The cardiovascular risk profile of middle age women previously diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency: A case-control study.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women worldwide. The cardiovascular risk profile deteriorates after women enter menopause. By definition, women diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) experience menopause before 40 years of age, which may render these women even more susceptible to develop CVD later in life.

Effects of citric acid and the siderophore desferrioxamine B (DFO-B) on the mobility of germanium and rare earth elements in soil and uptake in Phalaris arundinacea.

Effects of citric acid and desferrioxamine B (DFO-B) on the availability of Ge and selected rare earth elements (REEs) (La, Nd, Gd, Er) to Phalaris arundinacea were investigated. A soil dissolution experiment was conducted to elucidate the effect of citric acid and DFO-B at different concentrations (1 and 10 mmol L citric acid) on the release of Ge and REEs from soil. In a greenhouse, plants of P.

Cardiovascular Risk in Women With Premature Ovarian Insufficiency Compared to Premenopausal Women at Middle Age.

Context: A young age at menopause has been associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk.

Objective: To compare the cardiovascular risk profile between women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and premenopausal controls of comparable age.

Design: Cross-sectional case control study.

A safety evaluation of dexamethasone-releasing cochlear implants: comparative study on the risk of otogenic meningitis after implantation.

Conclusion: Dexamethasone released from a cochlear implant seems not to enhance the risk for postoperative infections.

Objective: Dexamethasone has a positive impact on hearing preservation for electric acoustic stimulation (EAS). Due to their antiproliferative and immunosuppressive properties, steroids may enhance the risk of postoperative infections.

Pneumococcal meningitis post cochlear implantation: development of an animal model in the guinea pig.

In 2002 an increased number of cochlear implant related meningitis cases was reported by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy and LINAC radiosurgery in the treatment of vestibular schwannoma-report about both stereotactic methods from a single institution.

Purpose: To evaluate tumor control and side effects associated with radiosurgery (RS) and stereotactic fractionated radiotherapy (SFR) for vestibular schwannomas (VSs) in a group of patients treated at the same institution.

Methods And Materials: Between May 1997 and June 2007, 115 consecutive cases of VS were treated in our department. The SFR group (47 patients), including larger tumors (maximum diameter >1.

Torque measurements of the ossicular chain: implication on the MRI safety of the hearing implant Vibrant Soundbridge.

Hypothesis: Is the human ossicular chain stabile enough to withstand the torque of a Vibrant Soundbridge middle ear hearing implant in the magnetic field of a 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system?

Background: The Vibrant Soundbridge is a semi-implantable hearing device in which a tiny electromechanical transducer, called floating mass transducer (FMT), is clipped to the ossicular chain within the middle ear. The FMT contains a permanent magnet, which can generate a torque when exposed to a static magnetic field of MRI systems.

[The "invisible" foreign body].

A 58-year-old female patient fell down a stairs carrying a plant pot. The bamboo stem penetrated the left lower lip and remained stuck in the throat. The patient pulled the bamboo stem out immediately.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in cervical lymphadenopathy: report of three cases of patients with Bartonella henselae infection mimicking malignant disease.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is a potential technique for differentiation between benign and malignant lymph nodes. However, lympadenopathy caused by Bartonella henselae infection showes low ADC values in diffusion weighted MRI as typically seen in malignant disease.

Value of diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the differentiation between benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.

Purpose: To evaluate echo-planar diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) in the differentiation between benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.

Materials And Methods: 35 consecutive patients with 55 enlarged (>10mm) cervical lymph nodes underwent MR imaging at 1.5-T.

Structure/function analysis of spinalin, a spine protein of Hydra nematocysts.

The nematocyst capsules of the cnidarians are specialized explosive organelles that withstand high osmotic pressures of approximately 15 MPa (150 bar). A tight disulfide network involving cysteine-rich capsule wall proteins, like minicollagens and nematocyst outer wall antigen, characterizes their molecular composition. Nematocyst discharge leads to the expulsion of a long inverted tubule that was coiled inside the capsule matrix before activation.

[Influence of ML-1 standardized mistletoe extract on the quality of life in head and neck cancer patients].

Background: ML-1 standardized mistletoe extracts have been recommended for increasing the health-related quality of life in cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: The EORTC questionnaire QLQ-C30((V2)) was given to a randomly chosen subgroup of 399 patients of a prospective, randomized, open, multi-center trial. A total of 200 patients from this trial were randomized for ML-1 treatment (1 ng/kg body weight ML-1 was injected subcutaneously twice weekly over a 60-week period.

Localization of beta1-adrenergic receptors in the cochlea and the vestibular labyrinth.

Sympathetic activation in a "fight or flight reaction" may put the sensory systems for hearing and balance into a state of heightened alert via beta1-adrenergic receptors (beta1-AR). The aim of the present study was to localize beta1-AR in the gerbil inner ear by confocal immunocytochemistry, to characterize beta1-AR by Western immunoblots, and to identify beta1-AR pharmacologically by measurements of cAMP production. Staining for beta1-AR was found in strial marginal cells, inner and outer hair cells, outer sulcus, and spiral ganglia cells of the cochlea, as well as in dark, transitional and supporting cells of the vestibular labyrinth.

Analysis of heterophilic and homophilic interactions of cadherins using the c-Jun/c-Fos dimerization domains.

Cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion is initiated by cis dimerization of cadherin ectodomains at the cell surface followed by an antiparallel trans interaction of dimers on opposing cells. To resolve open questions concerning the molecular details and specificity of cis and trans interactions, ectodomains of E- and P-cadherin were analyzed by chemical cross-linking and by electron microscopy. At the high intrinsic concentration created by artificial oligomerization the N-terminal cadherin (CAD)-domain of P-cadherin are forming ring-like cis dimers.

Functional studies on recombinant domains of Mac-2-binding protein.

Mac-2-binding protein (M2BP) is a secreted glycoprotein suggested to have a role in host defense. It forms linear and ring-shaped oligomers, with each ring segment being composed of two monomers. We have produced recombinant human M2BP fragments comprising domains 1 and 2 (M2BP-1,2) and domains 3 and 4 (M2BP-3,4) in 293 human kidney cells to characterize structural and functional properties of M2BP.

Differential effects of radiocontrast agents on human umbilical vein endothelial cells: cytotoxicity and modulators of thrombogenicity.

Unlabelled: The endothelium plays a central role in the regulation of blood flow and coagulation. The impact of radiocontrast agents on endothelial cells is therefore potentially clinically important, particularly in percutaneous interventions for acute coronary thrombosis. The effects of radiocontrast agents on endothelial cell viability and determinants of thrombogenicity were studied in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro.

A switch in disulfide linkage during minicollagen assembly in Hydra nematocysts.

The smallest known collagens with only 14 Gly-X-Y repeats referred to as minicollagens are the main constituents of the capsule wall of nematocysts. These are explosive organelles found in Hydra, jellyfish, corals and other Cnidaria. Minicollagen-1 of Hydra recombinantly expressed in mammalian 293 cells contains disulfide bonds within its N- and C-terminal Cys-rich domains but no interchain cross-links.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss: does application of glucocorticoids make sense?

Background: Treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) consists of administration of blood flow-promoting drugs with or without the addition of glucocorticoids. General guidelines based on scientific data do not currently exist.

Objective: To investigate the effect of glucocorticoids on the treatment of SSNHL.

Trimerization of cell adhesion molecule L1 mimics clustered L1 expression on the cell surface: influence on L1-ligand interactions and on promotion of neurite outgrowth.

Several studies indicate that cell adhesion molecules have to be clustered on the cell surface to engage in adhesive functions. We investigated adhesive functions of clustered versus monomeric L1 extracellular parts in vitro to distinguish how clustering affects ligand binding and promotion of neurite outgrowth. Trimeric L1 was recombinantly expressed and covalently assembled by the cartilage matrix protein's coiled-coil domain.

A new crystal structure, Ca2+ dependence and mutational analysis reveal molecular details of E-cadherin homoassociation.

Electron microscopy of ECADCOMP, a recombinant E-cadherin ectodomain pentamerized by the assembly domain of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, has been used to analyze the role of cis-dimerization and trans-interaction in the homophilic association of this cell adhesion molecule. The Ca2+ dependency of both interactions was investigated. Low Ca2+ concentrations (50 microM) stabilized the rod-like structure of E-cadherin.

Molecular probes for the detection of pathogenic fungi in the presence of human tissue.

Four primer systems, amplifying fragments of the gene coding for the small ribosomal subunit (18S rRNA) were characterised with pure cultures of 65 medically relevant fungal species plus two mushrooms. A primer cocktail (TR1/CA1-TR2/AF2) amplified 59 of 67 fungal species; the universal fungal primer 1 (UF1) in combination with the eukaryotic primers S3 or EU1 amplified 64 and 65 of 67 fungal species, respectively. The design of an additional primer (RZY1) enabled the amplification of the missing members of the zygomycetes.

Electron microscopic structure of agrin and mapping of its binding site in laminin-1.

Agrin is a large, multidomain heparan sulfate proteoglycan that is associated with basement membranes of several tissues. Particular splice variants of agrin are essential for the formation of synaptic structures at the neuromuscular junction. The binding of agrin to laminin appears to be required for its localization to synaptic basal lamina and other basement membranes.