Vergleich von Lisinopril und Captopril zur Behandlung der schweren Herzinsuffizienz (NYHA III-IV) bei Hochrisikopatienten. Vorläufige Studienergebnisse (=Comparison of lisinopril and captopril in treatment of severe heart failure (NYHA III-IV) in high risk patients. Preliminary results of the trial)

We present preliminary data of a study comparing captopril, a short acting, with lisinopril, a long acting ACE-inhibitor in 8 of 12 projected patients with severe chronic heart failure (NYHA III-IV) and one additional risk factor (e.g. diabetes mellitus, renal failure). The 8 patients were treated in a cross over design for 12 weeks with either drug. While lisinopril improved NYHA-class in all patients, captopril reached this goal in only 3. Renal function was stable in all patients. Captopril influenced hormones (renin, aldosterone, norepinephrine, epinephrine) and microalbuminuria less than lisinopril. The number of adverse reactions was smaller in lisinopril treated patients. These preliminary data demonstrate at least an equal efficacy of lisinopril compared to captopril in high risk patients with severe chronic heart failure

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-degrading Bacteria from Aviation Fuel Spill Site at Ibeno, Nigeria

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)–degrading bacteria were isolated from aviation fuel contaminated soil at Inua Eyet Ikot in Ibeno, Nigeria. PAH-degrading bacteria in the contaminated soil were isolated by enrichment culture technique. Isolates with high PAH degrading potential characterized by their extensive growth on PAH-supplemented minimal salt medium were screened for their naphthalene, phenanthrene and chrysene degradability. The screening medium which contained selected PAHs as the sole source of carbon and energy showed that Micrococcus varians AFS-2, Pseudomonas putida AFS-3 and Alcaligenes faecalis AFS-5 exhibited a concentration–dependent growth in all the PAH–compounds tested. There were visible changes in the color of growth medium suggesting the production of different metabolites. Their acclimation to different PAH substrates was also evident as A. faecalis AFS-5 isolated from chrysene grew well on other less complex aromatic compounds. The isolate exhibited best growth (0.44 OD600) when exposed to 10 ppm of chrysene for 5 days and could utilize up to 90 ppm of chrysene. This isolate and others with strong PAH-degrading potentials are recommended for bioremediation of PAHs in aviation fuel-contaminated sites in the tropics

Effect of Activated Carbon Amendment on Bacterial Community Structure and Functions in a PAH Impacted Urban Soil

ABSTRACT: We collected urban soil samples impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from a sorbent-based remediation field trial to address concerns about unwanted side-effects of 2 % powdered (PAC) or granular (GAC) activated carbon amendment on soil microbiology and pollutant biodegradation. After three years, total microbial cell counts and respiration rates were highest in the GAC amended soil. The predominant bacterial community structure derived from denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) shifted more strongly with time than in response to AC amendment. DGGE band sequencing revealed the presence of taxa with closest affiliations either to known PAH degraders, e.g. Rhodococcus jostii RHA-1, or taxa known to harbor PAH degraders, e.g. Rhodococcus erythropolis, in all soils. Quantification by real-time polymerase chain reaction yielded similar dioxygenases gene copy numbers in unamended, PAC-, or GACamended soil. PAH availability assessments in batch tests showed th

A longitudinal linguistic analysis of written text production in a case of semantic variant primary progressive aphasia

The semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) presents with a degradationof semantic knowledge due to atrophy of the anterior temporal lobe and is characterizedby impaired confrontation naming and impaired single-word comprehension. So far, littleis known about the development of symptoms and their order of occurrence in the pre-clinical phase, and information regarding written text production is scarce.We had the unique opportunity to analyze the diary of a man written over a time span of12 years before he was diagnosed with svPPA. We sought to identify the earliest indicatorsof cognitive change in his diary entries, and to track the important changes over time.Based on transcripts of the entries (one week every six months) we assessed the overallstructure, vocabulary, surface dysgraphia and semantic paraphasia, syntax, andmorphology. We found changes in all domains up to seven years before the clinicaldiagnosis. The earliest changes concerned the vocabulary, with decreased variety andincreased use of high frequency words. This was followed by syntactic and morphologicalerrors. We found no increase of surface dysgraphia. Semantic paraphasias increased onlyduring the last three years but characterized the entries of the last year.We were therefore able to further corroborate recentfindings regarding difficulties in themorpho-syntactic domain in this patient group. In this natural context for written textproduction, such errors seem, in addition to changes in vocabulary, to be thefirst errortypes to appear, possibly as a result of compensating for the degradation of semanticrepresentations