Safety and clinical outcomes of rituximab therapy in patients with different autoimmune diseases: experience from a national registry (GRAID)

Introduction: Evidence from a number of open-label, uncontrolled studies has suggested that rituximab may benefit patients with autoimmune diseases who are refractory to standard-of-care. The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and clinical outcomes of rituximab in several standard-of-care-refractory autoimmune diseases (within rheumatology, nephrology, dermatology and neurology) other than rheumatoid arthritis or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a real-life clinical setting. Methods: Patients who received rituximab having shown an inadequate response to standard-of-care had their safety and clinical outcomes data retrospectively analysed as part of the German Registry of Autoimmune Diseases. The main outcome measures were safety and clinical response, as judged at the discretion of the investigators. Results: A total of 370 patients (299 patient-years) with various autoimmune diseases (23.0% with systemic lupus erythematosus, 15.7% antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated granulomatous vasculitides, 15.1% multiple sclerosis and 10.0% pemphigus) from 42 centres received a mean dose of 2,440 mg of rituximab over a median (range) of 194 (180 to 1,407) days. The overall rate of serious infections was 5.3 per 100 patient-years during rituximab therapy. Opportunistic infections were infrequent across the whole study population, and mostly occurred in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. There were 11 deaths (3.0% of patients) after rituximab treatment (mean 11.6 months after first infusion, range 0.8 to 31.3 months), with most of the deaths caused by infections. Overall (n = 293), 13.3% of patients showed no response, 45.1% showed a partial response and 41.6% showed a complete response. Responses were also reflected by reduced use of glucocorticoids and various immunosuppressives during rituximab therapy and follow-up compared with before rituximab. Rituximab generally had a positive effect on patient well-being (physician's visual analogue scale; mean improvement from baseline of 12.1 mm). Conclusions: Data from this registry indicate that rituximab is a commonly employed, well-tolerated therapy with potential beneficial effects in standard of care-refractory autoimmune diseases, and support the results from other open-label, uncontrolled studies

Paedagogik und Recht: rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen und Handlungsspielraeume fuer eine erweiterte Selbstaendigkeit von Einzelschulen Dokumentation der gleichnamigen Fachtagung der Kommission Bildungsorganisation, Bildungsplanung und Bildungsrecht der Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Erziehungswissenschaft am 19. und 20.9.1996 in Erfurt

Es werden die rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen und Handlungsspielraeume fuer eine erweiterte Selbstaendigkeit von Einzelschulen in Bremen, Bayern, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hessen und Nordrhein-Westfalen dargestellt und miteinander verglichen. Eine Bibliographie zu dieser Thematik rundet den Tagungsbericht ab. (DIPF/Mar.)SIGLEAvailable from DIPF, Frankfurt am Main-DXX A 33859 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Die Bedeutung der paedagogischen Propaganda fuer die Befaehigung der Erziehungskraefte zur kommunistischen Erziehung der Kinder und Jugendlichen unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung der Reversion eines gestoerten Vertrauensverhaeltnisses zwischen Elternhaus und Schule

HUB(11) - 81 HB 5706 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Beobachtungsverfahren in der paedagogischen, psychologischen und soziologischen Forschung

Gliederung: 1. Was ist beobachten? Zur Definition der Beobachtung als Methode in den Sozialwissenschaften; 2. Wie kann man beobachten? Zur Konstruktion von Beobachtungsverfahren und deren Klassifikation; 3. Ist der Qualitaetsanspruch gegeben? Zur Bewertung von Beobachtungsmethoden und -verfahren in den Sozialwissenschaften anhand von Beispielen; 4. Zu den Verfahren und Hinweisen fuer ihre Anwendung; 5. Kommentare zu einigen ausgewaehlten Verfahren (5.1. Interaktionsanalyse nach Bales, 5.2. Das SYMLOG-Verfahren nach Bales/ Cohen, 5.3. Die LPC-Skala nach Memmert, 5.4. Die FIAC von Flanders und die Analyse der Lehrertaetigkeit nach Engler, 5.5. Die Erfassung des Unterrichts nach Vorsmann, 5.6. Die Erfassung von Fuehrungsparametern nach Tausch/ Tausch und Bluhme, 5.7. Die Erfassung von Schuelerhandlungen mit Schaetzskalen nach Gruenler, Seidel und Fuhrmann); 6. Schlussbemerkung. Anhang. Zusammenstellung von Beobachtungsverfahren (S. 59-129)SIGLEAvailable from HoF Wittenberg, Inst. f. Hochschulforschung -97-31559 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

Entwicklung der Thueringer Grundschulen Gutachten im Auftrag des Thueringer Kultusministeriums

UuStB Koeln(38)-960107781 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Reconstruction accuracy of an automated serial cross-sectional preparation technique for morphological human temporal bone imaging

Detailed knowledge about the three-dimensional morphology of the human cochlea and its intra-cochlear bony and soft-tissue structures is essential for development of new cochlear implant electrode carriers. A manual cross-sectional preparation and imaging technique, hereinafter referred to as “microgrinding”, uses human temporal bone samples embedded in epoxy resin. This process was automated to shorten the time needed for preparation and to increase reproducibility. In this study, reconstruction accuracy of the automated microgrinding technique was determined. Four assemblies of LEGO® bricks were used as artificial samples to analyze the resulting reconstruction accuracy of the whole procedure including embedding, preparation and image registration. The outer surfaces of the samples were measured using a portable coordinate measuring machine by manually choosing points on each surface. After embedding the samples in epoxy resin, following the protocol for human temporal bone samples, preparation using the automated microgrinding was performed with a slice thickness of 50μm. Pixel-spacing within an image was 11.5μm/px. The samples were identified within the dataset using threshold segmentation. Subsequently, points were manually chosen on each surface of the segmented samples. Planes, angles between planes and distances between corners were calculated for the physical and the digital samples. Deviation of the digitally derived measures compared to the physically derived ones describe the reconstruction accuracy of the automated microgrinding process. Parallel planes had a deviation of 0.5° ± 0.5° (range: 0 - 2.9°). Orthogonal planes, whose line of intersection is parallel to the direction of milled abrasion, had a deviation of 0.8 ° ± 0.5 ° (range: 0 - 2.1°), whereas such orthogonal planes whose line of intersection is parallel to the documented sample surface had a deviation of 0.4° ± 0.3 ° (range: 0 - 1.7 °). Distances between corners had an absolute deviation of 0.1 mm ± 0.1mm (range: 0 - 0.6mm), which corresponds to a relative deviation of 1% ± 1% (range: 0 - 6.5%). This study shows a highly accurate sample preparation using an automated microgrinding technique as an essential prerequisite for three-dimensional morphological imaging

Self‐esteem fully mediates positive life events and depressive symptoms in a sample of 173 patients with affective disorders

Objectives Previous research showed that positive and negative life events influence the development of depression. However, it is less clear how life events interact with depressive symptoms and self-esteem. Design and methods The present study aimed to investigate the mediating effects of self-esteem on the relationship between life events and depressive symptoms in adulthood. The Traumatic Antecedent Questionnaire, Multidimensional Self-esteem Scale (MSWS), and Becks Depression Inventory were administered in 173 psychiatric inpatients (mean age 39.69 +/- 14.56 years, ranging from 18 to 76 years). At the time of assessment, all patients suffered from depressive symptoms caused by an affective disorder (major depression, bipolar I, dysthymia). Results Path analyses showed that the individual level of self-esteem (measured by MSWS) fully mediated the association between positive life events and depressive symptoms. Conclusions The current study indicates that future therapy programmes for patients with depressive symptoms could include interventions focusing on the improvement of self-esteem, as increasing self-esteem may be beneficial for recovery. Practitioner points To date, this is the first study exploring the pathways from positive/negative life events to depressive symptoms. The relationship between positive life experiences and depressive symptoms was fully mediated by self-esteem. Strengthening self-esteem in therapy might lower the vulnerability for depression

'Gruppenarbeit in der Erstausbildung' (Modellversuch) ein Qualifizierungskonzept fuer Auszubildende und Ausbilder zur Vorbereitung auf Formen betrieblicher Gruppenarbeit ; 1. Zwischenbericht

SIGLEUuStB Koeln(38)-970107766 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman