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Background/purpose Neurophysiologic data on reactions of the human brain towards tactile stimuli evoked by fabrics moved on the skin are scarce. Furthermore, evaluation of fabrics' pleasantness using questionnaires suffers subjective biases. That is why we used a 64-channel electroencephalography (EEG) to objectively evaluate real-time brain reactions to fabric-skin interactions. Methods Tactile stimuli were triggered by selected fabrics of different qualities, i.e. modal/polyamide single jersey, cotton double rib and a jute fabric, applied hidden to either the palm or forearm of 24 subjects via a custom-made fabric-to-skin applicator called SOFIA. One-way anova analysis was carried out to verify the EEG data. Results The modal/polyamide fabric applied to the forearm and palm led to slightly stronger emotional valence scores in the brain than the conventional or baseline fabric. Furthermore, the single jersey elicits significant higher event-related potential ( ERP) signals in all subjects when applied to the forearm, suggesting less distraction and better cognitive resources during the fabric/skin interaction. The brain thus reacts with instantaneous ERP to tactile stimulation of fabrics and is able to discriminate different qualities via implicit preferences. Conclusion The test procedure described here may be a tool to evaluate the fabric feel with the exclusion of subjective biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory viruses are an important yet underestimated cause of infectious morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised children and adolescents. Here, we report the occurrence of fatal lower respiratory tract disease associated with human metapneumovirus ( HMPV) infection in a 10-year-old girl with chronic graft-versus-host disease following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( HSCT) for secondary chronic myeloid leukemia. Symptoms occurred 8 months after HSCT while on immunosuppression with 0.2 mg/kg/day of prednisone, and presented as dry cough, bilateral pneumonitis, and progressive respiratory distress. Non-invasive and invasive microbiological investigations revealed HMPV type B as the sole pathogen. Histopathological findings showed interstitial and intra-alveolar pneumonitis with profound alveolar cell damage. The patient was treated with intravenous and oral ribavirin and polyvalent immunoglobulins, but ultimately died from respiratory failure. The case reflects the potentially fatal impact of infections by respiratory viruses in immunocompromised patients and the need for effective approaches to their prevention and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS), mainly cognitive deficits up to dementia and depressive syndromes have been described repeatedly in Fabry disease (FD). However, examinations regarding the pattern, extent, and frequency of the NPS in FD are still lacking. Moreover, the relationship between NPS and brain structural alterations in FD is unknown. The aim of this study was 1) to characterize NPS in a relatively large cohort of adult subjects with FD, and 2) to explore the association of cognitive performance and depressive syndromes with the FD-typical brain structural findings. Twenty-five Fabry patients (age 36.5 ± 11.0) with mild to moderate disease involvement and 20 age, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls were extensively studied by neuropsychiatric assessment, structural magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, and diffusion-tensor imaging. Patients with FD showed deficits only in the attention domain. Clinically relevant depressive syndromes were noted in 60% of the patients. The subgroup of patients with markedly elevated volumes of white matter lesions (not associated with actual stroke; n = 7) showed slightly more learning and memory deficits, but no higher depression rate compared to less affected patients. Against the prevailing assumption, Fabry patients, even those with marked brain structural alterations, showed only mild cognitive deficits. The high frequency of depression in FD is likely to be related to the burden of this chronic multiorganic hereditary disease, but not to the FD-typical brain structural alterations. Longitudinal studies are necessary to clear, if the mild cognitive deficits in FD might precede clinically relevant cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Reports on the the discussion during the symposium on the topic related to the states and usage of the autopsy around the world. Historical perspective; Autopsy in Iran; Public attitudes to the autopsy and organ retention.

A letter to the editor is presented about pulmonary hemangiolymphagioma.

The freshwater red algal genera Nemalionopsis and Thorea are currently classified in the family Thoreaceae of the Batrachospermales. However, these two genera differ from other members of the order in having multiaxial thalli. The phylogenetic relationships of the genera were investigated using a combination of DNA sequence analysis ( rbcL and 18S rRNA genes) and transmission electron microscopy. In both gene trees, Nemalionopsis and Thorea form well supported clades (87–100% bootstrap values) separate from other members of the Batrachospermales as well as taxa from the Acrochaetiales, Palmariales, and Nemaliales. In addition, analysis of the secondary structure of the 18S rRNA gene in Nemalionopsis and Thorea reveals an additional helix, which is not present in any of the other taxa within the Rhodophyta. Pit plugs of the Thoreaceae also differ from those of other members of the Batrachospermales in not having an outer cap layer that is not universally domed. Based on these findings, it is proposed that Nemalionopsis and Thorea represent a distinct taxonomic group that should be recognized as a new order, the Thoreales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over 400 nuclear SSU rRNA sequences representing all orders of the Rhodophyta were aligned and analyzed using comparative sequence analysis. Numerous nucleotide positions and structural elements were found that delineated various taxonomic groups. The 1245 region ( E. coli numbering) contained a loop that differed in size between two conserved helices and clearly separated the Florideophyceae [3 nt (>95% of 268 sequences)], Bangiales [13 to 14 nt (100% of 116 sequences)] and remaining Bangiophyceae including the Cryptophyta nucleomorphs [four to eight nt (100% of 32 sequences)]. In addition, members of the Thoreaceae were found to have additional helices in the 650 and 1139 region of which a corresponding structure was not present in any other red algal SSU rRNA gene sequence. Base-pair and nucleotide signatures differentiated the Bangiales, Florideophyceae, Bangiophyceae (not including Bangiales) and Hildenbrandiales at three levels of comparison: within the Rhodophyta (>400 sequences), the Eukaryota (not including Rhodophyta;> 1300 sequences) and three kingdom (Archaea, Bacteria, 2 organelles, Eukaryota;> 7000 sequences). For example, all members of the Hildenbrandiales have a change in the base-pair 512:539 that is a region of functional importance. Sequences from the Eukaryota, Archaea, Bacteria and two organelles have a C:G or a U:A in this position whereas the Hildenbrandiales have a C:A pair. This analysis raises the possibility of utilizing structural features of nuclear SSU rRNA and sequence signatures to support and delineate phylogenetic clades within the Rhodophyta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a case-control study, 839 male hospital-based cases of primary lung cancer and the same number of population-based controls--matched by sex, age, and region of residence--were personally interviewed for their job and smoking histories. The study allows to quantify occupational asbestos exposure that was thought to be a welding-associated risk: 6% of cases and 2% of controls were classified into the occupational category "welders or burners# (odds ratio [OR] = 2.65). This OR was reduced to 1.93 (95% confidence limit [CL]: 1.03-3.61) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. In contrast, a history of welding in general for at least a half-year is 28% among cases and 23% among controls, yielding an OR of 1.25 (95% CL: 0.94-1.65) after adjustment for both confounders. The OR of welding for more than 6,000 hr is 1.45 (95% CL = 1.04-2.02), reduced to 1.10 after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. Oxyacetylene welding for more than 6,000 hr lifelong is associated with an OR of 1.86 (95% CL = 1.01-3.43) reduced to 1.46 (n.s.) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos. The risk of oxyacetylene welding seems to be highest for oat cell carcinoma with an adjusted OR for ever-exposure of 1.46 (95% CL = 0.69-3.10). Therefore, the present study supports the hypothesis that some, but not all, of the excess risk of welders observed in the literature may be due to a history of cigarette smoking and occupational asbestos exposure. The elevated risk for the subgroup of employees in the aircraft industry reported for the midterm evaluation of the study still prevails, though no longer statistically significant. However, employees in this industry who ever welded show an OR of 2.29 (95% CL = 1.19-4.42) after adjustment for smoking and asbestos.

Antibodies reacting with human neuroblastoma cells (NBL) are distinct from the "classical" anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies in myasthenia gravis (MG). The influence of therapeutic interventions on serum anti-NBL antibody levels was followed in 42 MG patients. Thymectomy alone was performed in 28 patients while immunosuppressive medication was given to 14 patients out of whom 10 also had a thymectomy. In most patients serum anti-NBL antibody titers declined after thymectomy and/or during immunosuppressive treatment, though individual variations in the antibody response could be observed. Sequential examinations of individual patients revealed an association between the clinical severity of MG and anti-NBL antibody levels. No correlation between the treatment-induced changes of anti-NBL and anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody titers could be observed during the follow-up period in MG patients positive for both types of antibodies. These findings further emphasize the immunological complexity of MG. Anti-NBL antibodies represent a pathogenic marker of the disease and display a regulation different from that of the anti-AChR antibodies.

In 25 random autopsies, chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) in lung tissue and regional lymph nodes were analysed by means of flameless atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The subjects originate from Bochum in the Ruhr District, which is defined as a particular pollution area with locally high Cr and Ni emissions. The subjects examined from Bochum (BO) and vicinity have Cr and Ni concentrations about 5 and 6 times higher than those in a previous series form Münster (MS) and vicinity (outside the particular pollution area), which is used for comparison purposes. BO and MS data showed an age-dependent increase of chromium and nickel in the lung, and in both data sets as well as in the combined, the Cr and Ni values showed extremely high correlations (r greater than 0.9). The Cr and Ni concentrations (BO) in lung (3.47 +/- 2.53 micrograms Cr/g, 1.09 +/- 1.43 micrograms Ni/g dry weight) and lymph node tissue (6.30 +/- 3.72 micrograms Cr/g, 1.00 +/- 0.58 micrograms Ni/g dry weight) do not show any correlation. The BO data contained four cases of bronchial carcinoma (all male), three of which showed pulmonary Cr and Ni concentrations that lie clearly above the predicted level. One case of bronchial carcinoma had extremely high Cr and Ni values; an occupational exposure as dental laboratory technician is taken into consideration.