Human hair follicle eqivalents in vitro for transplantation and chip-based substance testing : From 22nd European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting on Cell Based Technologies Vienna, Austria. 15-18 May 2011

First published by BioMed Central: Marx, Uwe ; Lindner, Gerd ; Wagner, Ilka ; Horland, Reyk ; Atac, Beren ; Hoffmann, Silke ; Gruchow, Mathias ; Sonntag, Frank ; Klotzbach, Udo ; Lauster, Roland: Human hair follicle equivalents in vitro for transplantation and chip-based substance testing : From 22nd European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting on Cell Based Technologies Vienna, Austria. 15-18 May 2011. - In: BMC Proceedings. - ISSN 1753-6561 (online). - 5 (2011), suppl. 8, O7. - doi:10.1186/1753-6561-5-S8-O7

Dynamic culture of human liver equivalents inside a micro-bioreactor for long-term substance testing : From 23rd European Society for Animal Cell Technology (ESACT) Meeting: Better Cells for Better Health Lille, France. 23-26 June 2013

Published by BioMed Central: Materne, Eva-Maria et al.: Dynamic culture of human liver equivalents inside a micro-bioreactor for longterm substance testing. - In: BMC Proceedings. - ISSN 1753-6561 (online). - 7 (2012), suppl. 6, art. P72. - doi:10.1186/1753-6561-7-S6-P72

Berechnung von CO2-Verlaufswerten aus Pulsoximetrien von Patienten unter nichtinvasiver nächtlicher Beatmung

Die respiratorische Insuffizienz lässt sich in eine hypoxämische und eine hyperkapnische respiratorische Insuffizienz differenzieren. Bei beiden Formen kann ein akuter und ein chronischer Verlauf unterschieden werden. Die häufigsten Ursachen der chronischen hyperkapnischen/ventilatorischen Insuffizienz sind Erkrankungen, bei denen es zur Erschöpfung der inspiratorischen Atemmuskulatur kommt. Hierzu zählen neuromuskuläre Erkrankungen, Kyphoskoliose, das Obesitas-Hypoventilationssyndrom und die chronisch obstruktive Lungenerkrankung. Mit fortschreitender Krankheit treten sowohl nachts als auch tagsüber Hyperkapnien auf. Den Patienten fällt dies vor allem durch das Auftreten einer Belastungsdyspnoe auf. Die Gefahr der Erkrankung besteht jedoch in einer Verschlechterung der Erkrankung mit zunehmender Erhöhung der pCO2-Werte und einer CO2-Narkose. Um dies zu verhindern, wird neben der invasiven auch die nichtinvasive Beatmung eingesetzt. Die Indikation für die nichtinvasive Beatmung wird dabei vor allem in Abhängigkeit vom Grad der Hyperkapnie, das heißt vom gemessenen pCO2-Wert, gestellt. Der pCO2 kann mithilfe verschiedener Methoden bestimmt werden. Während die end-tidale Messung in der Schlafmedizin keine Rolle spielt, werden die transkutane Messung sowie die Bestimmung aus arteriellem oder kapillärem Blut mittels einer Blutgasanalyse standardmäßig eingesetzt. Zum Monitoring und zur optimalen Anpassung der nichtinvasiven Beatmung ist allerdings eine kontinuierliche pCO2-Messung erforderlich. Das einzige dafür aktuell verfügbare Verfahren ist die transkutane pCO2-Messung. Entsprechend mehreren Studien liefert sie klinisch akzeptable Werte im Vergleich zur Blutgasanalyse und kann deshalb als Goldstandard der pCO2-Verlaufsmessung angesehen werden. Der Unterhalt der transkutanen Messgeräte ist jedoch sehr kostspielig, sodass es das Ziel dieser Studie war ein kostengünstigeres Alternativverfahren zu validieren. Diese Studie ist die erste, die die pCO2-Verlaufswerte aus Pulsoximetrien von Patienten unter nichtinvasiver nächtlicher Beatmung nach Ein-Punkt-Kalibrierung mithilfe einer patentierten Formel berechnet. Dafür wurden 20 Patienten unter nichtinvasiver Beatmung, von denen 10 Patienten zusätzlich Sauerstoff erhielten, rekrutiert. Es erfolgte eine nächtliche transkutane pCO2-Messung mit TOSCA 500-Messgeräten sowie die Abnahme von mindestens einer kapillären Blutgasanalyse für die Ein-Punkt-Kalibrierung. Im Anschluss an die Messung wurde der nächtliche pCO2-Verlauf aus den erhobenen Daten für jeden Patienten mit der Grundformel und einer SpO2-korrigierten Formel berechnet und mit den transkutanen Messwerten verglichen. Ziel der SpO2-Korrektur war es, die pCO2-Anstiege während nächtlicher Sauerstoff-Entsättigungen oder Leckagen besser abzubilden. Die graphische Darstellung der berechneten und transkutan gemessenen pCO2-Werte ließ einen ähnlichen Kurvenverlauf erkennen, der durch die SpO2-Korrektur weiter verbessert werden konnte. Die mittlere Abweichung der beiden Verfahren lag mit Ausnahme von vier Patienten sowohl bei der Einzel- als auch bei der Gruppenauswertung unter ± 4 mmHg. Die Regressionsanalyse konnte für die Patienten mit nichtinvasiver Beatmung ohne O2-Therapie, diejenigen mit nichtinvasiver Beatmung und O2-Therapie und auch für die Patienten mit starken nächtlichen pCO2-Schwankungen ≥ 10 mmHg einen stark positiven und statistisch signifikanten Zusammenhang nachweisen. Die Korrelation nahm mithilfe der SpO2-Korrektur im Vergleich zur Grundformel noch zu. Die Bland-Altman-Analysen ergaben einen Bias für die verschiedenen Gruppen von -0,84 mmHg bis 0,36 mmHg. Die limits of agreement erstreckten sich von maximal -8,16 mmHg bis 8,33 mmHg. Zusammenfassend konnte erstmals gezeigt werden, dass sich CO2-Verlaufswerte aus Pulsoximetrien von Patienten unter nichtinvasiver nächtlicher Beatmung zuverlässig und klinisch akzeptabel berechnen lassen. Um das übergeordnete Ziel, die Entwicklung eines Gerätes, das die pCO2-Verlaufswerte direkt nach einmaliger blutiger BGA-Kalibrierung aus der Pulsoximetrie berechnen kann, zu erreichen, sind jedoch Untersuchungen mit einer größeren Stichprobe notwendig. Dabei sollte die Faktorberechnung der SpO2-Korrektur weiter angepasst und der Hb-Wert der Patienten als weitere Komponente der Berechnungsformel geprüft werden. Zudem gilt es den standardisierten Einsatz des Pulsfrequenzmittelwertes zur Kalibrierung und eine automatisierte Einrechnung der Phasenverschiebung zu untersuchen

Alcohol consumption and body composition in a population-based sample of elderly Australian men

Background: Alcohol is calorie dense, and impacts&nbsp;activity, appetite and lipid processing. The aim of this&nbsp;study was to therefore investigate the association between&nbsp;alcohol consumption and components of body composition&nbsp;including bone, fat and lean tissue.Methods: Participants were recruited from a randomly&nbsp;selected, population-based sample of 534 men aged&nbsp;65 years and older enrolled in the Geelong Osteoporosis&nbsp;Study. Alcohol intake was ascertained using a food&nbsp;frequency questionnaire and the sample categorised as nondrinkers or alcohol users who consumed B2, 3&ndash;4 or C5&nbsp;standard drinks on a usual drinking day. Bone mineral&nbsp;density (BMD), lean body mass and body fat mass were&nbsp;measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; overall&nbsp;adiposity (%body fat), central adiposity (%truncal fat) and&nbsp;body mass index (BMI) were calculated. Bone quality was&nbsp;determined by quantitative heel ultrasound (QUS).Results: There were 90 current non-drinkers (16.9 %),&nbsp;266 (49.8 %) consumed 1&ndash;2 drinks/day, 104 (19.5 %) 3&ndash;4&nbsp;drinks/day and 74 (13.8 %) C5 drinks/day. Those consuming C5 drinks/day had greater BMI (?4.8 %), fat mass&nbsp;index (?20.1 %), waist circumference (?5.0 %), %body&nbsp;fat (?15.2 %) and proportion of trunk fat (?5.3 %) and&nbsp;lower lean mass (-5.0 %) than non-drinkers after adjustment for demographic and lifestyle factors. Furthermore,&nbsp;they were more likely to be obese than non-drinkers&nbsp;according to criteria based on BMI (OR = 2.83, 95 %CI&nbsp;1.10&ndash;7.29) or waist circumference (OR = 3.36, 95 %CI&nbsp;1.32&ndash;8.54). There was an inverse relationship between&nbsp;alcohol consumption and QUS parameters and BMD at the&nbsp;mid forearm site; no differences were detected for BMD at&nbsp;other skeletal sites.Conclusion:&nbsp;Higher alcohol intake was associated with&nbsp;greater total and central adiposity and reduced bone&nbsp;quality.<br /

The Elbow-EpiTrainer : A method of delivering graded resistance to the extensor carpi radialis brevis. Effectiveness of a prototype device in a healthy population

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Navsaria R, Ryder DM, Lewis JS, et al, 'The Elbow-EpiTrainer: a method of delivering graded resistance to the extensor carpi radialis brevi:. Effectiveness of a prototype device in a healthy population', British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol. 49(5):318-322, March 2015, available online at: http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/5/318. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited.Background: Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylopathy (LE) is experienced as the lateral elbow has a reported prevalence of 1.3%, with symptoms lasting up to 18 months. LE is most commonly attributed to tendinopathy involving the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) tendon. The aim of tendinopathy management is to alleviate symptoms and restore function that initially involves relative rest followed by progressive therapeutic exercise. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of two prototype exercises using commonly available clinical equipment to progressively increase resistance and activity of the ECRB. Method: Eighteen healthy participants undertook two exercise progressions. Surface electromyography was used to record ECRB activity during the two progressions, involving eccentric exercises of the wrist extensors and elbow pronation exercises using a prototype device. The two progressions were assessed for their linearity of progression using repeated ANOVA and linear regression analysis. Five participants repeated the study to assess reliability. Results: The exercise progressions led to an increase in ECRB electromyographic (EMG) activity (p0.7) between the first and second tests for five participants. Conclusions: Manipulation of resistance and leverage with the prototype exercises was effective in creating significant increases of ECRB normalised EMG activity in a linear manner that may, with future research, become useful to clinicians treating LE. In addition, between trial reliability for the device to generate a consistent load was acceptable.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Catecholamine activity and infectious disease episodes

Abstract: The profile of 3-hydroxy-4-methoxy methoxy acid (VMA) excretion was studied in relation to reported acute infectious disease episodes. Daily VMA excretion levels and symptom reports were analyzed for a group of 47 volunteers over a four-week period. Results showed a tendency for elevated VMA levels to occur with greater frequency within three days prior to the onset of symptoms. These findings are interpreted as suggesting that elevated levels of catecholamine activity may increase susceptibility to disease by interfering with the immune response, and in the presence of an agent lead to an infectious disease episode

Threshold Effects of Dietary Calcium on Blood Pressure

The relationships of calcium and dietary sodium, potassium and alcohol to blood pressures were studied at three different levels of dietary calcium intake by adults in the Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES) I sample. At low calcium intakes (P &lt; 0.01). At higher calcium intakes alcohol, but not Na:K, was significantly related to blood pressures. Neither sodium nor potassium was separately related to blood pressure when the Na:K ratio was included in the regression model. The threshold effect of calcium was observed in all race-gender groups. These results indicate: (i) the Na:K is a more important correlate of blood pressure than either nutrient alone; and (2) a low calcium intake is necessary for the Na:K ratio to maximally affect blood pressure

Risk factors and the anatomic distribution of coronary artery disease

Differences in the importance of risk factors according to the anatomic location of coronary artery disease (CAD) were assessed in 4722 men and 1069 women who underwent arteriography. Examined characteristics included total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, triglycerides, obesity, smoking. Alcohol consumption, diabetes, and hypertension. Of these risk factors, the ratio of total to HDL-cholesterol showed the highest correlation with the overall severity of CAD (r = 0.24, men; r = 0.38, women); in contrast, its relation to left main (LM) disease was much lower (r =0.10, men; r = 0.08 women) than were correlations with stenotic disease in the left anterior descending, circumflex, and right coronary arteries. Other risk factors also showed weaker associations with LM disease than with stenoses in other vessels, and none was related to increased LM disease after controlling for disease in other vessels. For example, as compared with men who had no significant CAD, those with 1-, 2-, and 3-vessel disease had mean increases in total cholesterol of 12, 18, and 19 mg/dl, respectively. In contrast, after adjusting for disease in other vessels, LM disease (present in 293 men) was associated with only a 4 mg/dl increase in mean cholesterol levels (P = 0.20). These results indicate that the relation of risk factors to CAD differs according to the location of the stenotic disease, and that LM disease is poorly predicted by the standard risk factors

An epidemiologic study of tennis elbow: Incidence, recurrence, and effectiveness of prevention strategies

An epidemiologic study of the incidence and recurrence of tennis elbow among over 500 tennis players (278 men, 254 women; age range, 20 to 50 years) indicated that age and amount of playing time per day were contributing factors to the injury. Both incidence and recurrence rates increased with age. An interactive effect of playing time and age was observed with increased playing time associated with higher incidence at younger ages. Larger grip size was also associated with higher incidence in the older group. These findings were interpreted as being consistent with the hypothesis that tennis elbow is a degenerative disease, the onset of which is hastened by overuse of the arm and elbow. Changes in stroke technique and types of racket were successful in preventing recurrence. Least successful was the forearm brace

Body Fat Distribution and Male/Female Differences in Lipids and Lipoproteins

The role of body fat distribution, as assessed by the ratio of waist-to-hip circumferences (WHR), in statistically explaining differences in levels of lipoproteins between men and women was studied using data collected in 1985-1986 from employed adults (mean age, 40 years). As compared with the 415 women, the 709 men had higher mean levels of triglycerides (+38 mg/dl) and apolipoprotein B (+11 mg/dl) as well as lower mean levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (-15 mg/dl) and apolipoprotein A-I (-19 mg/dl). Additionally, men were more overweight, consumed more alcohol, and exercised more frequently than women but were less likely to smoke cigarettes. Controlling for these characteristics, however, did not alter the differences in lipoprotein levels between men and women. In contrast, adjustment for WHR (which was greater among men) reduced the sex differences in levels of apolipoprotein B (by 98%), triglycerides (by 94%), HDL cholesterol (by 33%), and apolipoprotein A-I (by 21%). Similar results were obtained using analysis of covariance, stratification, or matching; at comparable levels of WHR, differences in lipid and lipoprotein levels between men and women were greatly reduced. Although these results are based on cross-sectional analyses of employed adults and need to be replicated in other populations, the findings emphasize the relative importance of body fat distribution. Whereas generalized obesity and body fat distribution are associated with lipid levels, fat distribution (or a characteristic influencing fat patterning) can be an important determinant of sex differences in levels of triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and apolipoproteins B and A-I