum, priapism, macrohematuria, nephritic colic, obstructive pyelonephritis and pyonephrosis. Whereas urinary retention, as well as acute ureteric stone colic must generally be treated by the practitioner, the urologist must often be consulted in case of an acute scrotum or for priapism. Testicular torsion is one situation, where surgical treatment needs to be performed within 6 hours. Of utmost importance is his timely assistance with the obstructive pyelonephritis and pyonephrosis. These are initially often not recognized, especially because the first ultrasound examination of the intrarenal pyelone may not show a dilatation of the collecting system despite obstruction. If the adequate treatment with drainage and antibiotics is applied too late, this can result in serious and potentially lethal consequences.     

Quantification of heart fatty acid binding protein as a biomarker for drug-induced cardiac and musculoskeletal necroses

Heart fatty acid binding protein (Fabp3) is a cytosolic protein expressed primarily in heart, and to a lesser extent in skeletal muscle, brain, and kidney. During myocardial injury, the Fabp3 level in serum is elevated rapidly, making it an ideal early marker for myocardial infarction. In this study, an MS‐based selected reaction monitoring method (LC‐SRM) was developed for quantifying Fabp3 in rat serum. Fabp3 was enriched first through an immobilized antibody, and the protein was digested on beads directly. A marker peptide of Fabp3 was quantified using LC‐SRM with a stable isotope‐labeled peptide standard. For six quality control samples with Fabp3 ranging from 0.256 to 25 ng, the average recovery following the procedure was about 73%, and the precision (%CV) between replicates was less than 7%. The Fabp3 concentrations in rat serum peaked 1 h after isoproterenol treatment, and returned to baseline levels 24 h after the dose. Elevated Fabp3 levels were also detected in rats administered with a PPAR α/δ agonist, which has shown to cause skeletal muscle necrosis. Fabp3 can be used as a biomarker for both cardiac and skeletal necroses. The cross‐validation of the LC‐SRM method with an existing ELISA method is described.     

Ligand‐Free Synthesis of Aluminum‐Doped Zinc Oxide Nanocrystals and their Use as Optical Spacers in Color‐Tuned Highly Efficient Organic Solar Cells

The color of polymer solar cells using an opaque electrode is given by the reflected light, which depends on the composition and thickness of each layer of the device. Metal‐oxide‐based optical spacers are intensively studied in polymer solar cells aiming to optimize the light absorption. However, the low conductivity of materials such as ZnO and TiO₂ limits the thickness of such optical spacers to tenths of nanometers. A novel synthesis route of cluster‐free Al‐doped ZnO (AZO) nanocrystals (NCs) is presented for solution processing of highly conductive layers without the need of temperature annealing, including thick optical spacers on top of polymer blends. The processing of 80 nm thick optical spacers based on AZO nanocrystal solutions on top of 200 nm thick polymer blend layer is demonstrated leading to improved photocurrent density of 17% compared to solar cells using standard active layers of 90 nm in combination with thin ZnO‐based optical spacers. These AZO NCs also open new opportunities for the processing of high‐efficiency color tuned solar cells. For the first time, it is shown that applying solution‐processed thick optical spacer with polymer blends of different thicknesses can process solar cells of similar efficiency over 7% but of different colors.     

Diversity of Streptococcus thermophilus phages in a large-production cheese factory in Argentina

Phage infections still represent a serious risk to the dairy industry, in which Streptococcus thermophilus is used in starter cultures for the manufacture of yogurt and cheese. The goal of the present study was to analyze the biodiversity of the virulent S. thermophilus phage population in one Argentinean cheese plant. Ten distinct S. thermophilus phages were isolated from cheese whey samples collected in a 2-mo survey. They were then characterized by their morphology, host range, and restriction patterns. These phages were also classified within the 2 main groups of S. thermophilus phages (cos- and pac-type) using a newly adapted multiplex PCR method. Six phages were classified as cos-type phages, whereas the 4 others belonged to the pac-type group. This study illustrates the phage diversity that can be found in one factory that rotates several cultures of S. thermophilus. Limiting the number of starter cultures is likely to reduce phage biodiversity within a fermentation facility.     

11 cases of anal Bowen's disease

Bowen's disease of the anal region is a rare, slow-growing, intraepidermal squamous-cell carcinoma (carcinoma in situ). If surgical excision is incomplete, there is a risk of subsequent development of malignancy and metastasis. Between 1980 and 1995 we treated 11 patients (8 female, 3 male) with anal Bowen's disease. The mean age was 55 (34-75) years. The main reason for excision was: pain (4), itching (3), bleeding (3) and a disturbing lump (3). The intraoperative findings were in all cases a lesion at the anocutaneous line: perianal or intra-anal tumor (6), erosion (2) or ulceration (2) as well as lichenoid lesion (4) or hyperpigmentation (3). The procedure was excision of the lesion in 10 cases. Only in one case was a biopsy taken. 3 patients had to be operated on a second time for reasons of radicality. 5 years after primary diagnosis, one patient developed a recurrent invasive squamous-cell carcinoma and had to undergo perineo-abdominal rectum amputation with postoperative radiotherapy (2 years after operation). Only one patient underwent a biopsy, which produced the diagnosis of invasive squamous-cell carcinoma. He underwent combined chemo-radiotherapy. The symptoms of anal Bowen's disease are unspecific and the clinical findings are uncharacteristic. The recommended therapy is complete surgical excision. With complete excision no recurrences do occur.     

Where the wind blows

The power systems in Denmark, Spain, Ireland, and New Zealand have some of the highest wind penetrations in the world (see Table 1). The management of the different power systems to date, with increasing amounts of wind energy, has been successful. There have been no incidents in which the wind has directly or indirectly been a major factor causing operational problems for the system. However, there are a number of parameters that are being monitored that indicate the need for active management in the near future (and in some cases already today). In this article, we briefly describe the situations in these four countries, giving special emphasis to the market integration of wind power, the use of wind forecasting, and curtailment experience. The final section provides an overview of the main wind forecasting methodologies and challenges.