Correction to: Influence of cancer and acute inflammatory disease on taste perception: a clinical pilot study.

The Acknowledgement Statement was incorrect in the original publication of this article [1] and the previous correction note [2]. The correct statement is as follows.

Correction to: Influence of cancer and acute inflammatory disease on taste perception: a clinical pilot study.

The "Acknowledgment Statement" of the published paper is incorrect. The correct statement should be the below: Acknowledgements We thank Sarah Vogel for her support in taste test realization and Yvonne Sauermann for preparation of the tastant solutions. The present work was carried out by Ms. Schalk in order to meet the requirements for the awarding of the title of Dr. med. at the FAU.

Influence of cancer and acute inflammatory disease on taste perception: a clinical pilot study.

PURPOSE: Cancer patients are at high risk of malnutrition and tumor cachexia further increasing morbidity and mortality. Reasons for cachexia are not clear yet, but inflammatory processes as well as the occurrence of taste disorders reducing nutrient uptake are discussed to play key roles. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into causative factors of taste disturbance in cancer patients. Does the cancer itself, inflammatory processes or cancer therapy influence taste disorders? METHODS: To capture an underlying taste disorder patients with cancer (n = 42), acutely hospitalized inflammatory disease patients (n = 57) and healthy controls (n = 39) were examined. To assess the influence of chemotherapy, patients with and without chemotherapy were compared. Taste tests were performed according to DIN ISO 3972:2011. Inflammation was recorded using laboratory parameters. Statistical evaluation was conducted using the Software R. RESULTS: Cancer patients showed significantly increased taste thresholds for sweet, salty, and umami compared to healthy controls. There were no significant differences in taste detection and recognition between patients with former, current, or without chemotherapeutical treatment. Patients with an acute inflammatory disease showed an increased taste threshold for umami compared to healthy controls. CONCLUSIONS: It could be shown that cancer patients suffer from taste disorders irrespective of an existing chemotherapeutical treatment. Cancer-related inflammation appears to have a greater impact on taste perception than an acute inflammatory process. Therefore, an adapted dietary adjustment should be carried out at an early stage for cancer patients in order to avoid nutritional disorders caused by a taste disorder.

Thermal gas rectification using a sawtooth channel.

We study the rectification of a two-dimensional thermal gas in a channel of asymmetric dissipative walls. For an ensemble of smooth Lennard-Jones particles, our numerical simulations reveal a nonmonotonic dependence of the flux on the thermostat temperature, channel asymmetry, and particle density, with three distinct regimes. Theoretical arguments are developed to shed light on the functional dependence of the flux on the model parameters.

Modelling the effect of environmental factors on the hyphal growth of the basidiomycete Physisporinus vitreus.

The present work investigated the effects of environmental factors on the growth of fungal colonies of the white-rot basidiomycetes Physisporinus vitreus using a lattice-free discrete modeling approach called the fungal growth model (FGM), in which hyphae and nutrients are considered as discrete structures. A discrete modeling approach enables the underlying mechanistic rule concerning the basic architecture and dynamics of fungal networks to be studied on the scale of a single colony. By comparing simulations of the FGM with laboratory experiments of fungal colonies growing on malt extract agar we show that the combined effects of water activity, temperature and pH on the radial growth rate of fungal mycelia on the macroscopic scale may be explained by a power law for the costs of hyphal maintenance and expansion on the microscopic scale. Information about the response of the fungal mycelium at the micro- scopic level to environmental conditions is essential for simulating its behavior in complex structure substrates such as wood, where the effect of the fungus on the wood (i.e. the degradation of the cell wall) changes the local environmental condition (e.g. the permeability of the substrate and therefore the water activity in a colonized wood cell lumen). Using a combination of diffusion and moisture processes with the FGM may increase our understanding of the colonization strategy of P. vitreus and help to optimize its growth behavior for biotechnological applications such as bioincising.

Modelling the hyphal growth of the wood-decay fungus Physisporinus vitreus.

The white-rot fungus, Physisporinus vitreus, degrades the membranes of bordered pits in tracheids and consequently increases the permeability of wood, which is a process that can be used by the wood industry to improve the uptake of wood preservatives and environmentally benign wood modification substances to enhance the use and sustainability of native conifer wood species. To understand and apply this process requires an understanding of how a complex system (fungus-wood) interacts under defined conditions. We present a three-dimensional fungal growth model (FGM) of the hyphal growth of P. vitreus in the heartwood of Norway spruce. The model considers hyphae and nutrients as discrete structures and links the microscopic interactions between fungus and wood (e.g. degradation rate and degree of opening of pits) with macroscopic system properties, such penetration depth of the fungus, biomass, and distribution of destroyed pits in early- and latewood. Simulations were compared with experimental data. The growth of P. vitreus is characterized by a stepwise capture of the substrate and the effect of this on wood according to different model parameters is discussed.

New universality class for the fragmentation of plastic materials.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the fragmentation of polymeric materials by impacting polypropylene particles of spherical shape against a hard wall. Experiments reveal a power law mass distribution of fragments with an exponent close to 1.2, which is significantly different from the known exponents of three-dimensional bulk materials. A 3D discrete element model is introduced which reproduces both the large permanent deformation of the polymer during impact and the novel value of the mass distribution exponent. We demonstrate that the dominance of shear in the crack formation and the plastic response of the material are the key features which give rise to the emergence of the novel universality class of fragmentation phenomena.

Causative role of coronary microvessels for the development and progression of chronic myocardial lesions in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

The pathomechanisms responsible for the development and progression of myocardial alterations in hypertensive heart disease are largely unknown. Using newly developed preparation and measuring procedures in 78 SHR and 82 controls aged 3-78 weeks, topological relations were detected between focal morphological appearances of chronic myocardial ischemia (fml.) and pathological microvessel (mv.) reactions characterized by morphometric signs of chronic contractions. The smallest ramifications are of particular pathogenic importance. A generalized peak of pathological mv. reactions between the 16th and 24th weeks is responsible for the development of first fml. The further progression of the area density of fml. from 1.26 +/- 0.85% (24th week) to 31.82 +/- 8.60% (78th week) is attributable to the further increase in pathological mv. reactions caused by organ-specific influences. The histological and morphometric findings suggest that the pathological mv. reactions are aggravated by their own effects at the local level.

[Does the cardiogoniogram change following revascularization?]. / Andert sich das Kardiogoniogramm nach Revaskularisation?

19 patients with one-vessel coronary disease were studied by cardiogoniometry (CGM), a new computerized vectorcardiographic method, before and after revascularization. In 14 patients revascularization had been performed by the method of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA) and in 5 patients by aortocoronary bypass operation. Although the majority of cases showed a good postoperative result, CGM parameters failed to demonstrate a significant change, i.e. a previous pathologic CGM remained unchanged. It therefore appears to be doubtful whether CGM is reliable enough to assess the results of revascularization, possibly because it is more sensitive to infarcted than potentially ischemic yet vital myocardium.

Long-term effects of ethanol on coronary microvessels of rats.

To study the hitherto unknown long-term effects of ethanol on the contractile activity of wall cells of coronary microvessels (mv.), 21 experimental and 21 control animals were investigated, using a new histomorphometric method. The pair-fed rats of the experimental group were given a diet containing ethanol which replaced 36% of the total calories for 4 weeks. This resulted in an increase of wall thickness of mv. in all segments of the microvasculature and an augmentation of the number of ATP-hydrolyzing small-calibered mv. The increase of wall thickness of muscularized mv. was interpreted as a structural adaptation to a long-term predominance of vasotonic influences, which were apparently likewise responsible for the increase of ATP-hydrolysis in the smallest mv. The possible reasons for this predominance are discussed and the necessity to include myocardial metabolic factors in pathogenic considerations on ethanol-induced coronary affections is indicated. Such mv. reactions as observed may be considered as a potential contributive pathogenic factor in ethanol-induced cardiomyopathies and hypertension.

[Giant cell reaction of short tubular bones]. / Die riesenzellige Reaktion der kurzen Röhrenknochen.

This paper deals with the case of a so-called giant-cell reaction of the short tubular bones of a 31 year-old patient. Histologically, this rare benign disease falls under the category of tumor-like lesions of the bone. Clinically, the disease becomes evident through pain and swelling, and radiologically, a lytic bone process can be observed which may well perforate the cortical substance. The therapy consists in the total removal and the filling of the defect with autologous bone graft from the iliac crest, in some cases also by means of some additional autologous cancellous bone chips. The prognosis after surgical therapy is excellent. In the few cases which have to date become known, no cases of recurrence have been observed. Although the pathogenesis has not been clarified, thus far trauma and local disturbances of growth and/or development must be considered. Concerning differential diagnosis, one should distinguish above all the reaction from aneurysmal and juvenile bone cyst, as well as osteoclastoma.

[Possibilities and limitations of histomorphometric studies of arterial vessels of the microcirculation]. / Möglichkeiten und Grenzen histomorphometrischer Untersuchungen an arteriellen Gefässen der terminalen Strombahn.

The choice of a procedure for measurements of blood vessels (b.v.) should depend on the type of b.v. investigated: For vessels defined anatomically and in respect to their function of organ supply the method of SUWA et al. (1961) is the most adequate one, provided that b.v. dilatations developing during lifetime and persisting after death as a result of special methods of fixation or shock-freezing or being generated by postmortal perfusion can be excluded. Changes in wall thickness of defined b.v. sectioned transversally can also be determined by measurement of the wall area and/or the maximal chord length. At undefined vessels procedures which measure the wall-to-lumen ratio are useless, because lumen changes are not quantifiable. Thus lumen changes can mask of mimick changes in wall thickness. The especially interesting b.v. either with a pathologically changed or without an elastic membrane are not measurable. The unsable method to detect changes in wall thickness at undefined b.v. is founded on the determination of the vessel wall area and/or the number of all the b.v. classified according to their diameter of a certain organ region. But the investigation of the smallest precapillary vessels presupposes their visualization by a special modification of the ATPase reaction.

[Determination of arterial wall thickness variations of vessels in the microcirculation by the ATPase-Quantimet method]. / Zur Feststellung von Wanddickenveränderungen arterieller Endstrombahngefässe durch das ATPase-Quantimet-Verfahren.

The use of the Quantimet for measurements of structural wall reactions of blood vessels (b.v.), visualized selectively by a modification of the ATPase reaction, requires that changes in wall thickness are not mimicked by differences in deposition of the reaction product, by changes of the b.v. lumen, and/or by b.v. elongations, especially meanderings occurring independently of thickenings of vessel walls and caused solely by increase of the intravascular pressure or by vasoconstriction. The article has substantiated the conclusion that these requirements are fulfilled.

Automated image analysis for measurements of morphological reactions of blood vessels of the microvascular system.

Using a modification of the Mg-ATPase reaction, the arterial blood vessels of the microcirculatory bed of the rat including the smallest precapillary vessels are visualized in a grey-level difference against their environment which permits to utilize the automatic image analyser QUANTIMET 720 and the programmable desk-top calculator HEWLETT-PACKARD 9100B. The article describes the method for preparing the sections, the measuring procedure, and the statistical verification of the results by means of the computer assisted two-way analysis of variance as well as studies demonstrating the reliability of the method. It is concluded that the procedure at heart, skeletal muscle and pancreas specimens of the rat demonstrates reliably and effectively changes of the number of vessels and the projected whole vessel wall area as well as differences of enzyme activities. Thus it is possible to detect structural wall reactions and enzyme histochemical changes of arterial blood vessels of the microvasculatory bed including its smallest precapillaries which have been practically inaccessible to histomorphometrical investigations in the past.

[The computed tomography of the malignant thoracic space-occupying process under special consideration of radiotherapeutic points of view (author's transl)]. / Die Computertomographie der thorakalen bösartigen Raumforderung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung strahlentherapeutischer Gesichtspunkte.

The data of 70 patients with a malignant thoracic space-occupying process were compared in order to find out the differences between computed tomography and conventional X-ray diagnosis (thorax radiography, hilum tomography), the radiotherapeutic aspects of these methods being taken under special consideration. Computed tomography is excellently suited for the establishment of therapeutic schemes because it is the only technique producing individual cross-sectional views of the thorax which are in correct scale and have a high resolving power. Contrary to thorax radiography and hilum shadow, the computed tomography offers some additional diagnostic information in several special fields.