Kanamycin uptake into Escherichia coli is facilitated by OmpF and OmpC porin channels located in the outer membrane

Despite decades of therapeutic application of aminoglycosides, it is still a matter of debate if porins contribute to the translocation of the antibiotics across the bacterial outer membrane. Here, we quantified the uptake of kanamycin across the major porin channels OmpF and OmpC present in the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. Our analysis revealed that, despite its relatively large size, about 10–20 kanamycin molecules per second permeate through OmpF and OmpC under a 10 μM concentration gradient, whereas OmpN does not allow the passage. Molecular simulations elucidate the uptake mechanism of kanamycin through these porins. Whole-cell studies with a defined set of E. coli porin mutants provide evidence that translocation of kanamycin via porins is relevant for antibiotic potency. The values are discussed with respect to other antibiotics

A brain-computer interface based cognitive training system for healthy elderly: A randomized control pilot study for usability and preliminary efficacy

10.1371/journal.pone.0079419PLoS ONE811-POLN

Physical Therapy for Intervertebral Disk Disease : A Practical Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment

Patients with pain emanating from their spines represent some of the most frequent and challenging cases for physical therapists. Here is a comprehensive and practical introduction to the management of back pain and restricted spinal function caused by intervertebral disk damage. The authors provide evidence-based, clinically oriented strategies for the diagnosis and therapeutic treatment of disk injury in the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical spinal regions. The text gives an overview of research studies on the effects of physical therapy on back pain, step-by-step guidance on examination and conservative and postoperative physical therapy procedures, and detailed discussion of rehabilitation and prevention of further disk damage. Key Features: •Extensive coverage of examination, from patient history to tests for assessing spinal movement to nerve conduction •Precise instructions and useful pointers on treatment methods aid in daily practice •Chapter on basic principles of anatomy, physiology, and epidemiology offer foundational knowledge •Crucial information on approaches for rehabilitation and injury prevention, including strengthening, coordination exercises, and conditioning •Case studies present clinical examples that guide the reader through the full course of therapy •70 clear line drawings illustrate how to maintain correct posture; avoid poor posture; and protect and train muscles, nerves, and joints Physical Therapy for Intervertebral Disk Disease is a complete guide to the diagnosis and physiotherapeutic treatment of problems resulting from intervertebral disk damage. Practitioners and students of physical therapy, rehabilitation medicine, and occupational therapy will read this book cover to cover and refer to it regularly when working to relieve back pain and restore full capacity in their patients

Leg orientation as a clinical sign for pusher syndrome

BACKGROUND: Effective control of (upright) body posture requires a proper representation of body orientation. Stroke patients with pusher syndrome were shown to suffer from severely disturbed perception of own body orientation. They experience their body as oriented 'upright' when actually tilted by nearly 20° to the ipsilesional side. Thus, it can be expected that postural control mechanisms are impaired accordingly in these patients. Our aim was to investigate pusher patients' spontaneous postural responses of the non-paretic leg and of the head during passive body tilt. METHODS: A sideways tilting motion was applied to the trunk of the subject in the roll plane. Stroke patients with pusher syndrome were compared to stroke patients not showing pushing behaviour, patients with acute unilateral vestibular loss, and non brain damaged subjects. RESULTS: Compared to all groups without pushing behaviour, the non-paretic leg of the pusher patients showed a constant ipsiversive tilt across the whole tilt range for an amount which was observed in the non-pusher subjects when they were tilted for about 15° into the ipsiversive direction. CONCLUSION: The observation that patients with acute unilateral vestibular loss showed no alterations of leg posture indicates that disturbed vestibular afferences alone are not responsible for the disordered leg responses seen in pusher patients. Our results may suggest that in pusher patients a representation of body orientation is disturbed that drives both conscious perception of body orientation and spontaneous postural adjustment of the non-paretic leg in the roll plane. The investigation of the pusher patients' leg-to-trunk orientation thus could serve as an additional bedside tool to detect pusher syndrome in acute stroke patients

Prognosis of contraversive pushing

Stroke patients with 'pusher syndrome' actively push away from the non-hemiparetic side leading to a loss of postural balance and falling towards the paralysed side. The behaviour is due to an altered perception of the body's orientation in relation to gravity. Here, we studied the prognosis of the disorder. Twelve pusher patients first investigated immediately after the stroke were re-examined 6 months later. Pusher symptoms had nearly completely recovered. The aim for physiotherapy of patients with contraversive pushing thus is to shorten the period of necessary treatment and enable earlier discharge from residential care

Lumbar disk prolapse: response to mechanical physiotherapy in the absence of changes in magnetic resonance imaging. Report of 11 cases

BACKGROUND: Lumbar disk prolapses are among the most common neurological conditions. In this open study, we asked whether repeated end-range spinal movements (McKenzie method) as physiotherapy in patients with lumbar disk prolapse induce early changes in location, size and signal intensity of lumbar disc material detectable by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We compared clinical with radiographic changes. The clinical efficacy of mechanical physiotherapy according to the McKenzie method within 5 days was documented. METHODS: Eleven consecutive patients with lumbar disk prolapse were included. Patients were treated with repeated end-range spinal movements and MRI was performed before and after 2-5 treatments. RESULTS: All patients achieved a reduction in symptoms and signs of disk prolapse during and after these procedures but none showed any change in the MRI features of the prolapses. CONCLUSIONS: Beneficial effects of specific mechanical physiotherapy in patients with radicular syndromes from lumbar disk prolapse are not paralleled by changes in the MRI appearance of the prolapses. Alternative explanations for the early clinical responses in some patients with lumbar disc prolapse treated according to the McKenzie method must be sought

Characterization of tellurium layers for back contact formation on close to technology treated CdTe surfaces

We have studied the contact formation on CdTe surfaces following the technologically applied procedure. The electronic properties of wet chemically etched CdTe surfaces has been investigated with photoelectron spectroscopy. For the characterization of the morphology, structure, and elemental distribution in the etched layer atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, and secondary ion mass spectroscopy have been used. Etching of the samples has been performed in air and in an electrochemistry chamber directly attached to the UHV system. In both cases the formation of an elemental polycrystalline Te layer with a thickness of about 80 Å is detected. For comparison, a thin Te layer has been deposited by physical vapor deposition onto a CdTe substrate. We determine a valence-band offset of ΔEVB=0.5±0.1 eV, independent of the preparation of the interface