Shwartzman reaction after human renal homotransplantation.

In three human recipients, five renal homografts were destroyed within a few minutes to hours after their revascularization in the new host. The kidneys, removed one to 54 days later, had cortical necrosis. The major vessels were patent, but the arterioles and glomeruli were the site of fibrin deposition. There was little or no fixation of host immunoglobulins in the homografts. The findings were characteristic of a generalized Shwartzman reaction. Although the cause (or causes) of the Shwartzman reaction in our patients is not known, they may have been conditioned by the bacterial contamination and hemolysis that often attend hemodialysis, by immunosuppression and by the transplantation itself. Some of the patients have preformed lymphocytotoxic antibodies. Thus, certain patients may be predisposed. High-risk patients should be recognized and treated prophylactically with anticoagulants

How to Protect Future Generations' Rights in European Governance

Given that future generations are right-bearing citizens of tomorrow, legislative systems should secure these rights through appropriate institutions. In the case of the European Union, reference to intergenerational justice can be found in various fundamental legal texts, but, paradoxically, no institutions exist to defend it. The structural short-termism inscribed into representative democracies means that present interests easily trump future concerns. We argue that the best way to overcome this problem is a system of temporal checks and balances. By comparing a selection of existing instruments with regards to their impact on the legislative process, we propose the creation of a European Guardian for Future Generations as the most effective measure to protect the rights of future generations and provide an overview of recent developments in this direction

Wie die Rechte zukünftiger Generationen auf europäischer Ebene geschützt werden können

"Zukünftige Generationen sind zukünftige Bürger mit Rechten. Deshalb sollten Rechtssysteme diese durch geeignete Institutionen schützen. Im Fall der EU findet sich in grundlegenden Gesetzestexten ein expliziter Bezug auf intergenerationelle Gerechtigkeit, aber paradoxerweise existiert keine Institution, um diese abzusichern. Dies ist insofern problematisch, als dass repräsentative Demokratien auf kurzfristige Erfolge und Interessen von heutigen Wählerinnen ausgerichtet sind. Leicht werden Zukunftsbelange als politisch unbequem aufgeschoben. Wir argumentieren deshalb dafür, dass verantwortliche Politik diesem strukturellen Problem aktiv begegnen sollte und schlagen ein zeitliches Checks-and-Balances-System vor. Anhand eines Vergleichs vorhandener politischer Instrumente und der Analyse ihres effektiven Einflusses auf den Gesetzgebungsprozess schlagen wir die Schaffung eines europäischen Bürgervertreters vor, der sich explizit und aktiv für die Rechte zukünftiger Generationen einsetzt. Im Ausblick schließen wir einen Überblick über die jüngsten Entwicklungen in dieser Richtung an." (Autorenreferat

Diagnostic limitations of lung fiber counts in asbestos-related diseases

# Background Lung dust fibre analyses have been used by some pathologists to estimate past asbestos exposure in the workplace and its related health risks. Asbestos, however, especially the predominately applied chrysotile asbestos type, undergoes translocation, clearance and degradation in the lungs. # Objectives We quantified the asbestos fibre and ferruginous (asbestos) body (FB) content in human tissue with respect to the German asbestos ban in 1993 and the interim period of more than 20 years in order to evaluate the diagnostic evidence of these analyses for asbestos-related diseases (ARD). # Methods Lung dust analyses have been used in empirical assessments of ARD since 1982. Tissue samples of about 2 cm^3^ were used and processed in standardized manner. FB was analysed by light microscopy and asbestos fibres by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). # Results Chrysotile and amphibole fibre concentrations in the lung tissue depend roughly on the cumulative asbestos exposure levels in the workplace. However, the concentration of lung asbestos fibre and FB depends on the year of examination and especially on the interim period. As the interim period increases, the asbestos fibre burden decreases. There is no relationship between FB and chrysotile asbestos fibre concentrations and only a weak correlation between FB and crocidolite fibre concentrations. There was no significant difference in chrysotile and amphibole fibre concentrations as well as in FB counts between the different ARD. # Conclusions Due to the length of interim periods, a past exposure to chrysotile or amphibole asbestos can no longer be detected with FB or asbestos fibre measurement in lung tissue. This means that negative results of such measurements cannot disprove a qualified occupational case history of asbestos exposures and the related health risks due to the fibrogenic and carcinogenic potential of asbestos