ABSTRACT
The US author John Updike (1932-2009) wrote about the clinical picture of his psoriasis. In addition to the brilliant literal depiction of the inner conflicts of those suffering-particularly his own struggles-Updike also chronologically documented the course of his illness and therapeutic efforts, especially phototherapy which was commonly used at the time.
Subject(s)
Psoriasis , Skin , Humans , Phototherapy , Psoriasis/diagnosis , Psoriasis/therapyABSTRACT
Edmund Lesser was one of the most influential German dermatologists of his time. After the death of his academic teacher Oscar Simon in Breslau, the later director of the dermatology hospital at the Charité moved to Leipzig in 1882. At the University of Leipzig he quickly completed his habilitation in June of the same year and continued the course for dermatology and venereology started by Neisser. Later he also went into private practice, where he recruited patients for his lectures. In Leipzig Lesser also published his well-received handbook on skin diseases and venereology and organized the third meeting of the German Society of Dermatology in 1891. Despite his hope and his undisputable achievements, he was not granted professorship by the faculty of medicine in Leipzig. For this he had to become head of dermatology at the University of Bern in 1892. This manuscript deals with his ten important years in Leipzig as a prerequisite for his later merits in Berlin as well as the development of academic dermatology at the University of Leipzig.
Subject(s)
Dermatology , Skin Diseases , Venereology , Dermatologists , Dermatology/history , Faculty , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Male , Venereology/historyABSTRACT
Despite his scientific achievements while still in medical school, Albert Neisser was not accepted into internal medicine. This was typical for this period, as Jewish doctors were not allowed into esteemed disciplines such as internal medicine and surgery. Due to his important discoveries as a resident in dermatology he rose to international fame; however, he had to move to Leipzig to boost his later career in Germany. This step has been somewhat neglected and is therefore the topic of this article.
Subject(s)
Dermatology/history , Germany , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Johann Heinrich Rille, also characterized as a renowned nestor of German-speaking dermatovenereology, was named as extraordinary professor for syphilis and skin diseases in Leipzig in 1902, the second oldest university in Germany. Although the chair of dermatology was promised this was postponed for many years, not only because of World War I but also due to an ongoing struggle for dermatology to be accepted as an independent specialty in Germany. Finally, in 1919, the long overdue promotion to full professor was granted. Rille commented on this as "successful partial coping with the ordeal of German dermatology in Leipzig".
Subject(s)
Dermatology/history , Faculty, Medical/history , Skin Diseases/history , Syphilis/history , Germany , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Seborrheic keratoses can often be found in elderly people. In general, they appear gradually. In cases of a sudden eruption with itching it might be paraneoplastic. Although some authors doubt the existence of the paraneoplastic Leser-Trélat syndrome, we present a case of sudden eruption of seborrheic keratoses connected with a newly diagnosed renal cell carcinoma. As far as we know, this is the first case report of a Leser-Trélat syndrome with a malignancy of the kidney.
ABSTRACT
In this work, the theoretical and experimental investigations of Co2TiZ (Z=Si, Ge or Sn) compounds are reported. Half-metallic ferromagnetism is predicted for all three compounds with only two bands crossing the Fermi energy in the majority channel. The magnetic moments fulfil the Slater-Pauling rule and the Curie temperatures are well above room temperature. All compounds show a metallic-like resistivity for low temperatures up to their Curie temperature, above the resistivity changes to semiconducting-like behaviour. A large negative magnetoresistance (MR) of 55 per cent is observed for Co2TiSn at room temperature in an applied magnetic field of µ(0)H=4T, which is comparable to the large negative MRs of the manganites. The Seebeck coefficients are negative for all three compounds and reach their maximum values at their respective Curie temperatures and stay almost constant up to 950 K. The highest value achieved is -52 µVK(-1) for Co2TiSn, which is large for a metal. The combination of half-metallicity and the constant large Seebeck coefficient over a wide temperature range makes these compounds interesting materials for thermoelectric applications and further spincaloric investigations.
Subject(s)
Carbon/chemistry , Germanium/chemistry , Silicates/chemistry , Tin/chemistry , Titanium/chemistry , Electricity , Electronics , Hot Temperature , Iron/chemistry , Magnetics , Manganese Compounds/chemistry , Scattering, Radiation , Software , Temperature , Thermodynamics , X-Ray DiffractionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Dead Sea climatotherapy (DSC) is a highly effective treatment for psoriasis; however, there are scanty data concerning the duration of post-therapy remission. OBJECTIVE: Assessment of the duration of remission in patients suffering from plaque-type psoriasis after a 4-week DSC. METHODS: Sixty-four patients from Germany (66% men; average age: 41.5 years) underwent a 4-week course of DSC between September 2001 and November 2002. After returning home, patients were asked to inform their dermatologist immediately when new lesions appeared. In parallel, they were called every 3 months by telephone. All patients who reported new skin lesions underwent a physical examination, including a Psoriasis Assessment Severity Index (PASI). OUTCOMES: (1) Time of recurrence of a psoriatic lesion after complete or almost complete clearance, defined as duration of remission; (2) time that elapsed until a relapse of 50% of the PASI improvement occurred, defined as duration of therapeutic effect. RESULTS: Mean PASI value before and after treatment was 31.7 and 1.42, showing a 95.5% improvement. All patients reached PASI 50, and 75.9% of them reached PASI 75 after 1 month of DSC. The median time of remission was 23.1 weeks. The median time of duration of therapeutic effect was 33.6 weeks. Statistical multivariable analysis indicated that a patient's younger age at the time of treatment was associated with a longer period of remission. CONCLUSION: Four-week DSC is an effective remittive treatment for plaque-type psoriasis. The period of remission induced compares favorably with other accepted modalities of treatment.