ABSTRACT
Background: Patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) have an increased tendency to develop bacterial skin infections. Colonization with Staphylococcus aureus is known to be a major trigger and ...might also play a pathophysiological role. Because of their antiseptic action, silver-coated textiles suppress S. aureus colonization and toxin formation, thus damping the inflammatory reaction.
Objectives: To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and safety of a special silver textile in the treatment of patients suffering from acute AD.
Methods: In a randomized phase II monocenter parallel-group comparative study 30 patients were recruited (average age 25.5 years, min. 4 years, max. 70 years) who were affected by AD in an acute phase. During the first study phase from Day 1 to Day 14, 10 patients received a silver textile (Group 1), 10 a silver-free textile (Group 2), and 10 prednicarbate ointment (Group 3). In the second phase from Day 15 to Day 28 all patients wore the silver textile, and during the follow-up period from Day 28 to Day 56 no textiles were used. Prednicarbate ointment was allowed as emergency medication, but ointment consumption was measured. The overall severity of the disease was evaluated using the SCORAD index as the primary efficacy parameter. Secondary parameters included severity of pruritus and the patients’ assessment of their disease control (uncontrolled, limited, good or complete). Safety tests included hematology, blood chemistry, urinalysis for silver, and physical examination for silver deposits in the skin and mucous membranes.
Results: The initial SCORAD was 61.6 (IQR 26.6, min. 30.6, max. 99.9). At the end of the Study Phase 1 the SCORAD had improved significantly in the patients of Groups 1 (74.6–29.9, p = 0.005) and 3 (57.8–24.0, p = 0.009). During Study Phase 2 healing of eczema continued in Group 1 (SCORAD 29.9–18.1, p = 0.037), was observed in Group 2 (48.2–24.1, p = 0.015), and remained at an improved level in Group 3 (SCORAD 24–23.5). Consumption of prednicarbate ointment (Phase 1, Phase 2, follow-up period, medians are given): Group 1: 135 g, 10 g, 45 g; Group 2: 13 g, 0 g, 0 g; Group 3: 145 g, 30 g, 90 g. Silver textiles reduced the severity of the pruritus (p = 0.031); silver-free textiles (n.s.) and prednicarbate (n.s.) were less effective. No undesired events were observed.
Conclusion: The elastic silver textile worn directly against the skin led to an impressive improvement of AD and a reduction in the use of prednicarbate ointment.
We investigated in patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and after compression therapy the fluxmotion within characteristic frequency bands, which were described earlier by Bracic and ...Stefanovska (Bull. Math. Biol. 60 (1998), 919-935).Therefore, the frequency spectra of laser Doppler flux data of the 36 patient's legs were compared with 41 legs of healthy subjects. In addition, 14 patients with CVI wore a compression stocking (interface pressure: 25-32 mmHg) or compression bandages and were measured after 4 weeks therapy. Data were analyzed by means of a Wavelet packet transformation (a combination of the Daubechies filter of order 4 and the Haar filter).We found significant differences between the patients and the healthy subjects in the frequency intervals of myogenic 0.06-0.16 Hz, respiratory 0.16-0.6 Hz and heart activity 0.6-1.6 Hz (p<0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). Furthermore, the main energy peak height in these frequency intervals increased with the severity of venous disease and was highest in patients with venous leg ulceration. Compression therapy had a significant influence in myogenic vessel activity, which has been proved by a positive frequency shift of 20% (p=0.007, one-sided by the exact Wilcoxon test).In venous disease fluxmotion was increased. Compression therapy over a period of 4 weeks improved myogenic vessel activity.
An algorithm for calculating the Lorentz angle in silicon detectors Bartsch, V.; de Boer, W.; Bol, J. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2003, Letnik:
497, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Future experiments will use silicon sensors in the harsh radiation environment of the Large Hadron Collider and high magnetic fields. The drift direction of the charge carriers is affected by the ...Lorentz force due to the high magnetic field. Also the resulting radiation damage changes the properties of the drift.
In this paper measurements of the Lorentz angle of electrons and holes before and after irradiation are reviewed and compared with a simple algorithm to compute the Lorentz angle.
The charge collection efficiency (CCE) of heavily irradiated silicon diode detectors was investigated at temperatures between 77 and 200
K. The CCE was found to depend on the radiation dose, bias ...voltage value and history, temperature, and bias current generated by light. The detector irradiated to the highest fluence 2×10
15
n/cm
2 yields a MIP signal of at least 15000
e
− both at 250
V forward bias voltage, and at 250
V reverse bias voltage in the presence of a light-generated current. The “Lazarus effect” was thus shown to extend to fluences at least ten times higher than was previously studied.
Lorentz angle measurements in silicon detectors Bartsch, V.; de Boer, W.; Bol, J. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
02/2002, Letnik:
478, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
In this paper we study the Lorentz angles of both electrons and holes in magnetic fields up to
8
T and temperatures between 77 and
300
K. This is done before and after irradiating a detector with 21
...MeV protons up to a fluence of 10
13/cm
2, which is equivalent to ≈2.8×10
13/cm
2 1
MeV neutrons.
A green phototrophic bacterium was enriched with ferrous iron as sole electron donor and was isolated in defined coculture with a spirilloid chemoheterotrophic bacterium. The coculture oxidized ...ferrous iron to ferric iron with stoichiometric formation of cell mass from carbon dioxide. Sulfide, thiosulfate, or elemental sulfur was not used as electron donor in the light. Hydrogen or acetate in the presence of ferrous iron increased the cell yield of the phototrophic partner, and hydrogen could also be used as sole electron source. Complexed ferric iron was slowly reduced to ferrous iron in the dark, with hydrogen as electron source. Similar to Chlorobium limicola, the phototrophic bacterium contained bacteriochlorophyll c and chlorobactene as photosynthetic pigments, and also resembled representatives of this species morphologically. On the basis of 16S rRNA sequence comparisons, this organism clusters with Chlorobium, Prosthecochloris, and Pelodictyon species within the green sulfur bacteria phylum. Since the phototrophic partner in the coculture KoFox is only moderately related to the other members of the cluster, it is proposed as a new species, Chlorobium ferrooxidans. The chemoheterotrophic partner bacterium, strain KoFum, was isolated in pure culture with fumarate as sole substrate. The strain was identified as a member of the epsilon-subclass of the Proteobacteria closely related to "Geospirillum arsenophilum" on the basis of physiological properties and 16S rRNA sequence comparison. The "Geospirillum" strain was present in the coculture only in low numbers. It fermented fumarate, aspartate, malate, or pyruvate to acetate, succinate, and carbon dioxide, and could reduce nitrate to dinitrogen gas. It was not involved in ferrous iron oxidation but possibly provided a thus far unidentified growth factor to the phototrophic partner.
A description of purple, non-sulphur bacteria that can oxidize colorless iron to brown iron and reduce carbon dioxide to cell material is offered. This implies that oxygen-independent biological iron ...oxidation was possible before the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis.
Future experiments are using silicon detectors in a high radiation environment and in high magnetic fields. The radiation tolerance of silicon improves by cooling it to temperatures of approximately
...130
K
. Charge carriers generated in silicon by traversing particles are deflected due to the Lorentz force. We present measurements of the Lorentz angle in irradiated silicon detectors between 77 and
300
K
. These results and the ones obtained from non-irradiated detectors are compared with simulations.
Oxidation of ferrous iron was studied with the anaerobic phototrophic bacterial strain BS-1. Based on morphology, substrate utilization patterns, arrangement of intracytoplasmic membranes and the in ...vivo absorption spectrum, this strain was assigned to the known species Rhodomicrobium vannielii. Also, the type strain of this species oxidized ferrous iron in the light. Phototrophic growth of strain BS-1 with ferrous iron as electron donor was stimulated by the presence of acetate or succinate as cosubstrates. The ferric iron hydroxides produced precipitated on the cell surfaces as solid crusts which impeded further iron oxidation after two to three generations. The complexing agent nitrilotriacetate stimulated iron oxidation but the yield of cell mass did not increase stoichiometrically under these conditions. Other complexing agents inhibited cell growth. Ferric iron was not reduced in the dark, and manganese salts were neither oxidized nor reduced. It is concluded that ferrous iron oxidation by strain BS-1 is only a side activity of this bacterium that cannot support growth exclusively with this electron source over prolonged periods of time.
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