Antimicrobial resistance characteristics and fitness of Gram-negative fecal bacteria from volunteers treated with minocycline or amoxicillin.

A yearlong study was performed to examine the effect of antibiotic administration on the bacterial gut flora. Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacteria were recovered from the feces of healthy adult volunteers administered amoxicillin, minocycline or placebo, and changes determined in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene carriage. Seventy percent of the 1039 facultative anaerobic isolates recovered were identified by MALDI-TOF as Escherichia coli.

Erratum: On the differentiation between trait and state food craving: Half-year retest-reliability of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40337-014-0025-z.].

Detection of pneumonia associated pathogens using a prototype multiplexed pneumonia test in hospitalized patients with severe pneumonia.

Unlabelled: Severe pneumonia remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to be more sensitive than current standard microbiological methods--particularly in patients with prior antibiotic treatment--and therefore, may improve the accuracy of microbiological diagnosis for hospitalized patients with pneumonia. Conventional detection techniques and multiplex PCR for 14 typical bacterial pneumonia-associated pathogens were performed on respiratory samples collected from adult hospitalized patients enrolled in a prospective multi-center study.

On the differentiation between trait and state food craving: Half-year retest-reliability of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S).

Background: Food craving refers to an intense desire to consume a specific food. The Food Cravings Questionnaires (FCQs) assess food cravings on a trait and a state level.

Method: The current study examined half-year retest-reliability of the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r) and the Food Cravings Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) and reports associations with current food deprivation in female students.

The effect of beta blocker withdrawal on adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging.

Background: The effect of beta blockers on myocardial blood flow (MBF) under vasodilators has been studied in several SPECT and PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) studies with divergent results. The present study evaluated the effect of a beta blocker withdrawal on quantitative adenosine MBF and on MPI results.

Methods: Twenty patients with beta blockers and CAD history were studied with quantitative adenosine N-13 ammonia PET.

A German version of the Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ): psychometric properties and correlates in a student sample.

Night eating syndrome (NES) is marked by substantial evening or nocturnal food intake, insomnia, morning anorexia, and depressed mood. The Night Eating Questionnaire (NEQ) is the most frequently used instrument for the assessment of NES and available in several languages. The current study aimed at providing and validating a German version of the NEQ using an online study among students (N=729).

Food-pics: an image database for experimental research on eating and appetite.

Our current environment is characterized by the omnipresence of food cues. The sight and smell of real foods, but also graphically depictions of appetizing foods, can guide our eating behavior, for example, by eliciting food craving and influencing food choice. The relevance of visual food cues on human information processing has been demonstrated by a growing body of studies employing food images across the disciplines of psychology, medicine, and neuroscience.

Normothermic ex vivo allograft blood perfusion in clinical heart transplantation.

Background: Cold ischemia associated with cold static storage is an independent risk factor for primary allograft failure and survival of patients after orthotopic heart transplantation. The effects of normothermic ex vivo allograft blood perfusion on outcomes after orthotopic heart transplantation compared to cold static storage have been studied.

Methods: In this prospective, nonrandomized, single-institutional clinical study, normothermic ex vivo allograft blood perfusion has been performed using an organ care system (OCS) (TransMedics, Andover, MA, USA).

Double trouble. Trait food craving and impulsivity interactively predict food-cue affected behavioral inhibition.

Impulsivity and food craving have both been implicated in overeating. Recent results suggest that both processes may interactively predict increased food intake. In the present study, female participants performed a Go/No-go task with pictures of high- and low-calorie foods.

Use of myocardial perfusion imaging and estimation of associated radiation doses in Germany from 2005 to 2012.

Purpose: For several years the Working Group Cardiovascular Nuclear Medicine of the German Society of Nuclear Medicine has been performing a regular survey to obtain information on technique, utilization and development of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS). Currently, data of six surveys from 2005 to 2012 are available. The aim of this paper is to deliver a general and comprehensive overview of all surveys documenting the course of patient doses over time and the development of the method.

Percutaneous Septal Ablation in Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy: From Experiment to Standard of Care.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is one of the more common hereditary cardiac conditions. According to presence or absence of outflow obstruction at rest or with provocation, a more common (about 60-70%) obstructive type of the disease (HOCM) has to be distinguished from the less common (30-40%) nonobstructive phenotype (HNCM). Symptoms include exercise limitation due to dyspnea, angina pectoris, palpitations, or dizziness; occasionally syncope or sudden cardiac death occurs.

Body image disturbance in children and adolescents with eating disorders. Current evidence and future directions.

Body image is multifaceted and incorporates perceptual, affective, and cognitive components as well as behavioral features. Only few studies have examined the character of body-image disturbance in children/adolescents with eating disorders. It is unknown whether body-image disturbances in children/adolescent with eating disturbances are comparable to those of adult patients with eating disorders.

DNA microarray for genotyping antibiotic resistance determinants in Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates.

In recent decades, Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an organism of great concern due to its ability to accumulate antibiotic resistance. In order to improve the diagnosis of resistance determinants in A. baumannii in terms of lead time and accuracy, we developed a microarray that can be used to detect 91 target sequences associated with antibiotic resistance within 4 h from bacterial culture to result.

First responder for in-hospital resuscitation: 5-year experience with an automated external defibrillator-based program.

Background: The survival of in-hospital cardiac arrest (8-25%) has not changed substantially in the past. Until now, most hospitals in Germany had no standardized protocols available for a course of action in case of emergency, and there are no continuous registry data for in-hospital cardiac arrest and survival.

Objective: Our aim was to improve survival and receive outcomes data, so we implemented a structured hospital-wide automated first-responder system in the hospital.

Postponing elective hospitalizations for pre-admission MRSA screening and decolonization. A study evaluating eligibility and acceptance among patients of a German university hospital.

There is evidence that pre-admission screening and decolonization (PreASD) of MRSA can reduce costs in elective surgical patients. It is not known whether this strategy could also be successfully applied to general medical patients of a tertiary referral hospital with multiple specialties. Our study retrospectively evaluates the eligibility of patients for MRSA-PreASD in a setting of active targeted MRSA surveillance.

Myocardial fibrosis is associated with biventricular dysfunction in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: To assess left (LV) and right ventricular (RV) function by two-dimensional (2D) speckle tracking echocardiography and its relation to myocardial fibrosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Methods: We enrolled 50 HCM patients (30 male; 47.3 ± 9.

The potential of multi-slice computed tomography based volumetry for demonstrating reverse remodeling induced by cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) was proved to provide precise cardiac volumetric assessment. Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for selected patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF). In HFREF patients we investigated the potential of MSCT based wall motion analysis in order to demonstrate CRT-induced reversed remodeling.

Memory bias for schema-related stimuli in individuals with bulimia nervosa.

This study investigates whether individuals with bulimia nervosa (BN) have a memory bias in relation to explicit memory (cued and free recall vs. verbal and pictorial recognition tasks). Twenty-five participants diagnosed with BN and 27 normal controls (NC) were exposed to body-related, food-related, and neutral TV commercials, and then recall and recognition rates were assessed.

Cardiac volumetry in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: a comparative study correlating multi-slice computed tomography and magnetic resonance tomography. Reasons for intermodal disagreement.

Background: In humans with normal hearts multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) based volumetry was shown to correlate well with the gold standard, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). We correlated both techniques in patients with various degrees of heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFREF) resulting from cardiac dilatation.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with a left ventricular enddiastolic volume (LV-EDV) of C 150 ml measured by angiography underwent MSCT and CMR scanning for left and right ventricular (LV, RV) volumetry.

Preference for attractiveness and thinness in a partner: influence of internalization of the thin ideal and shape/weight dissatisfaction in heterosexual women, heterosexual men, lesbians, and gay men.

This study assesses whether characteristics of one's own body image influences preferences of attractiveness in a partner. The role of gender and sexual orientation is also considered. Heterosexual women (n=67), lesbian women (n=73), heterosexual men (n=61) and gay men (n=82) participated in an internet survey assessing attitudes towards the body and preferences of attractiveness in a partner.

Percutaneous septal ablation in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy: current status.

This article reviews aetiology, natural history, and current treatment options in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with a special focus on percutaneous septal ablation, which has evolved as an alternative to myectomy in patients with outflow obstruction and symptoms refractory to medical treatment. Literature data and the own series of 382 interventions (in-hospital mortality and pacemaker implantation rates: 1.2% and 7%, respectively) are discussed.

Hospital-wide first-responder automated external defibrillator programme: 1 year experience.

The first year experience with a hospital-wide first-responder automated external defibrillator (AED) programme implemented in a 683-bed University Hospital is reported. Throughout the hospital, 14 "AED access spots" were identified which could be easily reached from all wards and diagnostic rooms within 30s. AEDs were installed (Lifepak 500; Medtronik PhysioControl Corp.