[Health-care research from the German Medical Association's perspective on small-area analysis].

As early as 2003, the German medical profession realized the necessity of not only forwarding medical research, but also analyzing the process of health care itself. Approved by a decision of the 108th German Medical Assembly in 2005, an initiative on health-care research paid by contributions of the medical profession was launched. Since then several projects have been supported with the results being published continuously.

[Method report 2007 of the Programme for National Disease Management Guidelines--background and content].

The Programme for National Disease Management Guidelines (German DM-CPG Programme) was established in 2002 by the German Medical Association (umbrella organisation of the German Chambers of Physicians) and joined by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF)--umbrella organisation of more than 150 professional societies--and by the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (NASHIP) in 2003. The programme provides a conceptual basis for disease management, focussing on high priority healthcare topics and aiming at the implementation of best practice recommendations for prevention, acute care, rehabilitation and chronic care. It is organised by the German Agency for Quality in Medicine, a founding member of the Guidelines International Network G-I-N.

Neuroblastoma screening at one year of age.

Background: Neuroblastoma is the second most common type of childhood tumor. It is not known whether screening for neuroblastoma at one year of age reduces the incidence of metastatic disease or mortality due to neuroblastoma.

Methods: We offered urine screening for neuroblastoma at approximately one year of age to 2,581,188 children in 6 of 16 German states from 1995 to 2000.

Endothelin-1 synthesis and endothelin B receptor expression in human coronary artery smooth muscle cells and monocyte-derived macrophages is up-regulated by low density lipoproteins.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictive peptide exerting its effects predominantly by paracrine and autocrine mechanisms. ET-1 acts as a mitogen and co-mitogen on vascular smooth muscle cells, and accumulating evidence suggests that ET-1 is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Deposition of low density lipoproteins (LDL) in the vessel wall is known to play a crucial role in the development of atherosclerotic lesions.

Characterization of modified low density lipoprotein subfractions by capillary isotachophoresis.

Oxidative modification of low density lipoproteins (LDLs) is an important pathogenetic factor in atherosclerosis. The various steps in oxidative modifications of LDL can be monitored using different methodologies with varying degrees of complexity. In this study, we propose capillary isotachophoresis (CITP) as a suitable tool to detect and measure the degree of oxidation of LDL.