Killian's photographs: "Facies dolorosa", the countenance of pain.

The book "Facies dolorosa" by Hans Killian, first published in 1934 and later in 1956 and 1967 as extended and annotated versions, comprises ~ 70 photographs depicting facial expressions of patients suffering from various diseases. The photographs in black and white are analyzed and annotated by the author with the purpose of providing clinicians, and especially young doctors, with an insight into the medical and scientific value of facial expression of pain in the diagnosis, staging, and prognosis of severe disease. This historical review of a book no longer in print is part of a 2016 commemorative publication marking the 60th anniversary of the publication of the "Facies dolorosa" by Dustri Medical and Scientific Publications, Munich, Germany and Rockledge, USA.

Good publication practices in clinical pharmacology: transparency, evidence-based medicine and the 7-D assessment.

Transparency and evidence-based medicine are cornerstones of good publication practices (GPP), and concern publishers, editors, research investigator, and reviewers alike. Methods for implementing these principles within the framework of GPP are described. The main aspects include obtaining a Manuscript Agreement Contract, a Statement on Transparency of Authorship and a Declaration of Conflicts of Interest from the authors. Assessing whether a manuscript meets the requirements of EBM is demonstrated using the "7-D assessment". The main purpose of this tool is to established that the (1) right Design, (2) right Diagnosis, (3) right Drug molecule, (4) right Dosage, (5) right Data, (6) right Deductions, and (7) right Documentation have been implemented in order to meet the objectives of the investigation. If the findings from any one of these assessments is questionable, the compliance of the research with EBM principles will be weakened and the reviewers and editors will make recommendations to the publisher accordingly. The guidelines described will help to provide a fair and transparent process of scientific publication and foster the freedom of clinical pharmacological research.