Digital decision support for structural improvement of melanoma tumor boards: using standard cases to optimize workflow.

Purpose: Choosing optimal cancer treatment is challenging, and certified cancer centers must present all patients in multidisciplinary tumor boards (MDT). Our aim was to develop a decision support system (DSS) to provide treatment recommendations for apparently simple cases already at conference registration and to classify these as "standard cases". According to certification requirements, discussion of standard cases is optional and would thus allow more time for complex cases.

[Inflammatory dermatoses in children and adolescents : Diagnosis and treatment of atopic dermatitis and psoriasis].

Atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis belong to the most common inflammatory dermatoses that we treat in everyday clinical practice. AD manifests in more than 70% of cases before the age of 5 years. Approximately one-third of psoriasis patients report on onset of disease in the first two decades of life.

Impact of off-label use regulations on patient care in dermatology - a prospective study of cost-coverage applications filed by tertiary dermatology clinics throughout Germany.

Background: In dermatology, a medical speciality with a relatively high number of rare diseases, physicians often have to resort to off-label treatment options. To avoid claims, physicians in Germany can file a cost-coverage request (off-label application, OL-A).

Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the extent to which the current regulations affect patient care.

[Targeted therapies in Pyoderma gangrenosum: deciphering pathophysiology and improving disease management].

The immune response is a central process during wound healing. Malfunctions often lead to chronic inflammation, barrier disorders, and ulcerations of the skin. The underlying pathomechanisms are complex and the subject of current dermatological research.

Safety and persistence of orally administered human Lactobacillus sp. strains in healthy adults.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the safety and persistence of selected Lactobacillus strains in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) of healthy adult volunteers after oral consumption of high doses of lactobacilli to identify potential candidates for probiotic and biotechnological applications. In the first phase of the study, nine individuals consumed capsules containing Lactobacillus gasseri 177 and E16B7, Lactobacillus acidophilus 821-3, Lactobacillus paracasei 317 and Lactobacillus fermentum 338-1-1 (each daily dose 1×1010 cfu) for 5 consecutive days. Data on gut health, blood parameters, and liver and kidney function were collected.

Screening and evaluation of human intestinal lactobacilli for the development of novel gastrointestinal probiotics.

The aim of this study was to screen intestinal lactobacilli strains for their advantageous properties to select those that could be used for the development of novel gastrointestinal probiotics. Ninety-three isolates were subjected to screening procedures. Fifty-nine percent of the examined lactobacilli showed the ability to auto-aggregate, 97% tolerated a high concentration of bile (2% w/v), 50% survived for 4 h at pH 3.

Characterization of oral lactobacilli as potential probiotics for oral health.

Introduction: Intestinal lactobacilli have been successfully used as probiotics to treat gastrointestinal disorders, but only limited data are available for the probiotic properties of oral lactobacilli to combat oral diseases. We aimed to characterize oral lactobacilli for their potential probiotic properties according to the international guidelines for the evaluation of probiotics, and to select potential probiotic strains for oral health.

Methods: The study included 67 salivary and subgingival lactobacilli of 10 species, isolated from healthy humans.

Contraceptive efficacy, compliance and beyond: factors related to satisfaction with once-weekly transdermal compared with oral contraception.

Objective: To investigate contraceptive efficacy, compliance and user's satisfaction with transdermal versus oral contraception (OC).

Study Design: Randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial conducted at 65 centers in Europe and South Africa. One thousand four hundred and eighty-nine women received a contraceptive patch (n = 846) or an OC (n = 643) for 6 or 13 cycles.

Partially hydroxylated 2,5-disubstituted bis-tetrahydrofurans from carbohydrates.

The diverse bioactivities of annonaceous acetogenins have recently attracted increasing interest. Many of these natural products contain one or more 2,5-disubstituted tetrahydrofuran rings as a core unit; these are important for the bioactivity, since it is believed that these anchor the compounds to the surface of the membrane. Therefore, the synthesis of functionalized bis-tetrahydrofurans is an important task and we have developed a synthetic pathway to all four diastereomeric, partially hydroxylated bis-tetrahydrofurans, that is, 3,6:7,10)-dianhydro-2,8,9-trideoxy-L-erythro-D-ido-undecitol (1), 3,6:7,10-dianhydro-2,8,9-trideoxy-D-threo-D-ido-undecitol (2), 3,6:7,10-dianhydro-2,8,9-trideoxy-L-threo-D-ido-undecitol (3), and 3,6:7,10-dianhydro-2,8,9-trideoxy-D-erythro-D-ido-undecitol (4) starting from D-glucose.

Substrate specificity of sheep liver sorbitol dehydrogenase.

The substrate specificity of sheep liver sorbitol dehydrogenase has been studied by steady-state kinetics over the range pH 7-10. Sorbitol dehydrogenase stereo-selectively catalyses the reversible NAD-linked oxidation of various polyols and other secondary alcohols into their corresponding ketones. The kinetic constants are given for various novel polyol substrates, including L-glucitol, L-mannitol, L-altritol, D-altritol, D-iditol and eight heptitols, as well as for many aliphatic and aromatic alcohols.

Crystal and molecular structures of beta-cellobiosylnitromethane and of beta-maltosylnitromethane heptaacetate.

The structures of the title compounds have been determined by X-ray crystallography, using direct methods, and have been refined to conventional final residual factors of R = 0.063 and R = 0.046, respectively.

A sensitive bedside urine test for human chorionic gonadotrophin in suspected ectopic pregnancy.

An ultrasensitive modification of the Tandem Icon urine test for human chorionic gonadotrophin was used by clinicians, without special training, in the evaluation of 51 women with suspected ectopic pregnancy. There were 2 false-positive results. No negative results occurred in the presence of ectopic or ongoing pregnancy.

Regulation of metabolic branch points of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in Pichia guilliermondii.

The regulatory properties of the enzymes involved in the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis of Pichia guilliermondii were investigated and compared with the regulatory pattern found in other yeast species. 3-Deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate (DAHP) synthase, anthranilate synthase, chorismate mutase and prephenate dehydrogenase are key regulatory enzymes in P. guilliermondii.

Tick-bite fever in pregnancy. A case report.

Despite the frequency of tick-bite fever in southern Africa and its doubtless occurrence in pregnancy, this report documents the first case in a pregnant woman. Consequently, the natural history of tick-bite fever in pregnancy and concomitant placental involvement must be regarded as conjectural. Accordingly a register has been opened by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of the Witwatersrand, for recording similar cases.

[Palliative disconnection of the kidney by transcatheter arterial embolization (author's transl)].

To eliminate urine production of one Kidney transcatheter embolization of the renal artery was performed in 11 patients with mallignant tumors in the area of the pelvis; in addition to the abave procedure in 9 patients a urinary; diversion by transrenal catheter and a ureteric ligation of the opposite side was also carried out. The therapy is of palliative character and signifies the smallest intervention possible to most treat effectively involuntary urination caused by urine fistulas, painful pollakisuria caused by shrinking bladders, and to treat painful hydronephrosis caused by tumors and the like.

[Detection of acetamide in the thermal degradation products of chitin (author's transl)].

Thermal degradation of chitin, which is a constituent of some foods, yields as main volatile compound acetamide (9% of dry weight) a fact with possible physiological implications. Thermal analysis shows decomposition beginning at 200 degrees C.

[Arteriography in old age--an assessment of the risks and technique (author's transl)].

Of 1,263 arteriograms performed over a period of two and a half years, there were 166 patients aged 70 years or more. The indications, angiographic findings and results have been examined retrospectively. In seven patients only was it impossible to carry out the examination because of advanced vascular disease in the pelvis.