Post-reclamation microbial diversity and functions in hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) contaminated soil in relation to spontaneous HCH tolerant vegetation.

The toxicity, volatility and persistence of the obsolete organochlorine pesticide hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), makes reclamation of contaminated areas a priority for the health and welfare of neighboring human communities. Microbial diversity and functions and their relation to spontaneous vegetation in post-excavation situations, are essential indicators to consider in bioaugmentation or microbe-assisted phytoremediation strategies at field scale. Our study aimed to evaluate the effects of long-term HCH contamination on soil and plant-associated microbial communities, and whether contaminated soil has the potential to act as a bacterial inoculum in post-excavation bioremediation strategies.

[Peritoneal dialysis catheter sterilization by urokinase administration in case of relapsing peritonitis: About four observations].

The presence of a biofilm within the peritoneal dialysis catheter where bacteria are encapsulated, protected from the action of antibiotics and insidiously liberated within the dialysate, best explains the relapse of the infectious peritonitis, when antibiotics are withdrawn. We here report a serie of four clinical cases in whom the administration of urokinase within the peritoneal catheter in addition to the current antibiotherapy, has cured relapsing peritonitis due to Staphylococcus epidermidis in two cases, Acinetobacterjohnsonii in one case and Staphylococcus haemolyticus in one case, respectively. This approach, safe and easy, allowed the infection eradication and did prevent a catheter removal and a potential transfer of the patients to hemodialysis.

A pilot study of male breast cancer in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

Background: We report our findings on a hospital-based retrospective pilot cohort with case-controls study, which we carried out to examine genetic, environmental, and occupational risk factors in men with breast cancer.

Methods: 86 men with breast cancer were diagnosed in eight VA medical centers that agreed to collaborate on this project. A case-control analysis was conducted on a subset of the male breast cancer cases (n = 44) and age- and ethnicity-matched controls (n = 77).

Bioreactance: a new tool for cardiac output and thoracic fluid content monitoring during hemodialysis.

Outpatient hemodialysis therapy (HD) can be associated with hemodynamic compromise. Bioreactance has recently been shown to provide accurate, noninvasive, continuous, measurements of cardiac output (CO) and thoracic impedance (Zo) from which thoracic fluid content (TFC) can be derived assuming TFC=1000/Zo. This study was designed to evaluate the changes in TFC in comparison with the traditional indices of fluid removal (FR) and to understand the trends in CO changes in HD patients.

Treatment of inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy and (peri)myocarditis with immunosuppression and i.v. immunoglobulins.

Objectives: Treatment objectives in inflammatory dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMi), myocarditis (M) and peri(myo)carditis are 1) the elimination of inflammatory cells from the myocardium and pericardium, 2) the elimination or (second best) mitigation of B-cell products such as antibodies and immuncomplexes directed against cardiac epitopes such as sarcolemmal, fibrillary and mitochondrial epitopes, and 3) the eradication of the causative viral or microbial agent, if present.

Antiphlogistic Treatment: A "non-specific" anti-inflammatory treatment in peri(myo)carditis can be carried out with antiphlogistics (NSAIDs preferably colchicine 1-3 mg/d) independent from the presence of the infective agent. In larger virus and bacteria negative effusions we recommend intrapericardial instillation of cristalloid triamcinolon (Volon A) at a dose of 500 mg/m(2), which should be left in place to have a sustained effect over at least 4 weeks.