Dissonanz an der Steckdose

Themenheft: Brennpunkt EnergiewendeEine Mehrheit der Bevölkerung unterstützt den Ausstieg aus der Kernenergie, doch nur Wenige beziehen ein ökologisches Stromprodukt. Warum das so ist und wie sich diese Dissonanz auflösen lässt, beschäftigt derzeit viele Energieversorger

Smart Metering : (K)ein Thema für Schweizer Energieversorgungsunternehmen?

StudieDie Studie „Smart Metering: (k)ein Thema für EVU" untersuchte den derzeitigen Stand der Entwicklung hin zu einem intelligenten Stromnetz (Smart Grid) in der Schweiz

Zukunftsstudie : Elektromobilität Schweiz 2030

StudieNoch fristet der Markt für Elektromobilität in der Schweiz ein Nischendasein, doch er scheint sich zunehmend zu formieren. Allerdings sind die langfristigen Unsicherheiten für die Beteiligten gross. Mit dem Ziel, langfristiges Orientierungswissen für die beteiligten Akteure zu generieren, werden in dieser Studie qualitative Szenarien für privat und privat-gewerbliche Elektromobilität in der Schweiz im Jahr 2030 erarbeitet

Development of a duplex real-time PCR for the detection of Rickettsia spp. and typhus group rickettsia in clinical samples.

Molecular diagnosis using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) may allow earlier diagnosis of rickettsiosis. We developed a duplex real-time PCR that amplifies (1) DNA of any rickettsial species and (2) DNA of both typhus group rickettsia, that is, Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi. Primers and probes were selected to amplify a segment of the 16S rRNA gene of Rickettsia spp. for the pan-rickettsial PCR and the citrate synthase gene (gltA) for the typhus group rickettsia PCR. Analytical sensitivity was 10 copies of control plasmid DNA per reaction. No cross-amplification was observed when testing human DNA and 22 pathogens or skin commensals. Real-time PCR was applied to 16 clinical samples. Rickettsial DNA was detected in the skin biopsies of three patients. In one patient with severe murine typhus, the typhus group PCR was positive in a skin biopsy from a petechial lesion and seroconversion was later documented. The two other patients with negative typhus group PCR suffered from Mediterranean and African spotted fever, respectively; in both cases, skin biopsy was performed on the eschar. Our duplex real-time PCR showed a good analytical sensitivity and specificity, allowing early diagnosis of rickettsiosis among three patients, and recognition of typhus in one of them

Full-Course Oral Levofloxacin for Treatment of Hospitalized Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Most guidelines for the management of hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) recommend commencing therapy with intravenous antibiotics, primarily because of concern about absorption of oral antibiotics in acutely ill patients. However, patients who respond are rapidly switched to oral therapy, which has been shown to reduce costs and to shorten the length of stay. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a full course of oral antibiotics is as efficacious and as safe as intravenous-to-oral sequential antibiotic therapy for the treatment of hospitalized, non-ICU patients with CAP. In an open-labelled, controlled study, 129 hospitalized patients with CAP were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive either a full course of oral levofloxacin (500mg q12h) or an intravenous-to-oral sequential therapy consisting of intravenous ceftriaxone (2g q24h) with or without clarithromycin (500mg q12h) followed by an oral antibiotic (a beta-lactam agent in the majority of patients). The primary study endpoint was the resolution of CAP; secondary endpoints included length of stay and overall mortality. CAP resolved in 72 of 79 (91.1%) patients in the levofloxacin group and in 34 of 37 (91.9%) patients in the intravenous-to-oral sequential therapy group (difference, −0.8%, 95%CI, −11.6-10.0). Median length of stay was 8 days (range, 2-74 days) in the levofloxacin group and 10 days (range, 3-29 days) in the intravenous-to-oral sequential therapy group (P=0.28). Day 30 mortality rates were 1.3% (1 of 79) and 8.1% (3 of 37), respectively (difference, −6.8%, 95%CI, −16.0-2.3). Full-course oral levofloxacin is as efficacious and as safe as standard intravenous-to-oral sequential antibiotic therapy for the treatment of hospitalized patients with CA

Incidence of gallbladder lithiasis after ceftriaxone treatment

Ceftriaxone has potent activity against a broad range of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. While it is eliminated mainly by the kidney, 10-20% of the drug is eliminated in the bile and ceftriaxone salt precipitates have been described in the gallbladder of animals dosed with ceftriaxone. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the incidence of biliary lithiasis 6 and 12 months after treatment with ceftriaxone and to compare it with that in patients treated with amoxycillin/clavulanate. Biliary ultrasonography was performed at the start of treatment, at 6 months and at 12 months after the beginning of the study. One hundred patients were randomized and 74 were evaluable: 34 were given amoxycillin/clavulanate, 40 ceftriaxone. Gallbladder lithiasis developed in one patient 12 months after the amoxycillin/clavulanate treatment and in none in the ceftriaxone treatment arm. Biliary precipitate during ceftriaxone treatment was not looked for because this phenomenon was not known at the beginning of the study, but gallbladder precipitation that was seen in two patients given ceftriaxone during and at the end of treatment, respectively, resolved spontaneously. In conclusion, ceftriaxone treatment does not appear to lead to gallstone formation more often than an antibiotic that is not eliminated through the bil