Intravenous iron-induced hypophosphatemia and kidney stone disease.

Patients with Crohn's disease are at increased risk for symptomatic nephrolithiasis. Stones in these patients are most commonly composed of calcium oxalate monohydrate or mixed calcium-oxalate and calcium-phosphate. Precipitation of both minerals depends on urinary pH, calcium, phosphate and oxalate excretion.

The luminescent semiconductor PbI(CN).

The development of new compounds in the domain of metal dinitridocarbonates is most efficiently performed solid-state metathesis or simply by addition reactions. Our discovery of PbI(CN) is the result of a solid-state reaction of PbCN with PbI at 420 °C. Its crystal structure was solved and refined from X-ray diffraction data based on a single crystal with the space group 6/.

Preclinical Ultra-High Dose Rate (FLASH) Proton Radiation Therapy System for Small Animal Studies.

Purpose: Animal studies with ultrahigh dose-rate radiation therapy (FLASH, >40 Gy/s) preferentially spare normal tissues without sacrificing antitumor efficacy compared with conventional dose-rate radiation therapy (CONV). At the University of Washington, we developed a cyclotron-generated preclinical scattered proton beam with FLASH dose rates. We present the technical details of our FLASH radiation system and preliminary biologic results from whole pelvis radiation.

In-stent restenosis after interventional treatment of carotid artery stenoses: a long-term follow-up of a single center cohort.

Background: Whereas in-stent restenosis (ISR) is widely discussed after coronary stenting procedures, this phenomenon is a considerable problem after interventional treatment of carotid artery stenosis as well. We sought to quantify ISR rate and to identify important respective risk factors in our cohort.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data of our carotid artery stenting database comprising 1165 angiographically successful interventional procedures during the last 19 years.

Iatrogenic left anterior descending artery stenosis early after aortic valve replacement presenting with T-wave-pseudonormalization - a case report.

Background: Both iatrogenic coronary artery stenosis early after aortic valve replacement and pseudonormalization of inverted T-waves in acute ischemia are rare but well-recognized findings which coincide in this case.

Case Presentation: 10 weeks after aortic valve replacement, a 58-year-old male patient was readmitted with recent onset of unstable angina pectoris. Electrocardiography showed inverted T-waves in leads V2-4 with pseudonormalization during episodes of typical chest pain.

Rapid and reliable determination of the halogenating peroxidase activity in blood samples.

By combining easy and fast leukocyte enrichment with aminophenyl-fluorescein (APF) staining we developed a method to quickly and specifically address the halogenating activity of the immunological relevant blood heme peroxidases myeloperoxidase and eosinophil peroxidase, respectively. For leukocyte enrichment a two-fold hypotonic lysis procedure of the blood with Millipore water was chosen which represents a cheap, fast and reliable method to diminish the amount of erythrocytes in the samples. This procedure is shown to be suitable both to human and murine blood micro-samples, making it also applicable to small animal experiments with recurring blood sampling.

Convenient detection of E. coli in Ringer's solution.

An easy and inexpensive detection method for DNA hybridization assays combining magnetic beads and enzymatically generated silver nanoparticles is introduced. The main advantage of this approach is the possibility to distinguish between positive and negative test results with the naked eye. In the case of complementary DNA sequences the sample will turn black within a few minutes, allowing readout without any hardware.

Feasibility of mHealth and Near Field Communication technology based medication adherence monitoring.

Poor patients' adherence to intake of prescribed medication has been identified as a serious problem in the treatment of chronically ill patients. Technical solutions are needed to measure and - if necessary - to increase the patients' adherence. A telemonitoring solution was developed to record a patient's medication intake based on smart blisters and mobile phones with NFC functionality.

Results of an interlaboratory test on antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria from animals by broth microdilution.

A standard operating procedure for the determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antimicrobial agents by the broth microdilution method was developed and evaluated for its fitness for use in an interlaboratory ring trial involving 46 routine diagnostic laboratories. All laboratories tested five strains (one reference strain and four field strains) against a total of 22 different antimicrobial agents. Gram-negative strains were tested against 16 different antimicrobial agents and Gram-positive strains against 14 different antimicrobial agents.

[Results from a German interlaboratory test to establish the broth microdilution method for the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration of bacteria from animals].

In accordance with NCCLS guideline M31-A2, the DVG working group "antimicrobial resistance" developed a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antimicrobial agents by broth microdilution. This SOP was evaluated for its fitness for use in a national interlaboratory test. A total of 32 participating laboratories tested five strains (including two internationally accepted reference strains and three field strains representing in total three different bacterial species) three times at a one week interval each, using uniform microtitre plates.

Energy demand in patients with stroke who are sedated and receiving mechanical ventilation.

Object: The purpose of this study was 1) to determine the total energy expenditure (TEE) in patients with acute stroke who are sedated and receiving mechanical ventilation; and 2) to compare the TEE between patients with ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Methods: Thirty-four consecutive nonseptic patients with stroke requiring sedation and mechanical ventilation were prospectively examined; 13 of the patients had experienced spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and 21 cerebral ischemia of the middle cerebral artery territory. The TEE was evaluated using continuous indirect calorimetry during the first 5 days after admission to the intensive care unit.

Master-slave synchronization in chaotic discrete-time oscillators.

In this paper, we study a simple discrete-time neural oscillator model that, in certain parameter regimes, exhibits periodic or chaotic dynamics. The present model with intrinsically chaotic dynamics is capable of spatiotemporal information processing: in response to constant external stimulation, the oscillator can switch into different chaotic states restricted to distinct parts of the phase space. Of particular interest is the processing of time-dependent input in a master-slave configuration of two coupled oscillators.