Physical therapy affects endothelial function in lymphedema patients.

Lymphedema arises due to a malfunction of the lymphatic system and can lead to massive tissue swelling. Complete decongestive therapy (CDT), consisting of manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) and compression bandaging, is aimed at mobilizing fluid and reducing volume in affected extremities. Lymphatic dysfunction has previously been associated with chronic inflammation processes. We investigated plasma ADMA as an indicator of endothelial function/inflammation before-, during- and after-CDT. Also assessed were vascular function parameters such as carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWVcf), flow-mediated dilata-tion (FMD) and retinal microvasculature analysis. 13 patients (3 males and 10 females, 57 ± 8 years old (mean ± SD), 167.2 ± 8.3 cm height, 91.0 ± 23.5 kg weight), with lower limb lymphedema were included. Vascular function parameters were assessed on day 1, 2, 7, 14 and 21 of CDT, pre- and post-MLD. ADMA was significantly lower post-MLD (p=0.0064) and tended to reduce over three weeks of therapy (p=0.0506). PWVcf weakly correlated with FMD (r=0.361, p=0.010). PWVcf, FMD and retinal microvasculature analysis did not show changes due to physical therapy. The novel results from this study indicate that lymphedema does not affect endothelial func-tion and lymphedema patients may therefore not have a higher risk of cardiovas-cular diseases. Our results further suggest that manual lymphatic drainage with or without full CDT could have potentially beneficial effects on endothelial function in lymphedema patients (by reducing ADMA levels), which has not been reported previously.

Sex differences in cardiovascular responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older persons: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Premenopausal women show a higher incidence of orthostatic hypotension than age-matched men, but there are limited data available on sex differences in cardiovascular responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older persons. We investigated sex differences in hemodynamic and autonomic responses to orthostatic challenge in healthy older males and females. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen older healthy women and 10 age-matched men performed a sit-to-stand test (5 min of sitting followed by 5 min of standing). A Task Force® Monitor continuously measured the following beat-to-beat hemodynamic parameters: heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, stroke index, cardiac index, and total peripheral resistance index. Cardiac autonomic activity, low-frequency (LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz) normalized (LFnuRRI) and high-frequency (HF: 0.15-0.4 Hz) normalized (HFnuRRI) components, and the ratio between LF and HF power (LF/HF) were calculated using power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. RESULTS: Across all hemodynamic parameters, there were no significant differences between the sexes at baseline and during standing. LFnuRRI (median: 70.2 vs. 52.3, p < 0.05) and LF/HF ratio (median: 2.4 vs. 1.1, p < 0.05) were significantly higher, whereas HFnuRRI (median: 29.8 vs. 47.7, p < 0.05) was lower among women at baseline. All other heart rate variability measures did not differ between the sexes. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that older women showed higher sympathetic and lower parasympathetic activity at rest compared to age-matched men. These results are contradictory to the observations from previous studies, which showed a reduced sympathetic and enhanced parasympathetic activity in women in all ages. Further studies are required to determine the underlying mechanisms contributing to higher incidence of orthostatic hypotension in older females.

Existence of bovine neonatal pancytopenia before the year 2005? Retrospective evaluation of 215 cases of haemorrhagic diathesis in cattle.

Haemorrhagic diathesis (HD) in cattle is a relatively rare syndrome that can have many different causes. With the occurrence of bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) in 2007, the number of cases of HD in cattle has increased. This led to an enhanced interest in diseases presenting with bleeding disorders. The possible causes of HD in cattle, the clinical findings, and the course of various diseases are described and evaluated. Furthermore, we determined whether cases of BNP occurred before the introduction of the vaccine Pregsure BVD since its widespread use was associated with the syndrome. Records of 215 cases of HD in cattle that had been referred to the Clinic for Ruminants with Ambulatory and Herd Health Services at the Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, between 1982 and 2014 were evaluated. The two most commonly diagnosed diseases were BNP (n = 95) and septicaemia (n = 35), with fatality rates of 82% and 66%, respectively. In 27 (13%) cases, no clear cause for the HD could be designated. Statistically significant differences were found with regard to the course of the various disorders and the clinical findings. A receiver operating characteristic analysis of thrombocyte counts of affected animals at the time of arrival at the clinic did not provide any predictive information on disease outcome. Two cases of HD occurred before the introduction of Pregsure BVD (1989, 1991). In both cases, clinical, haematological, and pathological findings were identical to BNP. The cause of HD in these two cases could not be determined retrospectively.

The effect of probiotics on faecal microbiota and genotoxic activity of faecal water in patients with atopic dermatitis: a randomized, placebo-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Colonic microbiota is involved in the etiology of colon cancer according to several reports. Studies also indicate that the microbiota differs between atopic patients and healthy subjects. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a probiotic mix containing Lactobacillus paracasei Lpc-37, Lactobacillus acidophilus 74-2, and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DGCC 420 can affect the microbiota and its genotoxic activity in healthy subjects and patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). METHODS: A placebo-controlled cross-over study was conducted. Fifteen healthy adults and 15 adult AD patients consumed 2×100 ml/d of either a probiotic or a placebo drink for 8 weeks followed by a wash out period of 2 weeks before crossing the intervention. Faecal water was isolated from stool samples collected at the end of each period. HT29c19a cells incubated with faecal water were measured for DNA damage using single-cell gel electrophoresis ("comet assay"). Bacterial species were determined by qPCR and concentrations of short-chain fatty acids were measured by means of gas chromatography. RESULTS: Probiotic supplementation resulted in a significant increase in lactobacilli, whereas numbers of Bifidobacteria and Bacteroidetes remained unchanged. Clostridium perfringens cluster I-II was significantly reduced in healthy subjects. Genotoxic potential (expressed as tail intensity) of faecal water, was not affected. However, tail intensity decreased significantly in the probiotic period compared to placebo (23.5 vs. 16.7%) in AD patients. Although faecal concentrations of short-chain fatty acids were not affected, faecal pH was significantly reduced (7.0 vs. 6.6) in AD patients after probiotics. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that probiotics lower the genotoxic potential of faecal water in AD patients. The faecal C. perfringens cluster I-II levels remained unaffected suggesting either a change in their activity, or the fact that other bacterial species are responsible for the reduced genotoxic activity of faecal water.

The cardiovascular response to lower body negative pressure in humans depends on seal location.

We tested whether seal location at iliac crest (IC) or upper abdomen (UA), before and during lower body negative pressure (LBNP), would affect thoracic electrical impedance, hepatic blood flow, and central cardiovascular responses to LBNP. After 30 min of supine rest, LBNP at -40 mm Hg was applied for 15 min, either at IC or UA, in 14 healthy males. Plasma density and indocyanine green concentrations assessed plasma volume changes and hepatic perfusion. With both sealing types, LBNP-induced effects remained unchanged for mean arterial pressure (-3.0+/-1.1 mm Hg), cardiac output (-1.0 l min(-1)), and plasma volume (-11 %). Heart rate was greater during UA (80.6+/-3.3 bpm) than IC (76.0+/-2.5 bpm) (p<0.01) and thoracic impedance increased more using UA (3.2+/-0.2 Omega) than IC (1.8+/-0.2 Omega) (p<0.0001). Furthermore, during supine rest, UA was accompanied by lower thoracic impedance (26.9+/-1.1 vs 29.0+/-0.8 Omega, p<0.001) and hepatic perfusion (1.6 vs 1.8 l.min(-1), p<0.05) compared to IC. The data suggest that the reduction in central blood volume in response to LBNP depends on location of the applied seal. The sealing in itself altered blood volume distribution and hepatic perfusion in supine resting humans. Finally, application of LBNP with the seal at the upper abdomen induced a markedly larger reduction in central blood volume and greater increases in heart rate than when the seal was located at the iliac crest.

The immune system in healthy adults and patients with atopic dermatitis seems to be affected differently by a probiotic intervention.

BACKGROUND: Probiotic bacteria are proposed to alleviate atopic dermatitis (AD) in infants. There are few indications about the effect of probiotics on AD in adults. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the influence of a probiotic drink containing a combination of the probiotics Lactobacillus paracasei Lpc-37, Lactobacillus acidophilus 74-2 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DGCC 420 (B. lactis 420) in healthy volunteers and in patients with AD on clinical and immunological parameters and their detection in feces. METHODS: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized cross-over study was conducted in 15 healthy adults and 15 patients with AD. The probiotic product or placebo was given over 8 weeks. A 2-week washout period was interconnected before the intervention was crossed. At the end of each period, blood and stool samples were collected. In patients, the severity of AD was evaluated using the Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD). RESULTS: L. paracasei and B. lactis were recovered in high numbers in feces after supplementation, whereas L. acidophilus marginally increased. In patients, the SCORAD tended to decrease by 15.5% (P=0.081). Major lymphocyte subsets were not affected by the probiotic intervention. However, CD57(+) increased significantly (P=0.034) in healthy subjects after probiotic intake and was not changed in patients, whereas CD4(+)CD54(+) decreased significantly (P=0.031) in patients with AD and remained uninfluenced in healthy subjects. The expression of CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells was similar in healthy subjects and AD patients. The phagocytic activity of monocytes and granulocytes was significantly increased in healthy subjects after probiotic intervention (P=0.014). CONCLUSION: L. paracasei Lpc-37 and B. lactis 420 are able to colonize the intestine transiently. This study reveals that the probiotics differently modulate peripheral immune parameters in healthy subjects and patients with AD.

Renal adrenomedullin and high altitude diuresis.

Previous investigations revealed that most of the fluid regulating hormones showed no consistent relationship to the hypoxic diuretic response (HDR). In this study we examined if adrenomedullin (AM), a hypoxia-mediated diuretic/natriuretic peptide is connected to HDR. Thirty-three persons were examined at low altitude (LA), on the third exposure day at 3440 m (medium altitude, MA) and on the fourteenth day at 5050 m (high altitude, HA). Nocturnal diuresis rose from 460 ml [interquartile range 302 ml] at LA to 560 [660] ml at MA to 1015 [750] ml at HA (p<0.005). Sodium excretion was similar at LA and MA (41.8 [27.0] vs. 41.4 [28.4] mM) and increased to 80.2 [29.1] mM at HA (p<0.005). Urinary AM excretion was 7.9 [3.9] at LA, 7.5 [5.7] pM at MA, and increased to 10.5 [5.1] pM (p<0.05) at HA. Urinary AM excretion was correlated to diuresis (r=0.72, p<0.005) and sodium excretion (r=0.57, p<0.005). Plasma AM concentration rose from 16.4 [3.1] to 18.8 [4.9] pM/l at MA (p<0.005) and to 18.3 [4.3] pM/l at HA (p<0.005). Plasma AM concentration and urinary AM excretion were not correlated, neither were plasma AM concentration and diuresis or natriuresis. Our data suggest the involvement of increased renal AM production in the pathophysiology of high altitude fluid and sodium loss.

Aspirin resistance in secondary stroke prevention.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the platelet function in stroke patients treated with aspirin [acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)] for secondary stroke prevention during a follow-up period of 1 year. METHODS: In this prospective study 291 patients with first initiated aspirin therapy (300 mg/day) for secondary stroke prevention were included. Platelet aggregation measurements were performed 24 h, 3, 6, and 12 months after starting medication. RESULTS: Twenty-one of 291 patients (7.2%) were identified as primary ASA-non-responders (initial insufficient platelet inhibition) and 4.1% as secondary ASA-non-responders (insufficient platelet inhibition during follow-up). There were no significant differences between ASA-responders and ASA-non-responders concerning age, gender, risk factors, and stroke characteristics. CONCLUSION: Aspirin resistance in stroke patients is not uncommon. The clinical usefulness of routine platelet function tests needs to be proved by further trials.

Immersive virtual environments in cue exposure.

Cue reactivity to drug-related stimuli is a frequently observed phenomenon in drug addiction. Cue reactivity refers to a classical conditioned response pattern that occurs when an addicted subject is exposed to drug-related stimuli. This response consists of physiological and cognitive reactions. Craving, a subjective desire to use the drug of choice, is believed to play an important role in the occurrence of relapse in the natural setting. Besides craving, other subjective cue-elicited reactions have been reported, including withdrawal symptoms, drug-agonistic effects, and mood swings. Physiological reactions that have been investigated include skin conductance, heart rate, salivation, and body temperature. Conditioned reactivity to cues is an important factor in addiction to alcohol, nicotine, opiates, and cocaine. Cue exposure treatment (CET) refers to a manualized, repeated exposure to drug-related cues, aimed at the reduction of cue reactivity by extinction. In CET, different stimuli are presented, for example, slides, video tapes, pictures, or paraphernalia in nonrealistic, experimental settings. Most often assessments consist in subjective ratings by craving scales. Our pilot study will show that immersive virtual reality (IVR) is as good or even better in eliciting subjective and physiological craving symptoms as classical devices.

Diversity among hospice volunteers: a challenge for the development of a responsive volunteer program.

Voluntary organizations such as hospices are increasingly being called upon to substitute for state health and social welfare delivery at a time when volunteer contributions are threatened because of organizational and demographic changes. These changes include: the adoption by the nonprofit sector of market strategies in response to health and social welfare reforms, increases in the size and complexity of hospices, increasing professionalization of staff, and the move of women away from voluntary work in the health and welfare services to paid employment. With these changes, hospices must be knowledgeable about their volunteer workforce and resourceful if they are to continue to attract and retain volunteers. A survey of volunteers conducted at the Mary Potter Hospice, Wellington, New Zealand, examined differences in volunteers' characteristics, motivations for joining hospice, and factors affecting work satisfaction according to age, gender, and the length of time volunteers had worked. Those findings of particular relevance to program development were: (1) the tendency for the recently recruited volunteers to be in paid employment; (2) the mixed motivations of the younger volunteers, reflecting both altruistic and personal gain needs; and (3) the rewards commonly identified by volunteers, such as feeling their work is of value, being accepted by hospice staff, and feeling like important team members. Practical outcomes of the study are described.

From toy to tool: the development of immersive virtual reality environments for psychotherapy of specific phobias.

Virtual Reality (VR) entered the mental health field some years ago. While the technology itself has been available for more than ten years now, there is still a certain amount of uncertainty among researchers and users as to whether VR will one day fulfill all it's promises. In this chapter we are giving an overview of the implementation of the technology in our mental health research facility in Basel, Switzerland. The development of two applications for use with claustrophobic and acrophobic patients perspectively serves just as an example within this context. Some may say, the chapter is too much based on technical considerations. Strictly speaking, VR is pure technology, even knowing that this special form of technology has sensory, psychological and even philosophical implications not known from other human computer interfaces so far. As far as we are concerned, the development of the technology for use within the mental health sector has merely just begun. As today's mostly used immersive output devices (Head-mounted Displays, shutter glasses) do not have a satisfactory resolution, do restrict movements and prevent multi-user-capabilities, there will be a soar of mental health applications the day some or at least the most important of these obstacles have been overcome.

Diminished plasma cGMP during weightlessness.

We performed an experiment within the project "RLF" (Russian long-term flight) on a cosmonaut onboard the space station MIR. For creating an analogue to orthostatic stress, we used lower body negative pressure (LBNP) as stimulus. Decrease in central and peripheral baroreceptor load by LBNP can be used as a cardiovascular countermeasure in cosmonauts or for inducing endocrine responses. Altered steady-state plasma concentration values of volume sensitive hormones have been observed inflight as well as postflight. Within this project we measured plasma ANP and cGMP as second messenger. Changes in plasma cGMP concentration are generally considered to be a good indicator of those in ANP activity. However, in our experiments depression of cGMP during space flight was more impressive than ANP decline. We are not aware of previous measurements of plasma cGMP under these conditions, and believe to be the first to report complete suppression of plasma cGMP during long-term stay in space.

A Novel Effect in Phycomyces Phototropism : Positive Bending and Compensation Spectrum in Far UV.

A novel effect-positive phototropic bending under far UV irradiation (between 260 and 305 nanometers) at low intensities-is reported. Natural compensation points (intensities which cause no bending under unilateral irradiation) have been determined for different wavelengths. The curve connecting these points, the compensation spectrum, divides the intensity-wavelength plane into areas of negative and positive tropism. It is further shown that a highly asymmetrical pattern of light stimulus within the sporangiophore underlies the symmetrical growth response at each compensation point. This suggests that some unknown additional factor is involved in perceiving a UV stimulus at the level of the photoreceptor. It is also demonstrated here that positive tropism in the UV range is due to a lens effect. We conclude that the hypothesis of optical attenuation of the stimulus (considered until now as the most plausible explanation of negative tropism in the UV spectral range) must be dismissed. The results presented here represent the first application of our quantitative theoretical consideration of spatial factors in phototropism heretofore neglected by others.