A novel inhalation allergen present in the working environment of beekeepers.

Background: Inhalation allergies, caused by allergens from various kinds of pollen, house dust mites, animal epithelium, and mould fungi, are strongly increasing in frequency. In 2.6% of the cases the allergen source remains unidentified.

Circadian rhythm of serum cortisol after repeated inhalation of the new topical steroid ciclesonide.

Unlabelled: The new inhalative glucocorticoid ciclesonide which is activated in lung to a more potent metabolite was hypothesized to have low risk for systemic and local side-effects in man. Therefore, a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind, four-period, change-over equivalence study in 12 healthy male volunteers (age 21-28 yr, body weight 62-90 kg) was conducted to assess the influence of three dosage regimens (800 microg in the morning, 800 microg in the evening, 400 microg twice daily for 7 d, metered inhalers) on the circadian time serum cortisol rhythm.

Results: Serum cortisol showed the typical circadian rhythm.

Perioperative cataract OP management by means of teleconsultation.

Background: Teleconsultation services have the potential to improve the communication among different medical care providers and between them and the patient. Increasing effectiveness in the shape of a savings in time or cost is often the result of better communication.

Methods: A study was performed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of teleconsultation services, using the perioperative management of cataract patients as an example, and to provide data on the quality, acceptance and effectiveness of these services in comparison with a control group experiencing normal treatment.

[Teleconsultation network for ophthalmology--experiences and results].

Motivation: Telemedical services for ophthalmology are developed within the OPHTEL project, which has been funded by the European Union and by the Bavarian government in the Bavaria-online initiative.

Methods: Seven private ophthalmologists, one university eye clinic, one clinical Diabetes center and an informatics research institute are connected within a teleconsultation network. Asynchronous (based on Internet E-Mail) and synchronous (based on ISDN-mediated videoconferencing tools) types of teleconsultations are realized.

Inhibition of brain protein synthesis by cycloheximide does not affect formation of long-term memory in honeybees after olfactory conditioning.

The honeybee forms a long-term memory in different training situations that lasts for a lifetime, but the cellular mechanisms of long-term memory formation are not known. We analyzed the dependency of long-term memory on the de novo brain protein synthesis. The protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide was injected via the median ocellus directly into the brain.