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IntroductionTo date cranial development has only been described by analyzing occipitofrontal circumference (OFC). More precise methods of determining head measurements have not been widely adopted. The use of additional measurements has the potential to better account for the three-dimensional structure of the head. Our aim was to put forward centile curves of such measurements for gestational age along with a compound head volume index.MethodsWe created generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape of two ear-to-ear distances (EED), transfontanellar (fEED) and transvertical (vEED), from birth anthropometric data. Same was done for OFC, crown-heel length, and birth weight to allow for comparison of our models with growth charts by Voigt et al. and Fenton and Kim.ResultsGrowth charts and tables of LMS parameters for fEED and vEED were derived from 6,610 patients admitted to our NICU and 625 healthy term newborns. With increasing gestational age EEDs increase about half as fast compared to OFC in absolute terms, their relative growths are fairly similar.DiscussionDifferences to the charts by Fenton and Kim are minute. Tape measurements, such as fEED or vEED can be added to routine anthropometry at little extra costs. These charts may be helpful for following and evaluating head sizes and growth of preterm and term infants in three dimensions.

Background Pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata Duchesne, is important food resource due to their nutritional composition. Despite their food advantages, they still remain underutilized crops in Africa and particularly in Benin. No documented information is available on the knowledge of producers on the use, conservation and commercialization of Cucurbita moschata. The objectives of this study are to (i) collect various accessions of pumpkin on the basis of local taxonomic criteria in Benin; (ii) collect information on uses of pumpkin in Benin. To this end, an investigation was carried out in the departments of Couffo (Dogbo, Djakotomey, Klouékanme and Aplahoué) and Borgou (Parakou and N’dali). Methods One hundred twenty (120) farmers grouped into 06 different ethnic groups (Adja, Bariba, Bialy, Fon, Gourmantché and Zarma) were interviewed. Six pumpkin landraces were identified in 19 villages surveyed through systematic census of farmers supported by the snowball technique. Results Varietal diversity on a municipal level varied from two to four. Pumpkin was mainly cultivated by men and about 15% were cultivated in cultural association with maize, cassava, cowpea and groundnut. The harvested fruits were used for consumption, commercial, therapeutic and occult purposes. However, about 48% of producers have abandoned its production mainly due to production and marketing constraints. This abandonment could induce a risk of genetic erosion of this species. Thus, the conservation and an enhancement of the genetic resources of this species is essential. Conclusions This study made it possible to establish farmers’ knowledge on the utilization and production of pumpkin landraces, and identify the varietal diversity of Benin landraces of pumpkin.

The early identification of septically infected newborn infants is important for ensuring good outcomes. Blood cell differentiations are helpful, but they are often time consuming and inaccurate. In this study, we evaluated the use of automatic white blood cell differentiations by flow cytometry for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. Episodes of suspected infection in neonates were retrospectively classified into two groups, unlikely infection (UI, levels of Interleukin-6lt; 400 pg/mL or CRP within 48 hlt; 10 mg/L)

Over two years after the appearance of Hitler's Willing Executioners, very little can be heard about the so-called Goldhagen Debate in Germany: no more scholarly reviews, at most a few echoes here and there.1 Over two hundred thousand copies of the book were sold, and it was certainly read almost as many times. But it does not appear in the syllabi of university courses on the Holocaust, except perhaps in those that cover historiographical debates. In the German edition of Saul Friedlander's new book, Nazi Germany and the Jews, Daniel Goldhagen does not rate a mention, except for a three line footnote on page 420 in which his theory is described as "uncon vincing on the basis of the materials presented as part of the study."2 Goldhagen's book, one can confidently predict, will not play a role in future Holocaust research. At the same time, however, after its publication in Germany Hitler's Willing Executioners monopolized public discussion, and the Holocaust and Goldhagen became virtually synonymous. Thousands of people attended the public debates during Goldhagen's whirlwind tour of Germany in September 1996, which Die Zeit described as a

Insbesondere in der postakuten Phase nach Schlaganfall haben nosokomiale Infektionen einen bedeutenden Einfluss auf die Mortalität und Morbidität. Um den Einfluss einer akuten zerebralen Ischämie auf das humane Immunsystem zu analysieren, wurden 40 Patienten mit ischämischem Schlaganfall einem standardisierten Immunmonitoring sowie seriellen MRT- und klinischen Untersuchungen unterzogen. Verglichen mit gesunden Probanden (n=30) zeigte sich bei den von einer Infektion betroffenen Schlaganfallpatienten eine bereits bei Aufnahme und vor Auftreten eines Infektes bestehende und über zumindest 6 Tage anhaltende Immunsuppression, die durch eine Depression der Zahl der CD3+ und CD4+ Lymphozyten sowie eine funktionelle Deaktivierung von Monozyten und Th1-Zellen charakterisiert wurde. Die Analyse der erhobenen volumetrischen, immunologischen und paraklinschen Parameter zeigte eine direkte Korrelation der Immunsuppression mit dem klinischen Schweregrad, dem Alter der Patienten und dem Infarktvolumen. Bezüglich der prädiktiven Wertigkeit für nosokomiale Infektionen zeigte die Kombination der monozytären TNF-alpha Freisetzung ex vivo und der klinische Schweregrad (NIHSS- Wert) die höchste Sensitivität und Spezifität., The prognosis of stroke patients crucially depends on the occurrence of medical complications. Especially in the postacute phase after stroke, aquired infections and especially pneumonia are the leading cause of death. Using head magnetic resonance imaging and standardized immunoassays, the influence of acute ischemic stroke on the human immune system was prospectively investigated in 40 patients. Compared to healthy volunteers (n = 30), a rapid depression of CD3+ and CD4+ lymphocyte counts and a functional deactivation of monocytes and T helper type 1 cells was observed in acute stroke patients, lasting for at least 6 days. Immunodepression was more pronounced in patients with severe clinical deficit, patients of older age or large infarction. On admission the combination of monocytic tumor necrosis factor -alpha release ex vivo and the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score were the best predictors for nosocomial infection, preferentially affecting older stroke patients.

Quantitative and qualitative Analysis of Derivatives of Ursodeoxycholic Acid in urine of healthy human subjects Ursodeoxycholic acid (750 mg daily) was administered orally to ten healthy human subjects over a period of ten days. 24 hour urine samples were collected the day before and on the last day of the study. The samples were extracted with Sep-Pak C18 cartridges and separated into groups of conjugates The following fractions were obtained: unconjugated bile acids, nonamidated bile acid glucosides and N-acetyl-glucosaminides (fraction 1), glycine- or taurine-conjugated bile acids and glycine- or taurine-conjugated bile acid glucosides and N-acetyl-glucosaminides (fraction 2), nonamidated and glycine- or taurine-conjugated bile acid glucuronides (fraction 3) and nonamidated and glycine- or taurine-conjugated bile acid sulfates (fraction 4). Within each fraction the following bile acids were obtained: cholic acid (CA), chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), deoxycholic acid (DCA), lithocholic acid (LCA), ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and iso-ursdeoxycholic acid (iso-UDCA). Mean total excretion of urinary bile acids increased from 4,8 µmol/24hr (1,893 µg/24hr) the day before to 15,0 µmol/24hr (5,896 µg/24hr) at day ten of the daily oral administration. At baseline 31,3 % of bile acids were conjugated with glycine or taurine, whereas after oral administration of UDCA N-acetyl-glucosaminides became the most frequent conjugates with a percentage of 33,9 % of the total bile acids. Excretion of N-acetyl-glucosaminides increased from 0,50 µmol/24hr at baseline to 5,10 µmol/24hr on day ten. In total, conjugates with N-acetyl-glucosaminide constituted 55,1 % of all urinary metabolites of UDCA. Iso-UDCA was excreted almost exclusively as N-acetyl-glucosaminide, all other bile acids were not detected among the conjugates with N-acetyl-glucosaminide. Expressed as a percentage of all bile acids UDCA rose from 4 % at baseline to 49 % at day ten, iso-UDCA increased from 3 % to 13 %. Moreover 90 % of UDCA conjugated with N-acetyl-glucosaminide turned out to be double conjugates with glycine. The double conjugates also represented 9 % of iso-UDCA conjugated with N-acetyl-glucosaminide. In the end an intermediate of the epimerization of UDCA to iso-UDCA, 3-dehydro-UDCA, was identified.

Ursodeoxycholic acid (750 mg/day) was administered orally to ten healthy subjects over a period of 10 days; 24 hr urine samples were collected the day before and on the last day of the study. Urinary bile acids were extracted, separated into groups of conjugates and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. Excretion of ursodeoxycholic acid rose from 70 to 2,915 micrograms/24 h. The highest increase was observed among N-acetylglucosamine conjugates, 90% of which constituted the previously unknown double conjugate of ursodeoxycholic acid with N-acetylglucosamine and glycine. Excretion of isoursodeoxycholic acid increased from 50 to 738 micrograms/24 h. This isomerization product of ursodeoxycholic acid was excreted almost exclusively as N-acetylglucosamine conjugate. In total, N-acetylglucosamine conjugates constituted 50% of urinary metabolites of ursodeoxycholic acid. In addition, metabolites of ursodeoxycholic acid hydroxylated at carbon atoms 1, 6, 22 and possibly 21 were observed. These compounds were also found as conjugates with N-acetylglucosamine. Their formation from ursodeoxycholic acid was definitely demonstrated by 13C-labeling after giving [24-13C]ursodeoxycholic acid to one of the healthy subjects and to a patient with extrahepatic cholestasis in whom hydroxylation of ursodeoxycholic acid at C-23 was also observed. The patient was also found to excrete the double conjugate of ursodeoxycholic acid with N-acetylglucosamine and taurine. The N-acetylglucosaminidation of ursodeoxycholic acid in vivo was shown to occur at C-7.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

What role did German scientists and their funding organization play in supporting Nazi policies during 1933-45? In a bid to find out, Germany's research council, the DFG, sponsored a seven-year investigation into its own history that ended last month. One of the historians who led the study, Ulrich Herbert of the University of Freiburg, discusses the findings.

IN THE PAST TWO DECADES, social-historical approaches have made a substantial contribution to the history of the 19thand 20th-century German labour movement. Each of the books under review here carries this general project forward; yet each book also confronts us with quite different, at times, incompatible representations of "the German working-class." Indeed one comes away from reading these five new studies with a troubling question; is there still a "collective subject" whose history German labour historians can continue to write? The skilled metalworkers described by both Neufeld and Bellon lived very different lives, inhabited quite different worlds than the foreign labourers who are the subject of Ulrich Herbert's excellent, original, and much-needed study. Ute Daniel's and Karen Hagemann's pioneering studies clearly show that gender played a major role in structuring working-class experiences, interests, and identities. And Hagemann's book also warns us about the dangers of taking the rhetoric

Im ersten Band unserer Projektveröffentlichungen hatten wir angekündigt, eine »Synthese unserer eigenen Ergebnisse mit denen, die aus methodisch anders ausgerichteten Forschungen hervorgegangen sind«, zu versuchen. Als ich mit dieser Arrbeit begann, schien sie mir eine Gleichung mit zwei Unbekannten. Denn auf der einen Seite ist die Forschungslage zur Arbeitergeschichte in dem von uns behandelten Zeitraum ebenso breit wie disparat; Disziplinen,Schulen und Forschungseinrichtungen haben sich so weit auseinanderentwickelt, daß sie sich kaum noch wahrnehmen. Die im Umkreis von Theo Pirker entstandenen sozialwissenschaftlichen Beiträge zum »Ende der Arbeiterbewegung« etwa (Ebbinghausen, Tiemann1984) nehmen die meisten Ergebnisse der sozialgeschichtlichen Untersuchungen der letzten Jahre, wie sie Josef Mooser ( 1983 a, 6, 19 84) zusammengefaßt hat, kaum zur Kenntnis. Neuere Gesamtdarstellungen zur Geschichte der Bundesrepublik enthalten umfängliche Ausführungen und Urteile zur Geschichte der Arbeiterschaft in Westdeutschland, ohne die organisations-oder sozialgeschichtlich orientierten Untersuchungen zu diesem Thema wirklich zu berücksichtigen