Stimulation of hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy by infusion of a cytosol extract from regenerating dog liver

A cytosol liver extract was prepared from adult dog livers and from liver remnants that had been regenerating for one, two and three days after 72 per cent partial hepatectomy. Given intraportally, the most active of these cytosols did not stimulate proliferation in the livers of normal dogs. However, infused during a six hour period into the portal vein of test group dogs, the cytosol from 48 and, especially, 72 hour regenerating livers augmented the regeneration response ordinarily produced by 44 per cent partial hepatectomy. The effect was delayed. It became identifiable 48 hours after infusion and reached a peak at 72 hours. Neither augmentation nor significant inhibition of the normal regeneration response was produced by cytosol from normal liver and 24 hour regenerating liver or by a six hour infusion of insulin. The amplification effect of active cytosol was equivocal when the infusions were given intraperitoneally and was not demonstrable at all by the intravenous route. In these investigations, it is confirmed that there are growth control factors in regenerating liver but the nature or physiologic significance of the factor or factors has not been clarified

Kinetics of Physiological Skin Flora in a Suction Blister Wound Model on Healthy Subjects after Treatment with Water-Filtered Infrared-A Radiation

The effect of water-filtered infrared-A radiation (wIRA) on normal skin flora was investigated by generating experimental wounds on the forearms of volunteers utilizing the suction blister technique. Over 7 days, recolonization was monitored parallel to wound healing. Four groups of treatment were compared: no therapy (A), dexpanthenol cream once daily (B), 20 min wIRA irradiation at 30 cm distance (C), and wIRA irradiation for 30 min once daily together with dexpanthenol cream once daily (D). All treatments strongly inhibited the recolonization of the wounds. Whereas dexpanthenol completely suppressed recolonization over the test period, recolonization after wIRA without (C) and in combination with dexpanthenol (D) was suppressed, but started on day 5 with considerably higher amounts after the combination treatment (D). Whereas the consequence without treatment (A) was an increasing amount of physiological skin flora including coagulase-negative staphylococci, all treatments (B–D) led to a reduction in physiological skin flora, including coagulase-negative staphylococci. In healthy volunteers, wIRA alone and in combination with dexpanthenol strongly inhibited bacterial recolonization with physiological skin flora after artificial wound setting using a suction-blister wound model. This could support the beneficial effects of wIRA in the promotion of wound healing

Die gesellschaftliche Vernetzung ostdeutscher Parlamentarier

Eine der latenten, oft übersehenen Funktion von Parlamenten ist für die dauerhafte Responsivität des politischen Systems sowie für zielgerichtete Führungsanstrengungen zu sorgen. Der Autor bringt diesen Sachverhalt auf den Begriff der 'Bindegliedfunktion' oder dem der 'Vernetzungsfunktion'. Gemeint ist damit, daß Parlamente leistungsfähige Kommunikations- und Interaktionsnetze aufzubauen zu haben, die sie mit der gesamten Gesellschaft in engen und dauerhaften Kontakt bringen. In solchen Kontaktsträngen werden Informationen und Meinungen ausgetauscht, zirkuliert Macht als 'Währung der Politik' und es werden jene informellen Beziehungen gepflegt, welche die Substanz des Politischen ausmachen. An Hand von Umfragedaten untersucht der vorliegende Beitrag diesen Prozeß für die neuen Bundesländer. Es zeigt sich, daß das neue politische System Ostdeutschlands keineswegs mehr über der ostdeutschen Gesellschaft schwebt, wie es kurz nach der Wiedervereinigung der Fall war. Dieses 'Wurzelwerk' repräsentativer Demokratie wächst jedoch nur langsam, da es nicht durch Verfassungsgebung oder Institutionendesign implementiert werden kann, sondern allein durch langjährige 'Einübung' demokratischer Spielregeln. (ICE)'How were the state parliaments of Germany's Neue Länder, re-established in 1990, linked to East German society in the first years of their existence? What patterns of societal linkages have since developed? Can an increasing similarity between East and West German societal roots of parliaments be stated, and if so, to what extent? These questions are addressed, with findings based on data from surveys of East and West German MPs carried out in 1991/92 and 1994. Evidence is presented that East German assimilation has occurred remarkably fast-paced, with the main MPs and of the politically relevant structures to the functional logic of the political system imported from West Germany.' (author's abstract

"Bildung" und "Rechts": rechte Bewegungen und ihre Bildungsbemühungen

Der Autor zeichnet die "Bildungsbemühungen" rechter Bewegungen und Organisationen nach und stellt Organe, Mittel und Inhalte dieser Bemühungen vor. Er plädiert für eine klare und deutliche Auseinandersetzung mit rechten Organisationen und Inhalten, in der es die Aufgabe der politischen Bildung ist, die Leitgedanken, Wirkungszusammenhänge und den großen Mehrwert pluralistischer Demokratie zu verdeutlichen

Was soll und wie betreibt man vergleichende Diktaturforschung? Ein forschungsprogrammatischer Essay in evolutorischer Perspektive

Der Verfasser arbeitet grundlegende Probleme einer vergleichenden Autokratieforschung aus der Perspektive der Erkenntnistheorie und der Soziologie der Wissenschaft heraus. Die vergleichende Autokratieforschung krankt nach seiner Ansicht an unklaren Vorstellungen über ihr Thema, einer ungenügenden Zusammenarbeit zwischen Politikwissenschaftlern und Historikern, einer zu engen Verbindung der Forschung mit politischen Interessen, einem 'democracy bias' bei der Bestimmung der Forschungsagenda, an Typologien ohne historische Tiefe, zu unpräzisen Vorstellungen über die Ähnlichkeit und Unähnlichkeit von Phänomenen und fehlenden 'Algorithmen' bei der Erkennung von Mustern autoritärer Strukturen. Der Problemdiagnose folgt ein innovatives Rezept für eine systematisch angelegte, kumulative und interdisziplinäre vergleichende Forschung über autoritäre Regime. Es basiert auf dem unter Federführung des Autors in Dresden entwickelten Evolutorischen Institutionalismus, einer neuen Variante des Historischen Institutionalismus. (ICF2)'Comparative research on authoritarian regimes is at the core of political science. But it must cope with some serious problems: unclear conceptions of the topic itself, insufficient cooperation between political scientists and historians, linkages with political interests that are too close for comfort, an uncontrolled 'democracy bias' when defining the research agenda, typologies without historical depth, unclear conceptions of similarity and dissimilarity, and missing 'algorithms' of pattern recognition with respect to authoritarian structures and institutional developments. After discussions on these issues from the angles of both epistemology and the sociology of science, handles for more systematic, cumulative, and interdisciplinary comparative research on authoritarian regimes in an historical perspective are derived from evolutionary institutionalism, a recent variant of historical institutionalism. In particular, its approaches towards an analysis of 'institutional architecture', 'institutional evolution', and 'institutional morphology' are linked by many examples, with comparative research on authoritarian regimes.' (author's abstract)

Ostdeutsche Parlamentarier in ihrer ersten Wahlperiode: Wandel und Angleichung

1991/92 wurden 403 Parlamentarier aus Ostdeutschland, 1994 856 Abgeordnete bundesweit (darunter 208 aus Ostdeutschland) schriftlich zu ihrem Amtsverständnis, ihrer Amtsführung und ihren gesellschaftlichen Vernetzungen befragt. Betrachtet werden zentrale Unterschiede zwischen Ost- und Westparlamentariern, Abweichungen zwischen den beiden Befragungszeitpunkten sowie generell die ostdeutschen Wandlungsprozesse. Im Ergebnis wird festgehalten, daß sich das Muster der Ost/West-Unterschiede in den vier Jahren nicht wesentlich geändert hat. Als wesentliches Defizit des ostdeutschen Parlamentarismus wird die unzulängliche Öffentlichkeits- und Wahlkreisarbeit und die mangelnde Bereitschaft, 'Führungsfuktionen' wahrzunehmen, festgehalten. Es bildete sich aber weder ein neuer 'Abgeordnetentyp' heraus, noch kann von einem neuen Typ von Parlamentarismus gesprochen werden, allenfalls von einer Modifikation des ansonsten gleichen Modells. (pra)"Based on 1991/92 and 1994 surveys of parliamentarians, this article analyzes role changes of East German MPs during the first years of the newly established parliamentarism in the 'New Laender'. As a point of departure, significant differences between East and West German parliamentarians in 1991/92 are explored in terms of biographical and socializational background, role orientations and role behaviour as MPs, and in terms of the parliamentarians' linkages with civil society (grassroots networking efforts). Secondly, changes in these variables that occured until 1994 are analyzed. In conclusion, the pattern of differences between East and West German MPs in 1994 reveals that East German MPs developed the same roles that had long been known from West German MPs. To be sure, this development did not simply reflect a process of role adaptation on the part of the MPs but was due to the functional similarities of the political institutions that had been transferred from West to East Germany." (author's abstract

Organic modification of layered silicates for use as barrier pigments in coating systems

Functional coatings and the barrier pigments they contain are an indispensable part of corrosion or product protection. The frequently used layered silicates in their pure form often do not achieve a sufficient protection of the components or products. The barrier effect of the silicates can be significantly improved through targeted organic modification. The general use of commercial (unmodified) silicates leads to an improvement in the barrier of about 20 %. In contrast, the use of modified silicates achieves an improvement of up to 80 % [1], due to the extent of the diffusion path [2]. Decisive for the diffusion path and therefore for the subsequent functionality of the barrier is the exfoliation and orientation of the silicates, which depends on the compatibility with the coating system. Due to the large number of coating systems and the associated binder classes, the silicates should be specifically adapted to the respective polymer by being modified with reactive groups, which represents the main focus of this work. As a first polymer system an epoxy matrix was chosen. Thus, commercial silicates were modified by an epoxy-oligomer matrix based on 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether. The produced silicates were examined with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The expansion of the layers and the attachment of the organic molecules were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)

Capecitabine in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma

To evaluate the therapeutic effects and systemic toxicities of a capecitabine-based home therapy regimen in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma, 30 patients were enrolled in a phase II clinical trial. Treatment consisted of oral capecitabine combined with subcutaneous recombinant human interferon-α 2a, recombinant human interleukin-2 and oral 13-cis-retinoic acid. There were two (7%) complete responses (CRs) and eight (27%) partial remissions (PRs), for an overall objective response rate of 34% (95% CI 17–53%). Except one, all responses are ongoing, with a median duration of 9+ and 8+ months for CRs and PRs, respectively. Additionally, 12 patients (40%) reached stable disease. Eight patients (27%) showed continued disease progression despite treatment. Therapy was well tolerated and was given in the outpatient setting. Capecitabine-related World Health Organization (WHO) grade 2 and 3 toxicities were observed in five and two patients respectively, and were limited to fatigue, nausea/vomiting, diarrhoea, stomatitis, dermatitis and hand-and-foot syndrome. The substitution of capecitabine for 5-FU in the pre-existing biochemotherapy regimen did not result in a reduced therapeutic efficacy and showed significant anti-tumour activity in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig