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Biomedical subjects

A Schiller

Publications and source records attributed to A Schiller.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

[Coping with illness/quality of life and immunologic parameters of patients with breast carcinoma and benign tumors].

OBJECTIVE: Maladaptive coping of the cancer illness leads to considerable psychosocial burden which can-as a chronic stress factor-impair various immune functions, e.g. cellular immunity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a collective of 118 patients suffering from mammary carcinoma and 48 patients suffering from benign mammary tumors Coping was measured with the EORTC-MAC-scale and Quality of life with three questionnaires. Out of the immunologic variables the lymphocyte subpopulations were determined with flow cytometry. Immunglobulines, neopterin, C-reactive protein, and herpes serology were determined using standard methods. RESULTS: At follow up a slight increase of the mean vales of sum-scores is observed for the adverse coping mechanisms, like helplessness/despair and fear. On the other hand, the values for the coping styles fatalism and denial decrease. Significant correlations are seen between anxious attitude and number of natural killer cells (CD16 and CD56). It must be pointed out that area of social contact show an inverse correlation in patients with mammary cancers: a strong improvement correlates with diminished natural killer cells as well as reduced activated killer cells. CONCLUSIONS: The aim of this study is to determine whether a high risk group can be defined using these parameters and if these parameter can be influenced by psychotherapeutic interventions such as establishing "Coping-support-groups".

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

[The course of immunologic parameters in inpatient psychotherapy exemplified by 2 single case studies].

Psycho-neuroimmunology depicts a conceptual frame in which possible interactions between psychic and physical processes can be examined. It could be very significant in the field of psychosomatics when the courses of psychic and somatic processes are examined. However, the research results from this field of study are varied and only for a few parameters of immunity is it possible to prove correlations with psychic variables. Many of the studies that have been conducted up to date were construed as cross-section studies and possibly therefore are not very suitable for depicting the probably very complicated forms of interactions between psychic and somatic levels in an adequate manner. In the framework of stationary psychosomatic psychotherapy two single case studies were carried out in order to examine temporal connections between psychic and immunological course parameters. Both single case studies are to be viewed as explorative attempts of examining questions of examination design and organization which are highly resolved regarding time. Furthermore we report several interesting individual results which emphasize in general the correlation between psychic and somatic parameters also in the course of time. However the limits of such studies regarding the significance of the individual immunological parameters, using time serial analytical methods as well as constructing models in the field of psycho-neuroimmunology are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Malleomyringoplasty using a silicone prosthesis.

Successful replacement of the sound conducting mechanism of the ear has been hampered by infection, perforation, prosthesis instability and extrusion. In this animal study on thirty rats a silicone prosthesis was inserted between two layers of fascia as a total replacement of the tympanic membrane and ossicular chain. After four months the graft was found to be intact without evidence of infection or extrusion in all but one of the 30 rats. These results justify a trial of a similar silicone prosthesis in humans.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Psychotherapy with elderly patients. Experiences from a psychiatric psychotherapeutic consultation service].

Experiences with psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy with the elderly have been made in a psychiatric consultation service at a general hospital. The life-long importance of psychodynamically relevant conflicts is illustrated by two case examples of psychosomatic patients with asthma and functional symptoms of the gastrointestinal tract. The experiences with short-time psychotherapies described here are encouraging and confirm results of other groups demonstrating the efficiency of psychotherapeutic interventions with the elderly. Special problems of psychotherapy with older patients in a psychiatric consultation service and implications for the routine medical treatment of general-hospital patients are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Use of continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis in a nursing home: patient characteristics, technique success, and survival predictors.

Forty-four end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients admitted to a nursing home were treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The technical feasibility of using CAPD in this setting was demonstrated by an acceptable peritonitis rate (1.3 episodes per patient-year), acute hospitalization rate (18.5 days per patient-year), and only two technique failures. However, 6-month and 12-month survival rates were 53% and 29%, respectively. Survival analysis using the Cox model showed that patients with better functional status on admission measured by activity of daily living scores and who had previously been in an outpatient dialysis program before admission survived longer and were more often discharged.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1986

Nonlinear increase of elongation rate of actin filaments with actin monomer concentration.

The nonlinear increase of the elongation rate of actin filaments above the critical monomer concentration was investigated by nucleated polymerization of actin. Significant deviations from linearity were observed when actin was polymerized in the presence of magnesium ions. When magnesium ions were replaced by potassium or calcium ions, no deviations from linearity could be detected. The nonlinearity was analyzed by two simple assembly mechanisms. In the first model, if the ATP hydrolysis by polymeric actin is approximately as fast as the incorporation of monomers into filaments, terminal subunits of lengthening filaments are expected to carry to some extent ADP. As ADP-containing subunits dissociate from the ends of actin filaments faster than ATP-containing subunits, the rate of elongation of actin filaments would be nonlinearly correlated with the monomer concentration. In the second model (conformational change model), actin monomers and filament subunits were assumed to occur in two conformations. The association and dissociation rates of actin molecules in the two conformations were thought to be different. The equilibrium distribution between the two conformations was assumed to be different for monomers and filament subunits. The ATP hydrolysis was thought to lag behind polymerization and conformational change. As under the experimental conditions the rate of ATP hydrolysis by polymeric actin was independent of the concentration of filament ends, the observed nonlinear increase of the rate of elongation with the monomer concentration above the critical monomer concentration was unlikely to be caused by ATP hydrolysis at the terminal subunits. The conformational change model turned out to be the simplest assembly mechanism by which all available experimental data could be explained.

Actins↗
PubMed1985

Clinical and pathologic review of 48 cases of chordoma.

The results of treatment of 48 patients with the diagnosis of chordoma during the period 1931 to 1981 at the Massachusetts General Hospital were reviewed. Fourteen patients were treated with surgery alone: eight patients with primary tumors in the sacrococcygeal region were treated with radical surgery and four are alive with no evidence of disease (NED) with follow-up of 8 to 20 years. Recurrent tumors in six patients were treated with surgery alone resulting in long palliation (3-25 years). The actuarial survival rate at 5 years for all patients treated with surgery was 76%. Radiation therapy was used in patients after either a biopsy (15), partial excision (17), or before radical excision in 2 patients. To achieve a worthwhile level of palliation, doses greater than 4000 cGy were required. High-dose levels (greater than 6500 cGy) were achieved in nine cases by a combination of photon and 160 MeV proton beams. The results to date of this approach for lesions of the base of skull and cervical vertebral body are encouraging: high local control and low morbidity. The 5-year actuarial survival rate of all patients treated with radiation was 50%.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1984

Interendothelial junctions in kidney vessels.

The interendothelial junctions of all segments of the renal vasculature have been studied in eight species using the freeze-fracture technique. Three types of junctions have been found. Combinations of tight and gap junction elements are characteristic for interlobular arteries and proximal afferent arterioles. Continuous tight junction strands not subdivided into individual particles are typical for the glomerular arterioles close to the glomerulus and the vasa recta. The interendothelial junctions of glomerular and peritubular capillaries and cortical veins are characterized by slight elevations decorated with sparse arrays of particles on the P-face of the endothelial cell plasma membrane.

Animals↗