6112 research outputs found
Sort by
Einfluss von Bewegung und Kompressionsstrümpfen auf das Volumen und die Missempfindungen der Unterschenkel bei gesunden Probanden mit Stehbelastung
Get PDFÖdeme, die durch Orthostase verursacht werden, sind im medizinischen und beruflichen Kontext ein häufiges Krankheitsbild. Die Volumenzunahme in den Unterschenkeln und die damit verbunden Beschwerden treten insbesondere in Berufen auf, die mit langem Stehen und wenig Bewegung verbunden sind. Bisher ungeklärt ist, ob es einen Zusammenhang zwischen der Zunahme des Unterschenkelvolumens und der Entstehung von Missempfindungen bei Stehbelastungen gibt. Ebenfalls fraglich ist, ob die während einer Orthostase entstehenden Missempfindungen durch die Durchführung bestimmter Bewegungen beeinflusst werden können.
Ziel dieser nicht-randomisierten, kontrollierten Studie war es, die Veränderungen und den zeitlichen Zusammenhang von einer V olumenzunahme und dem Auftreten von Beschwerden in den Unterschenkeln während einer Stehbelastung zu untersuchen. Dabei wurde durch die Probanden eine zeitlich begrenzte Stehbelastung von 15 min absolviert. Im Rahmen dessen wurde das Unterschenkelvolumen mit einem optischen dreidimensionalen Volumenmesssystem gemessen. Die aufgetretenen Missempfindungen und der Bewegungsdrang wurden anhand einer numerischen Rating- Skala (NRS) von null bis zehn Punkten abgefragt. Es wurde eine Korrelationsanalyse zwischen dem Unterschenkelvolumen und den Daten zu den Missempfindungen und dem Bewegungsdrang der einzelnen Probanden durchgeführt. Darüber hinaus wurden lineare Modelle mit gemischten Effekten berechnet, um das Vorhandensein einer kausalen Beziehung zwischen dem Unterschenkelvolumen und den Missempfindungen oder dem Bewegungsdrang im Stehen zu untersuchen. Die Stehversuche wurden ein zweites Mal durchgeführt, während die Probanden MKS trugen.
Als Resultat konnte gezeigt werden, dass das Unterschenkelvolumen während der Stehphase ohne MKS durchschnittlich um 63 ml und mit MKS um 27 ml zu nahm (p < 0,001). Die Missempfindungen stiegen während der Orthostase ohne MKS im Mittel um 3,46 Punkte auf der NRS und mit MKS um 2,6 Punkte (p < 0,001). Der Bewegungsdrang der Teilnehmer erhöhte sich während der Stehphase ohne MKS um 3,47 Punkte auf der NRS und mit MKS um 3,73 Punkte (p < 0,001). Ein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der Zunahme des Unterschenkelvolumens und dem Auftreten von Missempfindungen bzw. von Bewegungsdrang wurde bei der Mehrzahl der Probanden ohne MKS (p < 0,05) und mit MKS (p < 0,1) festgestellt. In den linear gemischten Modellen zeigte sich ein kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen der Volumenzunahme der Unterschenkel und dem Auftreten der Symptome (p < 0,001). Schlussendlich lässt sich feststellen, dass längeres Stehen mit Bewegungsmangel bei venengesunden Probanden zu einer Zunahme des Unterschenkelvolumens und zu einem Gefühl von Unbehagen führt. Durch einstudierte Bewegungen und das Tragen von MKS können unter kontrollierten Bedingungen die Missempfindungen in den Beinen und teilweise auch das Unterschenkelvolumen reduziert werden. Lineare Modelle mit gemischten Effekten weisen auf kausale Zusammenhänge zwischen diesen Variablen hin. Aufgrund der Schwierigkeit, subjektive Äußerungen über Beschwerden mit objektiven Messergebnissen wie der Volumenzunahme zu korrelieren, sind jedoch weitere Studien erforderlich, die auch Stoffwechselprozesse auf molekularbiologischer Ebene miteinbeziehen
Die Bedeutung eines positiven abdominellen bzw. intraabdominellen Enterokokkennachweises bei der Behandlung von Patienten mit abdomineller schwerer Sepsis und septischem Schock
Get PDFObwohl das Erkrankungsbild Sepsis auch in Deutschland immer stärker in den Fokus der Forschung gerückt ist, liegt die Mortalität noch immer zwischen 30-50%. Besonders die abdominelle Sepsis ist mit einer höheren Letalität assoziiert, da dieses Krankheitsbild häufiger mit schweren Verläufen und Organversagen einhergeht. Unter einer abdominellen Sepsis versteht man eine intraabdominelle Infektion mit einer extraperitonealen Begleitreaktion. Eine Peritonitis ist das Resultat einer intraabdominellen Infektion. Grampositive Enterococcus species sind mit 32-36% nach den gramnegativen Enterobacteriaceae die zweithäufigsten Erreger, die bei sekundären Peritonitiden isoliert werden können. Zu den am häufigsten isolierten Enterococcus species zählen Enterococcus faecalis und faecium. Ihre Rolle und Therapiebedürftigkeit bei einer abdominellen Sepsis ohne einen Nachweis in der Blutkultur ist nach wie vor sehr umstritten. Es existieren bereits zahlreiche Studien, die sich mit der Therapiebedürftigkeit von Enterokokken bei abdomineller Sepsis beschäftigen. Die Ergebnisse und die daraus resultierenden Empfehlungen bleiben aber kontrovers diskutiert. In dieser Arbeit soll die Auswirkung eines ab- dominellen bzw. intraabdominellen positiven Enterokokkenabstrichs auf die Behandlung von Patienten mit abdomineller schwerer Sepsis und septischem Schock untersucht werden. Weiterhin soll der Effekt einer Behandlung mit enterokokken- spezifischen Antibiotika auf die 28- und 90-Tage Letalität geprüft werden. Dafür wurden in einem Zeitraum von drei Jahren 179 Patienten mit abdominellem Sepsisfokus einbezogen, bei denen ein abdomineller/intraabdomineller Abstrich oder ein Abstrich aus einer abdominellen/intraabdominellen Drainage durchgeführt worden ist. Patienten mit einem Nachweis von Enterokokken in einer Blutkultur wurden ausgeschlossen. Durch die Berechnung von logistischen Regressionen zeigte sich, dass ein positiver abdomineller bzw. intraabdomineller Enterokokkenabstrich signifikant mit der Verabreichung von enterokokkenspezifischen Antibiotika assoziiert war. Die Chance, ein enterokokkenspezifisches Antibiotikum zu erhalten, stieg dabei um das Sechsfache. Beim Vergleich zweier Gruppen war die Behandlung mit
enterokokkenspezifischen Antibiotika mit einer statistisch signifikanten Reduktion der 28-Tage Letalität assoziiert. Dabei hatte die eine Gruppe enterokokkenspezifische Antibiotika erhalten, die andere nicht. Dieses Ergebnis konnte mittels logistischer Regressionen für die 28-Tage Letalität bestätigt werden. Es zeigte sich aber kein statistisch signifikanter Effekt auf die 90-Tage Letalität. Es sollten deswegen weitere, größer angelegte Studien angeregt werden, die den Effekt eines positiven Enterokokkenabstrichs und den Effekt einer Gabe von enterokokkenspezifischen Antibiotika auf die Letalität bei Patienten mit abdominellem Sepsisfokus untersuchen
The Impact of Strategies on the Vote Share of New Parties
No full textCan established parties influence the electoral success of new parties? To answer this research question, the author examined the relationships of 168 new parties in 18 highly developed democracies with their established competitors based on their respective election programmes and election results. His analysis of the textual similarity of these election manifestos shows that established parties can influence their competitors' election results by selectively changing the emphasis of their policies. However, competition among the parties must also be taken into account. This study thus contributes to a better understanding of the dynamics of party competition and the opportunities offered by computer-assisted textual analysis in the social sciences.Können etablierte Parteien den Wahlerfolg neuer Parteien beeinflussen? Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage wurden die Beziehungen von 168 neuen Parteien in 18 hoch entwickelten Demokratien mit ihren etablierten Konkurrenten anhand der jeweiligen Wahlprogramme und Wahlergebnisse untersucht. Die Analyse der Textähnlichkeit dieser Wahlprogramme zeigt, dass es für etablierte Parteien durch eine Veränderung der gewählten Themenschwerpunkte möglich ist, Wahlergebnisse ihrer Konkurrenten zu beeinflussen. Dabei muss aber auch die Wettbewerbssituation beachtet werden. Die Arbeit trägt damit zu einem besseren Verständnis der Dynamik des Parteienwettbewerbs sowie der Möglichkeiten computergestützter Textanalyse in den Sozialwissenschaften bei
Initiatives, Concepts, and Implementation Practices of the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable Data Principles in Health Data Stewardship: Scoping Review
Get PDFBackground: Thorough data stewardship is a key enabler of comprehensive health research. Processes such as data collection, storage, access, sharing, and analytics require researchers to follow elaborate data management strategies properly and consistently. Studies have shown that findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data leads to improved data sharing in different scientific domains.
Objective: This scoping review identifies and discusses concepts, approaches, implementation experiences, and lessons learned in FAIR initiatives in health research data.
Methods: The Arksey and O’Malley stage-based methodological framework for scoping reviews was applied. PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched to access relevant publications. Articles written in English, published between 2014 and 2020, and addressing FAIR concepts or practices in the health domain were included. The 3 data sources were deduplicated using a reference management software. In total, 2 independent authors reviewed the eligibility of each article based on defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A charting tool was used to extract information from the full-text papers. The results were reported using the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines.
Results: A total of 2.18% (34/1561) of the screened articles were included in the final review. The authors reported FAIRification approaches, which include interpolation, inclusion of comprehensive data dictionaries, repository design, semantic interoperability, ontologies, data quality, linked data, and requirement gathering for FAIRification tools. Challenges and mitigation strategies associated with FAIRification, such as high setup costs, data politics, technical and administrative issues, privacy concerns, and difficulties encountered in sharing health data despite its sensitive nature were also reported. We found various workflows, tools, and infrastructures designed by different groups worldwide to facilitate the FAIRification of health research data. We also uncovered a wide range of problems and questions that researchers are trying to address by using the different workflows, tools, and infrastructures. Although the concept of FAIR data stewardship in the health research domain is relatively new, almost all continents have been reached by at least one network trying to achieve health data FAIRness. Documented outcomes of FAIRification efforts include peer-reviewed publications, improved data sharing, facilitated data reuse, return on investment, and new treatments. Successful FAIRification of data has informed the management and prognosis of various diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological diseases. Efforts to FAIRify data on a wider variety of diseases have been ongoing since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions: This work summarises projects, tools, and workflows for the FAIRification of health research data. The comprehensive review shows that implementing the FAIR concept in health data stewardship carries the promise of improved research data management and transparency in the era of big data and open research publishing.
International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/2250
Primary mitochondrial disease as a rare cause of unclear breathlessness and distinctive performance degradation – a case report
Get PDFBackground
Primary muscular disorders (metabolic myopathies, including mitochondrial disorders) are a rare cause of dyspnea. We report a case of dyspnea caused by a mitochondrial disorder with a pattern of clinical findings that can be classified in the known pathologies of mitochondrial deletion syndrome.
Case presentation
The patient presented to us at 29 years of age, having had tachycardia, dyspnea, and functional impairment since childhood. She had been diagnosed with bronchial asthma and mild left ventricular hypertrophy and treated accordingly, but her symptoms had worsened. After more than 20 years of progressive physical and social limitations was a mitochondrial disease suspected in the exercise testing. We performed cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) with right heart catheterization showed typical signs of mitochondrial myopathy. Genetic testing confirmed the presence of a ~ 13 kb deletion in mitochondrial DNA from the muscle. The patient was treated with dietary supplements for 1 year. In the course of time, the patient gave birth to a healthy child, which is developing normally.
Conclusion
CPET and lung function data over 5 years demonstrated stable disease. We conclude that CPET and lung function analysis should be used consistently to evaluate the cause of dyspnea and for long-term observation
Psychological Factors as Risk Contributors for Poor Hip Function after Periacetabular Osteotomy
Get PDFPsychologic comorbidities have been identified as risk factors for poor outcomes in orthopedic procedures, but their influence on the outcome of hip-preserving periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) remains uncertain. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the impact of patients’ psychological health on the outcome of PAO in patients with hip dysplasia (HD) and acetabular retroversion (AR). The study included 110 patients undergoing PAO for HD or AR between 2019 and 2021. Standardized questionnaires were administered to assess psychological factors, postoperative hip function, and activity level (mean follow-up: 25 months). Linear regression analyses were used to examine the associations between psychological factors and postoperative hip function and activity level. Both HD and AR patients showed improved postoperative hip function and activity levels. Linear regression analyses revealed that depression significantly impaired postoperative outcomes in both groups, whereas somatization negatively influenced the outcome in AR patients. General health perceptions significantly contributed to an improved postoperative outcome. These findings highlight the importance of concomitantly addressing psychologically relevant factors in order to improve patient outcomes after PAO procedures. Future prospective studies should continue to investigate the impact of various psychological factors and explore possibilities of incorporating psychological support into routine postoperative care for these patient cohorts
Acute COPD exacerbation treatment with noninvasive ventilation
Get PDFThe establishment of a guideline for long-term noninvasive ventilation treatment (LTH-NIV) of acute hypercapnic exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) requiring acute ventilation has proven elusive. Most studies thus far have shown no mortality benefit of long-term noninvasive ventilation treatment. Using retrospective analysis of the data of our patients (n = 143) recruited from 2012 to 2019, we aimed to compare patients discharged with and without long-term noninvasive ventilation. The follow-up results showed no significant difference (p = 0.233) between the groups [LTH-NIV (n = 83); non-NIV (n = 60)] regarding readmission due to clinical worsening. However, the first- and second-year survival rates were 82% and 72%, respectively, in the LTH-NIV group and significantly different (p = 0.023) from 67 and 55% in the non-NIV group. The statistical models showed a significant mortality risk for the non-NIV group, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.82 (1.31; 6.03). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate the mortality benefit of long-term NIV therapy for patients with AECOPD under real-world conditions
Enhancing the Impact of Chemotherapy on Ewing Sarcoma Cells through Combination with Cold Physical Plasma
Get PDFAlthough Ewing’s sarcoma (ES) is a rare, but very aggressive tumor disease affecting the musculoskeletal system, especially in children, it is very aggressive and difficult to treat. Although medical advances and the establishment of chemotherapy represent a turning point in the treatment of ES, resistance to chemotherapy, and its side effects, continue to be problems. New treatment methods such as the application of cold physical plasma (CPP) are considered potential supporting tools since CPP is an exogenous source of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which have similar mechanisms of action in the tumor cells as chemotherapy. This study aims to investigate the synergistic effects of CPP and commonly used cytostatic chemotherapeutics on ES cells. The chemotherapy drugs doxorubicin and vincristine, the most commonly used in the treatment of ES, were applied to two different ES cell lines (RD-ES and A673) and their IC20 and IC50 were determined. In addition, individual chemotherapeutics in combination with CPP were applied to the ES cells and the effects on cell growth, cell viability, and apoptosis processes were examined. A single CPP treatment resulted in the dose-dependent growth inhibition of ES cells. The combination of different cytostatics and CPP led to significant growth inhibition, a reduction in cell viability, and higher rates of apoptosis compared to cells not additionally exposed to CPP. The combination of CPP treatment and the application of cytostatic drugs to ES cells showed promising results, significantly enhancing the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic agents. These preclinical in vitro data indicate that the use of CPP can enhance the efficacy of common cytostatic chemotherapeutics, and thus support the translation of CPP as an anti-tumor therapy in clinical routine
Bullied, anxious and skipping school? the interplay of school bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism considering gender and grade level
Get PDFIntroduction: The topics of bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism are of steady interest for the scientific community in recent decades. However, it seems surprising that investigations into the combination of these constructs are rare, especially considering their interconnectedness. Due to the lack of joint investigation of these factors, it is hardly possible to compare results of these related, yet distinct factors across other studies, let alone the predictive power of specific factors. The goal of the current study is to investigate how bullying, school anxiety and school absenteeism are related, considering the variables gender and grade level.
Methods: For this purpose, N = 195 secondary school children in the 7th–9th grades in northern Germany were surveyed via self-report questionnaires and additionally collecting their school records. We present complex descriptive analyses with scales and subscales of bullying, anxiety and absenteeism. Further, a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach is utilized to discover the interconnectedness of the constructs.
Results: On the one hand, the descriptive statistics show significant gender and grade level differences regarding bullying and anxiety. On the other hand, the SEM reveals that high values on the bullying victim scale are accompanied by significantly higher school displeasure (anxiety). School displeasure—as well as high bullying offender values—are associated with significantly more days of absence from school.
Discussion: We discuss how school environment improvement through specific interventions such as the cognitive-behavioral approach, could aid to ameliorate this issue
Reliability of a telephone interview for the classification of headache disorders
Get PDFObjective: The study aimed to test the reliability of a semi-structured telephone interview for the classification of headache disorders according to the ICHD-3.
Background: Questionnaire-based screening tools are often optimized for single primary headache diagnoses [e.g., migraine (MIG) and tension headache (TTH)] and therefore insufficiently represent the diagnostic precision of the ICHD-3, which limits epidemiological research of rare headache disorders. Brief semi-structured telephone interviews could be an effective alternative to improve classification.
Methods: A patient population representative of different primary and secondary headache disorders (n = 60) was recruited from the outpatient clinic (HSA) of a tertiary care headache center. These patients completed an established population-based questionnaire for the classification of MIG, TTH, or trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia (TAC). In addition, they received a semi-structured telephone interview call from three blinded headache specialists individually. The agreement of diagnoses made either using the questionnaires or interviews with the HSA diagnoses was evaluated.
Results: Of the 59 patients (n = 1 dropout), 24% had a second-order and 5% had a third-order headache disorder. The main diagnoses were as follows: frequent primary headaches with 61% MIG, 10% TAC, 9% TTH, and 5% rare primary and 16% secondary headaches. Second-order diagnosis was chronic migraine throughout, and third-order diagnoses were medication overuse headache and TTH. Agreement between main headaches from the HSA was significantly better for the telephone interview than for the questionnaire (questionnaire: κ = 0.330; interview: κ = 0.822; p < 0.001). Second-order diagnoses were not adequately captured by questionnaires, while there was a trend for good agreement with the telephone interview (κ = 0.433; p = 0.074). Headache frequency and psychiatric comorbidities were independent predictors of HSA and telephone interview agreement. Male sex, headache frequency, severity, and depressive disorders were independently predictive for agreement between the questionnaire and HSA. The telephone interview showed high sensitivity (≥71%) and specificity (≥92%) for all primary headache disorders, whereas the questionnaire was below 50% in either sensitivity or specificity.
Conclusion: The semi-structured telephone interview appears to be a more reliable tool for accurate diagnosis of headache disorders than self-report questionnaires. This offers the potential to improve epidemiological headache research and care even in underserved areas