Background and Purpose-Headache is a common symptom in acute ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, but many aspects of its association with other clinical factors are controversial. Methods-We analyzed characteristics of headache symptoms at stroke onset and associations between headache at stroke onset and at several clinical parameters in 2196 patients experiencing ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack within a multicenter hospital-based stroke registry. Results-Five hundred eighty-eight (27%) patients experienced headache at stroke onset. In a multivariate analysis, headache at stroke onset was positively associated with female sex, history of migraine, younger age, cerebellar stroke (but not with other brain stem locations), and blood pressure values on admission Ͻ120 mm Hg systolic and Ͻ70 mm Hg diastolic. It showed no significant association with stroke severity measured by the modified Rankin Scale at days 5 to 7 after the event, presumed etiology, or time of day. Conclusions-Our results, derived from a large number of systematically documented patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular events, show no association of headache with stroke etiology or outcome. Our results indicate that the previously described association of headache with vertebrobasilar stroke is mainly because of its association with cerebellar stroke. We could confirm previously described associations of headache at stroke onset with younger age and a history of migraine, implicating a careful evaluation of young patients with a focal neurological deficit and a history of migraine to avoid misclassification as "complicated migraine." (Stroke. 2005;36:e1-e3.)

Background and Purpose-Data regarding hereditary influences on stroke remain controversial. We investigated possible associations of a family history of stroke with clinical parameters in a large cohort of well-documented patients with ischemic cerebrovascular events, with special reference to sex-specific differences. Methods-We analyzed the association between a maternal and/or paternal history of stroke and clinical parameters in 1564 patients with known maternal and paternal history of stroke and suffering from ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack within the Vienna Stroke Registry. Results-Patients with a maternal history of stroke were significantly more often female (54%) than those without (44%;Pϭ0.003). Hypertension was more prevalent in female patients with than in those without a maternal history of stroke (87% versus 74%; Pϭ0.001). These associations remained significant after multivariate adjustment (adjusted odds ratio, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.5; Pϭ0.024). Of those female patients with an echocardiogram (nϭ225), those with a maternal history of stroke more often had left ventricular hypertrophy (48%) than those without (20%) (adjusted odds ratio, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.5 to 8.2; Pϭ0.003). In contrast, hypertension was equally prevalent in male patients with or without a maternal history of stroke (75% versus 74%; Pϭ0.754). We found no significant associations of clinical parameters with a paternal history of stroke. Conclusions-Our

Over the last 125 years, river regulation has considerably changed the ecological conditions of the Austrian Danube and its floodplains such that the system is now very fragmented. Within the municipal area of Vienna, these changes have been particularly severe: river embankments and a bypass channel (the ‘New Danube’), separated from the main river by an artificial island (‘Danube Island’), are the key elements of flood control, and river levels are controlled by the Vienna hydroelectric power plant (‘Freudenau’). During construction of the hydroelectric power plant, the previously straight shoreline of the 21‐km long Danube island, with its steep embankments, was restructured by creating shallow water areas, gravel banks, small permanent backwaters and temporary waters. This paper describes the scheme and the results from the first year of a 4‐year monitoring programme (‘Danube Island Monitoring Programme’, DIMP) investigating the colonization and successional processes of these areas by monitoring relevant indicator groups (vegetation, dragonflies, amphibians, reptiles, waterfowl). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Our results document the high risk of ischemic vascular complications in patients with ischemic stroke/TIA and atrial fibrillation in a clinical routine setting. The risk was particularly high in patients treated with AA. The risk of major bleeding complications in our population was comparably low.

Fatty acid and sterol profiles play a large role in determining the food quality of prey in aquatic food webs. Ciliates have limited ability to synthesize essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and sterols, and must obtain these from their food. Many mixotrophic ciliates, however, are in a symbiosis with Chlorella, and this may compensate for prey that is low in PUFA and sterols. Moreover, when PUFA-rich prey are P-limited, mixotrophs may be less dependent than heterotrophs on having the optimal mixture of PUFA-rich and P-rich prey. To test these hypotheses, experiments were conducted using heterotrophic-mixotrophic species pairs and prey mixes with varying proportions of good and poor quality prey. Prey proportions had clear effects on ciliate growth rates, often with a clear threshold. In only one species, however, did mixotrophy appeared to be advantageous, with growth independent of the proportion of PUFA-rich prey. In the other two species pairs, mixotrophy gave at best a small advantage over heterotrophy when there was a large proportion of PUFA-poor prey, independent of whether the PUFA-rich prey was P-limited or P-replete. While PUFA- and sterol-rich prey are important for heterotrophic ciliates, mixotrophy cannot be universally employed as an alternate source of these required nutrients.