Detection of Septata intestinalis in Stool Specimens and Coprodiagnostic Monitoring of Successful Treatment with Albendazole

We describe two patients with AIDS and chronic diarrhea in whom the microsporidian Septata intestinalis was detected with use of light and electron microscopic coprodiagnostic techniques. The ultrastructure of the microsporidian spores found in their stool specimens was distinctly different from that of Enterocytozoon bieneusi, another intestinal microsporidian found in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Electron microscopic examination of duodenal biopsy specimens available from one of the patients enabled identification of S. intestinalis and confirmed the similarity of spores found in feces and in duodenal tissue. Both patients' diarrhea stopped when they were treated with albendazole. Coprodiagnostic monitoring indicated disappearance of the parasites and allowed the diagnosis of a relapse in one patient, who responded well to a second course of treatmen

Outcomes in endoscopic sinus surgery: olfaction, nose scale and quality of life in a prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES: To determine the efficacy of endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) on olfactory function in chronic rhinosinusitis patients with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and without nasal polyps (CRSsNP) and to compare the nasal obstruction and symptom evaluation (NOSE) scale before and after surgery. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study. SETTING: Royal National Throat and Nose and Ear Hospital, London UK. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and thirteen patients with CRS; 60 CRSwNP and 53 CRSsNP. OUTCOME ASSESSMENTS: Olfaction was measured using both the University of Pennsylvania Smell Investigation Test (UPSIT) and the ‘sense of smell’ visual analogue scale (VAS). The NOSE scale, the sinonasal outcome test (SNOT 22) and the Lund–Kennedy (LK) surgeon reported scores were also measured pre- and postoperatively at 6 months. RESULTS: The UPSIT psychophysical measurement significantly improved following ESS in the CRSwNP subgroup as did the patients perceived VAS sense of smell. However, in the CRSsNP subgroup, the improved VAS and UPSIT measurements were not significant. The NOSE, SNOT 22 and LK scores all improved significantly. The olfactory improvement as measured by the UPSIT correlated to the SNOT-22, but a correlation between the NOSE score and UPSIT was not found. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic sinus surgery significantly improved the patient's perceived and measured sense of smell in the CRSwNP subgroup which is the most surgically responsive CRS subgroup. Additionally, improved olfaction in the CRSwNP subgroup is most likely to improve the patient's quality of life. Endoscopic sinus surgery significantly improved the NOSE scale in both CRS subgroups at 6 months following surgery

Teufelsspuk und Feuerflammen: Pfarrer Josua Finsler (1525-1602) über Unglaubliches aus Biel und Umgebung

The chorherr (canon), Johann Jakob Wick of Zurich drew the material for his voluminous collection of news (Wickiana) from a dense network of intelligence. The information from Bern and Biel was provided here and there by the lesser known citizen of Zurich, deacon Josua Finsler, who lived in Biel. The article spotlights the "Miraculous Sign" of February 1572 in Biel and the diverse interpretations of the event by these two contemporaries. The "Reformed" eschatological understanding of Wick is compared to Finsler’s more rationalist worldview coloured by science

"Veritas evangelica per typographiam": Zur Genese der in Zürich gedruckten Berner Disputationsakten 1528

The Bern Disputation of 1528 was both the response to the Baden Disputation of 1526 and its continuation. From a formal perspective, the Baden served as a model for the Bernese. However, with respect to the printing of the disputation acts, this model needed to be improved upon as the delayed and flawed Lucerne edition of the Baden acts had led to justified doubts about the reliability of its protocol. In Bern, the four parallel transcripts of their disputation written under the direction of city secretary Peter Cyro were first collated before being delivered to the printer Christoph Froschauer in Zurich by one of the notaries charged with supervising the production of the complete edition. As a result of close cooperation between the typesetter and two theologically educated proofreaders, and under the eyes of Zwingli, a quarto edition appeared on March 23, 1528, almost two months after the Bern disputation and in time for the Frankfurt Book Fair. It was followed exactly one month later by an octavo edition

Nonpeptidic ligands for peptide-activated G protein-coupled receptors

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