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To determine the therapeutic effect of sulfur amino acid supplementation in HIV infection we randomized 40 patients with antiretroviral therapy (ART; study 1) and 29 patients without ART (study 2) to treatment for 7 months with N-acetyl-cysteine or placebo at an individually adjusted dose according to a defined scheme. The main outcome measures were the change in immunological parameters including natural killer (NK) cell and T cell functions and the viral load. Both studies showed consistently that N-acetyl-cysteine causes a marked increase in immunological functions and plasma albumin concentrations. The effect of N-acetyl-cysteine on the viral load, in contrast, was not consistent and may warrant further studies. Our findings suggest that the impairment of immunological functions in HIV+ patients results at least partly from cysteine deficiency. Because immune reconstitution is a widely accepted aim of HIV treatment, N-acetyl-cysteine treatment may be recommended for patients with and without ART. Our previous report on the massive loss of sulfur in HIV-infected subjects and the present demonstration of the immunoreconstituting effect of cysteine supplementation indicate that the HIV-induced cysteine depletion is a novel mechanism by which a virus destroys the immune defense of the host and escapes immune elimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency of peripheral nerve involvement in sarcoidosis is uncertain. To determine how often peripheral nerves are affected in the absence of symptoms, electromyography was performed on 29 sarcoid patients and 29 age-matched controls. Nineteen sarcoid patients, compared to two controls, had abnormally low sensory amplitudes in one or more nerves, and the mean sensory amplitudes for median, ulnar, and sural nerves were lower in the patient than in the controls. Subclinical mononeuropathy multiplex appears to be common in sarcoidosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a five year period at the Harlem Hospital Center nine heroin addicts were seen with strokes. Four occurred after loss of consciousness following intravenous heroin. Two occurred in patients using heroin at the time, but were not related to overdose or to a particular recent injection. The youth of these patients and lack of other predisposing factors suggests that heroin played a role in their strokes. In the other three patients, the relationships of stroke to heroin is less persuasive. There are several possible mechanisms by which heroin abuse could lead to stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An increasing number of farmers use cover crop mixtures instead of monoculture cover crops to improve soil and crop quality. However, only little information is available about the weed suppression ability of cover crop mixtures. Therefore, two field experiments were conducted in Baden-Württemberg between 2010 and 2012, to compare growth and weed suppression of monoculture cover crops and cover crop mixtures. In the first experiment, heterogeneous results between yellow mustard and the cover crop mixture occurred. For further research, a field experiment was conducted in 2012 to compare monocultures of yellow mustard and hemp with three cover crop mixtures. The evaluated mixtures were: “MELO”: for soil melioration; “BETA”: includes only plant species with no close relation to main cash crops in Central Europe and “GPS”: for usage as energy substrate in spring. Yellow mustard, MELO, BETA and GPS covered 90% of the soil in less than 42 days and were able to reduce photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) on soil surface by more than 96% after 52 days. Hemp covered 90% of the soil after 47 days and reduced PAR by 91% after 52 days. Eight weeks after planting, only BETA showed similar growth to yellow mustard which produced the highest dry matter. The GPS mixture had comparatively poor growth, while MELO produced similar dry matter to hemp. Yellow mustard, MELO and BETA reduced weed growth by 96% compared with a no cover crop control, while hemp and GPS reduced weeds by 85% and 79%. In spring, weed dry matter was reduced by more than 94% in plots with yellow mustard and all mixtures, while in hemp plots weeds were only reduced by 71%. The results suggest that the tested cover crop mixtures offer similar weed suppression ability until spring as the monoculture of the competitive yellow mustard.

Lopsided oat (Avena strigosa) has been cultivated for many years, especially in Brazil, as a summer annual cover crop. Experiments were conducted in Stuttgart-Hohenheim in 2010 to estimate the capability of lopsided oat, yellow mustard (Sinapis alba), phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) and a cover crop mixture to suppress weeds and volunteer wheat. A pot experiment was conducted to analyze the emergence and growth of the different cover crop species. Twelve weeks after planting, lopsided oat produced 20.7 dt/ha of shoot- and 5.5 dt/ha of root dry matter. A field experiment was established in the summer after harvest of winter wheat. The soil was cultivated with a disc harrow and the cover crops were sown one day later. At four week intervals, the plant density and dry matter of cover crops, weeds and volunteer wheat were determined. Twelve weeks after planting, lopsided oat produced 17.8 dt/ha shoot- and 6.2 dt/ha root dry matter. In the lopsided oat plots, shoot dry matter of weeds and volunteer wheat were reduced by 98 % compared with control plots without cover crops. This was the highest weed reduction of all cover crops studied. The root dry matter of weeds and volunteer wheat was reduced by 55 % to 97 % in all cover crops, compared to the control plots. Lopsided oat reduced the plant density of weeds and volunteer wheat. While there were 54.5 plants/m² in the control plots, only 5.5 plants/m² were counted in the lopsided oat plots. The results showed that lopsided oat has a high potential for suppression of weeds and volunteer wheat in autumn. It also enlarges the number of cultivated cover crops in Central Europe.

Presents a clinical case of quinine amblyopia related to heroin addiction. Case report of the patient; Effects of quinine on the human body.