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Polypharmacy (PP) is a common problem in modern medicine, especially known to affect patients with chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). With an increasing number of drugs taken, the risk of potential drug–drug interactions (pDDIs) is rising. This study aims to assess the prevalence and clinical relevance of polypharmacy and pDDIs in patients with MS. Pharmacological data of 627 patients with MS were entered into two drug–drug-interaction databases to determine the number and severity of pDDIs for each patient. The patients were divided into those with and without PP (total PP and prescription medication PP (Rx PP)). Of the 627 patients included, 53.3% and 38.6% had total PP and Rx PP, respectively. On average, every patient took 5.3 drugs. Of all patients, 63.8% had at least one pDDI with a mean of 4.6 pDDIs per patient. Less than 4% of all pDDIs were moderately severe or severe. Medication schedules should be checked for inappropriate medication and for possible interacting drugs to prevent pDDIs. Physicians as well as pharmacists should be more sensitive towards the relevance of pDDIs and know how they can be detected and avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sheet Molding Compound (SMC) was initially developed in the 1960s and enabled for the first time the production of glass fiber reinforced polymer composite in mass scale production and at an advantageous price. Today, material and process are well established for the production of semi-structural and structural components in various applications such as construction industry, aircraft applications and automotive components. Based on increasing ecological and economical requirements for construction materials a newly and largely bio-based SMC semi-finished material was developed. This paper shows the ability using bio-based components to replace crude oil and mineral based components in SMC. Therefore, test methods for shelf life and fungal decay tests were developed to prove that there is no influence to mechanical properties of the bio-based specimens. The different test series showed that there is a bigger influence of sample preparation for shelf life tests than from fungal decay to the specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]