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Biomedical subjects

U Ernst

Publications and source records attributed to U Ernst.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Improvement of quality of life in women using a low-dose desogestrel-containing contraceptive: results of an observational clinical evaluation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of an oral contraceptive (OC) containing 20 microg ethinylestradiol and 150 microg desogestrel on quality of life and subjective symptoms. METHODS: In this multicenter observational evaluation performed in Germany, 3679 first-time OC users were included. They were treated by 623 physicians. The women completed quality of life questionnaires (Q-LES-Q) at baseline and after three treatment cycles. RESULTS: The mean age of users (+/- SD) was 22.5 +/- 7.1 years, with 47% of the women aged between 15 and 20 years. Half of the women reported skin problems at inclusion and, of these, 36% reported disappearance of the problems after three treatment cycles. Most women suffering from subjective symptoms (headache, nausea, nervousness, breast tenderness and depressive moods) at baseline reported improvements (57-71%) in their symptoms after using the OC for three cycles. Adverse events were reported by 4% of users; the most frequently reported were bleeding irregularities (1.7%). The total quality-of-life score and all its 13 individual items improved significantly (p < 0.0001), with the largest improvements in sex life and mood. Almost all (94%) women were either very satisfied or satisfied with the medication. CONCLUSION: The OC containing ethinylestradiol and desogestrel significantly improved the quality of life and subjective symptoms. The OC was well tolerated by first-time users.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Relation between retinotopical and orientation maps in visual cortex.

A recent study of cat visual cortex reported abrupt changes in the positions of the receptive fields of adjacent neurons whose preferred orientations strongly differed (Das & Gilbert, 1997). Using a simple cortical model, we show that this covariation of discontinuities in maps of orientation preference and local distortions in maps of visual space reflects collective effects of the lateral cortical feedback.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Irregular synchronous activity in stochastically-coupled networks of integrate-and-fire neurons.

We investigate the spatial and temporal aspects of firing patterns in a network of integrate-and-fire neurons arranged in a one-dimensional ring topology. The coupling is stochastic and shaped like a Mexican hat with local excitation and lateral inhibition. With perfect precision in the couplings, the attractors of activity in the network occur at every position in the ring. Inhomogeneities in the coupling break the translational invariance of localized attractors and lead to synchronization within highly active as well as weakly active clusters. The interspike interval variability is high, consistent with recent observations of spike time distributions in visual cortex. The robustness of our results is demonstrated with more realistic simulations on a network of McGregor neurons which model conductance changes and after-hyperpolarization potassium currents.

Nerve Net↗
PubMed1994

[Post-polio syndrome with isolated dysphagia].

The case of a 69 year old, male patient with slowly progressive dysphagia and an acute exacerbation is presented. He was referred to rule out an organic origin to his disorder. Apart from mild residual weakness of both legs after an acute paralytic poliomyelitis at the age of 20, the physical examination was essentially normal. No upper motor neuron pathology was found. Electromyography showed prevalent spontaneous and chronic denervation of bulbar and skeletal muscles. X-ray cinematography revealed abnormalities of bolus passage. On the basis of history and the benign clinical course over a 2 year follow-up period we assume a post-polio syndrome presenting with only dysphagia.

Aged↗