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Rotation test in the weightless phase of parabolic flight.

Human test-persons and pigs were subjected to pendular swing movements during parabolic flight. The rotary-induced nystagmus frequency in pigs increased during a G-load of more than 1.5 G. In the trajectory from zero G to 1.5 G the nystagmus SPV in pigs increased. In human subjects weightlessness suppressed the rotary-induced nystagmus, and gravitational conditions over 2 G increased the nystagmus amplitude. Nystagmus responses in experienced test-persons proved to be independent of changes in G-load. The differences in the results in man and pig support the assumption that rotary-induced nystagmus is not solely a response of the cupulae and the otoliths, but is also affected by tactile and somatosensory stimulation.

Animals↗

Transmission of viruses via contact in ahousehold setting: experiments using bacteriophage straight phiX174 as a model virus.

Contamination of the environment with pathogens is the prerequisite for contact infections. The aim of this study was to elucidate how viruses can be transmitted from a primary contact person to further individuals. Bacteriophage straight phiX174 was chosen as a model virus. In its stability straight phiX174 is comparable with the most resistant human pathogenic viruses, e.g. polio- or parvoviruses. About 10(7)pfu were applied to exposed contact points such as door handles or the hands of volunteers. After touching of these handles and common social contacts like hand shaking, re-isolation rates were determined from the hands of our test persons. Contaminated door handles and skin surfaces were found to be efficient sources for potential infection. At least 14 persons could be contaminated by horizontal spread, one after the other by touching the same door handle. Successive transmission from one person to another could be followed up to the sixth contact person. These results were confirmed under everyday life conditions in a flat shared by four students. The transmission could not be prevented by the usual standards of hand hygiene, practised in this household. straight phiX174 could be reisolated after 24h from the hands of all persons tested even after normal use and cleaning of their hands. This might be improved by the use of liquid soap dispensers.

Bacteriophage phi X 174↗

[Behavior of serum lipid parameters--results of a longitudinal gerontologic study].

Within the Leipzig longitudinal study from 1968 to 1978 in 158 test persons (46 males, 112 females) cholesterol and the total fatty acid spectre were gas-chromatographically determined in regular intervals. Serum cholesterol as well as proportions of linoleic acid increased significantly. By the significant decrease of the palmitic acid the percentages of the saturated fatty acids altogether decreased despite increase of stearic acid. In these cases the differences between males and females as well as between persons with normal weight and overweight more and more evened up. Ascertained correlations existed between reduction of the relative weight and decrease or more insignificant increase of cholesterol on the one hand and increase of linoleic acid on the other. The latter phenomenon is above all to be traced back to the fat-reduced diet and to the diet rich in polyene fatty acids which was more and more applied mainly by older test persons in the course of the longitudinal study, which thus may lead to antiatherogenic constellations of serum fatty acids.

Aged↗

MDCT assessment of lung volume in patients undergoing bronchial stenting for treatment of pulmonary emphysema: correlation with respiratory tests and personal experience.

PURPOSE: The aid of this study was to evaluate lung volume reduction with multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) in patients with emphysema who have undergone endobronchial valve placement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine patients with emphysema were studied by low-dose chest MDCT (64-slice Somatom Sensation Cardiac, Siemens) with a collimation of 64 x 0.6 mm and a slice thickness of 1 mm. After treatment, MDCT scans were repeated at 7 and 30 days. A single observer calculated the volume of the treated lobe and of both lungs on a dedicated console. Volume calculations were then compared with the results of lung function tests. RESULTS: Four patients in whom MDCT showed severe emphysema of the right upper lobe (RUL) were selected for endobronchial valve insertion. Volume assessment at 30 days showed a 29% reduction in RUL volume in patient A, a 15% reduction in patient B, a <1% reduction in patient C and a 30% reduction in patient D. Correlation with lung function tests confirmed a major reduction of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) and vital capacity (VC) and improved walking test results after 7 and 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: In patients undergoing endobronchial valve placement, MDCT with dedicated software allows for a better evaluation of volume reduction of a single lobe and of the whole lung.

Adult↗

Optimization of 3-dimensional imaging of the breast region with 3-dimensional laser scanners.

The anatomic conditions of the female breast require imaging the breast region 3-dimensionally in a normal standing position for quality assurance and for surgery planning or surgery simulation. The goal of this work was to optimize the imaging technology for the mammary region with a 3-dimensional (3D) laser scanner, to evaluate the precision and accuracy of the method, and to allow optimum data reproducibility. Avoiding the influence of biotic factors, such as mobility, we tested the most favorable imaging technology on dummy models for scanner-related factors such as the scanner position in comparison with the torso and the number of scanners and single shots. The influence of different factors of the breast region, such as different breast shapes or premarking of anatomic landmarks, was also first investigated on dummies. The findings from the dummy models were then compared with investigations on test persons, and the accuracy of measurements on the virtual models was compared with a coincidence analysis of the manually measured values. The best precision and accuracy of breast region measurements were achieved when landmarks were marked before taking the shots and when shots at 30 degrees left and 30 degrees right, relative to the sagittal line, were taken with 2 connected scanners mounted with a +10-degree upward angle. However, the precision of the measurements on test persons was significantly lower than those measured on dummies. Our findings show that the correct settings for 3D imaging of the breast region with a laser scanner can achieve an acceptable degree of accuracy and reproducibility.

Breast↗

N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase excretion in calcium oxalate stone patients and its relation to the risk of stone formation.

A tubular renal damage induced by crystals in the renal tubuli can be the triggering primary but also secondary cause of stone formation. In 72 calcium oxalate stone patients (45 men, 27 women) N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase [NAG] excretion in 24h-urine was investigated. 48 healthy test persons (27 men, 21 women) served as a control group and helped to establish reference values. In order to find out a possible relation between NAG reference values and the risks of urolithiasis, lithogenous and inhibitory substances were determined in both groups. In the following, relative calcium oxalate supersaturation, representing a risk of urinary stone formation, was analyzed and compared to NAG excretion values. The threshold value of pathologic NAG excretion was determined in the group of healthy test subjects (mean value +/- 2 standard deviation) and was fixed at 4.2 U/d (women 3.06 U/d, men 4.24 U/d). In our investigations on NAG excretion significantly (p < 0.05) increased values were found in stone patients (4.43 U/d +/- 4.27) as compared to healthy test persons (2.13 U/d +/- 1.02). In the case of increased NAG excretion in stone patients there was a positive correlation between NAG excretion and increased phosphate, sulphate, uric acid, oxalate, and creatinine excretion. Only in female patients there was a relation between relative calcium oxalate supersaturation and NAG excretion values. As a result, NAG determination is considered to be an appropriate means of tracing a certain risk group within calcium oxalate stone patients.

Acetylglucosaminidase↗

[Clinical studies of the proper indication of inlay and crown therapy in lateral tooth areas].

187 students were examined an epidemiological study for their dental conditions and requirements with respect to preservation and prosthetics. The persons tested showed a DMF-T index of 11.6 and a DMF-S index of 24.2 in the lateral tooth area. In our opinion the clinical investigation revealed that the total number of caries cases will rise three-fold due to the above-average frequency of secondary caries cases as the filling size (or the number of filling surfaces) increases. The amount of single crown dentures found in the lateral tooth area with 0.1 crowns per person tested turned out to be fairly low. The actual need for a tooth-preserving therapy concept by crowning in preference to the concept of filling therapy amounts to the twelve-fold of the existing single crown dentures.

Adolescent↗

[Clinical research studies from the ethical and legal point of view].

Relevant cases that had come to public knowledge and critical analysis of medical research on human beings prompted the USA to introduce the provision of approval by a committee and other forms of administrative control. In the 70's, ethics commissions were set up in Central Europe in compliance with the recommendations of the revised Helsinki-Tokyo Declaration. In Austria, the guiding principles are now legally safeguarded by the Pharmaceuticals Act, whereby general principles of research on human beings such as benefit-risk calculation and consent of the test person are laid down by statute. The risks involved in a novel method of treatment must nowadays be shared by the patient, which presupposes that the patient must be adequately informed. Notwithstanding the patient's consent, however, the risk must be socially acceptable, meaning that the experiment must be scientifically relevant and carried out in compliance with accepted methods and rules. The concept of cumulative justification is demanded today; it consists of the scientist's freedom of research, the test person's right to self-determination and the benefit-risk calculation. Ethics commissions composed of researchers themselves are invaluable consultant bodies for the scientist when soberly viewing his own particular project and who must himself undertake to observe the generally accepted principles regulating research on human beings. Only positive control by the medical profession itself will, in the long run, be able to effectively stave off an ever increasing encroachment of legislative and state control upon medical research.

Ethics, Medical↗

The contribution of microsaccades and drifts in the maintenance of binocular steady fixation.

BACKGROUND: The eye performs three types of eye movements during fixation: fast microsaccades are interrupted by slow drift movements, and tremor is superimposed on the drifts. The contribution of the microsaccades and drifts in maintaining fixation has been discussed since the late 1950s. Initially, microsaccades were thought to correct the misalignment from the optimal fixation locus induced by the drift movements, a theory still postulated in more recent work. The present study aimed to uncover to what extent each fixation movement contributes to maintain steady binocular fixation. METHOD: Binocular fixation during a 40-s fixation task was recorded using an infrared recording technique for ten normal test persons. Start and end point of each microsaccade and drift were superimposed on a fixation map, and the distance to the preferred retinal location of fixation (PRL) was measured. RESULTS: It was found that 32.6% of the microsaccades corrected the previous drift movement towards the PRL, whereas 53.1% of the drifts corrected the endpoint of the previous microsaccade towards the PRL. The overall mean post-microsaccadic and mean post-drift distance to the PRL for the ten normal test persons were 0.46 degrees and 0.41 degrees , respectively; the difference was not statistically significant. Interindividually, the mean post-microsaccadic distance to the PRL ranged between 0.21 degrees and 0.91 degrees and the mean post-drift distance to the PRL ranged between 0.20 degrees and 0.72 degrees . CONCLUSION: Neither the endpoints of the microsaccades nor the drifts bring the visual line to coincide with the centre of the PRL. Consequently, it must be the eye movements performed during the drifts ("slow control") that keep the visual line in the centre of the foveola.

Adult↗

[EEG changes in HIV infections].

A standardized examination, including EEG, was performed in 54 cases of HIV infection. The EEGs were analyzed and compared to 30 EEGs of HIV-negative test persons. The visual analyses with respect to basic activity, dysrhythmias, general slowing, foci and alteration of vigilance were performed without any information on HIV infection. Significant differences in the median frequency were found between both groups, HIV-positive patients presenting with a slower basic activity. Moderate or severe dysrhythmias (2 patients) or foci (2 patients) were found exclusively in HIV-positive patients. The findings described above could not be replicated when only HIV-patients without secondary CNS infections were compared to HIV-negative test persons.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

[The EEG in the aged].

The most important characteristic of the EEG in old age is the frequency decrease of background activity, which can be traced back to a lessening of cerebral oxygen uptake. One third of healthy test persons aged 60 or over also show temporal (usually left sided) slow wave groups. The degree of EEG changes in cerebro-vascular insults depends on the nature and the localization of these disturbances. Temporary clinical and electroencephalographic focal seizure symptoms are observed, in particular, in circulatory disturbances within the temporo-parieto-occipital territory. Recurring epileptic seizures which start only in old age usually have either a vascular or a tumoral cause. During the attack-free intervals EEG spikes or sharp waves may be less frequently recorded than in younger test persons. Thanks to its highly typical EEG pattern, Creutzfeldt-Jakob subacute spongiform encephalopathy can be distinguished from other presenile or senile affections of the brain.

Aged↗

Knowledge of colorectal cancer and use of screening tests in persons 40-74 years of age.

Telephone surveys were conducted in 1988 on random samples of persons ages 40-74 years in two populations with relatively high rates of colorectal cancer, i.e., in Long Island (NY) and in Connecticut. Correct responses to questions concerning warning signs for and the frequency of colorectal cancer relative to stomach cancer were not related to age but were positively associated with educational level and were greater among females than males. Awareness of the possible role of dietary factors in cancer (i.e., regarding both cured meat and fiber-rich foods) was high, while daily consumption of bran cereals was infrequent. Proportions of respondents who reported having colorectal screening tests increased with age and were higher among college graduates and among those having annual medical check-ups (especially for college graduates). In multivariate analyses age (i.e., 60-74 vs 40-59 years) and education (i.e., college graduates vs all others), along with frequency of medical check-ups, were significant independent predictors of use of colorectal screening tests (both fecal occult blood and proctoscopy), while gender (female) was negatively associated with proctoscopy. Implications for planning intervention programs are discussed.

Adult↗

[Diagnosis and evaluation of monoclonal immunoglobulins in the aged with reference to plasmacytoma].

A study on the epidemiological situation of the appearance of monoclonal immunoglobulins (mIg) in the district of Leipzig is presented. 443 accidentally selected test persons from old people's and nursing homes of a dispensary consulting hour and a ward for diagnostics in internal medicine at the age of more than 50 years were examined. Agargel electrophoresis and BSR, the usual diagnostic follow-up methods for the proof of mIg, were used. Depending upon age 88 examined patients showed increasingly extragradients (EG), 21 of them could all be identified as mIg. Significant sex differences after the 74th year of age refer to an at this time more distinct disturbance of the B-cell regulation in males. One third of the test persons had transitory mIg, among the persisting ones after all two patients with multiple myeloma were found. While the BSR is not suitable as screening method, the agargel electrophoresis (sensitivity and specifity in each case 84%, positive predictive value 24%) in the present prevalency of 4.7% is recommended for the detection of this phenomenon. The clinical consequences require the formation of risk groups, their mass examination and the aimed control in immunologically and haematologically orientated centres.

Aged↗

Benzyl alcohol allergy: importance of patch testing with personal products.

Benzyl alcohol is a weak sensitizer found in a wide array of plants and plant products, foods, cosmetics, and medications. Delayed contact dermatitis reactions as well as immediate, urticarial, and systemic reactions have been reported to occur with its use in these various formulations. We present the case of a woman with allergic contact dermatitis from benzyl alcohol and provide a brief review of allergy to this chemical.

Benzyl Alcohol↗

Absorption, distribution and excretion of the tritium-labelled beta2 stimulator fenoterol hydrobromide following aerosol administration and instillation into the bronchial tree.

The administration by aerosol of fenoterol hydrobromide (Berotec) was investigated in four test persons. Two patients with operable carcinomas of the lung were given tritium-labelled fenoterol hydrobromide aerosol immediately before undergoing surgery. Parts of the pulmonary segments removed were biochemically analysed and it was observed that the radioactive contents in pulmonary tissue and blood plasma were almost identical. The pharmacokinetic data recorded after aerosol administration, viz. plasma levels and renal excretion, are not different from those recorded after oral administration. The expired air following aerosol administration was examined in two patients, whereby less than 0.1% of the dose administered was recovered. The oropharynx on the other hand, was found to contain 53% of the dose immediately after administration. Absorption via the lungs was examined in four other test persons by instilling an aqueous solution of fenoterol hydrobromide into the right bronchial tree. Comparison of renal excretion levels showed that absorption here is greater than after oral administration; the plasma level curves, however, run a very similar course.

Administration, Oral↗

[The value of hypertension and metabolic factors on the development of coronary heart disease in type II diabetic patients].

In 1,126 newly manifested type II diabetics of the diabetes intervention study (628 male, 498 female) between 30 and 55 years of age by a univariate and multivariate analysis the influence of atherogenic risk factors on the development of the coronary heart disease was tested. The diagnosis coronary heart disease is based on the ECG at rest (Minnesota-code), in 796 test persons an exercise electrocardiogram was made. In a manifestation of diabetes males with coronary heart disease showed higher mean values for systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index and serum triglycerides than the control group free of coronary heart disease. In females systolic and diastolic blood pressure, uric acid level and age were significantly increased. By means of multidimensional analysis of variance as to the major findings in the ECG at rest (Q/QS type) in males the diastolic blood pressure, in females the systolic blood pressure and the serum uric acid proved to be significant. Minor findings (above all disturbances of repolarisation) were in males significantly associated with the triglycerides and the diastolic blood pressure, in the females with the systolic blood pressure and the age. Test persons with a stage of coronary heart disease which is to be recognized only in the exercise ECG in the behaviour of the mean value of the atherogenic risk factors did not differ from the control group free of findings with the exception of the increased serum triglycerides in the females.

Blood Glucose↗

[Seasonal variation of blood components important for diagnosis (author's transl)].

In a comparative study, the differences between the values measured for 26 blood and serum components in both winter and summer were determined in 78 healthy subjects. Comparable conditions during the preparation of test persons, sampling, processing of specimens, and measurement were strictly observed. The term "season" is defined more precisely by meterological data. In the summer season, significantly higher values were found for leukocytes (9%), lactate dehydrogenase and MCHC (7% each), creatinine (7%, in women only), and MCH (1%) whereas significantly lower values were exhibited by aspartate aminotransferase (18%), alanine aminotransferase (14%), alkaline phosphatase (11%), glucose and packed cell volume (7% each), MCV (6%), total protein (2%), erythrocytes, albumin, sodium and chloride (1% each). These partly considerable alterations should be taken into account in the establishment of reference values and evaluation of laboratory findings (above all, when intraindividual comparison is involved). There were no significant alterations of the following parameters: hemoglobin, gamma-glutamyl transferase, urea, uric acid, creatinine (men only), bilirubin, cholesterol, total glycerol, potassium, calcium, and inorganic phosphate. In another series of experiments involving 32 test persons, the influence of different ambient temperatures during blood sampling on the above mentioned blood components was studied. Within the 18-30 degrees C range, no significant alterations were detected.

Blood Cell Count↗

[Blood circulation in healthy inhabitants of the arid zone of Turkmenistan. Report 2. Use of controlled exercise test in persons with good and insufficient adaptation to high environmental temperature].

Bicycle ergometry was performed in 143 normal male residents of Ashkhabad in different seasons of the year. In cool weather, the direction and magnitude of hemodynamic response to exercise in Ashkhabad residents were similar to those of people from milder climatic zones. In summer, exercise-related systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the stroke index were smaller as compared to the respective values of the cool season. During the transition period (i.e. first hot summer days), blood pressure and the stroke index were the lowest, and the heart rate was somewhat increased. In hot weather, exercise produced a greater reduction in the circulating blood volume and a greater increase in the hematocrit value. Thirteen (9%) subjects with poor tolerance of hot weather were identified in the screened population. In these, hemodynamic shifts were similar to those observed in most normal subjects during inadequate acclimatization of the first hot summer days.

Acclimatization↗