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Biomedical subjects

J Hartung

Publications and source records attributed to J Hartung.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Fetal hepatosplenomegaly: an isolated sonographic sign of trisomy 21 in a case of myeloproliferative disorder.

Enlargement of the fetal liver and spleen as well as oligohydramnios were the only pathological sonographic signs detected in a pregnant woman presenting because of decreased fetal movements at 31 weeks' gestation. Doppler examination of fetal vessels revealed pathological values (absent or reversed flow in the umbilical artery, centralization of fetal circulation). No hydrops development or any further malformations were seen. The association of pathological Doppler findings with hepatosplenomegaly roused the suspicion of fetal infection. The infant had to be delivered because of deterioration of fetal heart rate patterns 2 days later. The newborn had Down's syndrome and the confirmed hepatosplenomegaly was found to be due to a transient myeloproliferative disorder with severe leukocytosis and predominance of immature blast forms. Hematological parameters normalized without specific therapy within 3 weeks. Although transient leukemic reactions have been diagnosed prenatally in cases of Down's syndrome associated with non-immune hydrops, to our knowledge this is the first reported case of isolated hepatosplenomegaly visualized by prenatal ultrasound as a sign of trisomy 21. The presence of fetal hepatosplenomegaly has to be taken into consideration as a possible marker for trisomy 21 and not only for infectious or metabolic diseases.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Doppler assessment of tracheal fluid flow during fetal breathing movements in cases of congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the characteristics of breathing-related fluid flow in the trachea of human fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia in the hopes of developing a standard for the prenatal diagnosis of the degree of severity of the resulting pulmonary hypoplasia. Our ultimate goal is the prediction of postnatal mortality in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study comprised six cases of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia (one on the right side; five on the left) varying in gestational age from 26 to 36 weeks. Four of the patients survived after surgical repair and two died during the neonatal period owing to lung hypoplasia. Color Doppler was used to visualize the fluid displacement in the trachea generated by fetal breathing movements. Spectral Doppler was then used to analyze the fluid flow velocity waveforms. More than 40 continuous breathing cycles (inspiration + expiration) were recorded for each case. We distinguished between regular and irregular patterns. RESULTS: Only the regular breathing phases, defined as five or more consecutive cycles of symmetric appearance, were considered for analysis. The inspiration and expiration times, the peak velocity of inspired and expired fluid and the volume obtained by integration of the tracheal fluid flow displaced during fetal breathing were compared with those of five healthy fetuses for each gestational age. Only the tracheal volume flow was helpful in predicting outcome. In normal pregnancies this parameter increased from 0.21 +/- 0.10 ml/breath (mean +/- SD) at 26 weeks to 1.37 +/- 0.48 ml/breath at 36 weeks of gestation. A significantly low (p < 0.05) volume flow was found only in the fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia with a lethal postnatal outcome, whereas this parameter was normal in all survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary observations suggest that the tracheal volume flow during fetal breathing activity is related to lung growth. In fetuses with severe lung hypoplasia one would expect a significant reduction in this parameter as an expression of deficient fetal lung growth. The displaced fluid volume per breath in the trachea of human fetuses as assessed by Doppler ultrasound may be a useful predictor of outcome in cases of isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Female↗
PubMed1998

[Group housing for two to eight week old fattening calves].

The effect of three different feeding techniques (electronic automated feeder, teat bucket and bucket with floating teat) on oral activities, skin condition, health and performance of 144 German Holstein group housed veal calves was investigated. About 21% of the observed time over 24 hours was spent on oral activities and only about 1% with the particularly health-relevant activities at prepuce, navel or scrotum. As a consequence of sucking activities at pen mates in most cases reddening of the skin and, with low incidence (about 7%), additional loss of hair could be found. Altogether about 74% of the calves were affected with the highest incidence in the electronic automated feeder groups. Calves of these groups had, moreover, higher disease incidences and a lower weight gain and feed conversion rate than those fed by teat bucket or by bucket with floating teat. Altogether results show that in terms of behaviour and health it is possible to keep calves at the age of two weeks in groups, even in conventional veal calf production, when satisfactory management is applied. The electronic automated feeder still needs further technical development for use with veal calves.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1998

[Nature and amount of aerial pollutants from livestock buildings].

The air in animal housing contains gases, odours, dust particles and microorganisms which are discharged by way of the ventilation system into the environment. There is increasing concern within parts of the population that these compounds may affect the respiratory health of people living close to livestock enterprises. A brief survey is presented on airborne emissions from livestock buildings. About 136 gaseous compounds are analysed in animal house air of which only 22 are quantified. The most environment-related compounds are ammonia and methane. It is assumed that German animal husbandry emits up to 750,000 Mg ammonia per year. The concentrations of airborne microorganisms in livestock buildings are between some 100 and several 1000 per liter. Staphylococcae, streptococcae, colilike bacteria, fungi, moulds and yeasts are regularly found. The 24 h average concentrations of dust in animal barns vary considerably. In poultry houses the highest inhalable resp. respirable dust concentrations (up to 10 mg/m3 resp. 1.2 mg/m3) were found, followed by pig houses (5.5 mg/m3) and cattle barns (1.22 mg/m3 resp. 0.17 mg/m3). The concentrations of endotoxins in the airborne dust can range from 0.6 ng/m3 (cattle, respirable dust) to 860 ng/m3 (laying hens, inhalable dust). The presently discussed occupational health threshold at the workplace is around 5 ng/m3 (50 EU/m3). The emission rate for respirable dust from piggeries is at about 60 mg/h, from poultry houses nearly 300 mg/h and from cattle barns at 20 mg/h, related to 500 kg liveweight of the animals. Little is known about the distances these particles are transported through the air outside the animal buildings.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed1998

[Emission of particulates from a pig farm with central air exhaust in the pig stall].

There is increasing concern that airborne dust and particulates from animal enterprises which are emitted into the environment may impair the health of people living in nearby residential areas. Investigations were carried out to trace the distribution of particulate emissions from a piggery in the vicinity by means of an aerosol lidar. Additionally, dust was sampled with a high volume impactor (HVS) at two places downwind (50 m, 115 m) and at a reference point 50 m upwind the piggery. The total dust concentraction in the animal house air varied between 0.2 and 1.0 mg/m3 within 24 hours. 50 m downwind the building 0.08 mg/m3 dust was measured by means of the HVS. At a distance of 115 m downwind the same concentrations (0.037 mg/m3) as the reference point (0.037 mg/m3 upwind the animal house were found. The endotoxin concentrations were 60 ng/m3 (50 m downwind), 15 ng/m3 (115 m downwind) and 9 ng/m3 (50 m upwind). The lidar signals discriminated clearly between the density of the air directly above the exhaust chimney and the 115 m downwind position. It seems that the lidar technique in combination with high volume impaction form an useful tool to describe the distribution distance of particulate pollutants farm animal housing.

Aerosols↗
PubMed1998

HMR 1883, a novel cardioselective inhibitor of the ATP-sensitive potassium channel. Part I: effects on cardiomyocytes, coronary flow and pancreatic beta-cells.

The novel sulfonylthiourea HMR 1883 was investigated in in vitro systems. The rilmakalim-induced shortening of the APD90 in guinea pig right papillary muscle at pHo = 6.0 was antagonized half-maximally by glibenclamide and HMR 1883 with 0.14 microM and 0. 6 microM, respectively. Hypoxia-induced shortening of the APD90 was significantly attenuated by the sulfonylureas when applied 60 min after induction of hypoxia. In isolated guinea pig ventricular myocytes the APD90 as well as the whole-cell current was measured with the patch-clamp technique. The rilmakalim-induced shortening of the APD90 was half-maximally antagonized by glibenclamide and HMR 1883 with 10 nM and 0.4 microM, respectively (pHo = 6.5). The rilmakalim-induced whole-cell current (at 0 mV clamp-potential) was inhibited by glibenclamide and HMR 1883 half-maximally with 20 nM and 0.8 microM, respectively (pHo = 7.4). In isolated perfused guinea pig hearts, the coronary flow (CF) was increased by perfusion with hypoxic solution (20% O2). Whereas 1 microM glibenclamide completely inhibited the hypoxia-induced increase in CF, 10 microM HMR 1883 reduced it by only 18%. Pancreatic effects were investigated in rat insulinoma cells (RINm5F), which were hyperpolarized with 100 microM diazoxide. Addition of glibenclamide or HMR 1883 depolarized the cell potential half-maximally with concentrations of 9 nM and approximately 20 microM, respectively. In conclusion, the sulfonylthiourea HMR 1883 blocks KATPs in cardiac muscle cells with 10-50 fold higher potency than in pancreatic beta-cells and has little effect on the coronary vascular system. Therefore, HMR 1883 has pharmacological selectivity for cardiac myocytes and thereby may be a promising substance for the prevention of ischemia-induced ventricular fibrillation.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1998

[Emissions and immisions of bio-aerosols from a duck fattening unit].

In a field study emissions and immissions (receptor exposition) of bioaerosols emitted from and near a duck fattening house (25 m distance) were investigated. Within the livestock building mean concentrations of 3,342,289 CFU m-3 for airborne total mesophilic bacteria were determined. Total dust and endotoxin yields were 1.9 mg m-3 and 7,132.4 ng m-3, respectively. Additionally, enterobacteria, mesophilic and thermotolerante fungi as well as mesophilic actinomycetes were detectable. Measurements of immissions have shown, that downwind in the rear of the house a mean total germ concentration of 10,007 CFU m-3 was measurable in contrast to the upwind side of the building, where no airborne mesophilic bacteria were found. Higher concentrations downwind were generally determined for total dust, mesophilic fungi and actinomycetes, too, but not so for endotoxins. A supporting application of a numeric dispersion model confirmed the immissions for total mesophilic bacteria near by the duck fattening house. From this viewpoint immission predictions can be made in future for varying input data, i.e. wind conditions, of different components of bioaerosols.

Actinomycetales↗
PubMed1996

Hormone- and endotoxin-modulated gene expression of a long-term organ culture system of adult rat liver.

Precision-cut slices of normal adult rat liver maintained in serum-free medium remain hormone- and endotoxin-responsive for at least 48 h. They respond to glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) with the induction of the gluconeogenic enzyme tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT), as determined by enzymatic activity and by the increase in enzyme protein. Furthermore, endotoxin (LPS) induced nitric oxide synthase II (i-NOS), and this induction is repressed, similarly to the in vivo situation, by dexamethasone (DEX). All increases are inhibited by cycloheximide (CHX). The length of the period of responsiveness suggests that this organ culture system might be generally useful for studying the modulation of liver gene expression by physiological and pathological influences.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

Twenty-four of twenty-seven studies show a greater incidence of emesis associated with nitrous oxide than with alternative anesthetics.

All obtainable investigations that have compared the incidence of vomiting in groups of patients who received nitrous oxide (N2O) and in patients who received anesthetics or analgesics without N2O were examined for a single, dichotomous variable: whether patients who received N2O experienced an absolutely higher incidence, as distinct from a statistically significantly higher incidence, of vomiting. The null hypothesis is that N2O has no effect on emesis, such that an increased incidence of vomiting should occur in about half of the studies examined. However, patients receiving N2O experienced an absolutely higher incidence of emesis in 24 of 27 investigations. The two-tailed probability that this result occurred by chance is < 0.00005. It follows that N2O increases the incidence of emesis compared to alternative anesthetics.

Anesthetics, Inhalation↗
PubMed1996

Primary care patients' reactions to mental health screening.

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined whether there is empirical support for the notion that medical patients are upset by being asked questions about psychiatric disorders. METHOD: Six hundred and one patients attending a primary care clinic completed the SCREENER-a newly developed, brief self-administered questionnaire that surveys a broad range of psychopathology. In addition, they completed a second questionnaire that assessed their attitudes toward the SCREENER. RESULTS: We found a high level of acceptance by patients. The questions were judged easy to answer, and they rarely aroused significant negative affect. Fewer than 2 percent of the patients judged the questions difficult to answer, and fewer than 3 percent were "very much" embarrassed, upset, annoyed, or uncomfortable with the questions. Individuals with a history of psychiatric treatment and poorer current mental health reacted more unfavorably to the questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: From the patient's perspective, it is feasible and acceptable to use self-administered questionnaires for routine screening of psychiatric problems in primary care settings.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

[Animal housing climatic quality in various harmful conditions in broiler production to avoid heat stress in summer].

There is an ongoing debate about the optimum stocking density of broiler birds. The figures which are discussed range between 25 kg/m2 and 43 kg/m2. The Ministry for Agriculture, Forestries and Food of Lower Saxony issued a decree which limits the stocking density to 30 kg/m2 in winter and 27 kg/m2 in summer time. Among other rules a day-night-rhythm in lighting has to be installed and the maximum allowable ammonia concentration is limited to 20 ml/m3. In a field study, involving 5 institutions of the Hannover School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Göttingen, the effects of the decree on animal behaviour, health, hygienic conditions and economy was investigated in two identical conventional broiler barns in winter (trial 1) and summer (trial 3) and in two identical louisiana-type barns in summer (trial 2). This paper reports on the comparison of the air quality parameters in the experimental barns (E) and control barns (C) and concentrates on mean values only. The following differences were observed. (1) The mean air temperatures between the E-barns and C-barns didn't differ by more than 1 degree C. (2) The mean relative humidity of the air was in barn E 3.6% lower than in barn C (trial 1), the differences of the mean values in the other two trials were below 1% r. h. (3) The mean ammonia (NH3) concentrations were generally higher in the E-barns (trial 1: E = 17.9, C = 13.4, trial 2: E = 14.5, C = 10.9, trial 3: E = 7, C = 4.8 ml/m3) than in the C-barns. The NH3 threshold of 20 ml/m3 was frequently exceeded in trial 1 and 2 reaching peaks up to 46 ml/m3. (4) No hazardous concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), dimethyl amine (HN(CH3)2) and methane (CH4) were observed. The highest CO2 concentrations were found in trial 1 barn C (2816 ml/m3), 300 ml/m3 more than in barn E. In trials 2 and 3 the CO2 concentrations were slightly higher (trial 2: 200, trial 3: 40 ml/m3) in the C-barns than in the E-barns. The highest N2O concentrations were found in the louisiana-type barns (trials 2: E = 2.3, C = 1.8 ml/m3). In trial 1 (E = 0.5, C = 0.6 ml/m3) and trial 3 (E = 0.2, C = 0.2 ml/m3) the mean concentrations were by factors 3 to 10 lower. Small amounts of HN(CH3)2 were found in trial 1 only (E = 0.2, C = 0.3 ml/m3). The mean CH4 concentrations were higher in the C-barns (trial 2: E = 12.6, C = 14.6, trial 3: E = 19, C = 19.6 ml/m3). (5) The mean inspirable dust concentrations didn't differ very much between the trials an the barns. Highest inspirable dust amounts were found in trial 1 (E = 3.3, C = 3.8 mg/m3) followed by trial 2 (E = 2.8, C = 2.7 mg/m3) and trial 3 (E = 2.5, C = 2.3 mg/m3). A similar tendency was seen in the respirable dust (trial 1: E = 0.4, C = 0.6, trial 2: E = 0.4, C = 0.4, trial 3: E = 0.4, C = 0.3 mg/m3). The results of this study indicate that a reduction of bird density to 30 kg live weight per m2 will not have an immediate and strong effect on improving air quality. In particular heat stress in summer remains a problem. Therefore a brief list of measures to reduce heat stress for broilers in included.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1995

[Gas and particle emissions from housing in animal production].

Animal agriculture is increasingly regarded as a source of pollutants such as gases, odours and particulates which may be both aggravating and ecologically harmful. An overview of the origin, number and quantity of pollutants emitted from animal housing and from manure stores is presented and possible means of preventing or reducing them are discussed. Of the 136 trace gases in the air of animal houses ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) present the greatest risk to the environment. The gases and particulates are emitted principally from freshly deposited and stored excreta, from animal feed, from litter and from the animals themselves. Total NH3 emissions from animal production in Germany are estimated as approximately 750,000 t/a. It is calculated that the average of which is higher than the average "critical loads" for most natural habitats. However, there is still a shortage of satisfactory information on the extent of emissions, in particular on those from naturally ventilated animal houses. NH3 has a direct effect on the trees in the vicinity of animal houses and is also transported long distances through the air contributing to eutrophication and acidification of water and soil. This frequently results in changes in plant ecology, hence reducing plant diversity. CH4 and N2O contribute to the "greenhouse effect". Emissions of CH4 from animal husbandry in Germany are estimated at about 1.5 Mt/a. This corresponds to 0.2% of the assumed global emission from all sources. There is still little knowledge about the quantities of N2O released from agricultural animals. The concentration of airborne microorganisms in livestock housing is between some 100 and several 1000 per liter of air.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed1994

Biochemical diagnosis in prenatal uropathy.

Thirty-two fetuses, six with prune-belly syndrome, seven with renal cyst, 19 with obstructive uropathy, underwent intrauterine fluid aspiration during weeks 15-37 of gestation. Fluid samples were analysed for Na, K, creatinine, urea, alpha 1-, and beta 2-microglobulin. Aspirate concentrations of sodium below 130 mmol/L and creatinine above 115 mumol/L indicate an active kidney and exclude a renal cyst. However, aspirates from fetal cysts or fetuses with obstructive uropathy showed analyte concentrations for sodium, potassium, creatinine, and urea corresponding to extracellular fluid (ECF). In conclusion fluid aspirates of fetuses with ultrasonographically detectable cystic cavities in the abdomen should be examined for sodium and creatinine to assess remaining renal function for planning of obstetric management.

Alpha-Globulins↗
PubMed1994

Screening for depression in medical patients. Is the focus too narrow?

There is growing consensus that depression is a major public health problem causing significant psychosocial morbidity and mortality which should be addressed by case-finding effects in primary care settings. A large amount of literature has examined the ability of self-report questionnaires to detect depression in medical patients and the results have been encouraging. However, studies of general population and psychiatric patient samples indicate that depression is frequently comorbid with other psychiatric disorders, and that psychiatric disorders other than depression are also associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Consequently, we believe that psychiatric screening in primary care should be broad based. We administered a newly developed, multidimensional questionnaire (the SCREENER), that simultaneously screens for a range of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders, to 508 medical outpatients attending a VA general medical clinic. Compared with nondepressed cases, the depressed patients significantly more often reported all of the nondepressive symptoms. Nine of the ten nondepressive disorders screened for by the SCREENER were significantly more frequent in the depressed group. Most patients who screened positive for depression also screened positive for at least one nondepressive disorder. Compared with patients who only screened positive for depression, those who screened positive for both depression and a nondepressive disorder rated their physical and emotional health more poorly and made more visits to the doctor. Compared with patients who did not screen positive for any disorder, those who only screened positive for a nondepressive disorder rated their physical and emotional health more poorly, and more frequently had a history of mental health treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Developmental and stylistic variation in the composition of early vocabulary.

Results are reported for stylistic and developmental aspects of vocabulary composition for 1,803 children and families who participated in the tri-city norming of a new parental report instrument, the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories. We replicate previous studies with small samples showing extensive variation in use of common nouns between age 0; 8 and 1;4 (i.e. 'referential style'), and in the proportion of vocabulary made up of closed-class words between 1;4 and 2;6 (i.e. 'analytic' vs. 'holistic' style). However, both style dimensions are confounded with developmental changes in the composition of the lexicon, including three 'waves' of reorganization: (I) an initial increase in percentage of common nouns from 0 to 100 words, followed by a proportional decrease; (2) a slow linear increase in verbs and other predicates, with the greatest gains taking place between 100 and 400 words; (3) no proportional development at all in the use of closed-class vocabulary between 0 and 400 words, followed by a sharp increase from 400 to 680 words. When developmental changes in noun use are controlled, referential-style measures do not show the association with developmental precocity reported in previous studies, although these scores are related to maternal education. By contrast, when developmental changes in grammatical function word use are controlled, high closed-class scores are associated with a slower rate of development. We suggest that younger children may have less perceptual acuity and/or shorter memory spans than older children with the same vocabulary size. As a result, the younger children may ignore unstressed function words until a later point in development while the older children tend to reproduce perceptual details that they do not yet understand. Longitudinal data show that early use of function words (under 400 words) is not related to grammatical levels after the 400-word point, confirming our 'stylistic' interpretation of early closed-class usage. We close with recommendations for the unconfounding of stylistic and developmental variance in research on individual differences in language development, and provide look-up tables that will permit other investigators to pull these aspects apart.

Child Language↗