Long-term palliation of right-sided congestive heart failure after stenting a recurrent cor triatriatum dexter in a 10½-year-old pug

A 10½-year-old, male neutered, pug presented with increasing ascites over two months. Echocardiography revealed cor triatriatum dexter with no concurrent cardiovascular anomalies, subsequently confirmed by computed tomography angiography. Balloon dilation of the perforated intra-atrial membrane under fluoroscopic guidance resulted in the transient resolution of all clinical abnormalities, but six months later stenosis and ascites recurred. After repeated balloon dilation, a stent was placed across the membrane. The dog remains asymptomatic fourteen months after the second procedure. One noteworthy feature of this case is the onset of congestive heart failure due to a congenital defect only at more than 10 years of age

Building in Hongkong. Field Excursion of the Department of Civil Engineering of the HTWG Konstanz 2012

Hongkong steht als Welthandelsmetropole auch für Superlative des Bauens. Dies gilt für die in britischer Zeit errichteten Bauten, aber auch für die nach der Übergabe an China entstandenen Hochhäuser und Brückenbauwerke. Der Exkursionsbericht der Fakultät Bauingenieurwesen der HTWG Konstanz gibt einen Eindruck von diesen Aktivitäten. Er schildert Brücken- und Hochhausbauten, Tunnelbaustellen und die Baustelle eines Klärschlammverbrennungswerks, die während einer Exkursionswoche im September 2012 besichtigt wurden. Darüber hinaus gibt er einen Einblick in die wirtschaftliche Dynamik der Stadt.As a global metropolis Hongkong also stands for outstanding building activities. The report depicts the impressions during a student field excursion of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Applied Sciences Konstanz, Germany, to construction sites in Hongkong in September 2012

Comparative transcriptome profiling of amyloid precursor protein family members in the adult cortex

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the related β-amyloid precursor-like proteins (APLPs) undergo complex proteolytic processing giving rise to several fragments. Whereas it is well established that Aβ accumulation is a central trigger for Alzheimer's disease, the physiological role of APP family members and their diverse proteolytic products is still largely unknown. The secreted APPsα ectodomain has been shown to be involved in neuroprotection and synaptic plasticity. The γ-secretase-generated APP intracellular domain (AICD) functions as a transcriptional regulator in heterologous reporter assays although its role for endogenous gene regulation has remained controversial.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To gain further insight into the molecular changes associated with knockout phenotypes and to elucidate the physiological functions of APP family members including their proposed role as transcriptional regulators, we performed DNA microarray transcriptome profiling of prefrontal cortex of adult wild-type (WT), APP knockout (APP^-/-), APLP2 knockout (APLP2^-/-) and APPsα knockin mice (APP^α/α) expressing solely the secreted APPsα ectodomain. Biological pathways affected by the lack of APP family members included neurogenesis, transcription, and kinase activity. Comparative analysis of transcriptome changes between mutant and wild-type mice, followed by qPCR validation, identified co-regulated gene sets. Interestingly, these included heat shock proteins and plasticity-related genes that were both down-regulated in knockout cortices. In contrast, we failed to detect significant differences in expression of previously proposed AICD target genes including <it>Bace1</it>, <it>Kai1</it>, <it>Gsk3b</it>, <it>p53</it>, <it>Tip60</it>, and <it>Vglut2</it>. Only <it>Egfr </it>was slightly up-regulated in APLP2^-/-mice. Comparison of APP^-/-and APP^α/αwith wild-type mice revealed a high proportion of co-regulated genes indicating an important role of the C-terminus for cellular signaling. Finally, comparison of APLP2^-/-on different genetic backgrounds revealed that background-related transcriptome changes may dominate over changes due to the knockout of a single gene.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Shared transcriptome profiles corroborated closely related physiological functions of APP family members in the adult central nervous system. As expression of proposed AICD target genes was not altered in adult cortex, this may indicate that these genes are not affected by lack of APP under resting conditions or only in a small subset of cells.</p

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Fluoreszenzfarbstoff und Verfahren zu seiner Herstellung

DE102013222931A1 [DE] Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur Herstellung eines Fluoreszenzfarbstoffes (1), aufweisend die folgenden Schritte: Aufbringen (52) von Nanopartikeln (10) auf ein Substrat (20), wobei die Nanopartikel (10) Diamant enthalten oder daraus bestehen und Abscheiden (53) einer Diamantschicht (11) auf den Nanopartikeln (10) mittels Niederdrucksynthese aus einem Prozessgas, wobei die Temperatur des Substrates (20) geringer als 500 degrees centigrade ist und dem Prozessgas Silicium zugefuegt wird. Weiterhin betrifft die Erfindung einen durch das Verfahren erhaeltlichen Fluoreszenzfarbstoff

Early mortality and primary causes of death in mothers of children with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder: a retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Mothers of children with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have poorer health than other mothers. Yet no research has explored whether this poorer health is reflected in mortality rates or whether certain causes of death are more likely. We aimed to calculate the hazard ratios for death and for the primary causes of death in mothers of children with intellectual disability or ASD compared to other mothers. METHODS: The study population comprised all mothers of live-born children in Western Australia from 1983-2005. We accessed state-wide databases which enabled us to link socio-demographic details, birth dates, diagnoses of intellectual disability or ASD in the children and dates and causes of death for all mothers who had died prior to 2011. Using Cox Regression with death by any cause and death by each of the three primary causes as the event of interest, we calculated hazard ratios for death for mothers of children intellectual disability or ASD compared to other mothers. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: During the study period, mothers of children with intellectual disability or ASD had more than twice the risk of death. Mothers of children with intellectual disability were 40% more likely to die of cancer; 150% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and nearly 200% more likely to die from misadventure than other mothers. Due to small numbers, only hazard ratios for cancer were calculated for mothers of children with ASD. These mothers were about 50% more likely to die from cancer than other mothers. Possible causes and implications of our results are discussed. CONCLUSION: Similar studies, pooling data from registries elsewhere, would improve our understanding of factors increasing the mortality of mothers of children with intellectual disability or ASD. This would allow the implementation of informed services and interventions to improve these mothers' longevity

Diamond foam electrodes for electrochemical applications

Nano-structured electrodes become promising materials for a vast number of applications such as bio-chemical sensing and supercapacitors. We introduce a new concept to generate surface enlarged diamond electrodes, so-called “diamond foam”. To obtain diamond foam electrodes, SiO2 spheres were used for heavily boron-doped (1021 cm−3) nano-crystalline diamond (B-NCD) overgrowth in a microwave plasma reactor. After overgrowth with B-NCD the SiO2 spheres were etched away with HF giving rise to diamond foam consisted of B-NCD shells accumulated on the substrate. This process has the advantage that the thickness of diamond foam can increase infinitely by repeating the growth and etching processes. Structural and electrochemical characterizations show that the diamond foam electrodes show a surface enlargement of around 40 while keeping good chemical stability as well as a diamond related structural properties. Keywords: Diamond foam, Nano-crystalline diamond, Heavily boron doping, Surface enlargement, Electrod

Formation of nano-pores in nano-crystalline diamond films

Various nano-pores in nano-crystalline diamond (NCD) thin films have been fabricated and characterized. Therefore in this work two aspects of NCD thin films synthesized by microwave assisted chemical-vapour-deposition (MWCVD) have been investigated. Firstly, the influence of CVD-growth conditions on the film morphology and chemical grain boundary composition and their impact on the mechanical properties. Second, the formation of nano-pores by selective etching of the non-diamond phase. Freestanding NCD membranes were fabricated and bulged to calculate the Young’s modulus which can reach surprisingly high values (1100 GPa) close to single crystal diamond. The presence of nano-pores was verified by electrochemical experiments where ions have been used to detect the porosity