Takotsubo cardiomyopathy shortly following pacemaker implantation—case report and review of the literature

We describe a patient with acute heart failure shortly after pacemaker implantation. With the documentation of typical dyskinesia of the apical segments with hyperdynamic contractility of the basal segments and a normal coronary angiogram, pacemaker implantation-induced Takotsubo cardiomyopathy was diagnosed. Supportive care was administered and within several days the patient’s symptoms resolved. After several weeks, the left ventricular function had fully recovered. A review of the literature on Takotsubo cardiomyopathy after pacemaker implantation is presented.     

The Basal Nodosaurid Ankylosaur Europelta carbonensis n. gen., n. sp. from the Lower Cretaceous (Lower Albian) Escucha Formation of Northeastern Spain

Nodosaurids are poorly known from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. Two associated ankylosaur skeletons excavated from the lower Albian carbonaceous member of the Escucha Formation near Ariño in northeastern Teruel, Spain reveal nearly all the diagnostic recognized character that define nodosaurid ankylosaurs. These new specimens comprise a new genus and species of nodosaurid ankylosaur and represent the single most complete taxon of ankylosaur from the Cretaceous of Europe. These two specimens were examined and compared to all other known ankylosaurs. Comparisons of these specimens document that Europelta carbonensis n. gen., n. sp. is a nodosaur and is the sister taxon to the Late Cretaceous nodosaurids Anoplosaurus, Hungarosaurus, and Struthiosaurus, defining a monophyletic clade of European nodosaurids– the Struthiosaurinae.     

Die doppelte motorische Innervation des Scherenschliessers von Astacus fluviatilis

Zusammenfassung Es wird gezeigt, daß die schnelle Zuckung des Schließers von Astacus fluviatilis auf einem einzigen Nervenimpuls beruht. Die Chronaxie dieser Zuckung ist 0,4 .Der ganze Schließmuskel wird nur von zwei motorischen (erregenden) Axonen innerviert. Der eine, dickere Axon, erzeugt die schnelle Zuckung, der andere die langsame Kontraktion. Das Verhältnis der Durchmesser dieser Axone ist 1,41.Zum Schlüsse möchte ich meinen Dank Herrn Prof. Dr. H. J. Jordan für die Gastfreundschaft in seinem Institut aussprechen, ebenso Herrn Dr. S. L. Schouten für die Freundlichkeit, mit der er mir einen seiner Mikromanipulatoren zur Verfügung stellte.     

On the organization of memory in the optomotor system of the crab pachygrapsus crassipes

Memory responses of the optomotor system to rotations of various stripe patterns were studied. The separate elements of the visual background are individually remembered in terms of the parts of the eye on which their images fell. A visual illusion resulting from this property is described. All parts of the retina have an equal capacity to contribute to memory. The memory response results from the summation of contributions from individual elements rather than the maintenance of a fixation upon any particular feature of the situation. Both the separation between background elements for angles from 6° up to 60° and the number of elements present affect the size of the memory evoked response.     

Reinstitutionalisation in mental health care: comparison of data on service provision from six European countries

Objective To establish whether reinstitutionalisation is occurring in mental health care and, if so, with what variations between western European countries.Design Comparison of data on changes in service provision.Setting Six European countries with different traditions of mental health care that have all experienced deinstitutionalisation since the 1970s—England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.Outcome measures Changes in the number of forensic hospital beds, involuntary hospital admissions, places in supported housing, general psychiatric hospital beds, and general prison population between 1990-1 and 2002-3.Results Forensic beds and places in supported housing have increased in all countries, whereas changes in involuntary hospital admissions have been inconsistent. The number of psychiatric hospital beds has been reduced in five countries, but only in two countries does this reduction outweigh the number of additional places in forensic institutions and supported housing. The general prison population has substantially increased in all countries.Conclusions Reinstitutionalisation is taking place in European countries with different traditions of health care, although with significant variation between the six countries studied. The precise reasons for the phenomenon remain unclear. General attitudes to risk containment in a society, as indicated by the size of the prison population, may be more important than changing morbidity and new methods of mental healthcare delivery.     

Die Kohlehydratverdauung bei Astacus fluviatilis

Zusammenfassung Im Flußkrebsmagensaft fanden wir Amylase, Maltase, sehr wenig In vertase und keine Lactase.Das p_H-Optimum der Amylase ist bei p_H 5,6, der Invertase bei p_H 5,7–6,0. Maltase hat kein scharfes Optimum, sondern ein flaches Optimum zwischen p_H 5 und 6.Die Maltase und die Amylase des Saftes haben ungefähr dieselbe Wirkungsgeschwindigkeit.Die Temperatur verschiebt das p_H-Optimum der Amylase nicht oder nur sehr wenig.Aus der Tatsache, daß die Amylase und die Maltase die gleiche Wirkungsgeschwindigkeit haben, ergibt sich, daß dem Flußkrebs die für die Wirbeltiere charakteristische Regulierung der Ernährung fehlt. Das gleiche dürfte nach Untersuchung von Shinoda und Krueger auch für Eiweißverdauung gelten. Eine Spekulation über die Möglichkeit der Überschwemmung des Krebsorganismus mit Zucker können wir uns sparen, da wir noch zu wenig davon wissen. Nur so viel sei gesagt, daß eine Zuckerresorption im Magen nicht stattfindet, und daß die Menge des Zuckers, die in die Mitteldarmdrüse gelangt, in der Zeiteinheit äußerst gering sein muß, aus Gründen, die wir in der Einleitung besprachen. Schon deswegen muß eine Überschwemmung, wie sie bei den Wirbeltieren stattfinden könnte, hier ausgeschlossen sein. Die Frage, inwieweit überhaupt bei diesen. Tieren eine Regulierung der Kohlehydrate des Blutes lebensnotwendig ist, kann nicht beantwortet werden. Sicherlich aber haben nach Henningsen (11) die Tiere keinen festen Zuckerspiegel, wie ihn die Säugetiere haben, sie können ohne jeden Zuckergehalt des Blutes leben. Nach reichlichen Mahlzeiten steigt die Zuckermenge des Blutes allerdings schnell an, bis etwa 0,030%. Eine Regulation gibt es nur insoweit, als nach Einspritzung größerer Zuckermengen in das Blut der Zuckergehalt des Blutes bald sinkt, bis er gleich demjenigen wird, den man beim gefütterten Tiere findet, solange der Vorrat reicht, wird er dann konstant erhalten. Die große Empfindlichkeit des Säugetieres gegen Schwankungen des Zuckergehaltes im Blute dürfte hier also fehlen. Wie in so vielen Fällen, ist also das niedere Tier Schwankungen der Lebensbedingungen ausgesetzt, es fehlt ihm eine Regulation, wie sie für den Zucker beim Säugetier neben der Leber und den bekannten Hormonen auch durch die beschriebene Eigenartigkeit der Verdauung gewährleistet wird. Wir wollen noch darauf hinweisen, daß Jordan und Begemann (12) gezeigt haben, daß durch den Darm der Schnecken (Helix pomatia) Disaccharide ungefähr ebenso leicht diffundieren, als Monosaccharide (Rohrzucker fast ebenso leicht als Traubenzucker).Dem International Educational sind wir zu großem Dank verpflichtet, da es uns in den Stand gesetzt hat, die benötigte Apparatur anzuschaffen.     

The effect of sheltered load on reproduction in Solanum carolinense, a species with variable self-incompatibility

In previous studies, we have investigated the strength of self-incompatibility (SI) in Solanum carolinense, a highly successful weed with a fully functional SI system that inhabits early successional and other disturbed habitats. We have found that the SI response in S. carolinense is a plastic trait—its strength being affected by the age of the flowers, and the presence of developing fruits and that there are genetic differences among families in their self-fertility. However, in species with a fully functional SI response, selfing would not be that common. As a result, deleterious recessives scattered though the genome of horsenettle are only occasionally exposed to selection. It has been suggested that deleterious recessives accumulate near S-alleles in strong SI species because the S-locus is located in a non-recombining region of the genome and because strong S-alleles are never in the homozygous state, thus sheltering some of the genetic load near the S-locus from selection. We performed a series of laboratory and greenhouse experiments to determine the extent to which sheltered load adds to the overall magnitude of inbreeding depression in horsenettle. Specifically, we amplified and sequenced the S-alleles from 16 genets collected from a large population in Pennsylvania and performed a series of controlled self-pollinations. We then grew the selfed progeny in the greenhouse; recorded various measures of growth and reproductive output; and amplified and sequenced their S-allele(s). We found that the heterozygous progeny of self-pollinations produce more flowers and have a greater ability to set both self and cross seed than S-homozygous progeny. We also found evidence of variation in the magnitude of load among S-alleles. These results suggest that sheltered load might slow the fixation of weak (partially compatible) S-alleles in this population, thus adding to the maintenance of a mixed mating system rather than leading to the fixation of the selfing alleles.     

Location of taste buds in intact taste papillae by a selective staining method

Summary Taste buds were found to stain strongly and selectively in intact papillae with highly acidic dyes such as ponceau S. In intact tongues the taste buds in the fungiform, circumvallate and foliate papillae of the cynomolgus monkey and in the fungiform papillae of the rat as well as the taste discs in the fungiform papillae of the frog could be visualized. This method enables a rapid location and counting of taste buds in taste papillae without preparing histological sections. In cynomolgus tongue material fixed in formalin, the dyes penetrate into the buds. In fresh tongues only the taste pore region of the buds stains, which suggests that in vivo taste buds are impenetrable underneath the pore.