Serologic evidence of previous Campylobacter jejuni infection in patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To determine if patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome are likely to have had Campylobacter jejuni infection before onset of neurologic symptoms. DESIGN: A case-control study. SETTING: Several university medical centers. PATIENTS: Case patients met clinical criteria for the Guillain-Barré syndrome between 1983 and 1990 and had a serum sample collected and frozen within 3 weeks after onset of neurologic symptoms (n = 118). Disease controls were patients with other neurologic illnesses (n = 56); healthy controls were hospital employees or healthy family members of patients (n = 47). MEASUREMENTS: Serum IgA, IgG, and IgM antibodies to C. jejuni were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Assays were done in a blinded manner. RESULTS: Optical density ratios > or = 2 in two or more immunoglobulin classes were seen in 43 (36%) of patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome and in 10 (10%) of controls (odds ratio, 5.3; 95% CI, 2.4 to 12.5; P < 0.001). Increasing the optical density ratio or the number of immunoglobulin classes necessary to yield a positive result increased the strength of the association. The number of patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome who had positive serologic responses was greatest from September to November (P = 0.02). Male patients were three times more likely to have serologic evidence of C. jejuni infection (P = 0.009); the proportion of patients with the syndrome who had a positive serologic response increased with age. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with the Guillain-Barré syndrome are more likely than controls to have serologic evidence of C. jejuni infection in the weeks before onset of neurologic symptoms. Campylobacter jejuni may play a role in the initiation of the Guillain-Barré syndrome in many patients.     

Fungizide und bakterizide Anstrichmittel — neue Wirkstoffe für Öl- und Kunstharz-Lacke

Fungicidal and Bactericidal Paints — New Additives for the Oil and Synthetic Resin Lacquers New fungicides, which replace completely the mercury additives in oil, alkyd and synthetic resin lacquers, were developed. In contrast to the mercury additives, they can also be used in the stoving lacquers. They are only of limited use in insulating varnishes. The experience with these additives in different lacquer systems is reported. A combined testing method can give a practicable judgement about the fungicidal activity of such paints in a short time.     

Optimality criteria for the components of anisotropic constitutive matrix

In a free material formulation, the problem of minimizing a weighted sum of compliance’s from multiple load cases, subject to an active constraint on material volume, is solved in a formulation with two optimality criteria. The first optimality criterion for the distribution of material volume densities is equal value for the weighted elastic energy densities, as a natural extension of the optimality criterion for a single load case. The second optimality criterion for the components of a constitutive matrix (of unit norm) is proportionality to corresponding weighted strain components with the same proportionality factor \(\widehat \lambda \) for all the components, as shortly specified by \(C_{i j k l} = \widehat \lambda \sum _{n} \eta _{n} (\epsilon _{i j})_{n} (\epsilon _{k l})_{n}\) , in traditional notation (n indicate load case). These simple analytical results should be communicated, in spite of the practical objection against design for weighted sum of compliance’s, as compared to worst case design and design considering strength. The application of the approach of the two optimality criteria is illustrated by a 2D example with 8 load cases. Stable and fast convergence is shown.     

Determination of local hydrodynamic parameters in bubble columns by the electrodiffusion method with oxygen as depolarizer

An electrodiffusional three-segment probe was developed with which local axial and radial liquid velocities can be determined. Application of this probe in gas-liquid flow yields information on local gas hold-up. In coalescing media the commonly used redox-system Fe(CN) ₆ ³⁻ /Fe(CN) ₆ ⁴ should be replaced by dissolved oxygen as depolarizer. Measurements of local axial and radial liquid velocity and turbulence intensity in different bubble columns (D = 150 and 600 mm) showed good agreement with data obtained by hotfilm anemometry. This paper was presented at the International Workshop on Electrodiffusion Diagnostics of Flows held in Dourdan, France, May 1993.     

Design and construction of a high temperature and pressure electrodeless conductivity probe

An electrodeless conductivity probe has been designed and tested at temperatures up to 250 degrees C and pressures of 4.13 MPa (600 psi). A unique pressure seal permits temperature cycling. Design of the electronics permits accurate measurement of conductivities at various elevated temperatures in spite of the change of magnetic properties of the toroids with temperature. The design of the probe can be adapted for insertion, in-line, or bypass operation.     

Decision rules for determining terrestrial movement and the consequences for filtering high-resolution global positioning system tracks: a case study using the African lion (Panthera leo)

The combined use of global positioning system (GPS) technology and motion sensors within the discipline of movement ecology has increased over recent years. This is particularly the case for instrumented wildlife, with many studies now opting to record parameters at high (infra-second) sampling frequencies. However, the detail with which GPS loggers can elucidate fine-scale movement depends on the precision and accuracy of fixes, with accuracy being affected by signal reception. We hypothesized that animal behaviour was the main factor affecting fix inaccuracy, with inherent GPS positional noise (jitter) being most apparent during GPS fixes for non-moving locations, thereby producing disproportionate error during rest periods. A movement-verified filtering (MVF) protocol was constructed to compare GPS-derived speed data with dynamic body acceleration, to provide a computationally quick method for identifying genuine travelling movement. This method was tested on 11 free-ranging lions (Panthera leo) fitted with collar-mounted GPS units and tri-axial motion sensors recording at 1 and 40 Hz, respectively. The findings support the hypothesis and show that distance moved estimates were, on average, overestimated by greater than 80% prior to GPS screening. We present the conceptual and mathematical protocols for screening fix inaccuracy within high-resolution GPS datasets and demonstrate the importance that MVF has for avoiding inaccurate and biased estimates of movement.     

Detection of cauliflower mosaic virus by the polymerase chain reaction: testing of food components for false-positive 35S-promoter screening results

 Today DNA-based techniques are very common for the detection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products. For fast and easy detection of GMOs, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening methods, which amplify common transgenic elements, are applied in routine analysis. These techniques do not allow differentiation between GMOs and the natural occurrence of transgenic elements, such as the 35S-promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) or the NOS-terminator of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and thus may result in false-positive detection of GMOs. In this study we evaluated three different existing 35S screening systems and report the development of two new CaMV-specific PCR systems. These PCR systems based on CaMV-specific genes allow the identification of positively screened 35S food samples as naturally virus-infected products or plants. Seven food samples tested positive in routine 35S screening analysis and negative in GMO specific systems were investigated using the new virus-specific PCR systems. In all seven samples CaMV was detected. Received: 26 April 1999 / Revised version: 28 June 1999