Daphnia behavioural responses to taste and odour compounds: ecological significance and application as an inline treatment plant monitoring tool.

Continuous monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in raw water is highly desirable for taste and odour management, but in most treatment plants this capacity is lacking. We used a bbe Daphnia toximeter installed in the Zurich water treatment plant to determine if Daphnia magna could be used to monitor odour compounds in source-water. Trace levels of two widely distributed biogenic VOCs in freshwater: P-cyclocitral and 2(E),4(E),7(Z)-decatrienal were added to the raw water inflow to chambers containing test animals and their behaviour was recorded using a high resolution camera. We observed that each compound elicited a marked short-term increase in Daphnia swimming velocity, but the effect was brief and an acclimation to the compounds was observed after a time period or with repeated additions. The results demonstrate that the toximeter has considerable potential as a tool to monitor certain VOCs in water, and that Daphnia perceive and react to 2(E),4(E),7(Z)-decatrienal and P-cyclocitral at concentrations between 2.5 and 25 microM.

[Adverse reactions following high-dose intravenous injection of urographic contrast media]. / Nebenwirkungen nach hochdosierter intravenöser Injektion nierengängiger Kontrastmittel.

The frequency and type of side effects from high-dose renographic contrast media correspond with those quoted in the literature for injections of small doses of contrast. In addition to the usual contra-indications against injection of renographic contrast, one should also consider the effect of short-lived increase in circulating volume in patients with left heart insufficiency.

[Subcapsular kidney hematoma: a rare complication of paravertebral infiltration]. / Das subkapsuläre Nierenhämatom: Seltene Komplikation der paravertebralen Infiltration.

Two patients developed subcapsular hematomas of the kidney following orthopaedic paravertebral injection. Clinical course and radiological findings are reported. Renal subcapsular hematomas are indeed frequent complications after stomach and lower thorax injuries; these are also known after diagnostic or therapeutic kidney-punctures. However, damage to the kidney by paravertebral injection is extremely unusual and not previously reported in the literature.

[Unusual cause of subcapsular renal hematoma]. / Ungewöhnliche Ursache des subkapsulären Nierenhämatoms.

In 2 woman patients, the authors found subcapsular renal haematomas after paravertebral injection of a local anaesthetic as part of lumbago treatment. Clinical course and radiological findings are demonstrated. Whereas formation of subcapsular renal haematomas is a well-known phenomenon after traumas, iatrogenic and intentional punctures and a few renal and general diseases, renal lesion after paravertebral injection of a local anaesthetic is an extremely rare occurrence.