Neurotoxische Enzephalopathie unter Neuroleptika und Lithium

Zusammenfassung: Überlappende neuroleptische Medikationen sind in psychiatrischen Behandlungen gelegentlich unumgänglich. Wir berichten über eine unter schizoaffektiver Störung leidende 60-jährige Frau, welche vorübergehend 3 Neuroleptika und Lithium erhielt. Hierunter entwickelte sie eine neurotoxische Enzephalopathie mit Symptomen eines malignen neuroleptischen Syndroms. Gegenwärtig ist unklar, ob irreversible Hirnschäden zurückbleiben werden. Wir empfehlen engmaschige EEG-Kontrollen zur Früherkennung von Neurotoxizitä

IMPORTANCE OF ELBOW FLEXOR MUSCLE STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE IN SPORTS CLIMBING

The muscles that exert most during sport climbing are the finger flexors followed by elbow flexors (EF). Nevertheless, climbers’ EF strength and endurance have not been tested in an isolated manner and EF endurance has not been assessed at different relative intensities. Purpose: To determine the importance of EF maximal strength and endurance in sports climbing. Methods: Nine male sports climbers and a control group of seven male sports students performed an EF maximal strength (MS) test and four EF endurance tests representing isometric muscle contractions at 90%, 70%, 50% and 30% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Results: Sports climbers sustained longer than the controls at 70 % (39±11 versus 28±7 s; p=0.044, η2=0.259) and 50%MVC (57±10 versus 48±6 s; p=0.050, η2 =0.248). The highest effect size was estimated for the force-time integral related to body mass at 70% MVC (107±27 versus 75±18 N.s/kg; p=0.018, η2 = 0.338). The two groups did not differ in MS (313±52 versus 338±55 N; p=0.372) or MS related to body mass (4.6±0.6 versus 4.2±0.8 N/kg; p=0.623). Climbing ability significantly correlated only with MS related to body mass. The relationship between MS related to body mass and on sight ability was strong (r=0.806, p=0.016). Conclusion: EF strength and endurance appear to be key performance factors in sports climbing. Sports climbing demands a high level of EF endurance during muscle contractions of high intensity. An excessive increase of EF endurance would not necessary lead to a significant improvement in climbing ability. However, higher climbing ability demands increased EF maximal strength

Confined Crystallization of Ethylene Oxide-Butadiene Diblock Copolymers in Lamellar Films

ABSTRACT: The isothermal crystallization of a semicrystalline poly(ethylene oxide-b-ethylene/butylene) diblock copolymer (PEO-b-PBh) in uniform lamellar films has been investigated by X-ray reflectivity, optical microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Crystallization of the PEO block leads to an increase in the lamellar thickness of both blocks. As the density of PEO increases upon crystallization, this effect is accompanied by a contraction in the lateral direction, which results in cracking of the film. The combination of the different techniques allows construction of a complete model with an integer or half-integer number of folds in the vertically oriented crystalline stems

Directed Evolution and In Silico Analysis of Reaction Centre Proteins Reveal Molecular Signatures of Photosynthesis Adaptation to Radiation Pressure

Evolutionary mechanisms adopted by the photosynthetic apparatus to modifications in the Earth's atmosphere on a geological time-scale remain a focus of intense research. The photosynthetic machinery has had to cope with continuously changing environmental conditions and particularly with the complex ionizing radiation emitted by solar flares. The photosynthetic D1 protein, being the site of electron tunneling-mediated charge separation and solar energy transduction, is a hot spot for the generation of radiation-induced radical injuries. We explored the possibility to produce D1 variants tolerant to ionizing radiation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and clarified the effect of radiation-induced oxidative damage on the photosynthetic proteins evolution. In vitro directed evolution strategies targeted at the D1 protein were adopted to create libraries of chlamydomonas random mutants, subsequently selected by exposures to radical-generating proton or neutron sources. The common trend observed in the D1 aminoacidic substitutions was the replacement of less polar by more polar amino acids. The applied selection pressure forced replacement of residues more sensitive to oxidative damage with less sensitive ones, suggesting that ionizing radiation may have been one of the driving forces in the evolution of the eukaryotic photosynthetic apparatus. A set of the identified aminoacidic substitutions, close to the secondary plastoquinone binding niche and oxygen evolving complex, were introduced by site-directed mutagenesis in un-transformed strains, and their sensitivity to free radicals attack analyzed. Mutants displayed reduced electron transport efficiency in physiological conditions, and increased photosynthetic performance stability and oxygen evolution capacity in stressful high-light conditions. Finally, comparative in silico analyses of D1 aminoacidic sequences of organisms differently located in the evolution chain, revealed a higher ratio of residues more sensitive to oxidative damage in the eukaryotic/cyanobacterial proteins compared to their bacterial orthologs. These results led us to hypothesize an archaean atmosphere less challenging in terms of ionizing radiation than the present one

Desarrollo de nuevos instrumentos biosensores ambientales para el analisis de herbicidas

Abstract Development of new biosensors is presented, especially sensors screen printed carbon electrodes, gold or printed sensors (screen-printed sensors SPE). These instruments allow for multi parametric analysi

Origin and evolution of water oxidation before the last common ancestor of the Cyanobacteria

Photosystem II, the water oxidizing enzyme, altered the course of evolution by filling the atmosphere with oxygen. Here, we reconstruct the origin and evolution of water oxidation at an unprecedented level of detail by studying the phylogeny of all D1 subunits, the main protein coordinating the water oxidizing cluster (Mn4CaO5) of Photosystem II. We show that D1 exists in several forms making well-defined clades, some of which could have evolved before the origin of water oxidation and presenting many atypical characteristics. The most ancient form is found in the genome of Gloeobacter kilaueensis JS-1 and this has a C-terminus with a higher sequence identity to D2 than to any other D1. Two other groups of early evolving D1 correspond to those expressed under prolonged far-red illumination and in darkness. These atypical D1 forms are characterized by a dramatically different Mn4CaO5 binding site and a Photosystem II containing such a site may assemble an unconventional metal cluster. The first D1 forms with a full set of ligands to the Mn4CaO5 cluster are grouped with D1 proteins expressed only under low oxygen concentrations and the latest evolving form is the dominant type of D1 found in all cyanobacteria and plastids. In addition, we show that the plastid ancestor had a D1 more similar to those in early branching Synechococcus. We suggest each one of these forms of D1 originated from transitional forms at different stages towards the innovation and optimization of water oxidation before the last common ancestor of all known cyanobacteria

Photosystem-II D1 protein mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in relation to metabolic rewiring and remodelling of H-bond network at Q(B) site

Photosystem II (PSII) reaction centre D1 protein of oxygenic phototrophs is pivotal for sustaining photosynthesis. Also, it is targeted by herbicides and herbicide-resistant weeds harbour single amino acid substitutions in D1. Conservation of D1 primary structure is seminal in the photosynthetic performance in many diverse species. In this study, we analysed built-in and environmentally-induced (high temperature and high photon fluency-HT/HL) phenotypes of two D1 mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with Ala250Arg (A250R) and Ser264Lys (S264K) substitutions. Both mutations differentially affected efficiency of electron transport and oxygen production. In addition, targeted metabolomics revealed that the mutants undergo specific differences in primary and secondary metabolism, namely, amino acids, organic acids, pigments, NAD, xanthophylls and carotenes. Levels of lutein, beta-carotene and zeaxanthin were in sync with their corresponding gene transcripts in response to HT/HL stress treatment in the parental (IL) and A250R strains. D1 structure analysis indicated that, among other effects, remodelling of H-bond network at the Q(B) site might underpin the observed phenotypes. Thus, the D1 protein, in addition to being pivotal for efficient photosynthesis, may have a moonlighting role in rewiring of specific metabolic pathways, possibly involving retrograde signalling