Ein Beitrag zur Funktionsbeurteilung und Funktionsverbesserung von Daumenmißbildungen

Ohne ZusammenfassungHerrn Professor Dr. med. Dr. med. h. c. G. Hohmann zum 85. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Economic antecedents of temporal variation in the incidence of ocular trauma

PURPOSE: To test the reciprocal risk hypothesis that the monthly number of unemployed persons in Alabama predicts: 1) the odds that a worker will suffer an ocular injury; and 2) the incidence of ocular injuries at home. METHODS: Data from the United States Eye Injury Registry and from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are analyzed with time series methods to test the hypotheses. RESULTS: As implied by the reciprocal risk hypothesis, the monthly odds of a worker reporting a job-related ocular injury decrease as the number of unemployed persons increases. The incidence of ocular injuries in the home, however, increases when the number of unemployed persons increases. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with theory and earlier research, the incidence of ocular injuries appears related to the performance of the economy. Unlike earlier research, however, we find a reciprocal risk between injuries at work and home. The findings suggest that public health efforts to prevent injuries could be made more effective by strategically shifting the focus from home to work and vice versa depending on changes in the local economy.     

HLA tetramer-based artificial antigen-presenting cells for stimulation of CD4+ T cells

Current evidence suggests that immunotherapy for cancer or infectious diseases will require the activation of CD4(+) T cells in addition to the activation of cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells. To complement and overcome some of the limitations of dendritic-cell-based vaccines and ex vivo expansion of human T cells, we sought to engineer artificial antigen-presenting cells (aAPCs) for the stimulation of antigen-specific human CD4(+) T cells. We have designed a variety of aAPCs using magnetic beads as a scaffold on which to coat HLA-peptide tetrameric complexes along with costimulatory molecules such as anti-CD28. Here, we tested various forms of conjugation of the tetramers onto beads, characterized the relative concentration of antigen available on the surface of the beads, and evaluated the ability of different types of beads to promote activation of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells. We find that an indirect coating of HLA-peptide tetramers on beads via an anti-Class II antibody provides specific stimulation of antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells.     

The effects of exposure of incubating adult and young herring gulls to a simulated no. 2 fuel oil slick

Naturally incubating herring gulls (Larus argentatus) were exposed to No. 2 fuel oil. The gulls were treated either early (seven to ten days after clutch completion) or late (when the second egg of the clutch reached the pip stage) in incubation. Hatching success of eggs of adults oiled early in incubation was reduced at 321 ml oil/m² and survival of young to seven days post-hatch was reduced at both 107 and 321 ml/m². This decrease in survival at 107 ml/m² suggests that a concentration of oil which is not lethal to the embryos may have a sublethal effect which reduces chick viability. When adults were oiled late in incubation, the only effect noted was decreased hatching success at 321 ml/m². Chicks between five and nine days of age which were exposed to an artificial slick of 321 ml No. 2 fuel oil/m² exhibited decreased survival to seven days post-treatment. Since 107 ml/m² is more than 20 times the maximum thickness of No. 2 fuel oil slicks which have been measured on the Great Lakes, a single exposure of an adult at the incubation stages tested or of a young chick to a free-floating oil slick would probably not cause a significant reduction in hatching success or survival of young. The effects of repeated exposure to a fresh fuel oil slick are unknown.     

Botulinum toxin therapy

Botulinum toxin therapy has emerged as a treatment modality for a variety of spastic- or contracture-related muscle diseases. Its safety has been proven for long-term use in the treatment of benign essential blepharospasm, hemifacial spasm, and certain types of strabismus. Recent approval from the Federal Drug Administration should make botulinum toxin available for use in a greater number of patients.     

Intraspecies Transfer of the Chromosomal Acinetobacter baumannii blaNDM-1 Carbapenemase Gene

The species Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most important multidrug-resistant human pathogens. To determine its virulence and antibiotic resistance determinants, the genome of the nosocomial bla_NDM-1-positive A. baumannii strain R2090 originating from Egypt was completely sequenced. Genome analysis revealed that strain R2090 is highly related to the community-acquired Australian A. baumannii strain D1279779. The two strains belong to sequence type 267 (ST267). Isolate R2090 harbored the chromosomally integrated transposon Tn125 carrying the carbapenemase gene bla_NDM-1 that is not present in the D1279779 genome. To test the transferability of the metallo-β-lactamase (MBL) gene region, the clinical isolate R2090 was mated with the susceptible A. baumannii recipient CIP 70.10, and the carbapenem-resistant derivative R2091 was obtained. Genome sequencing of the R2091 derivative revealed that it had received an approximately 66-kb region comprising the transposon Tn125 embedding the bla_NDM-1 gene. This region had integrated into the chromosome of the recipient strain CIP 70.10. From the four known mechanisms for horizontal gene transfer (conjugation, outer membrane vesicle-mediated transfer, transformation, and transduction), conjugation could be ruled out, since strain R2090 lacks any plasmid, and a type IV secretion system is not encoded in its chromosome. However, strain R2090 possesses three putative prophages, two of which were predicted to be complete and therefore functional. Accordingly, it was supposed that the transfer of the resistance gene region from the clinical isolate R2090 to the recipient occurred by general transduction facilitated by one of the prophages present in the R2090 genome. Hence, phage-mediated transduction has to be taken into account for the dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes within the species A. baumannii.