[Resection of a submacular traction membrane due to significant visual impairment : Case report]

An 89-year-old female presented with acute visual impairment and large cells in the vitreous cavity of the left eye. The patient was treated for a suspected intraocular lymphoma. In the follow-up a retinal detachment was diagnosed and treated via pars plana vitrectomy. A resection of the subretinal traction membrane following retinectomy was performed. The histological findings did not reveal any indications of a lymphoproliferative process. A ruptured choroidal neovascularization (CNV) with peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy (PEHCR) and subretinal membrane formation was diagnosed. There were no signs of malignancy. The resection of a subretinal traction membrane poses a challenge for the vitreoretinal surgeon but can provide the possibility of visual improvement.

Autologous blood stem cell transplantation in refractory systemic lupus erythematodes with recurrent longitudinal myelitis and cerebral infarction

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) has the potential to eliminate autoreactive lymphocytes and may represent a therapeutic option for patients with refractory autoimmune diseases. We describe a 19-year old woman with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematodes (NPSLE) presenting with acute longitudinal myelitis and aseptic meningitis. Despite therapy with methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide (CYC), recurrence of longitudinal myelitis and a disabling stroke-like relapse occurred. Hematopoietic stem cells were mobilized by CYC at 2 g/m2 and G-CSF. The patient was conditioned by CYC at 200 mg/kg and anti-thymocyte globulin and 3.6 = 106 CD34+ cells/kg were infused. Hematopoietic regeneration was observed on day 12 after ASCT. Currently, 18 months after ASCT, the patient is in clinical remission with no evidence for residual serological or neuroradiological activity of SLE. Although a longer follow-up will be needed to reliably assess the efficacy of ASCT in this patient, the present case demonstrates that ASCT may represent a therapeutic option for patients with severe NPSLE.

Delamination of graphite in a high pressure homogenizer

A scalable industrial method for graphene and Few-Layer-Graphene (FLG) production by graphite delamination in N-methylpyrrolidone and water–surfactant mixtures using a high pressure homogenizer is presented.

PET-based molecular imaging in neuroscience

Positron emission tomography (PET) allows non-invasive assessment of physiological, metabolic and molecular processes in humans and animals in vivo. Advances in detector technology have led to a considerable improvement in the spatial resolution of PET (1-2 mm), enabling for the first time investigations in small experimental animals such as mice. With the developments in radiochemistry and tracer technology, a variety of endogenously expressed and exogenously introduced genes can be analysed by PET. This opens up the exciting and rapidly evolving field of molecular imaging, aiming at the non-invasive localisation of a biological process of interest in normal and diseased cells in animal models and humans in vivo. The main and most intriguing advantage of molecular imaging is the kinetic analysis of a given molecular event in the same experimental subject over time. This will allow non-invasive characterisation and "phenotyping" of animal models of human disease at various disease stages, under certain pathophysiological stimuli and after therapeutic intervention. The potential broad applications of imaging molecular events in vivo lie in the study of cell biology, biochemistry, gene/protein function and regulation, signal transduction, transcriptional regulation and characterisation of transgenic animals. Most importantly, molecular imaging will have great implications for the identification of potential molecular therapeutic targets, in the development of new treatment strategies, and in their successful implementation into clinical application. Here, the potential impact of molecular imaging by PET in applications in neuroscience research with a special focus on neurodegeneration and neuro-oncology is reviewed.

Microbial metabolism of quinoline and related compounds. XIX. Degradation of 4-methylquinoline and quinoline by Pseudomonas putida K1

A bacterial strain, designated K1, which utilizes 4-methylquinoline and quinoline as sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy was isolated from soil. Based on its morphological and physiological characteristics, it was classified as Pseudomonas putida biovar B. Four metabolites of 4-methylquinoline degradation were isolated from the culture supernatant and identified as 4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline, 8-hydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline, 7,8-dihydroxy-4-methyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline and 6-hydroxy-5-(2-carboxyethenyl)-4-methyl-1H-2-pyridone. Formation of the latter compound is suggested to proceed by decarbonylation of a putative meta-cleavage product of the 7,8-dihydroxy derivative. During growth on quinoline four compounds were released into the culture fluid, too. Upon isolation they were identified as 2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline, 6-hydroxy-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline, 5-hydroxy-6-(3-carboxy-3-oxopropenyl)-1H-2-pyridone and 2H-pyran-2-on-[3,2b]-5H-6-pyridone. Thus it is proved, that Pseudomonas putida possesses two different catabolic pathways for various quinoline derivatives, which are induced selectively depending on the growth substrate.

Chromosome aberrations in 450 sperm complements from eight controls and lack of increase after chemotherapy in two patients

Four hundred fifty sperm complements from eight controls were analyzed. A conservative estimate of aneuploidy was 1.8% with a hyperhaploid rate of 0.9% (4/450). The overall frequency of structural aberrations was 8.9% (40/450). The proportion of X-bearing (47.5%) and Y-bearing (52.5%) sperm did not differ significantly. Sperm complements were analyzed from a cancer patient 9 months after polychemotherapy (n = 63) and from a patient being treated with Imurek (azathioprine) (n = 30). There was no significant increase in the incidence of numerical and structural chromosome aberrations in the sperm of either patient. The percentages of X-bearing and Y-bearing sperm were not significantly different from the expected 50%.

Sperm chromosome analysis of a man heterozygous for a pericentric inversion of chromosome 20

The sperm chromosomes of a man heterozygous for inv(20)(p13q11.2) were analyzed. Twenty-six sperm chromosome complements were examined, of which fourteen contained the normal chromosome, and twelve the inverted chromosome. None of the sperm complements contained a recombinant chromosome 20. The frequency of structural chromosomal aberrations unrelated to the inversion was 11.5% (3/26). Numerical aberrations were not observed. The percentages of X- and Y-bearing sperm were 56% and 44%, respectively, which was similar to the expected 1:1 ratio.

C3-containing serum immune complexes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: correlation to disease activity and comparison with other rheumatic diseases

Although testing for circulating immune complexes (CIC) is regarded as a useful, complementary, laboratory parameter in the differential diagnosis and management of immune complex-induced vasculitis syndromes, there is still an uncertainty with regard to assay systems used for the demonstrated of soluble immune complexes. This is partly due to difficulties in the reproducibility, handling and principle limitations of available test systems for the assessment of soluble immune complexes in body fluids. In the present communication a modification of the anti-C3 test for the determination of CIC was developed using nitrocellulose as a solid phase matrix. IgG-, IgA- and IgM-containing CIC were determined and quantified using standard immune complex preparations. When 39 sera of SLE patients, 12 sera of patients with vasculitis syndromes, 10 sera of rheumatoid arthritis patients and 11 sera of patients with ankylosing spondylitis were tested, predominantly IgG-containing CIC could be demonstrated. Only in SLE patients was a significant amount of other immunoglobulin isotypes detected in CIC. In these patients a significant difference of IgG-containing CIC levels was found with regard to patients with high and low disease activity (P less than 0.0001). A significant correlation was also established between IgG-containing CIC and anti-dsDNA antibodies (P less than 0.001). In a longitudinal study the isotypes in the isolated CIC were found to be constant.