Functional and Structural Long-Term Effects of Repetitive Instrument-Assisted Manual Therapy (IAMT) of the Lumbar Back on the Dorsal Myofascial Chain Among Female Soccer Players: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Trial.

Introduction: Instrument-assisted manual therapy (IAMT) is suitable for optimizing movement prerequisites, such as range of motion, flexibility, microcirculation, and pain inhibition along myofascial chains, potentially leading to a reduction in hamstring injuries. To date, however, IAMT's modes of action remain largely unclear. This study aimed to examine the functional and structural effects of repetitive IAMT after 2.

Analysis of genetic diversity in patients with major psychiatric disorders versus healthy controls: A molecular-genetic study of 1698 subjects genotyped for 100 candidate genes (549 SNPs).

Background: This study analyzed the extent to which irregularities in genetic diversity separate psychiatric patients from healthy controls.

Methods: Genetic diversity was quantified through multidimensional "gene vectors" assembled from 4 to 8 polymorphic SNPs located within each of 100 candidate genes. The number of different genotypic patterns observed per gene was called the gene's "diversity index".

S2k guideline diagnosis, prevention, and therapy of hand eczema.

The consensus-based guideline "Diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of hand eczema (HE)" provides concrete instructions and recommendations for diagnosis, prevention, and therapy of HE based on an evidence- and consensus-based approach. The guideline was created based on the German guideline "Management von Handekzemen" from 2009 and the current guideline of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis (ESCD) "Guidelines for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of hand eczema" from 2022. The general goal of the guideline is to provide dermatologists and allergologists in practice and clinics with an accepted, evidence-based decision-making tool for selecting and conducting suitable and sufficient therapy for patients with hand eczema.

The Neurological Rehabilitation of Adults With Coma and Disorders of Consciousness.

Background: Severe quantitative disorders of consciousness (DoC) due to acute brain injury affect up to 47% of patients upon admission to intensive care and early rehabilitation units. Nevertheless, the rehabilitation of this vulnerable group of patients has not yet been addressed in any German-language guidelines and has only been studied in a small number of randomized clinical trials.

Methods: In an S3 clinical practice guideline project, a systematic literature search was carried out for interventions that could improve consciousness in patients with coma, unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, or minimally conscious state after acute brain injury, and an evidence-based evaluation of these interventions was performed.

Exercise elevates serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor in partially remitted depression.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a pleiotropic cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). In MDD, serum BDNF levels are attenuated. Healthy adults show BDNF elevation after exercise.

Self-reported Versus Physician-reported Severity of Chronic Hand Eczema: Concordance Analysis Based on Data from the German Chronic Hand Eczema Patient Long-Term Management Registry.

Self-assessment of general health status has a significant influence on patient-related outcomes. The aims of this study were to investigate and compare the level of agreement between patients' and dermatologists' assessments of the severity of chronic hand eczema. From the German registry "German Chronic Hand Eczema Patient Long-Term Management Registry" (CARPE), 1,281 pairs of patients with chronic hand eczema and their dermatologists were included.

Current status of metabolic surgery in patients with type I diabetes mellitus and obesity: a nationwide multicenter study.

Purpose: While obesity is prevalent among patients with type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM), the effects of metabolic surgery on patients with T1DM have not been adequately investigated. The study aims to investigate the perioperative outcomes and the improvement of comorbidity 1 year following metabolic surgery amongst this patient population.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the effects of sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) on patients with T1DM and insulin resistance.

Assessing reliability and validity of different stiffness measurement tools on a multi-layered phantom tissue model.

Changes in the mechanical properties (i.e., stiffness) of soft tissues have been linked to musculoskeletal disorders, pain conditions, and cancer biology, leading to a rising demand for diagnostic methods.

Cardiac Troponins for the Clinical Management of Patients with Claudication and without Cardiac Symptoms.

Many patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) exhibit undiagnosed obstructive coronary artery disease. We aim to identify the patients with lifestyle limiting claudication due to PAD and without cardiac symptoms, requiring coronary revascularization based on high-sensitive troponin T (hsTnT) values. We assessed hsTnT in consecutive patients referred for elective endovascular treatment due to claudication [Rutherford categories (RC) 2 & 3] between January 2018 and December 2021.

Expert Consensus on the Contraindications and Cautions of Foam Rolling-An International Delphi Study.

Background: Foam rolling is a type of self-massage using tools such as foam or roller sticks. However, to date, there is no consensus on contraindications and cautions of foam rolling. A methodological approach to narrow that research gap is to obtain reliable opinions of expert groups.

Early and middle latency auditory event-related potentials do not explain differences in neuropsychological performance between schizophrenia spectrum patients and matched healthy controls.

Abnormalities of early and middle latency auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) are widespread in schizophrenia and have been suggested to be associated with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia patients. In this cross-sectional study with schizophrenia patients (n=30) and psychiatrically healthy counterparts (n=31) (matched for age, sex, education), we investigated whether auditory information processing (measured via amplitudes and gating of the auditory ERPs P50, N100 and P200) correlates with neuropsychological performance across cognitive domains. The groups differed significantly in amplitudes and gating of N100 and P200 potentials as well as in neuropsychological performance, but not in P50 amplitude and gating.

Fibrosis: Sirtuins at the checkpoints of myofibroblast differentiation and profibrotic activity.

Fibrotic diseases are still a serious concern for public health, due to their high prevalence, complex etiology and lack of successful treatments. Fibrosis consists of excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix components. As a result, the structure and function of tissues are impaired, thus potentially leading to organ failure and death in several chronic diseases.

Distal retrieval of dislodged and migrated guidewires after retrograde puncture of the deep femoral and dorsal pedal artery. A case series.

We report on retrograde retrieval of the soft end of dislodged guidewires during complex interventions. Interventionalists may consider this as an option for the endovascular management of this complication if an antegrade retrieval is not possible or fails.

Propensity Score-Matching Sleeve Gastrectomy (SG) vs. Gastric Bypass (RYGB) in Patients ≥ 60 Years.

Background: Since 1 January 2005, the practice of bariatric surgery has been examined with the help of the German Bariatric Surgery Registry (GBSR) in Germany. The focus of the study was to evaluate if sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has the best benefit in terms of perioperative risk in patients over 60 years of age.

Methods: Data collection includes patients over the age of 60 years who underwent SG or RYGB between 2005 and 2017.

Visual N80 latency as a marker of neuropsychological performance in schizophrenia: Evidence for bottom-up cognitive models.

Objective: Cognitive deficits and visual impairment in the magnocellular (M) pathway, have been independently reported in schizophrenia. The current study examined the association between neuropsychological (NPS) performance and visual evoked potentials (VEPs: N80/P1 to M- and P(parvocellular)-biased visual stimuli) in schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Methods: NPS performance and VEPs were measured in n = 44 patients and n = 34 matched controls.

Right parietotemporal activity predicts sense of agency under uncertain delays of sensory outcomes.

Sense of agency is the experience of control over one's own action and its consequent outcomes. The perceived time between a motor action and its consequent sensory outcomes (e.g.

The Stiffness Comparison Test: A pilot study to determine inter-individual differences in palpatory skill related to gender, age, and occupation-related experience.

Background: Manual palpation is a core skill in physical examination. Assessing elastic properties such as tissue stiffness has the potential for being an important diagnostics tool in the detection of cancer and other diseases.

Objective: The study describes the newly developed Stiffness Comparison Test (SCT).

Use of the variplex™ SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP as a rapid molecular assay to complement RT-PCR for COVID-19 diagnosis.

Background: Molecular assays based on reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) may be useful for rapid diagnosis of the severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) because of the easy performance and the option to bypass RNA extraction.

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the clinical performance of the CE-labeled variplexTM real time SARS-CoV-2 RT-LAMP assay in comparison to commercial RT-PCRs.

Study Design: RNA extracted from pharyngeal swabs was tested by variplex™ RT-LAMP and Corman's LightMix™ E gene RT-PCR as reference.

Transforaminal Endoscopic Surgery: Outside-In Technique.

Transforaminal endoscopic lumbar discectomy (TELD) with the outside-in technique can be applied to nearly all cases of lumbar disc herniation (LDH), and transpedicular endoscopic lumbar discectomy can be used to treat highly migrated LDHs. The purpose of this study was to outline these 2 outside-in surgical techniques and to present their clinical outcomes. Between January 2018 and January 2019, a total of 137 patients underwent either transforaminal or transpedicular endoscopic lumbar discectomy.

Structural and Functional Changes in the Coupling of Fascial Tissue, Skeletal Muscle, and Nerves During Aging.

Aging is a one-way process associated with profound structural and functional changes in the organism. Indeed, the neuromuscular system undergoes a wide remodeling, which involves muscles, fascia, and the central and peripheral nervous systems. As a result, intrinsic features of tissues, as well as their functional and structural coupling, are affected and a decline in overall physical performance occurs.

Internet-based aftercare for patients with personality disorders and trauma-related disorders: A pilot study.

Preventing readmission after hospital discharge is a major issue with regard to the continuity of patients' recovery process and the financial burden on the healthcare system, but adequate aftercare services are lacking. Therefore, a pilot study was conducted to examine the feasibility and acceptability of an Internet-based aftercare program for patients with personality disorders (PD) and / or trauma-related disorders as well as to obtain a preliminary estimate of effects on symptomatology and readmission. Patients' satisfaction with the program and symptomatology (KPD-38, BDI-II) were assessed prior to hospital discharge (t) and after three months of participation (t).

A multi-institutional initiative on patient-related quality assurance: Independent computational dose verification of fluence-modulated treatment techniques.

Purpose: This multi-institutional study investigates whether computational verification of fluence-modulated treatment plans using independent software with its own Strahlerkopfmodel is an appropriate method for patient-related quality assurance (PRQA) in the context of various combinations of linear accelerators (linacs), treatment techniques and treatment planning systems (TPS).

Materials And Methods: The PRQA-software's (Mobius3D) recalculations of 9 institutions' treatment plans were analyzed for a horseshoe-shaped planning target volume (PTV) inside a phantom. The recomputed dose distributions were compared to a) the dose distributions as calculated by all TPS's and b) the measured dose distributions, which were acquired using the same independent measuring system for all institutions.

Development of Haemophilia Treatment in the Eastern Part of Germany over the Last Decade in the Kompetenznetz Hämorrhagische Diathese Ost (KHDO).

Introduction:  In 2005 the Kompetenznetz Hämorrhagische Diathese Ost published epidemiologic data about patients with haemophilia A (HA) and haemophilia B (HB) in the eastern part of Germany. This study provides data about the development of treatment in these patients over the past 10 years.

Methods:  Data from 12 haemophilia centres in eastern Germany were retrospectively collected for the year 2015 from patients' records.

Transpedicular Endoscopic Surgery for Highly Downmigrated L5-S1 Disc Herniation.

Endoscopic surgery for highly downmigrated disc herniation at level L5-S1 is a challenging technique. Most surgeons prefer the interlaminar access because of the special anatomy of the L5-S1 disc level, i.e.