"A Revolution in Favor of Reproduction"? Gynecology and Obstetrics in the "Third Reich".

During the "Third Reich," the majority of German gynecologists and obstetricians did not hesitate to put themselves at the service of those in power. In 1933, many gynecologists initially only focused on the fact that the biopolitical objectives of the National Socialists matched their own long-standing demands for population policy measures and the early detection and prevention of cancer. In addition, cooperating with the Nazis promised the political advancement of the profession, personal advantages, and the honorary title of Volksgesundheitsführer (national health leaders).

Introducing multiple-choice questions to promote learning for medical students: effect on exam performance in obstetrics and gynecology.

Purpose: Testing is required in medical education. The large number of exams that students face requires effective learning strategies. Various methods of improving knowledge retention and recall have been discussed, two of the most widely evaluated of which are test-enhanced learning and pause procedures.

Logbooks alone are not enough: initial experience with implementing a logbook for medical students in a clinical internship in gynecology and obstetrics.

Background: Logbooks are being increasingly widely used as a means of improving medical education and further training. They will in all probability continue to be mandatory in the Practical Year (PJ) in Germany even after the upcoming amendment of the Medical Licensing Regulations (ÄAppO). However, there are different approaches to their design and use, and these are also currently undergoing considerable change.

Diagnostic Value of Vaginal Discharge, Wet Mount and Vaginal pH - An Update on the Basics of Gynecologic Infectiology.

The majority of uncomplicated vulvovaginal complaints (e.g. bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, trichomoniasis) can be detected with uncomplicated basic infectiological tests and can usually be treated effectively without requiring further diagnostic procedures.

German gynecologic societies investigating their Nazi past.

Purpose: Research into the activities of German medical specialist associations during the Nazi period is still in its initial stages even today. In the field of gynecology and obstetrics as well, most representatives of the discipline continued to take an attitude based on "concealment and forgetting", even after the turn of the millennium. In order to break with this approach, the Bavarian Society for Obstetrics and Gynecology (Bayerische Gesellschaft für Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde, BGGF) commissioned an interdisciplinary research group to focus on clarifying its Nazi past for the purposes of a history of the institution on the occasion of its centenary.

Impact of Patient and Procedure Mix on Finances of Perinatal Centres - Theoretical Models for Economic Strategies in Perinatal Centres.

In Germany, cost and revenue structures of hospitals with defined treatment priorities are currently being discussed to identify uneconomic services. This discussion has also affected perinatal centres (PNCs) and represents a new economic challenge for PNCs. In addition to optimising the time spent in hospital, the hospital management needs to define the "best" patient mix based on costs and revenues.

Tuboovarian abscess caused by Atopobium vaginae following transvaginal oocyte recovery.

A 39-year-old woman with tubarian sterility fell ill with acute pelvic inflammatory disease 2 months after transvaginal oocyte recovery. Laparotomy revealed a large tuboovarian abscess, from which Atopobium vaginae, an anaerobic gram-positive coccoid bacterium of hitherto unknown clinical significance, was isolated. The microbial etiology and the risk of pelvic infections following transvaginal punctures are discussed.

Course of placental 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 and 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase mRNA expression during human gestation.

Background: During human pregnancy, 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2) plays an important role in protecting the fetus from high maternal glucocorticoid concentrations by converting cortisol to inactive cortisone. Furthermore, 11beta-HSD2 is indirectly involved in the regulation of the prostaglandin inactivating enzyme 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (PGDH), because cortisol reduces the gene expression and enzyme activity of PGDH in human placental cells.

Objective: To examine developmental changes in placental 11beta-HSD2 and PGDH gene expression during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of human pregnancies.

Decreased gene expression of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 and 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase in human placenta of patients with preeclampsia.

Cortisol reduces the activity of the PG-inactivating enzyme 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (PGDH) in human placental cells. The objective was to investigate a possible relation between 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11beta-HSD2), converting cortisol to cortisone, and PGDH gene expression in the placenta of patients with preeclampsia. In placental tissue taken from 20 healthy women with normal pregnancy, 20 premature babies born after labor before term, and 18 neonates after preeclamptic pregnancy, 11beta-HSD2 and PGDH messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was determined using quantitative TaqMan real-time PCR and quantitative competitive PCR.

7-Deazaadenines bearing polar substituents: structure-activity relationships of new A(1) and A(3) adenosine receptor antagonists.

A series of 28 new pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine-4-amines, pyrimido[4, 5-b]indole-4-amines, and tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-b]indole-4-amines was synthesized and their adenosine receptor affinity determined in radioligand binding assays at rat A(1) and A(2A) adenosine receptors (ARs). Selected compounds were additionally investigated in binding assays at recombinant A(3) ARs. The 2-phenyl residue in (R)-7-(1-methylbenzyl)-2-phenylpyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine-4-amine (ADPEP, 1) and in the corresponding pyrimido[4,5-b]indole (APEPI, 3) could be bioisosterically replaced by heterocyclic rings, such as 2-thienyl and 4-pyridyl.

Ludwig Fraenkel: 'spiritus rector' of the early progesterone research.

The search for the corpus luteum hormone progesterone took more than three decades and the efforts of many scientists all over Europe and the USA. In 1934, after a dramatic neck-and-neck scientific race, four research groups independently from each other reported on the successful isolation of the pure substance. Two of the groups were from the then-German cities of Breslau and Danzig, the others were from the USA and Switzerland.

[Ludwig Fraenkel, corpus luteum and discovery of progesterone].

In 1934, after a dramatic neck-and-neck scientific race, four research groups independently from each other reported on the successful purification of progesterone. Two of the groups were from the then-German cities of Breslau and Danzig, the others were from the USA and Switzerland. Possibly, the Breslau group had already had the purified hormone as early as 1933.

8-(Sulfostyryl)xanthines: water-soluble A2A-selective adenosine receptor antagonists.

8-(Sulfostyryl)xanthine derivatives were synthesized as water-soluble A2A-selective adenosine receptor (AR) antagonists. meta- and para-sulfostyryl-DMPX (3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine) derivatives 11a and 11b exhibited high affinity to rat A2A-AR in submicromolar concentrations, and were 20- to 30-fold selective versus rat A1-AR. Styryl-DMPX derivatives were inactive at human A2B- and A3-AR.

Bioactive pyridoacridine alkaloids from the micronesian sponge Oceanapia sp.

The Micronesian sponge Oceanapia sp. afforded three pyridoacridine alkaloids: the known compounds kuanoniamine C (1) and kuanoniamine D (2), as well as the new N-deacyl derivative (3) of the kuanoniamines. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited insecticidal activity toward neonate larvae of the polyphagous pest insect Spodoptera littoralis (LC50 of 156 and 59 ppm, respectively), when incorporated into artificial diet.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine derivatives, A2A-selective adenosine receptor antagonists.

A series of 8-substituted derivatives of 3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine (DMPX) was synthesized and investigated as A2A adenosine receptor antagonists. Different synthetic strategies for the preparation of DMPX derivatives and analogues were explored. A recently developed synthetic procedure starting from 3-propargyl-5,6-diaminouracil proved to be the method of choice for the preparation of this type of xanthine derivatives.

Aza-analogs of 8-styrylxanthines as A2A-adenosine receptor antagonists.

In the present study we synthesized aza-analogs of 8-styrylxanthines, in which the ethenyl bridge is replaced by an imine, amide, or azo function, in order to investigate structure-activity relationships of the 8-substituent of A2A-selective xanthine derivatives. Thus, various 8-substituents were combined with theophylline or caffeine, respectively, and affinities of the novel compounds for adenosine A1- and A2a-receptors were determined and compared with those of analogous 8-styrylxanthine derivatives. 8-(Benzylideneamino)caffeine derivatives exhibited high affinity and selectivity for A2A-adenosine receptors, but were unstable in aqueous buffer solution at physiological pH values.

[Champagne administered by spoon for peritonitis after cesarean section. From the history of obstetrics in Erlangen--data from about 60,000 deliveries in 100 years].

The University of Erlangen has been engaged in clinical obstetrics for approximately 170 years. During this time, Erlangen University's delivery house, opened in 1828 and at first having considerably less than 50 births a year, developed into a perinatal centre with approximately 1,700 births a year. For the period from 1880 to 1981, a group of MD students reviewed the existing records and evaluated 60,000 births with respect to more than 40 parameters.

[Room with a view for the "daughters of pain": 1828 was the beginning of new obstetrics in Erlangen].

The roots of clinical obstetrics at the University of Erlangen go back as far as the end of the 18th century. In 1796, Christian Friedrich Deutsch (1768-1843) was appointed as the first university teacher solely responsible for obstetrics. At the same time, he was also vehemently committed to the creation of a clinical institution for the purpose of training in obstetrics.

[In the light of a petroleum lamp the operation could begin. Richard Frommel (1854-1912): pioneer in treatment of ruptured extrauterine pregnancy].

Richard Frommel (1854-1912) can be called an outstanding German gynaecologist during the late 19th century. This article is intended to give a picture of his life, work, and personality. Frommel was director of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the university of Erlangen from 1887 to 1901.