Mucormycosis in a Severe Trauma Patient Treated with a Combination of Systemic Posaconazole and Topical Amphotericin B-Case Report.

Mucormycosis is an opportunistic infection affecting mainly immunocompromised hosts. Infection in immunocompetent patients is rare, but may occur typically in trauma or burn victims. We report on a previously healthy young man suffering devastating trauma from an agricultural accident with the subsequent development of a multifocal mucormycosis.

Bird Medicine: Falconry as a Spiritual Salve.

This paper is a personal reflection on the healing aspect of falconry. This is a particular style of bird medicine that offers healing in the personal, communal, environmental and transcendental realms. The ways in which this is so, are discussed from the perspective of falconry as a spiritual salve.

Delivery of a Healthy Baby from a Brain-Dead Woman After 117 Days of Somatic Support: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND The care and management of brain-dead pregnant women is surrounded by legal and ethical controversies. Gestational age is directly proportional to newborn survival. We report a case of a brain-dead pregnant woman at the 16th week of gestation and the successful delivery of a healthy child after 117 days of maternal somatic support.

Oxidative Deposition of Manganese Oxide Nanosheets on Nitrogen-Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes Applied in the Alkaline Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The development of nonprecious catalysts for water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is one of the major challenges to meet future sustainable fuel demand. Herein, thin layers of manganese oxide nanosheets supported on nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) were formed by the treatment of NCNTs dispersed in aqueous solutions of KMnO or CsMnO under reflux or under hydrothermal (HT) conditions and used as electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. The samples were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy.

Seleno-analogues of pentlandites (FeNiSSe, Y = 1-6): tuning bulk Fe/Ni sulphoselenides for hydrogen evolution.

We herein present a series of hitherto unprecedented seleno-pentlandites (Fe4.5Ni4.5S8-YSeY).

Bifunctional Oxygen Reduction/Oxygen Evolution Activity of Mixed Fe/Co Oxide Nanoparticles with Variable Fe/Co Ratios Supported on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes.

A facile strategy is reported for the synthesis of Fe/Co mixed metal oxide nanoparticles supported on, and embedded inside, high purity oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) of narrow diameter distribution as effective bifunctional catalysts able to reversibly drive the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solutions. Variation of the Fe/Co ratio resulted in a pronounced trend in the bifunctional ORR/OER activity. Controlled synthesis and in-depth characterization enabled the identification of an optimal Fe/Co composition, which afforded a low OER/OER reversible overvoltage of only 0.

Tuning the oxidation state of manganese oxide nanoparticles on oxygen- and nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes for the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction.

Manganese oxides are promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction due to their versatile redox properties. Manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles were synthesized on oxygen- and nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanotubes (OCNTs and NCNTs) by calcination in air of Mn-impregnated CNTs with a loading of 10 wt% Mn. The calcined samples were exposed to reducing conditions by thermal treatment in H or NH, and to strongly oxidizing conditions using HNO vapor, which enabled us to flexibly tune the oxidation state of Mn from 2+ in MnO to 4+ in MnO.

MOF-Templated Assembly Approach for Fe C Nanoparticles Encapsulated in Bamboo-Like N-Doped CNTs: Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction under Acidic and Basic Conditions.

Developing high-performance non-precious metal catalysts (NPMCs) for the oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) is of critical importance for sustainable energy conversion. We report a novel NPMC consisting of iron carbide (Fe C) nanoparticles encapsulated in N-doped bamboo-like carbon nanotubes (b-NCNTs), synthesized by a new metal-organic framework (MOF)-templated assembly approach. The electrocatalyst exhibits excellent ORR activity in 0.

Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) at TiO Electrodes in Li-Ion Batteries: Defining Apparent and Effective SEI Based on Evidence from X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy and Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy.

The high (de)lithiation potential of TiO (ca. 1.7 V vs Li/Li in 1 M Li) decreases the voltage and, thus, the energy density of a corresponding Li-ion battery.

Synergistic Effect of Cobalt and Iron in Layered Double Hydroxide Catalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Co-based layered double hydroxide (LDH) catalysts with Fe and Al contents in the range of 15 to 45 at % were synthesized by an efficient coprecipitation method. In these catalysts, Fe or Al ions play an essential role as trivalent species to stabilize the LDH structure. The obtained catalysts were characterized by a comprehensive combination of surface- and bulk-sensitive techniques and were evaluated for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on rotating disk electrodes.

Rate-dependence of antiarrhythmic and proarrhythmic properties of class I and class III antiarrhythmic drugs.

Rate or frequency-dependence is a characteristic property of antiarrhythmic drugs belonging to the Vaughan William classes I and III. The rate-dependence of class I drugs (i.e.

[Cataract surgery in narrow pupil and postoperative fibrin reaction, especially after sphincterectomy].

Background: Since increased intraoperative iris irritation can lead to increased postoperative inflammation, we are interested in postoperative reactions to several varied surgical procedures. We performed pupil stretching, iridotomy with iris suture, and partial sphincterectomy.

Materials And Methods: From January 1995 to January 1996, 100 patients (103 eyes) with narrow pupils underwent cataract surgery.

Postoperative astigmatism and relative strength of tunnel incisions: a prospective clinical trial.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of incision depth and site on wound strength and postoperative astigmatism.

Setting: Virchow Memorial Hospital Eye Clinic, Berlin, Germany.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized study, 180 patients with a 7.

[3 1/2 years experiences with ECCE with tunnel incision].

Since January 1992 planned extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) is performed routinely with the no-stitch technique at our clinic. To minimize surgically induced astigmatism further, modified wound constructions for planned ECCE with on 1.1-mm tunnel width were evaluated.

[Incidence of recurrence after primary pterygium excision, phototherapeutic keratectomy with the ArF:Excimer laser and local mitomycin C administration].

Background: In this clinical trial the recurrence-rate after primary pterygium-excision, phototherapeutic keratectomy with the ArF:excimerlaser and local application of mitomycin C should be estimated.

Material And Methods: Forty eyes of 38 patients underwent primary pterygium-excision using a bare-sclera technique. All patients underwent phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) with the ArF:excimerlaser of the wound region.

Influence of cell isolation and recording technique on the voltage dependence of the fast cardiac sodium current of the rat.

We measured macroscopic sodium currents (INa) in preparations from adult rat ventricle under four different conditions (I-IV): using the cell attached configuration of the tight-seal patch clamp technique on cells isolated with either trypsin followed by collagenase (I) or with collagenase only (II), and using the loose patch technique on cells isolated with collagenase (II) as well as on multicellular preparations not subjected to enzyme treatment (IV). The voltage dependence of the steady-state activation of INa as well as of the steady-state inactivation differed significantly among condition I and II. Moreover, the recordings were voltage shifted in comparison to the recording condition III and IV.

[Pathophysiology of cardiac arrhythmias].

Cardiac arrhythmias are ambiguous symptoms. Intracardiac as well as extracardiac alterations may be responsible. There is little direct information from the ECG concerning their pathophysiological mechanism.

Differential analysis of frequency-dependent effects of antiarrhythmic drugs: importance of the saturation behavior of frequency-dependent sodium-channel blockade.

Frequency-dependent effects of class I antiarrhythmic drugs on Vmax reported in the literature are analyzed with respect to periodical drug binding to sodium channels. The analysis reveals that class I action can be differentiated according to the onset kinetics as well as to the saturation behavior of frequency-dependent sodium-channel blockade at increasing frequencies. As will be shown, class I drugs even of the same subclass (Ic) may differ markedly from each other with respect to the saturation behavior of frequency-dependent block.

Influence of beta-adrenergic stimulation on the fast sodium current in the intact rat papillary muscle.

The loose-patch-clamp technique was used on intact cardiac papillary muscle of the rat to examine whether the fast sodium inward current (INa+) is influenced by the beta-adrenergic stimulant isoproterenol (ISO) or by 8-bromo-3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (8-Br-cAMP), respectively. The amplitude of INa+ evoked by test pulses of 5 ms to a transmembrane potential of 0 mV and its time to peak were analyzed. The availability of INa+ was tested with conditioning pulses of 2.

[New aspects of frequency-dependent effect of class 1 anti-arrhythmia drugs. A critical analysis of useful subclassification].

The primary action of class-1-antiarrhythmic drugs is due to blockade of cardiac sodium channels and shows drug-specific frequency dependence, i.e., increasing blockade with increasing stimulation frequency.

Use dependence of sodium current inhibition by tetrodotoxin in rat cardiac muscle: influence of channel state.

Tetrodoxin (TTX) is known to cause a voltage- and frequency-dependent inhibition of the rapid inward sodium current (INa) of cardiac muscle. This effect was studied by means of the loose-patch-clamp method on intact rat papillary muscle. The availability curve of the fast sodium system, determined by variation of the holding potential, is shifted in the presence of TTX (5.

Differential analysis of the frequency-dependent effects of class 1 antiarrhythmic drugs according to periodical ligand binding: implications for antiarrhythmic and proarrhythmic efficacy.

The frequency-dependent block of cardiac sodium channels by class 1 antiarrhythmic drugs can be described by a periodical ligand binding process between drug molecules and channel binding sites. This predicts a linear relation between onset-rate constant of frequency-dependent block and diastolic interval as well as saturation of block with high stimulation rates. From both relationships, the binding kinetics (time constant, tau on) and saturation level of block (bdinf) can be estimated.