Separate Section (separate + section)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Zur Geschichte der Geowissenschaften im Museum für Naturkunde zu Berlin.

FOSSIL RECORD-MITTEILUNGEN AUS DEM MUSEUM FUER NATURKUNDE, Issue 1 2004
Teil 6: Geschichte des Geologisch-Paläontologischen Instituts und Museums der Universität Berlin 1910--200
Abstract Die Entwicklung des Geologisch-Paläontologischen Instituts und Museums der Universität Berlin von einer Institution, die Geologie zusammen mit Paläontologie als eine Einheit vertrat, über eine Institution, die eine geotektonische Ausrichtung hatte, zu einer auf Paläontologie konzentrierten Institution wird nachvollzogen. Die beiden Institutsdirektoren am Anfang des 20sten Jahrhunderts waren Vertreter der allumfassenden Geologie des 19ten Jahrhunderts, während die beiden folgenden Direktoren eine Geologie ohne Paläontologie vertraten. Das führte zu einer Trennung der beiden Richtungen, und nach der III. Hochschulreform der DDR 1968 verblieb allein die sammlungsbezogene Paläontologie am Museum. Nach der Wiedervereinigung wurde ein Institut für Paläontologie mit biologischer Ausrichtung mit zwei Professuren, einer für Paläozoologie und einer für Paläobotanik, eingerichtet. The development of the Geologisch-Paläontologisches Institut und Museum of the Museum für Naturkunde at the Humboldt University (formerly Friedrich-Wilhelm-Universität) in Berlin from a geology-paleontology institution to a pure paleontology institution is described. The first two directors of the department in the beginning of the 20th century, Prof, von Branca and Prof. Pompeckj, represented a 19th century concept of a geology, which included paleontology, even vertebrate paleontology as the crown jewel of geology. They fought sometimes vigorously against a separation of paleontology from geology. The next two directors. Prof. Stille and Prof, von Bubnoff, were the leading geologists in Germany; to be a student of Stille was a special trade mark in geology of Germany. They represented a geology centered on tectonics. The separation of paleontology as separate section was prepared. The destructions of the Second World War, the following restaurations and the division of Germany into two States influenced strongly their directorships. The education of geologists at the Museum für Naturkunde ended with the III. University Reform of the German Democratic Republik in 1968. Paleontology was represented by the international renown vertebrate paleontologist, Prof. Dr. W. Gross, up to 1961. Since 1969, paleobotany was strengthened by the inclusion of the paleobotany unit of the Akademie der Wissenschaften into the museum. After reunification of Germany n 1990, the department was rebuild as a Institut für Palaontologie with close connection to biology, a unique situation in Germany. Two professorships, one for paleozoology, Prof. Schultze. and one for paleobotany, Prof. Mai, were established. The number of curators increased to ten from one under the first director of the 20th century. [source]


Delirium and older people: what are the constraints to best practice in acute care?

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 3 2008
BHSc (Nursing), Jenny Day ADCHN, MEd (Adult Education)
An Australian research team conducted a six-month acute care pilot study in a medical ward of a large hospital in New South Wales. Aim., To explore ways health practitioners might redesign their practice to include prevention, early detection and management of delirium in older people based on the best current practice. Method and design., Participatory action research (PAR) was selected as the best approach for involving ward staff to make sustainable clinical practice decisions. The PAR group comprised research academics and eight clinicians from the ward. Thirteen PAR sessions were held over 5 months. Clinicians described care of patients with delirium. Stories were analysed to identify constraints to best practice. Following PAR group debate about concerns and issues, there were actions toward improved practice taken by clinicians. Relevance to clinical practice., The following constraints to best practice were identified: delayed transfer of patients from the Emergency Department; routine ward activities were not conducive to provision of rest and sleep; assisting with the patient's orientation was not possible as relatives were not able to accompany and/or stay with the older patient. Underreporting of delirium and attributing confusion to dementia was viewed as an education deficit across disciplines. A wide range of assessment skills was identified as prerequisites for working in this acute care ward, with older people and delirium. Clinicians perceived that management driven by length of a patient's stay was incongruent with best practice delirium care which required more time for older patients to recover from delirium. Two significant actions towards practice improvement were undertaken by this PAR group: (i) development of a draft delirium alert prevention protocol and (ii) a separate section of the ward became a dedicated space for the care of patients with delirium. A larger study is being planned across a variety of settings. [source]


Treatment of restless legs syndrome: An evidence-based review and implications for clinical practice,,

MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 16 2008
Claudia Trenkwalder MD
Abstract Only in the last three decades, the restless legs syndrome (RLS) has been examined in randomized controlled trials. The Movement Disorder Society (MDS) commissioned a task force to perform an evidence-based review of the medical literature on treatment modalities used to manage patients with RLS. The task force performed a search of the published literature using electronic databases. The therapeutic efficacy of each drug was classified as being either efficacious, likely efficacious, investigational, nonefficacious, or lacking sufficient evidence to classify. Implications for clinical practice were generated based on the levels of evidence and particular features of each modality, such as adverse events. All studies were classed according to three levels of evidence. All Level-I trials were included in the efficacy tables; if no Level-I trials were available then Level-II trials were included or, in the absence of Level-II trials, Level-III studies or case series were included. Only studies published in print or online before December 31, 2006 were included. All studies published after 1996, which attempted to assess RLS augmentation, were reviewed in a separate section. The following drugs are considered efficacious for the treatment of RLS: levodopa, ropinirole, pramipexole, cabergoline, pergolide, and gabapentin. Drugs considered likely efficacious are rotigotine, bromocriptine, oxycodone, carbamazepine, valproic acid, and clonidine. Drugs that are considered investigational are dihydroergocriptine, lisuride, methadone, tramadol, clonazepam, zolpidem, amantadine, and topiramate. Magnesium, folic acid, and exercise are also considered to be investigational. Sumanirole is nonefficacious. Intravenous iron dextran is likely efficacious for the treatment of RLS secondary to end-stage renal disease and investigational in RLS subjects with normal renal function. The efficacy of oral iron is considered investigational; however, its efficacy appears to depend on the iron status of subjects. Cabergoline and pergolide (and possibly lisuride) require special monitoring due to fibrotic complications including cardiac valvulopathy. Special monitoring is required for several other medications based on clinical concerns: opioids (including, but not limited to, oxycodone, methadone and tramadol), due to possible addiction and respiratory depression, and some anticonvulsants (particularly, carbamazepine and valproic acid), due to systemic toxicities. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society [source]


Exercise tolerance and daily life in McArdle's disease

MUSCLE AND NERVE, Issue 5 2005
Karen Ollivier MSc
Abstract McArdle's disease is a common disorder of muscle metabolism and is due to myophosphorylase deficiency. The major complaint of patients with this disease is effort intolerance. Although the clinical features of affected patients are well known, their daily lifestyle is not well documented. The main objective of this work was to assess their mean daily energy expenditure (DEE) and compare it with control subjects. Thirty patients and 87 control subjects completed a questionnaire. A 3-day self-record of daily physical activities was used to estimate the mean DEE for patients and control subjects. A separate section of the questionnaire was used to assess patients' clinical features and daily lifestyle. The DEE of patients (44.1 ± 6.9 kcal/kg) was not significantly different from control subjects (44.5 ± 5.6 kcal/kg). Half of the patients with McArdle's disease performed a daily physical leisure activity as sport, sometimes at a high level (17%). Despite large individual variation, physical abilities and patients' symptoms were negatively correlated. Physical leisure activity significantly decreased the sensation of muscle pain (P < 0.03). These findings show that patients with McArdle's disease do not have a strictly sedentary lifestyle. Moreover, physical exercise appears to have positive effects on the main clinical features, such as effort intolerance. Thus, regular, moderate physical activity may be beneficial in McArdle's disease. Muscle Nerve, 2005 [source]


Microbial Surfaces Investigated Using Atomic Force Microscopy

BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 6 2004
Anastassia V. Bolshakova
This paper is dedicated to atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a progressive tool for imaging bacterial surfaces and probing their properties. The description of the technique is complemented by the explanation of the methodapos;s artifacts typical, in particular, for the imaging of bacterial cells. Sample preparation techniques are summarized in a separate section. Special attention is paid to the differences in imaging of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Probing of mechanical properties, including elastic modulus, fragility, and adhesion of the cell walls is emphasized. The advantages of AFM in the studies of real-time cellular dynamical processes are illustrated by the experiment with the germination of spores. [source]


Understanding High-Resolution Spectra of Nonrigid Molecules Using Group Theory

CHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 4 2010
Melanie Schnell Dr.
Abstract Permutation-inversion group theory has developed to become an important tool in the high-resolution spectroscopy of nonrigid molecules. This large class of molecules is very intriguing to study. Small molecules such as ammonia or Na3 are known to be nonrigid. With increasing size, however, several large-amplitude motions are possible in a molecule, and can even interact with each other. The high-resolution spectra of nonrigid molecules are known to be quite complicated and very rich in information. Details about the molecule and its internal dynamics can be extracted, such as the molecular structure, the character of the chemical bonds, and the barrier heights to internal rotation and their dependence on the chemical bonds. However, due to the nonrigidity of the molecule and the complexity of such spectra, their analysis is usually quite challenging. Theoretical methods are needed for their prediction and analysis. This Review concentrates on permutation-inversion group theory and its usefulness for the analysis of high-resolution spectra of nonrigid molecules, which is examined in more detail using different examples. In a separate section, a special aspect of molecular symmetry is discussed: the breakdown of symmetry principles. Special emphasis is placed on the breakdown of space inversion symmetry (parity violation) in chiral molecules and its possible implications in high-resolution spectroscopy. [source]


Influences of the environment on the endocrine and paracrine fish growth hormone,insulin-like growth factor-I system

JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
M. Reinecke
Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a key component of the complex system that regulates differentiation, development, growth and reproduction of fishes. The IGF-I gene is mainly expressed in the liver that represents the principal source of endocrine IGF-I but also in numerous other organs where the hormone most probably acts in an autocrine,paracrine manner. The primary stimulus for synthesis and release of IGF-I is growth hormone (GH) from the anterior pituitary. Thus, in analogy to mammals, it is usual to speak of a fish ,GH,IGF-I axis'. The GH,IGF-I system is affected by changes in the environment and probably represents a target of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) that impair many physiological processes in fishes. Thus, the review deals with the influences of changes in different environmental factors, such as food availability, temperature, photoperiod, season, salinity and EDCs, on GH gene expression in pituitary, IGF-I gene expression in liver and extrahepatic sites and the physiological effects resulting from the evoked alterations in endocrine and local IGF-I. Environmental influences certainly interact with each other but for convenience of the reader they will be dealt with in separate sections. Current trends in GH,IGF-I research are analysed and future focuses are suggested at the end of the sections. [source]