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To uniquely classify children with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), to describe their demographic characteristics, presenting clinical features, and initial treatments in comparison to patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener's) (GPA).The European Medicines Agency (EMA) classification algorithm was applied by computation to categorical data from patients recruited to the ARChiVe (A Registry for Childhood Vasculitis: e-entry) cohort, with the data censored to November 2015. The EMA algorithm was used to uniquely distinguish children with MPA from children with GPA, whose diagnoses had been classified according to both adult- and pediatric-specific criteria. Descriptive statistics were used for comparisons.In total, 231 of 440 patients (64% female) fulfilled the classification criteria for either MPA (n = 48) or GPA (n = 183). The median time to diagnosis was 1.6 months in the MPA group and 2.1 months in the GPA group (ranging to 39 and 73 months, respectively). Patients with MPA were significantly younger than those with GPA (median age 11 years versus 14 years). Constitutional features were equally common between the groups. In patients with MPA compared to those with GPA, pulmonary manifestations were less frequent (44% versus 74%) and less severe (primarily, hemorrhage, requirement for supplemental oxygen, and pulmonary failure). Renal pathologic features were frequently found in both groups (75% of patients with MPA versus 83% of patients with GPA) but tended toward greater severity in those with MPA (primarily, nephrotic-range proteinuria, requirement for dialysis, and end-stage renal disease). Airway/eye involvement was absent among patients with MPA, because these GPA-defining features preclude a diagnosis of MPA within the EMA algorithm. Similar proportions of patients with MPA and those with GPA received combination therapy with corticosteroids plus cyclophosphamide (69% and 78%, respectively) or both drugs in combination with plasmapheresis (19% and 22%, respectively). Other treatments administered, ranging in decreasing frequency from 13% to 3%, were rituximab, methotrexate, azathioprine, and mycophenolate mofetil.Younger age at disease onset and, perhaps, both gastrointestinal manifestations and more severe kidney disease seem to characterize the clinical profile in children with MPA compared to those with GPA. Delay in diagnosis suggests that recognition of these systemic vasculitides is suboptimal. Compared with adults, initial treatment regimens in children were comparable, but the complete reversal of female-to-male disease prevalence ratios is a provocative finding.

Background/Aims: Origin of sex difference in urinary osmolality. Methods: In 495 healthy children aged 4.0–14.9 years participating in the DONALD (Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed) study (247 boys, 248 girls), the water intake recorded in 24-hour weighed dietary records along with urinary volume, osmolality and free water reserve in 24-hour urine samples from the same day as the dietary record were determined. Results: Boys showed a significantly higher energy intake, total water intake, urinary osmolality and osmolar load than girls but no increase in urinary volume. When referred to energy intake, mean urinary volume and mean free water reserve were significantly higher in girls than boys. Girls could have a preference for food with a higher water density and lower non-renal water losses. Conclusion: German girls of the DONALD study displayed a lower urinary osmolality than German boys due to a relatively higher urinary volume. The sex difference could be caused by a higher water density of the ingested food (ml/kcal) and a lower insensible water loss (ml/kcal) in girls than boys.

Die Globalisierung der Wirtschaft ist ein unaufhaltsamer Prozess im Zuge eines immer rascheren Wandels durch technologische Innovationen. Die Herausforderungen an Untemehmen und Organisationen werden zunehmend komplexer und unterliegen schnelleren Veranderungen als bisher. Die transnationalen Kommunikationsmöglichkeiten werden in Zukunft eine immer wichtigere Rolle in einer Welt spielen, die nicht länger in ideologische Blöcke gespalten ist. Die entscheidenden Impulse fur die zukünftige Entwicklung userer Welt werden nicht mehr von einzelnen Nationen, auch nicht von starken Wirtschaftsräumen, sondern von einzelnen Untemehmensgruppen kommen, die globale Marktführerschaft innehaben.

The working mechanism of intravesical electrical stimulation (IVES) was evaluated in alpha-chloralose anaesthetized cats and rats. IVES involved a direct activation of bladder mechanoreceptor afferents of the A delta type and as a consequence a central reflex activation of the detrusor. The detrusor response was abolished by bilateral transection of the S1-S3 dorsal roots and by intravesical instillation of lidocaine. The optimal stimulation frequency was 20 Hz. The results offer a theoretical rationale for the use of IVES as treatment of weak detrusor contractility in man.

Thirty cases of nontyphoidal Salmonella bacteriuria were identified by review of cultures performed at the Mayo Clinic (Minn.) from 1985 to 1989 and at the Federal Public Health Laboratory Innsbruck (Austria) from 1979 to 1989. All patients had symptoms of an acute urinary tract infection (UTI). In 24 cases nontyphoidal Salmonella was the sole pathogen isolated. Only 1 patient presented with concomitant gastroenteritis and 2 had experienced episodes of diarrhea during the weeks before the UTI, but 15 patients had positive stool cultures in the absence of a gastrointestinal illness. Among all positive urine cultures at the Mayo Microbiology Laboratory, 0.015% were positive for nontyphoidal Salmonella; at the Federal Public Health Laboratory Innsbruck, 0.024% of organisms cultured from urine were nontyphoidal salmonellae. In the majority of our patients, Salmonella UTI did not differ clinically from UTI caused by other members of the Enterobacteriaceae; only in renal transplant recipients was the course of genitourinary salmonellosis more serious. While some urinary isolates of nontyphoidal Salmonella may be fecal contaminants, all 30 isolates recovered from urine during this study were considered to be the cause of symptomatic UTI.

The paper presents a concept and an implementation of a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) energy storage test bench. This system permits to simulate energy management strategies or battery models in real time in combination with a real energy storage system. A vehicle behavior is simulated on computer, such as longitudinal dynamics, internal combusting engine (IEC), electric motors etc. and a software interface to a Data Acquisition Card (DAQ) provides real signal inputs and outputs from the simulation environment. The presented HIL system is an adequate platform for the verification and validation of battery models, thermal management models or battery management models.

Clinical efficacy and adverse effects of oxybutynin and propantheline in the treatment of symptoms related to detrusor hyperactivity were studied in a randomized, controlled, double-blind multicenter trial. Of 169 patients entered into the study 154 were evaluable for statistical analysis. Mean grade of improvement (visual analogue scale) was significantly higher with oxybutynin (58.2%) versus propantheline (44.7%) and placebo (43.4%). Mean bladder volume at first involuntary cystometric contraction was significantly increased with oxybutynin (+57.0 ml.) versus placebo (-9.7 ml.). Mean maximum cystometric bladder capacity was also significantly increased with oxybutynin (+80.1 ml.) versus placebo (+22.5 ml.). Rate of inquired possible adverse effects was significantly higher for oxybutynin (63%) versus propantheline (44%) and placebo (33%). However, only 5 patients dropped out of the study because of adverse effects (oxybutynin 2 and propantheline 3). No serious or lasting adverse effects were encountered with dryness of the mouth being the major complaint. Oxybutynin has statistically significant effects on subjective symptoms and objective urodynamic parameters in patients with detrusor hyperactivity compared to propantheline.