APEX-based proximity labeling in Plasmodium identifies a membrane protein with dual functions during mosquito infection.

Transmission of the malaria parasite Plasmodium to mosquitoes necessitates gamete egress from red blood cells to allow zygote formation and ookinete motility to enable penetration of the midgut epithelium. Both processes are dependent on the secretion of proteins from distinct sets of specialized vesicles. Inhibiting some of these proteins has shown potential for blocking parasite transmission to the mosquito.

Integrated loss- and gain-of-function screens define a core network governing human embryonic stem cell behavior.

Understanding the genetic control of human embryonic stem cell function is foundational for developmental biology and regenerative medicine. Here we describe an integrated genome-scale loss- and gain-of-function screening approach to identify genetic networks governing embryonic stem cell proliferation and differentiation into the three germ layers. We identified a deep link between pluripotency maintenance and survival by showing that genetic alterations that cause pluripotency dissolution simultaneously increase apoptosis resistance.

Design of a High-Speed Prosthetic Finger Driven by Peano-HASEL Actuators.

Current designs of powered prosthetic limbs are limited by the nearly exclusive use of DC motor technology. Soft actuators promise new design freedom to create prosthetic limbs which more closely mimic intact neuromuscular systems and improve the capabilities of prosthetic users. This work evaluates the performance of a hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic (HASEL) soft actuator for use in a prosthetic hand.

[Radiation protection through cytokine release by N-acetylcysteine].

Background: Interleukin-1, tumornecrosisfactor-alpha and interferon-gamma endogenously provide protection of the hematopoietic system against radiation. Thiols have already been used successfully as radioprotective agents. In this study the effect von N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the release of interleukin-1 alpha and beta (IL-1), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumornecrosisfactor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was assessed in an in vitro assay.

Antral myoelectric activity, gastric emptying, and dyspeptic symptoms in diabetics.

Background: Electrogastrography (EGG) enables the cutaneous measurement of gastric electric activity. An association between electric abnormalities and gastrointestinal motility disorders has been shown. The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether diabetic gastroparesis could be predicted by EGG.

[Severe pneumonitis as a complication of low-dose methotrexate therapy in psoriasis-associated polyarthritis].

A 71-year-old woman with psoriasis-associated rheumatoid arthritis had for 15 months been treated with methotrexate (5 mg/week orally). Four weeks before admission she had developed dyspnoea and cough. On admission her axillary temperature was 38.

[Short-term triple therapy with pantoprazole, clarithromycin and metronidazole for the healing of Helicobacter pylori infection].

In a prospective study 27 patients (13 women, 14 men; mean age 62 [45-83] years) with Helicobacter (H.) pylori associated disease received over 7 days pantoprazole (40 mg twice daily), clarithromycin (500 mg twice daily) and metronidazole (500 mg twice daily). Six patients had gastric ulcer, 4 duodenal ulcer, 4 erosive gastritis, 6 erosive duodenitis and 7 had H.

[Systemic fungal infections in hematologic neoplasms. An autopsy study of 1,053 patients].

Background: Mycoses are common complications of haematological neoplasias. For successful antimycotic treatment, a knowledge of preferential underlying disease, frequency, species and site of the mycosis is of importance.

Patients And Methods: Postmortem material comprising clinical data, autopsy protocols and histological sections obtained between 1976 and 1990 from 1,053 patients with leukaemia and malignant lymphomas following antineoplastic therapy was analysed retrospectively.

[Cerebral vasculitis in Crohn disease].

Central nervous system vasculitis in Crohn's disease. A 36-years old man was referred to the hospital because of severe headache, vertigo and right sided combined motor-sensory hemiparesis. There was a history of Crohn's disease with an acute exacerbation only two months ago.

[Modified combined omeprazole/amoxicillin therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication: a pilot study].

Patients with H.pylori positive peptic ulcer disease were treated with a two weeks regimen consisting of 20 mg omeprazole twice daily and 500 mg amoxicillin six times daily. Subsequently, an H2-receptor antagonist was started (300 mg ranitidine) at night time for four weeks.

[Gallbladder motility in diabetic patients with and without cardiovascular neuropathy].

In 50 diabetic patients without gallstones, including 26 patients with cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, and 60 normal volunteers the fasting volume and volume reduction of the gallbladder after a liquid fatty meal were determined ultrasonically in intervals of ten minutes up to one hour. Simultaneously the gastric emptying of the liquid meal was followed by ultrasound imaging. Despite an association of other complications of diabetic disease (peripheral neuropathy, retinopathy) with autonomic cardiovascular dysfunction, an altered gallbladder resting volume or impaired fat-induced volume reduction was not evident in this group of patients when compared the diabetics without cardiovascular dysfunction or controls.

[Splenic rupture following colonoscopy: an unusual complication].

A case of splenic rupture after an uneventful diagnostic colonoscopy in a 68-year old man is reported. Conservative management of this complication was successful. Splenic rupture is a unique and severe complication of colonoscopy, which can rarely be managed conservatively.

Effects of age and gender on fat-induced gallbladder contraction and gastric emptying of a caloric liquid meal: a sonographic study.

In this study, the gastric emptying of a liquid fatty meal and the consecutive gallbladder contraction were simultaneously measured by ultrasound in four different age- and sex-related groups of normal subjects: group A, 15 women less than 50 yr (premenopausal); group B, 15 women greater than 50 yr (postmenopausal); group C, 15 men less than 50 yr; and group D, 15 men greater than 50 yr. Apart from a significantly delayed gastric emptying in the premenopausal women, no significant differences in the postprandial relative gallbladder emptying rates were observed between the four study groups. Ninety-five percent of all study subjects had a gallbladder volume reduction of more than 50% after a liquid fatty meal.

[Fasting volume and contractility of the gallbladder after total and subtotal gastrectomy with Y-Roux anastomosis. A prospective study].

Gallbladder volume and contraction after a fatty meal was determined in 14 patients with gastric cancer before and 3-4 months after gastrectomy (7 total and 7 subtotal gastrectomies) with Roux-en-Y anastomosis. All patients had an increased gallbladder resting volume (p less than 0.001) and 10 of 14 patients (6 after total gastrectomy and 4 after subtotal gastrectomy) had an increased minimal residual volume after fatty meal stimulation (p less than 0.

Sonographic evaluation of gallbladder kinetics: in vitro and in vivo comparison of different methods to assess gallbladder emptying.

In an in vitro study, 10 gallbladders of adult pigs and 6 gallbladders of lambs, all removed immediately after slaughtering, were stimulated in a water bath by electric means to induce active contraction. Gallbladder emptying was followed by ultrasonography employing five measurement procedures: (1) gallbladder width, (2) longitudinal planimetry, (3) transverse planimetry, (4) ellipsoid method, and (5) sum of cylinders method. In an in vivo investigation, gallbladder emptying of 30 volunteers (12 healthy subjects, 18 diabetics) was evaluated in the same way after ingestion of a fatty meal.

[Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in ascites].

The diagnostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) was studied prospectively in 18 patients with ascites of malignant and 28 patients with ascites of benign genesis. Both sensitivity and specificity reached 83%. With a prevalence of malignant disease of 38%, the positive and negative predictive values were 75% and 89%, respectively.

Improvement of impaired mitogen-induced interferon-gamma release of peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from tumor patients by Factor AF2.

Factor AF2, a now standardized extract from liver and spleen of newborn lambs, showed myeloprotective capacity on platelet- and erythrocyte-count as well as on hemoglobinconcentration in patients undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. In addition, a possible influence on prolonged remission duration in patients with mammary carcinoma had been claimed. In this study, the effect of Factor AF2 on mitogen-induced interferon-gamma release by PBMC was tested in 23 healthy humans and in 23 tumor patients.

[Sonographic assessment of gastric emptying. Reliability and validity of the antrum sagittal surface method for fluids].

The reliability and validity of sonographic measurements of gastric emptying employing sagittal antral planimetry were investigated. The intraindividual reproducibility of this procedure was examined in 15 healthy volunteers, who ingested 400 ml of water on two separate study days. Simultaneous studies of gastric emptying by ultrasound and scintigraphy were performed on 17 of 20 patients with suspected gastroparesis (16 diabetics and one patient with disseminated encephalomyelitis), using a caloric liquid test meal (20 g Biloptin-fatty meal in 300 ml water at 37 degrees C, radiolabeled with 0.

[Dermatomyositis as a paraneoplastic syndrome. A case report].

A female patient with dermatomyositis with the typical clinical findings of this disease, corresponding histological muscular changes and neurological findings is described. Since in the further course of the disease, recurrent gastric carcinoma was diagnosed, this case again emphasizes the significance of dermatomyositis as a paraneoplastic syndrome, and the need for tumor screening when dermatomyositis is diagnosed in advanced adulthood.

[A transdermal intermittent-release nitroglycerin system. Hemodynamic studies after acute and subchronic use].

The efficacy of a transdermal intermittent-release nitroglycerin system was investigated in a randomized double-blind trial on 24 patients (18 males and six females; median age 57.5 years [range 41-68]) with angiographically proven and haemodynamically significant coronary heart disease. Twelve patients had one plaster, containing 10 mg nitroglycerin, daily for eight days, the other twelve also had one plaster, but without drug, daily for eight days.