[Recommendations on interpretive strategies for routine lung function tests].

During the annual conference of the German Respiratory Society (DGP = Deutsche Gesellschaft für Pneumologie und Beatmungsmedizin) in 2024, updated recommendations for lung function testing have been published. The original full-length version can be downloaded free of charge as pfd-paper from the journal entitled "Atemwegs- und Lungenkrankheiten, Jahrgang 50 (2024) März (111-184)". In the current recommendations new approaches have been embedded that focus on modern interpretations of lung function results, as has been proposed by the ERS (European Respiratory Society) in collaboration with the ATS (American Thoracic Society).

[Diagnosis and treatment of asthma: a guideline for respiratory specialists 2023 - published by the German Respiratory Society (DGP) e. V.].

The management of asthma has fundamentally changed during the past decades. The present guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma was developed for respiratory specialists who need detailed and evidence-based information on the new diagnostic and therapeutic options in asthma. The guideline shows the new role of biomarkers, especially blood eosinophils and fractional exhaled NO (FeNO), in diagnostic algorithms of asthma.

Skin Tests versus Serology: Specific IgE May Suffice for Diagnosis of Vespid Venom Allergy and Follow-Up of Allergen Immunotherapy.

Introduction: In adults, allergic reactions to insect stings are among the most frequent causes of anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition. Recurrent anaphylaxis following vespid stings may be prevented by allergen immunotherapy (AIT). The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of measuring venom-induced wheal area in intracutaneous skin tests (ICT), in comparison to various serological and clinical parameters, for the diagnosis of severe vespid venom allergy and during follow-up of AIT.

Pathogen spectra in hospitalised and nonhospitalised children with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: Paediatric community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of paediatric morbidity. However, particularly for outpatients with paediatric CAP, data on aetiology and management are scarce.

Methods: The prospective pedCAPNETZ study multicentrically enrols children and adolescents with outpatient-treated or hospitalised paediatric CAP in Germany.

Criticality Assessment Method for Automated Driving Systems by Introducing Fictive Vehicles and Variable Criticality Thresholds.

The safety approval and assessment of automated driving systems (ADS) are becoming sophisticated and challenging tasks. Because the number of traffic scenarios is vast, it is essential to assess their criticality and extract the ones that present a safety risk. In this paper, we are proposing a novel method based on the time-to-react (TTR) measurement, which has advantages in considering avoidance possibilities.

Perceived Criticism and Family Attitudes as Predictors of Recurrence in Bipolar Disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a highly recurrent psychiatric condition. While combined pharmacological and psychosocial treatments improve outcomes, not much is known about potential moderators that could affect these treatments. One potential moderator might be the quality of interpersonal relations in families, for example, familial attitudes and perceived criticism.

[New interdisciplinary teaching concept for the cross-sectional subject of allergology in human medicine studies].

Background: Although allergic diseases are among the most important health disorders, allergology is not anchored as an independent subject in the clinical part of medical studies in Germany.

Objective: As all universities and institutes face the same challenge, the aim of our project was to establish exemplary coordination and networking of education in allergology at one location in agreement with all involved departments and institutes. Particularly, Comprehensive Allergy Centers (CAC) offer an established infrastructure via which the revised allergology education program can be transferred to other universities.

Magic Mushrooms - an exploratory look at how mental health professionals feel and think about Psilocybin.

Psilocybin recently received breakthrough status by the FDA for its use in treatment of depression. We therefore investigated mental health professionals' (MHPs) opinions on Psilocybin (n = 155). Overall, attitudes were neutral but self-rated knowledge of Psilocybin was low.

Intracutaneous Skin Tests and Serum IgE Levels Cannot Predict the Grade of Anaphylaxis in Patients with Insect Venom Allergies.

Background: Allergies against Hymenoptera venoms are a major cause of severe anaphylaxis. Risk assessment for subjects with suspected allergy is difficult because there are currently no biomarkers that predict the likelihood of high-grade anaphylaxis other than several associated comorbidities.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between the severity of anaphylaxis and the results of intracutaneous skin tests (ICTs) together with serum levels of tryptase, total IgE, and venom-specific IgE, IgG, and IgG4.

Early priming of asthma and respiratory allergies: Future aspects of prevention: A statement by the European Forum for Education and Research in Allergy and Airway Disease (EUFOREA) and the EAACI-Clemens von Pirquet Foundation.

In order to summarize recent research on the prevention of allergies-particularly asthma-and stimulate new activities for future initiatives, a virtual workshop sponsored by the EAACI Clemens von Pirquet foundation and EUFOREA was held in October 2021. The determinants of the "allergic march" as well as the key messages from intervention studies were reviewed by an international faculty of experts. Several unmet needs were identified, and a number of priorities for future studies were proposed.

Validation of the LEOSound® monitor for standardized detection of wheezing and cough in children.

Background: A hallmark of many respiratory conditions is the presence of nocturnal symptoms. Nevertheless, especially in children there is currently still a huge diagnostic gap in detecting nighttime symptoms, which leads to an underestimation of the frequency in clinical practise.

Methods: We evaluated the clinical applicability and determined the formal test characteristics of the LEOSound ® system, a device for digital long-time recording and automated detection of acoustic airway events.

Clinical presentation and basic defect of the CFTR genotype p.Phe508del / p.Arg117His in a mother and her monozygous twin daughters.

A non-consanguineous two-generation family of parent and monozygous twins who all three share the same CFTR mutation genotype p.Phe508del / p.Arg117His, was examined in clinical features, sweat test, nasal potential difference and intestinal current measurements.

European Respiratory Society clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis of asthma in children aged 5-16 years.

Background: Diagnosing asthma in children represents an important clinical challenge. There is no single gold-standard test to confirm the diagnosis. Consequently, over- and under-diagnosis of asthma is frequent in children.

Dysfunctional Cognition in Individuals With an Increased Risk for Mania.

Background: There is still a lack of knowledge about attitudes and cognitions that are related to bipolar disorder. Theoretically, it was proposed that exaggerated beliefs about the self, relationships, the need for excitement, and goal-related activities might lead to mania in vulnerable individuals, however, the few studies that examined this hypothesis provided mixed results. One of the unresolved issues is if such a cognitive style is associated with current mood symptoms or with different stages of the illness, i.

Wheeze and cough measurements at night in children with respiratory symptoms.

Background: Nocturnal cough and wheeze are important symptoms when diagnosing any respiratory disease in a child, but objective measurements of these symptoms are not performed.

Methods: The aim of our study was to analyze the use of an automated detection system to assess breath sounds objectively in comparison to cough and wheeze questionnaires and to evaluate its feasibility in clinical practice.

Results: Forty-nine recordings of thirty-nine children were processed (asthma n = 13; cystic fibrosis n = 2; pneumonia n = 5; suspicion of habit cough n = 7; prolonged, recurrent or chronic cough n = 13), and cough and asthma scores were compared to the objective nocturnal recordings.

PedCAPNETZ - prospective observational study on community acquired pneumonia in children and adolescents.

Background: Pediatric community acquired pneumonia (pedCAP) is one of the leading causes for childhood morbidity accounting for up to 20% of pediatric hospital admissions in high income countries. In spite of its high morbidity, updated epidemiological and pathogen data after introduction of preventive vaccination and novel pathogen screening strategies are limited. Moreover, there is a need for validated recommendations on diagnostic and treatment regimens in pedCAP.

Asthma control in children: Body plethysmography in addition to spirometry.

Background: There is a lack of agreement among measures of asthma control in children. In Central Europe, body plethysmography is additionally used for asthma monitoring. However, its value is still unclear.

Symptoms, course of Illness, and comorbidity as predictors of expressed emotion in bipolar disorder.

High levels of expressed emotions (EE) reflect the amount of criticism and/or over-involvement in families and has been linked to relapse risk in various psychiatric disorders including bipolar disorder (BD). Less clear is which factors contribute to the development and/or maintenance of EE. Therefore, we tested whether patient characteristics, specifically clinical features and personality disorder traits in BD predicted key aspects of EE as assessed by patients and their relatives.

[Adult ADHD and borderline personality disorder: A pilot study on differences in attachment and early traumatization].

Unlabelled: Adult ADHD and borderline personality disorder: A pilot study on differences in attachment and early traumatization Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood and borderline personality disorder (BPD) share commondiagnostic criteria.The present study examined how ADHD in adulthood can be distinguished from BPDregarding attachment style and traumatic experiences.

Method: The sample consists of N = 30 persons with 50% (n = 15) ADHD patients and 50% (n = 15) BPD patients.

Functional analysis of the p.[Arg74Trp;Val201Met;Asp1270Asn]/p.Phe508del CFTR mutation genotype in human native colon.

Background: The impact of complex alleles on CFTR processing and function has yet not been investigated in native human tissue.

Methods: Intestinal current measurements (ICM) followed by CFTR immunoblot were performed on rectal biopsies taken from two siblings who are compound heterozygous for the CFTR mutations p.Phe508del and the complex allele p.

Pulmonary interstitial glycogenosis - A systematic analysis of new cases.

Background: Pulmonary interstitial glycogenosis (PIG) is a rare paediatric interstitial lung disease of unknown cause. The diagnosis can only be made by lung biopsy. Less than 100 cases have been reported.

What does lung function tell us about respiratory multimorbidity in childhood and early adulthood? Results from the MAS birth cohort study.

Background: Interaction between respiratory multimorbidity and lung function has not been examined in longitudinal population studies. We aimed to assess the association of multimorbidity of asthma and rhinitis with lung function and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in comparison with single and no allergies from early school age to young adulthood.

Methods: In 1990, the Multicenter Allergy Study birth cohort recruited 1314 newborns from 5 German cities.

Autonomous emergency braking systems adapted to snowy road conditions improve drivers' perceived safety and trust.

Objective: This study investigated drivers' evaluation of a conventional autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system on high and reduced tire-road friction and compared these results to those of an AEB system adaptive to the reduced tire-road friction by earlier braking. Current automated systems such as the AEB do not adapt the vehicle control strategy to the road friction; for example, on snowy roads. Because winter precipitation is associated with a 19% increase in traffic crashes and a 13% increase in injuries compared to dry conditions, the potential of conventional AEB to prevent collisions could be significantly improved by including friction in the control algorithm.