Berufsbedingte Hauterkrankungen—Paradigma der Sekundärprävention

The dermatologist's procedure was introduced in 1972 by employers' liability insurance funds in the industrial, agricultural and public sectors of Germany's statutory occupational accident insurance as a "procedure for early detection of occupational skin diseases". So far, it is still the most relevant tool for secondary prevention in occupational dermatology in Germany. According to the intention of this procedure, insured persons with a skin disease in which an occupational aetiology is suspected must be offered preventive measures and, if necessary, given appropriate treatment to avoid their losing their jobs. On the initiative of the Central Federation of Industrial Professional Associations (HVBG), a study group was set up in 1999 from among its membership in cooperation with the Working Committee of Occupational and Environmental Dermatology (ABD) and the Professional Organisation of German Dermatologists (BVDD) to improve on the efficiency of the "classic" dermatologist's procedure. The proposed "optimised" dermatologist's procedure is based on the assumption that early detection followed by competent and intensified skin protection and skin care will be successful in retarding or stopping the progression of occupational dermatoses, while later treatment is likely to be less effective. In October 2002, a pilot study started in Northwest Germany to establish by scientific evaluation whether the implementation of secondary protective measures is definitively better when the provisional "optimised" dermatologist's procedure is followed. The study results should allow detailed suggestions for an improved dermatologist's procedure before it is introduced nationwide.     

The orthopan tomoscintigram — a new application of emission computed tomography for facial bone scanning

The exact regional correlation of findings of facial bone scans, planar or SPECT, to dental orthopan X-ray films (OPT) is difficult because of the very different projection techniques. To improve correlative imaging in this regard a projection algorithm was developed that uses SPECT data of the skull for reconstructing an orthopan tomoscintigraphic projection. Fourteen conventional SPECT slices of the upper and lower jaws were obtained during bone scanning. All mandibular slices were superimposed resulting in a horseshoe shaped structure, which was marked by an ROI which was divided into segments. All 14 SPECT slices were then masked by this segmental ROI, thereby marking the teeth-carrying bone in all slices. The information from this horseshoe like ROI is then transformed into lines. Line by line arrangement results in an orthopan projection, the orthopan tomoscintigram. This new display allows 1:1 true scale superimposition with the X-ray OPT and markedly facilitates correlative imaging.     

Pressure/flow relations in the interlamellar space of fish gills: theory and application in the rainbow trout

The nature of the water flow in the interlamellar spaces of fish gills is investigated using the basic fluid mechanical equations. The results show that the gill behaves like a low-pass filter, dampening the amplitude of the velocity oscillation when the frequency of the driving pressure differential exceeds some characteristic value and shifting the phase angle between the pressure and velocity pulses from 0 towards -pi/2. The cut-off frequency is determined by the parameter v/r2, where r is the half-width of the interlamellar space and v the kinematic viscosity. Using known gill dimensions the analysis shows that dampening of the velocity amplitude is not likely to occur at driving pressure frequencies below 100 Hz. Fourier analysis of the pressure differential recorded between buccal and opercular chambers of rainbow trout reveals that there is very little contribution from frequencies above 10 Hz, suggesting that interlamellar water flow is pulsatile and that the possibility for backflow exists.     

Evaluation of proliferation parameters in in vivo bromodeoxyuridine labelled lung cancers

In a series of 44 bronchial biopsies from patients suspected of having endobronchial lung carcinoma, the validity of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki67 antigen as proliferative indicators was evaluated in ethanol fixed, paraffin embedded tissue. The percentages of cells positive for these markers were compared to the in vivo bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labelling index. A good correlation was found between PCNA immunoreactivity and BrdU labelling index, while Ki67-antigen expression showed a significant relation with BrdU labelling index and with PCNA expression. All three parameters showed a trend towards similar values for the individual cases. Based on the fact that Ki67 antigen is expressed in all cycling cells, whereas replicon-associated PCNA and BrdU only reflect the S-phase fraction, the differences between Ki67-antigen scores on the one hand and BrdU and PCNA scores on the other were smaller than expected. In order to determine the degree of concordance between immunohistochemically and flow cytometrically detected proliferation variables, BrdU incorporation was measured using both methods in duplicate bronchial specimens. Discrepancies in labelling indices were observed predominantly in DNA diploid samples, with consistently lower values in the flow cytometrically analysed specimens. In tumour specimens with an aneuploid DNA content, flow cytometric determination of proliferative activity yielded results similar to those obtained by tissue section examination. We conclude that the scores for PCNA and Ki67 antigen, immunohistochemically detected in ethanol fixed, paraffin embedded tissue reflect functional proliferative activity.     

Deciphering the molecular effects of non-ablative Er:YAG laser treatment in an in vitro model of the non-keratinized mucous membrane

Lasers in Medical Science -     

IL-10 inhibits inducible expression pattern of beta-defensin-2 in human peripheral blood cells]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of IL-10 on the inducibility of human beta-defensin 2 (hBD-2) in human peripheral blood cells. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 22 healthy individuals and co-cultured with 0 ng/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS), 100 ng/ml LPS, 10 ng/ml IL-10, or 100 ng/ml LPS plus 10 ng/ml IL-10 at 37 degree for 6 h. Total RNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells and the mRNA level of hBD-2 was detected by relative quantitative real-time PCR.. RESULT: No detectable level of hBD-2 mRNA was found in normal peripheral blood cells with stimulation of 0 ng/ml LPS or 10 ng/ml IL-10. The mRNA level of hBD-2 was increased to 166.9 +/- 35.14 after 100 ng/ml LPS challenge, while the mRNA level of hBD-2 was decreased to 30.40 +/- 9.18 after the co-stimulation of 100 ng/ml LPS plus 10 ng/ml IL-10; which was significantly lower than that with LPS alone (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of hBD-2 gene can be induced by LPS.IL-10 inhibits the inducible expression of hBD-2.