First successful treatment of Nocardia farcinica brain abscess with moxifloxacin.

Nocardia farcinica is an emerging pathogen in immunosuppressed patients causing both localized and disseminated infections. Many strains of this species are multidrug-resistant and require long-term antibiotic therapy, and consequently the choice of an oral treatment can be problematic. We report here the first case of successful treatment of N.

Lack of alteration of endogenous nitric oxide pathway during prolonged nitric oxide inhalation in intensive care unit patients.

Objective: To compare hemodynamic and gasometric variables and the plasma concentrations of nitric oxide metabolites (cyclic guanosine monophosphate and nitrate and nitrite), endothelin-1, and renin-angiotensin metabolites before and after the start of nitric oxide inhalation, after prolonged nitric oxide inhalation, and before and after nitric oxide withdrawal.

Design: Prospective study.

Setting: Surgical intensive care unit, university hospital.

Analysis of intrinsic coupling loss in multi-step index optical fibres.

The main goal of the present paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the intrinsic coupling loss for multi-step index (MSI) fibres and compare it with those obtained for step- and graded-index fibres. We investigate the effects of tolerances to each waveguide parameter typical in standard manufacturing processes by carrying out several simulations using the ray-tracing method. The results obtained will serve us to identify the most critical waveguide variations to which fibre manufactures will have to pay closer attention to achieve lower coupling losses.

The ABO blood group genotype and factor VIII levels as independent risk factors for venous thromboembolism.

Factor VIII (FVIII), von Willebrand factor (vWF) and the ABO blood groups have been associated with thrombosis. The ABO locus has functional effects on vWF and FVIII levels and is genetically correlated with FVIII, vWF and thrombosis. We carried out a case-control study to assess the role of FVIII, vWF and ABO types on thrombotic risk.

Hydrolysis of terpenyl glycosides in grape juice and other fruit juices: a review.

The importance of monoterpenes on varietal flavour of must and other fruit juices has been reviewed. These compounds were mainly found linked to sugar moieties in grape juice and wines, showing no olfactory characteristics. In this way, analytical techniques developed to study these compounds, in both free or glycosidically forms, are discussed.

Case report: greater meningeal inflammation in lumbar than in ventricular region in human bacterial meningitis.

Differences in the composition of ventricular and lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) based on single pairs of samples have previously been described. We describe a patient that developed post-surgical recurrent meningitis monitored by daily biochemical and bacteriological CSF analysis, simultaneously withdrawn from lumbar space and ventricles. A 20-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to the ICU after a resection of a chordoma that extended from the sphenoidal sinus to the anterior face of C2.

FI-chemiluminometric study of thiazides by on-line photochemical reaction.

The present manuscript deals with a simple and sensitive flow-injection method for the chemiluminescent determination of thiazides. The method is based on the on-line photodegradation and chemiluminescent determination of the resulting photo-fragments. The on-line photodegradation is performed in basic medium by using a photoreactor consisting of a 550cm long x 0.

Comparative haematology and blood chemistry of endangered lizards (Gallotia species) in the Canary Islands.

Blood samples were taken from the ventral coccygeal vein of 15 El Hierro giant lizards (Gallotia simonyi) (seven females and eight males), six La Gomera giant lizards (Gallotia bravoana) (four males and two females) and four Tenerife giant lizards (Gallotia intermedia) (two males and two females), and 31 blood parameters were measured. Among the haematological parameters there were significant differences between the three species in heterophils, azurophils and lymphocytes, but no significant differences in red blood cell count, white blood cell count, haemoglobin, packed-cell volume, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils. In terms of blood chemistry there were significant differences between the three species in cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, sodium, chloride, urea, uric acid, total proteins, prealbumin, albumin and gamma globulins, but no significant differences in calcium, potassium, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, bile acids, alpha-1 and alpha-2 globulins and beta globulins.

Association of functional thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) with conventional cardiovascular risk factors and its correlation with other hemostatic factors in a Spanish population.

Our aim was to determine the associations of functional thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) levels in plasma with conventional cardiovascular risk factors, sex and age, and possible correlations with other hemostatic factors in a Spanish population. We included 303 individuals from a Spanish population. Hemostatic factors such as von Willebrand Factor, VII ag, VIIIc, XIc, XIIc, APCR, protein S, protein C, antithrombin, fibrinogen, and t-PA antigen were assayed.

Risk of acute coronary artery disease associated with functional thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor plasma level.

To our knowledge, there is little information about functional thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) levels and the risk of acute coronary artery disease (CAD). We investigated the risk of acute CAD related to plasma levels of functional TAFI. We found that functional TAFI levels in plasma (above 126%), increased the risk of acute CAD almost 4-fold.

Homozygosity of the T allele of the 46 C-->T polymorphism in the F12 gene is a risk factor for acute coronary artery disease in the Spanish population.

Following new guidelines that contain recommendations on the desirable features of a genetic association study, we performed a case-control study to establish the risk of acute coronary artery disease (CAD) related to the polymorphism (46 C-->T) in the F12 gene. We found a 6-fold higher risk of acute CAD associated with the homozygosity of the T allele of the F12, 46C-->T polymorphism in the Spanish population.

Homozygosity of the T allele of the 46 C->T polymorphism in the F12 gene is a risk factor for ischemic stroke in the Spanish population.

Background And Purpose: Ischemic stroke (IS) is a complex disease that involves genetic and environmental factors. In a family-based study (the Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia [GAIT] Project) that included a genome-wide scan, we demonstrated that a common polymorphism (46 C-->T) in the exon 1 of the F12 gene jointly influences variability of plasma Factor XII levels and susceptibility to thrombotic disease. We have investigated the risk of IS related to this polymorphism in a case-control study.

Association after linkage analysis indicates that homozygosity for the 46C-->T polymorphism in the F12 gene is a genetic risk factor for venous thrombosis.

In a family-based study called GAIT (Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia) that included a genome-wide scan we demonstrated that a polymorphism (46C-->T) in the F12 locus jointly influences variability of plasma (Factor XII) FXII levels and susceptibility to thrombotic disease. It then became germane to determine the prevalence of the 46C-->T polymorphism and its relative risk of thrombotic disease. We followed up evidence for genetic linkage with a case-control study, including 250 unrelated consecutive Spanish patients suffering from venous thrombotic disease and 250 Spanish subjects matched for sex and age as a controls.

Survey of the use of catecholamines by French physicians.

Objective: The objective of the study was to perform a descriptive approach of the current use of catecholamines by French physicians.

Design: A questionnaire of 12 questions with 4 items established by a group of French intensivists.

Population: French physicians from 433 departments working in the following practicing areas: intensive care unit (ICU), emergency department, and pre-hospital setting.

Mandibular condyle fractures: determinants of treatment and outcome.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to analyze the principal variables that determine the choice of the method of treatment and the outcome in condylar fractures.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 104 mandibular condyle fractures to analyze and determine the relation between the principal clinical variables and the postoperative results. All patients underwent a clinic-radiologic investigation focusing on fracture remodeling, evolution, dental occlusion, and symmetry of the mandible.

Sugars and amino acids as factors affecting the synthesis of fumonisins in liquid cultures by isolates of the Gibberella fujikuroi complex.

The capacity of four isolates belonging to the Gibberella fujikuroi complex to produce fumonisin B1 and fumonisin B2 when grown in liquid medium supplemented with one sugar and one amino acid at various concentration levels has been investigated. The sugars used for supplementing the medium were glucose, fructose, rhamnose, sucrose, maltose, and trehalose at 5, 10 or 20 g/l. The amino acids used were serine, threonine, glutamic acid, aspartic acid, valine, isoleucine, methionine, glycine, alanine, and cystine at 1 or 10 g/l.

Coronary artery disease diagnosis based on exercise electrocardiogram indexes from repolarisation, depolarisation and heart rate variability.

Several indexes have been reported to improve the accuracy of exercise test electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), compared with the classical ST depression criterion. Some of them combine repolarisation measurements with heart rate (HR) information (such as the so-called ST/HR hysteresis); others are obtained from the depolarisation period (such as the Athens QRS score); finally, there are heart rate variability (HRV) indexes that account for the nervous system activity. The aim of this study was to identify the best exercise ECG indexes for CAD diagnosis.

Regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha by nitric oxide through mitochondria-dependent and -independent pathways.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been reported both to promote and to inhibit the activity of the transcription factor hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1). In order to avoid the pitfalls associated with the use of NO donors, we have developed a human cell line (Tet-iNOS 293) that expresses the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) under the control of a tetracycline-inducible promoter. Using this system to generate finely controlled amounts of NO, we have demonstrated that the stability of the alpha-subunit of HIF-1 is regulated by NO through two separate mechanisms, only one of which is dependent on a functional respiratory chain.

Risk of ischemic stroke associated with functional thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor plasma levels.

Background And Purpose: Recently, a novel procarboxypeptidase B-like proenzyme, called thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI), has been described. It plays an important role in the delicate balance between coagulation and fibrinolysis. TAFI leads to potent inhibition of tissue plasminogen activator-induced fibrinolysis.