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K Erler

Publications and source records attributed to K Erler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Overview of key phytoplankton toxins and their recent occurrence in the North and Baltic Seas.

The frequency and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HABs) appear to be on the rise globally. There is also evidence of the geographic spreading of toxic strains of these algae. Consequently, methods had to be established and new ones are still needed for the evaluation of possible hazards caused by increased algal toxin production in the marine food chain. Different clinical effects of algae-related poisoning have attracted scientific attention; paralytic shellfish poisoning, diarrhetic shellfish poisoning, and amnesic shellfish poisoning are among the most common. Additionally, cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in brackish waters often produce neurotoxic and hepatotoxic substances. Bioassays with mice or rats are common methods to determine algal and cyanobacterial toxins. However, biological tests are not really satisfactory because of their low sensitivity. In addition, there is growing public opposition to animal testing. Therefore, there has been increasing effort to determine algal toxins by chemical methods. Plankton samples from different European marine and brackish waters were taken during research cruises and analyzed on board directly. The ship routes covered marine areas in the northwest Atlantic, Orkney Islands, east coast of Scotland, and the North and Baltic seas. The first results on the occurrence and frequency of harmful algal species were obtained in 1997 and 1998. During the 2000 cruise an HPLC/MS coupling was established on board, and algal toxins were measured directly after extraction of the plankton samples. In contrast to earlier cruises, the sampling areas were changed in 2000 to focusing on coastal zones. The occurrence of toxic algae in these areas was compared to toxin formation during HABs in the open sea. It was found that the toxicity of the algal blooms depended on the prevailing local conditions. This observation was also confirmed by monitoring cyanobacterial blooms in the Baltic Sea. Optimal weather conditions, for example, during the summers of 1997 and 2003, favored blooms of cyanobacteria in all regions of the Baltic. The dominant species regarding the HABs in the Baltic was Nodularia spumigena. However, in addition to high concentrations of Nodularia spumigena in coastal zones, other blue-green algae are involved in bloom formation, with changes in plankton communities influencing both toxin profiles and toxicity.

Cyanobacteria↗
PubMed1999

Below-knee amputations as a result of land-mine injuries: comparison of primary closure versus delayed primary closure.

BACKGROUND: Antipersonnel land mines are designed to maim by mutilating the lower extremities, and these injuries are at higher risk for infection than injuries from other weapon systems. METHODS: The results of 474 unilateral traumatic below-knee amputations as a result of land-mine injuries were reviewed. If the delay in evacuation between the injury and arrival to the battle field hospital was less than 6 hours, 392 amputation stumps (group I) were closed primarily after meticulous debridement. Open amputation was performed after debridement in the remaining 82 amputation stumps (group II), because there was a suspicion of ineffective debridement, although they were evacuated in less than 6 hours or delay was more than 6 hours. RESULTS: Eleven patients in group I (2.8%) were reoperated because of wound sepsis of the stump. Wound sepsis was not encountered in group II. A total of 87.4% of stumps in group I and 81.2% of stumps in group II had healed without a problem. No gas gangrene or tetanus was encountered in any cases. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that primary closure may be done in traumatic below-knee amputations caused by land-mine injuries with an acceptable infection rate, if the evacuation time is less than 6 hours, and if there is meticulous debridement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Treatment of complex calcaneal fractures with bony defects from land mine blast injuries with a circular external fixator.

Four calcanei, which were massively destroyed as a result of blasting injuries from land mines, and 18 severely comminuted calcaneal fractures with bony defects (in one patient, both feet), also from land mines, were treated using a circular external fixator for reconstruction by osteogenic distraction. Because of the severe destruction of tissue to be treated, definitive orthopaedic treatment was delayed for 3 to 28 months (average, 10.1 months) after injury. Time from first use of the circular external fixator to removal of the apparatus ranged from 110 to 175 days (average, 143.7 days). Mean follow-up was 18 months. Of the 22 calcaneal injuries, 4 had excellent results, 11 good, 5 fair, and 2 had poor results. Better results were achieved in cases with lesser defects in bone and where definitive orthopaedic treatment was delayed until problems in soft tissue could be treated.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Bilateral lower limb amputations as a result of landmine injuries.

Landmine explosions cause most of the war injuries in the battlefield. Amputations resulting from severe injuries reveal serious problems despite the improvements in surgery. Bilateral lower limb amputations have more impact than unilateral on social life. Some 29 cases with lower limb amputations due to landmine injuries were treated in the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Gülhane Military Medical Academy between January 1992 and December 1996. Amputation levels were as follows: 1 case had hip disarticulation and a trans-femoral amputation, 6 had bilateral trans-femoral amputations, 6 had trans-femoral and trans-tibial amputations, 12 had bilateral trans-tibial amputations, 1 had trans-femoral and Chopart amputations and the remaining 3 cases had trans-tibial and Chopart amputations. The initial treatment was done for all cases in the first 6-8 hours after injury at the field hospitals. Aggressive debridement, excision and primary closure were performed. None of the stumps required reamputations and/or revision. No case had gas gangrene or tetanus. Postoperative, pre-prosthetic training programme which ranged between 30-120 days with an average 48 days; and prosthesis fitting and adequate post-prosthetic training programme which ranged 32-126 (average 94) days was applied. All the cases were followed-up with a mean of 38.5 months (14-72 months). Nine (9) cases (31%) returned to their previous occupation, while 20 (69%) cases had to change their jobs.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Elecsys immunoassay systems using electrochemiluminescence detection.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL1) has recently been applied as detection technology for immunoassay systems from Boehringer Mannheim. In particular, the combination of ECL with universally coated micro particle technologies results in fast assays with very high sensitivity and broad measuring range. This is achieved by optimised selection of the electrochemically active "substrates" (Ruthenium chelates and tris-propylamine, TPA). Advantages of this novel application are discussed and the Elecsys 2010 system is described, which is a full automated analyser with full random access capabilities and suitable for the full immunoassay menue. In addition it features an innovative reagent information transfer technique, fast STAT function and continuous sample loading.

Calibration↗
PubMed1997

[Comparative rhinomanometric measurements in children with cleft palate after cleft closure with and without velopharyngoplasty].

To answer the question if a cranially based pharyngeal flap in patients with cleft palate could affect nasal breathing, 49 children were examined by active anterior rhinomanometry with and without decongestion of the nasal mucosa. All patients were between 10 and 12 years old. In 18 of them palatoplasty with a cranially based pharyngeal flap was performed at the average age of 3.5 years. The control group consisted of 21 children who had been treated with an intravelar veloplasty without any flap at the age of 11-13 months. None of the patients had any appreciable narrowing of the nasal airways. Using the U test we found no significant difference between the inspiratory breathing volume of both groups. The difference between in- and expiratory volume in each group showed no significance either while the volumes we examined before and after decongestion differed significantly. Thus, we cannot conclude that the cranially based flap affects nasal breathing in cleft palate patients compared to those without any flap.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Structural design of hidden Markov model speech recognizer using multivalued phonetic features: comparison with segmental speech units.

A novel approach to speech recognition, on the basis of a multidimensional multivalued phonetic-feature description of speech signals, is presented and evaluated. The hidden Markov model (HMM) framework is used to provide the recognition algorithm, which assumes that the underlying Markov chain tracks the temporal evolution of the features. It is shown that this approach can naturally accommodate such coarticulatory effects as feature spreading and formant transition in the functionality of the recognizer, and can provide a high degree of acoustic data sharing that makes effective use of training data. Use of phonetic features as the basic speech units creates a framework where the Markov model's state topology in the recognizer can be designed with guidance of detailed speech knowledge. Details of such a design for a stop consonant-vowel vocabulary are described. Experimental results on the task of speaker-dependent stop consonant discrimination, evaluated from speech data from a total of ten male and five female speakers, demonstrate effectiveness of this feature-based recognizer. Over the 15 speakers, the error rates were shown to be reduced by 23%, 37%, 42%, and 38%, respectively, compared with the conventional HMM-based recognition methods using words, phonemes, allophones, and microsegments as the primary speech units.

Communication↗
PubMed1990

[Spontaneous course of chronic gastritis in corpus and antrum--is there a regression?].

In 148 patients (medium of 59, 1 years) we investigated the natural history of chronic gastritis within 1-7 years (average of 5.9 years). We performed two biopsies, but in 35 cases 3 or 4 biopsies. In most patients the histological picture was not changed. In superficial gastritis of the body we observed a regression more often than a progression. Regression of atrophic gastritis was see in body and antrum. The rate of regression was higher in cases with 3 or 4 biopsies and with a longer interval of observation. The frequency of regression was higher than awaited according to simultaneous biopsies (criticism of method). There was no difference of rate of regression in various age groups and in various diagnosis (gastric or duodenal ulcer). In gastritis Type B the regression was more seldom than in gastritis Type a or type AB. For spontaneous regression no cause was found.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1984

[Incidence of chronic gastritis in foreign patients with chronic dyspepsia].

In 55 Patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia from Non-European countries gastric mucosa from antrum and corpus was examined (by taking at least two specimens, at least one of them includes muscularis mucosae). For comparison we took 87 patients from European countries (incl. GDR). With regard to the gastritis of antrum we observed no differences. On the other hand in corpus we found a normal mucosa more often among patients from Non-European countries, especially from Asia and Africa and in age group 40-49 years. Presumably in these patients chronic gastritis comes in older age.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

[Diagnostic value of direct and indirect cholangiography - a comparative study].

Stimulated by Goodman's paper and the discussion evoked by this we, too, compared the valency of the intravenous cholography with the evidence of the direct cholography. Among our selected patients (95 patients) in 60% we did not find an accordance of the two methods. The intravenous cholography were with Goodman' criteria judged by a radiologist at 42% as optimal, at 24% as suboptimal and at 34% without evidence. Also a control group of 50 intravenous cholographies in accidental order were to be estimated as optimal only in 56%. In 39 cases only the direct cholography could bring the definitive diagnosis, the intravenous cholographies, no doubt, were pathologically sufficient, but not for the final clarification. 16% falsely positive and 10% falsely negative judged intravenous cholographies are particularly aggravating in our study. Mainly the explanation of a dilated choledochus and changes near the papilla, the finding of the calculus in the duct system and the possibility to estimate the intrahepatic bile ducts were the weak points in the evidence of the intravenous cholography. According to our results only the direct cholography brings the exact and for therapy guiding diagnostics, particularly before reinterventions on the bile ducts with the increased risk of operation. This and the justifiably small complications vindicate the invasive diagnostics.

Biliary Tract Diseases↗
PubMed1982

[The behavior of lipid metabolism parameters in liver cirrhosis and fatty liver during glucose load].

In altogether 31 patients with liver cirrhosis, fatty degeneration of the liver or a morphologically normal liver the free fatty acids, glycerin, ketone bodies and triglycerides were examined as parameters of the fat metabolism after nocturnal alimentary abstinence and under 2-hour glucose infusion. Parallel to this estimations of the immune-reactive insulin and of the blood glucose were performed. In liver cirrhoses increased levels of free fatty acids, low ketone body levels, the absent correlation between ketone bodies and immune-reactive insulin under basis conditions as well as the relatively smaller reduction of the TG-values in hyperinsulinaemia were to be established. They may be explained as an expression of restricted metabolic functions of the cirrhotic liver. On the other hand from the prompt decrease of free fatty acids and glycerin under glucose-induced hyperinsulinaemia was concluded to an unrestricted efficacy of the insulin in the fatty tissue in the sense of the furthering of lipogenesis and inhibition of the lipolysis.

Fatty Acids, Nonesterified↗
PubMed1982

[Changes in carbohydrate metabolism in liver cirrhosis during glucose infusion tests].

In 31 patients with normal liver findings, fatty degeneration of the liver and liver cirrhosis the behaviour of parameters of the carbohydrate metabolism (blood glucose, IRI, lactate, glycogen of liver and muscle) was tested under a two-hour glucose infusion. Accumulation of pathological carbohydrate tolerance and hyperinsulinaemia and the reduced content of liver glycogen in liver cirrhoses are traced back to a decreased functional reserve of the diseased liver. On the other hand, the reduction of lactate was normal as a criterion of the gluconeogenesis. Lactacidoses did not appear despite advanced liver cirrhoses. The increase of the reduced reserves of glycogen in liver and muscle after the offer of glucose refers to preserved regulation mechanisms in supply of substrates despite peripheral insulin resistance.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

[Percutaneous transhepatic radiomanometry of the bile ducts (PTC-manometry) (author's transl)].

Method and first results of the PTC-manometry are shown in 32 cases. Low residual pressures in bilio-digestive anastomosis and high results both in incomplete bile obstruction and in anicteric patients with incomplete stenosis of the common bile duct and with papillary stenosis suggest a clinical importance. In connection with clinical symptoms and x-ray results it is possible to give informations already preoperatively which we could got only by intraoperative radiomanometry till now. There was no correlation between the maximum size of the common bile duct and the residual pressure.

Adult↗