Langzeitfolgen nach Fieberkrämpfen im Kindesalter

Anhand eines retrospektiven Fragebogen wurden bei 359 Patienten die Langzeitfolgen nach Fieberkrämpfen über 24 Jahre untersucht. 9% entwickelten afebrile Anfälle, 6% eine Epilepsie. Die Unterteilung der Patienten nach komplizierenden Faktoren in 5 Fieberkrampfgruppen zeigte keine signifikanten Unterschiede im Auftreten von afebrilen Anfällen zwischen den Gruppen. Ein erhöhtes Epilepsierisiko nach einem Early onset oder einem febrilen Status epilepticus konnte nicht nachgewiesen werden. Auch im Vergleich zwischen einfachen und komplizierten Fieberkrämpfen war das Auftreten von afebrilen Anfällen gleichverteilt. Ein leicht erhöhtes Risiko für afebrile Anfälle zeigte sich bei Patienten mit einer Epilepsieanmnese bei Verwandten ersten Grades. Beim Vergleich der Schulabschlüsse und Berufe wurden keine Unterschiede zwischen den 5 Gruppen nachgewiesen. Lediglich bei der subjektiven Einschätzung von kognitiven Leistungen schnitt die Status epilepticus-Gruppe signifikant schlechter ab

Exploring the Subtle Effect of Aliphatic Ring Size on Minor Actinide-Extraction Properties and Metal Ion Speciation in Bis-1,2,4-Triazine Ligands

Calling all actinides! Bis-1,2,4-triazine ligands bearing five-membered rings were synthesized and evaluated as actinide-selective extractants. Tuning the size of the aliphatic ring leads to subtle changes in actinide-extraction properties. The origins of these changes were elucidated at the molecular level, paving the way for the rational design of improved actinide-selective extractants for reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel., The synthesis and evaluation of three novel bis-1,2,4-triazine ligands containing five-membered aliphatic rings are reported. Compared to the more hydrophobic ligands 1–3 containing six-membered aliphatic rings, the distribution ratios for relevant f-block metal ions were approximately one order of magnitude lower in each case. Ligand 10 showed an efficient, selective and rapid separation of AmIII and CmIII from nitric acid. The speciation of the ligands with trivalent f-block metal ions was probed using NMR titrations and competition experiments, time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. While the tetradentate ligands 8 and 10 formed Ln$^{III}$ complexes of the same stoichiometry as their more hydrophobic analogues 2 and 3, significant differences in speciation were observed between the two classes of ligand, with a lower percentage of the extracted 1:2 complexes being formed for ligands 8 and 10. The structures of the solid state 1:1 and 1:2 complexes formed by 8 and 10 with Y$^{III}$, Lu$^{III}$ and Pr$^{III}$ are very similar to those formed by 2 and 3 with Ln$^{III}$. Ligand 10 forms Cm$^{III}$ and Eu$^{III}$ 1:2 complexes that are thermodynamically less stable than those formed by ligand 3, suggesting that less hydrophobic ligands form less stable An$^{III}$ complexes. Thus, it has been shown for the first time how tuning the cyclic aliphatic part of these ligands leads to subtle changes in their metal ion speciation, complex stability and metal extraction affinity

Rapid quantification of plant-powdery mildew interactions by qPCR and conidiospore counts

Abstract Background The powdery mildew disease represents a valuable patho-system to study the interaction between plant hosts and obligate biotrophic fungal pathogens. Numerous discoveries have been made on the basis of the quantitative evaluation of plant-powdery mildew interactions, especially in the context of hyper-susceptible and/or resistant plant mutants. However, the presently available methods to score the pathogenic success of powdery mildew fungi are laborious and thus not well suited for medium- to high-throughput analysis. Results Here we present two new protocols that allow the rapid quantitative assessment of powdery mildew disease development. One procedure depends on quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)-based evaluation of fungal biomass, while the other relies on the quantification of fungal conidiospores. We validated both techniques using the powdery mildew pathogen Golovinomyces orontii on a set of hyper-susceptible and resistant Arabidopsis thaliana mutants and found that both cover a wide dynamic range of one to two (qPCR) and four to five (quantification of conidia) orders of magnitude, respectively. The two approaches yield reproducible results and are easy to perform without specialized equipment. Conclusions The qPCR and spore count assays rapidly and reproducibly quantify powdery mildew pathogenesis. Our methods are performed at later stages of infection and discern mutant phenotypes accurately. The assays therefore complement currently used procedures of powdery mildew quantification and can overcome some of their limitations. In addition, they can easily be adapted to other plant-powdery mildew patho-systems.</p

Mesoscale charge transport in polyaniline

From broad-band temperature dependent transport studies on PAni-blends we can now conclude that the electric conductivity of PAni is governed by charge hopping on a mesoscopic scale between metallic crystalline regions (8 nm) separated by thin amorphous barriers.

Cerebral folate deficiency: A neurometabolic syndrome?

BACKGROUND: Cerebral folate deficiency (CFD) is increasingly recognized in various neurological conditions, raising the question of whether it might represent a clear-cut clinical syndrome. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of patients with low cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF) values was performed. RESULTS: 58 pediatric patients with low (-2nd to -3rd standard deviation) and 45 patients with very low 5MTHF values (<3rd standard deviation) were identified, including 22 patients with defined underlying neurological conditions. The leading symptoms were mental retardation (n=84), motor retardation (n=75), epilepsy (n=53), ataxia (n=44) and pyramidal tract signs (n=37). There was no relationship between 5MTHF levels and the severity of clinical disease, the duration of clinical disease, distinct neurological symptoms and antiepileptic drug treatment, respectively. Genetical analysis for mutations in the folate receptor 1 gene proved normal in all 16 children studied. CONCLUSIONS: For the majority of patients CFD is not a clear-cut neurometabolic syndrome but the common result of different genetic, metabolic or unknown processes. Nevertheless, CFD may represent a treatable disease-modifying factor which should therefore be addressed in prospective studies