Self-reported health depends on the internal frame of reference and on response styles. One way of studying this dependency is using anchoring vignettes. Response shift effects are assumed to induce a negative correlation between self-reported health and the health assessments attributed to the vignettes. Method: A representative sample of the German adult population (N = 2,409) was selected. Participants were asked to rate their health state and the health states of two rather complex vignettes representing patients with several health complaints on a 0-100 scale. Results: The mean score of self-assessed health was M = 76.20 (SD = 20.6). There was a very small positive correlation between the assessment of the vignettes and the self-assessed health state (r = .12). After controlling for a proxy of objective health, measured in terms of chronic conditions, the relationship remained slightly positive. Chronic conditions were only marginally associated with the assessments of the vignettes (0 conditions: M = 44.8; ≥ 2 conditions: M = 42.2). Conclusions: The lack of the postulated association between self-reported health and vignettes’ ratings means that we cannot derive tools to correct the subjective ratings for differential use of frames of reference.

Angesichts der wachsenden Zahl an Patienten, die sich im Internet über medizinische Fragen informieren, untersuchten wir Informationen auf Webseiten zum Down-Syndrom. Im Anschluss an eine Suche nach "Down-Syndrom" mit den Suchmaschinen Altavista und Yahoo (in deutsch und in englisch), untersuchten wir medizinische und psychosoziale Informationen auf den ersten 100 Suchergebnissen, die jede Suchmaschine ergab. Ein vordefinierter Katalog an gesundheitsbezogenen Daten wurde zur Beurteilung der Webseiten verwendet. Grundlegende (geforderte) und zusätzliche (fakultative) Informationen wurde getrennt ausgewertet. Deutsch- und englischsprachige Webseiten wurden miteinander verglichen. Die Stichprobengröße betrug 324 Suchergebnisse (200 englische, 124 deutsche), von denen nur 77 (24%) medizinische Webseiten waren. Unter ihnen befanden sich 34 relevante deutschsprachige Webseiten (27% von 124 Treffern) und 43 relevante englischsprachige Webseiten (22% von 200 Treffern). In beiden Sprachen wurden sämtliche Informationsgrade (von schlecht bis hervorragend) gefunden. Nur 24% der deutschsprachigen Webseiten und 35% der englischsprachigen Webseiten enthielten mehr als 50% der grundlegenden medizinischen Informationen. Bei den zusätzlichen Informationen gab es nur eine deutschsprachige und fünf englischsprachige Webseiten, die mehr als 50% des erwarteten Inhalts enthielten. Ein Einfluss der Sprache und des Verfassers (von Universitäten bis hin zu privaten Homepages) auf den Inhalt konnte festgestellt werden. Englische Webseiten enthielten mehr Material als deutschsprachige. Da viele Homepages die meisten der geforderten Fakten weder behandelten noch dafür bestimmt waren, dies zu tun, ist der Nutzen sowohl der deutschsprachigen als auch der englischsprachigen Webseiten als Informationsquelle über das DS eingeschränkt. Sorgfältige Anstrengungen sind erforderlich um zu gewährleisten, dass das Internet eine Gestalt annimmt, in der den Bedürfnisse der Nutzer bezüglich Gesundheitsinformationen Rechnung getragen wird. Allerdings zeigen einige Beispiele auch das Potential des Internets, auch wenn die Möglichkeiten, über das DS zu informieren, nicht voll ausgeschöpft werden. / Considering the increasing number of people using the internet as an source of knowledge about medical issues, we analysed the information of websites on Down Syndrome (DS). After a search for "Down syndrome" with the search engines Altavista and Yahoo (in German and in English), we examined medical and/or psycho-social information of web-sites within the first 100 hits yielded by each search engine. A predefined catalogue of health related data was used for ranking of web-sites. Basic (required) and additional (facultative) information were evaluated separately.English and German web-sites were compared. The sample size was 324 hits (200 English, 124 German) of which only 77 (24%) were medical web-sites. Among these were 34 relevant German web-sites (27% of 124 hits) and 43 relevant English web-sites (22% of 200 hits). In both languages all levels of information (poor/excellent) were found. Only 24% of the German web-sites and 35% of the English web-sites gave more than 50% of the basic medical information. Looking at the additional information, there were 1 German and 5 English web-sites communicating more than 50% of the expected content. An impact of language and authorship (universities/personal homepage) on the substance could be established. English websites contained more material than Germans. Since many homepages don`t cover and are not intended to present most of the required facts, the usefullness of both German and English web-sites as a source of information on DS is limited. Careful work is essential to ensure that the Internet takes shape in ways that support customers needs of health information. However, some examples show the potential of the Internet, although the possibilities to educate people about DS are not completly realised.

The underwater mining has increased in the recent years and the growing awareness of the potential impacts on the environment, as results of increasing the encroachment on the marine environment. Therefore, the debate has increased about how to protect this environment by using the scientific research that\'s relevant to the various environmental effects and developing the equipment used in dredging. There is a wide diversity of underwater mining equipments, such as continuous and non-continuous dredging which used for production of sand, gravel, alluvial deposits and raw material. There are a relation between increasingly dredging activities in the recent years and their impacts on the aquatic environment. These impacts are causes by changes in the topography of the sea floor such as turbidity, noise and other environmental impacts. Today, there is an international framework of legislation which has been developed for dredging projects. This contains rules and regulations which must be followed by mining companies and have to implemented by national authorities. The European countries also develop their legislation to control on the dredged material which deposit on land and sea. This legislation is constantly changing related to scientific knowledge and increasing the implementation frameworks. Also, the people become more sensitive to emissions that have a negative attitude towards dredging in the neighborhood. In addition, dredging techniques give rise to objections, which eventually led to think in more environmentally-friendly production methods. After that, the use of dredger is the only alternative in some project. The question is what are the true benefits of these techniques and what is the relation between possible improvements and technological potential as well as the costs. Therefore, it is intended to assess mining techniques in the context of their environmental impact and the costs. There are many systematic approaches which have been used for evaluation and determination of the environmental performances of different dredging equipment, techniques and procedures. Moreover, the new future developments and latest proposals in the dredging industry have been presented. Also, the new proposal to reduce the turbidity and suspended material effect which is the most important environmental impacts during dredging operations has presented. This research work gives a description of underwater mining techniques and different way of evaluating the dredging equipment’s in term of environmental, economic and social aspects. Also, this work presents two different methods of evaluation. The first approach is the statistical analyses method by using the modern Fuzzy evaluation concept. The second slant is a mathematical accounting method by using the information from the Egyptian case study, in order to reach the most environmental-friendly dredging techniques by taking into account the economic and social point of views. The final evaluation showed that the suction and bucket ladder dredger are the best choices. The assessment was made after comparing many parameters such as performance, characteristics, working depth, soil types and project area. Also, this work presents two different new practices for extraction of the underwater placer deposits which occur on the Egyptian Mediterranean coast. The first technique uses floating processing unit in the in situ area, which gets the extracted material and treated it to reduce the transportation costs. The second technique has divided the working area to many stages which make the suction dredger used also for transporting the material into the beach. The pipeline will be the best method of transportation by using the power of suction, which reduce also the transportation costs and also avoid the environmental effects.

Virtual manipulatives are employed by both preservice and inservice teachers to enhance the instructional effectiveness of physical manipulatives and related tools by addressing limitations of access, cost, and adaptability. While research into the use of emerging technologies continues, there are several variables to consider when measuring the effects of virtual manipulative use. Research design, sampling characteristics, and the type of manipulative used may influence achievement. Variables that may influence the effectiveness of virtual manipulatives include: previous experience with computers, grade level, mathematical topic, treatment length, student attitudes toward mathematics, and computer-to-student ratio.

Univ., Dipl.-Arb.--Köln, 2005. / Literaturverz. S. 121 - 128.

The vasomotor axon reflex can be evoked in peripheral epidermal nociceptive C-fibers to induce local vasodilation. This neurogenic flare response is a measure of C-fiber functional integrity and therefore shows impairment in patients with small fiber neuropathy. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) and laser Doppler imaging (LDI) are both techniques to analyze vasomotor small fiber function by quantifying the integrity of the vasomotor-mediated axon reflex. While LDF assesses the flare response following acetylcholine iontophoresis with temporal resolution at a single defined skin point, LDI records flare responses with spatial and temporal resolution, generating a two-dimensional map of superficial blood flow. LDF is characterized by a high intra- and interindividual measurement variability, which is smaller in LDI due to its spatial resolution. Nevertheless, LDI still lacks standardized methods for image analysis. Consequently, use of the technique currently remains on an experimental level. Here, we sought to review the current literature on laser Doppler assessment of vasomotor function and discuss potential future applications of established techniques as well as those that are still experimental.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify an appropriate screening instrument for the identification of frail elderly patients in a tertiary cancer center. In order to improve cancer care for older patients, the use of a geriatric assessment (GA) has been proposed to identify frail patients or those who are at a higher risk for chemotherapy-related toxicities. In busy clinical routine, an appropriate screening instrument could be used to spare time- and resource-consuming application of GA. Patients and Methods: We administered the Vulnerable Elders Survey (VES-13), G8 questionnaire, and Predictors of Toxicity (POT) as well as a GA at the first visit of 84 consecutive patients at a single Comprehensive Cancer Center. Analysis for patients’ characteristics as well as sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value (npv) was conducted. Results: The median age of the patients was 73 years (range 63–93 years), 61.9% were male, most (63%) suffered from gastrointestinal tumors, 39.3% had a multiple cancer diagnosis, and 53.6% had metastasis. 30 (35.7%) individuals were classified as ‘frail’ by the GA. Sensitivity of G8 was 38.3%, and the npv was 63.8%. Sensitivity for VES-13 was 57.1%, and npv was 76.3%. Sensitivity of POT was 72.7%, and the npv was 80.6%. Conclusion: For the first time, the VES13, G8, and POT are compared in a sample of older German patients. The POT seems to be a sufficient screening tool to identify frail patients in a tertiary referral cancer center and helps to save time and resources compared with a complete GA.

Self-reported health depends on the internal frame of reference and on response styles. One way of studying this dependency is using anchoring vignettes. Response shift effects are assumed to induce a negative correlation between self-reported health and the health assessments attributed to the vignettes. Method: A representative sample of the German adult population (N = 2,409) was selected. Participants were asked to rate their health state and the health states of two rather complex vignettes representing patients with several health complaints on a 0-100 scale. Results: The mean score of self-assessed health was M = 76.20 (SD = 20.6). There was a very small positive correlation between the assessment of the vignettes and the self-assessed health state (r = .12). After controlling for a proxy of objective health, measured in terms of chronic conditions, the relationship remained slightly positive. Chronic conditions were only marginally associated with the assessments of the vignettes (0 conditions: M = 44.8; ≥ 2 conditions: M = 42.2). Conclusions: The lack of the postulated association between self-reported health and vignettes’ ratings means that we cannot derive tools to correct the subjective ratings for differential use of frames of reference.

Das ARDS gilt, trotz verschiedenster Möglichkeiten der intensivmedizinischen Therapie, immer noch als die schwerste Form einer Lungenparenchymverletzung mit einer hohen Letalität. Zu Beginn der Erkrankung zeigt sich eine große Diskrepanz zwischen zunehmender Hypoxie und blandem Röntgen-Thorax-Befund. Die Röntgen-Thorax-Aufnahme bildet somit einen wichtigen diagnostischen Bestandteil. Die Kriterien einer einfachen Durchführung, guten Reproduzierbarkeit, hohen Aussagekraft und der Möglichkeit einer Verlaufsbeurteilung machen die Röntgen-Thorax-Liegendaufnahme zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil der intensivmedizinischen Diagnostik. Untersucht wurden retrospektiv 1575 Röntgen-Thorax-Aufnahmen von 33 Patienten mit dem Krankheitsbild des ARDS. Das Patientenkollektiv setzte sich aus 14 Frauen und 19 Männern im Alter von 12 bis 63 Jahren zusammen. Die Überlebensrate des untersuchten Patientenkollektives betrug 87,9%. Pro Patient wurden durchschnittlich 48 Röntgen-Thorax-Aufnahmen (zwischen 10 und 148 Aufnahmen) angefertigt. Die Aufnahmen wurden im Hinblick auf ihre Qualität, Strahlenexposition und ihre Übereinstimmung mit klinischen Parametern untersucht. Für die Beurteilung der Inter- und Intraobservervariabilität wurden verschiedenen Untersuchern 60 Röntgen-Thorax-Aufnahmen exemplarisch zur Bewertung vorgelegt. Aufgrund der schwierigen Aufnahmebedingungen bei Intensivpatienten sind verdrehte und verkippte Röntgen-Thorax-Aufnahmen nicht zu vermeiden. Trotz dieser Qualitätseinbußen ist ihr Informationsgehalt ein wichtiges Kriterium der intensivmedizinischen Diagnose und Therapie. Die Strahlenexposition der Röntgen-Thorax-Liegendaufnahmen und der daraus zu errechnende Lebenszeitverlust sind im Hinblick auf die Schwere und die hohe Letalität der Grunderkrankung als verschwindend gering zu betrachten. Die Röntgen-Scores nach Murray, Morel, Miniati, Rommelsheim und Ostendorf sind in der Diagnostik und Verlaufsbeurteilung des ARDS weit verbreitet. Sie sind in Handhabung und Gewichtung der Veränderungen jedoch sehr unterschiedlich. Zusammenhänge zwischen klinischen Parametern konnten für alle Scores, sowie für einen neuen Score beobachtet werden. Dabei ergaben sich für alle Scores ähnliche Beziehungen. Unter Berücksichtigung der Handhabung der einzelnen Röntgen-Scores, der Inter- und Intraobservervariabilität, sowie der Übereinstimmung mit klinischen Parametern sind der Röntgen-Score nach Rommelsheim, sowie der neue Röntgen-Score für den klinischen Alltag zu empfehlen. / Radiological Quantification of Chest X-Rays of the Lung Oedema of Patients with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) The ARDS is still regarded as the most serious form of lung parenchyma injury with a high lethality in spite of various possibilities of intensive care therapies. In the beginning of the illness a high discrepancy between an increasing hypoxia and a mostly inconspicouos chest X-ray result can be observed. Therefore, the chest X-ray forms an essential part of the diagnostic basis. It is characterized by simple implementation, a good reproducibility, a high meaningfulness and the possibility to judge the course of the illness. This makes the chest X-ray very valuable for the intensive care diagnosis. 1575 chest X-rays from 33 patients with ARDS symptoms were evaluated. The patients consisted of 14 women and 19 men between 12 and 63 years of age. The overall survival rate for all patients was 87.9%. An average of 48 (ranging from 10 to 148) chest X-rays were taken per patient. They were examined with regard to quality, radiation dose and correspondence to clinical variables. In order to judge the interobserver and intraobserver variability 60 chest X-rays were evaluated by different examiners. Due to the difficult conditions while taking the chest X-rays distorted and tilted chest X-rays cannot be avoided. Despite this loss of quality their content of information is an important criterion for the intensive care diagnosis and treatment. The loss of lifetime due to the radiation dose received can be ignored compared to the severeness and the high lethality of the basic illness. The chest X-ray scores according to Murray, Morel, Miniati, Rommelsheim and Ostendorf are commonly used for diagnostic purposes and to judge the course of the ARDS. However, their handling and their weightning of changes varies a lot. Correlations between all scores, a new score and the clinical variables were observed. All scores, including the new score, showed similar relations between the score ranking and the clinical variables. Considering the handling of the different chest X-ray scores, their interobserver and intraobserver variability and their correlation to clinical variables the chest X-ray score according to Rommelsheim and the new score can be recommended for daily use.

Die Dresdner Absolventenstudie beschreibt die Ergebnisse der Befragung von Absolvent/innen der im Titel genannten Fakultät der TU Dresden des im Untertitel angegebenen Abschlusszeitraums zu den Themen Berufseinmündung, Tätigkeitsverlauf, Studienverlauf, retrospektive Studienbewertung und Zukunftsorientierungen. Darüber hinaus werden Kohorten- und Panelvergleiche zu befragten Absolvent/innen früherer Jahrgänge realisiert. Gegenstand sind auch Aspekte im Studium, die mit dem beruflichen Erfolg in Zusammenhang stehen.