Fate of nutrients and trace contaminants in a large shallow soda lake. Spatial gradients and underlying processes from the tributary river to the reed belt.

Shallow lakes provide a multitude of ecosystem functions, but they are particularly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Understanding the driving factors determining the fate and spatial distribution of nutrients and pollutants in such systems is fundamental to assess the impact of ongoing or future external pressures endangering their ecological integrity. This study investigates the fate of trace contaminants transported into the large shallow Lake Neusiedl, including contaminants representative of different patterns of sources and emission pathways and of environmental behavior, namely metals, pharmaceuticals, an artificial sweetener and perfluoroalkyl substances.

Pollutant source or sink? Adsorption and mobilization of PFOS and PFOA from sediments in a large shallow lake with extended reed belt.

In this study, we i) assessed the occurrence of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) in sediments, pore water, and bulk water from three different areas in Lake Neusiedl, Austria, and ii) investigated mechanisms regulating adsorption and remobilization of these substances under different conditions via multiple lab-scale experiments. The adsorption capacity was mainly influenced by sediments' organic matter content, oxide composition, and pre-loading. Results suggest that a further increase of PFAS-concentrations in the open lake can be partly buffered by sediment transport to the littoral zone and adsorption to sediments in the extended reed belt.

Dynamic behavior of chiral sulfonimidoyl-substituted allyl and alkyl (dimethylamino)titanium(IV) complexes: metallotropic shift, reversible beta-hydride elimination/reinsertion, and ab initio calculations of allyl and alkyl aminosulfoxonium ylides.

Variable-temperature (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy of the sulfonimidoyl-substituted allyltitanium(IV) complexes E-1a-c and Z-1a-c, which carry diethylamino groups at the Ti atom, revealed a fast 1,3-C,N-shift of the Ti atom, leading to an equilibrium between the epimeric Calpha-titanium allyl complexes A and C and the N-titanium allyl aminosulfoxonium ylide B. Based on these findings a model for the reactions of E-1a-c and Z-1a-c with aldehydes is proposed, which features regio- and diastereoselective reactions of the N-titanium ylide B at the alpha-position and the Calpha-titanium complex A at the gamma-position. Model ab initio calculations of the methylene and allyl (dimethylamino)sulfoxonium ylides 10 and 14, respectively, revealed short Calpha-S bonds, a stabilization by both electrostatic interaction and negative hyperconjugation, and a low Calpha-S rotational barrier.

[Diphtheria antitoxin level 2 years after booster vaccination].

In a prospective, controlled, randomized, multicenter study the immunogenicity of a single (day 0) and two (day 0, 28) booster vaccination against diphtheria were compared in subjects who had received their last diphtheria vaccination more than 10 years ago. Both short-term and long-term immunogenicity was assessed by determining diphtheria antitoxin levels four weeks after vaccination and after one and two years. 102 subjects received the first booster vaccination, and 83 were vaccinated twice.

Severe pulmonary hypertension reversed by antibiotics in a patient with Whipple's disease.

The case is described of a 58 year old man with systemic Whipple's disease with pericardial and pleural effusions and severe pulmonary hypertension. After three months of antibiotic treatment there was a complete resolution, not only of the symptoms known to be associated with Whipple's disease (diarrhoea, arthralgia, pericardial and pleural effusions), but also of pulmonary hypertension.

Treatment of drug-induced agranulocytosis with recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rh G-CSF).

Five patients with drug-induced agranulocytosis received 300 micrograms recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rh G-CSF) subcutaneously twice daily for 2-5 days. G-CSF therapy resulted in a steep increase of the neutrophil count, which was faster than that in patients with spontaneous recovery reported in the literature. In all four patients with infectious complications fever rapidly declined with the increase of granulocytes.