Correction to Gloster et al. (2011).

Reports an error in "Psychological treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia: A randomized controlled trial to examine the role of therapist-guided exposure in situ in CBT" by Andrew T. Gloster, Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, Franziska Einsle, Thomas Lang, Sylvia Helbig-Lang, Thomas Fydrich, Lydia Fehm, Alfons O. Hamm, Jan Richter, George W. Alpers, Alexander L. Gerlach, Andreas Str?hle, Tilo Kircher, Jürgen Deckert, Peter Zwanzger, Michael H?fler and Volker Arolt (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2011[Jun], Vol 79[3], 406-420). In the article, the name of author Georg W. Alpers was misspelled as George W. Alpers. In Table 2, in the footnote, line two, the criteria should read “MI≤1.8”. The online versions of this article have been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2011-08726-001.) Objective: Cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) is a first-line treatment for panic disorder with agoraphobia (PD/AG). Nevertheless, an understanding of its mechanisms and particularly the role of therapist-guided exposure is lacking. This study was aimed to evaluate whether therapist-guided exposure in situ is associated with more pervasive and long-lasting effects than therapist-prescribed exposure in situ. Method: A multicenter randomized controlled trial, in which 369 PD/AG patients were treated and followed up for 6 months. Patients were randomized to 2 manual-based variants of CBT (T+/T?) or a wait-list control group (WL; n = 68) and were treated twice weekly for 12 sessions. CBT variants were identical in content, structure, and length, except for implementation of exposure in situ: In the T+ variant (n = 163), therapists planned and supervised exposure in situ exercises outside the therapy room; in the T? group (n = 138), therapists planned and discussed patients' in situ exposure exercises but did not accompany them. Primary outcome measures were (a) Hamilton Anxiety Scale, (b) Clinical Global Impression, (c) number of panic attacks, and (d) agoraphobic avoidance (Mobility Inventory). Results: For T+ and T? compared with WL, all outcome measures improved significantly with large effect sizes from baseline to post (range = ?0.5 to ?2.5) and from post to follow-up (range = ?0.02 to ?1.0). T+ improved more than T? on the Clinical Global Impression and Mobility Inventory at post and follow-up and had greater reduction in panic attacks during the follow-up period. Reduction in agoraphobic avoidance accelerated after exposure was introduced. A dose–response relation was found for Time × Frequency of Exposure and reduction in agoraphobic avoidance. Conclusions: Therapist-guided exposure is more effective for agoraphobic avoidance, overall functioning, and panic attacks in the follow-up period than is CBT without therapist-guided exposure. Therapist-guided exposure promotes additional therapeutic improvement—possibly mediated by increased physical engagement in feared situations—beyond the effects of a CBT treatment in which exposure is simply instructed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Absolute quantification of intracellular glycogen content in human embryonic stem cells with Raman microspectroscopy

We present a method to perform absolute quantification of glycogen in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in situ based on the use of Raman microspectroscopy. The proposed quantification method was validated by comparison to a commonly used commercial glycogen assay kit. With Raman microspectroscopy, we could obtain the glycogen content of hESCs faster and apparently more accurately than with the kit. In addition, glycogen distributions across a colony could be obtained. Raman spectroscopy can provide reliable estimates of the in situ glycogen content in hESCs, and this approach should also be extensible to their other biochemical constituents as well as to other cell types.     

Corrosion, Al containing corrosion barriers and mechanical properties of steels foreseen as structural materials in liquid lead alloy cooled nuclear systems

A key problem in development of heavy liquid metal cooled nuclear energy and transmutation reactors is the corrosion of structural and fuel. Above 500 °C steels have to be protected by stable, thin oxide scales. A well understood measure is alloying of stable oxide formers into the surface. Two methods, alloying an Al layer into the steel surface using pulsed electron beams (GESA - gepulste Elektronenstrahlanlage) and coating the surface with an Al-alloy with subsequent GESA treatment are applied. In the range of 4-10 wt% Al on the surface a stable thin alumina scale is formed by Al diffusion to the surface and selective oxidation. The alumina scale grows only very slowly and prevents migration of oxygen into the steel as well as migration of steel components onto the surface. A number of corrosion experiments showed the good protective behaviour of Al scales in LBE with 10⁻⁶ wt% oxygen up to 650 °C and for exposure times up to 10,000 h. Furthermore the influence of parameters like stresses in the cladding wall, creep behaviour, different flow velocities of the LBE and changing temperatures and oxygen concentrations in LBE is discussed. This paper will provide an overview on the activities concerning Pb-PbBi corrosion and corrosion protection performed at the Institute of Pulsed Power and Microwave Technology (IHM) at the KIT.     

Development and validation status of the IFMIF High Flux Test Module

The development of the IFMIF (International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility) High Flux Test Module in the EVEDA (Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activities) phase up to 2013 includes conceptual design, engineering analyses, as well as design and engineering validation by building of prototypes and their testing. The High Flux Test Module is the device to facilitate the irradiation of SSTT samples of RAFM steels at temperatures 250–550 °C and up to an accumulated irradiation damage of 150 dpa. The requirements, the current design and the performance of the module are discussed, and the development process is outlined.     

Data collection in future mobile networks

Future mobile networks will be increasingly heterogeneous. Already today, wireless LAN is used by many mobile network operators as an addition to traditional technologies like GSM and UMTS; WiMax and 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be added. Having heterogeneous wireless networks, one challenging research question needs to be answered: Which user should be served by which access network and when to conduct a handover? For such decisions, information on the state of networks and terminals is required. In this publication, we simulate mobile networks in which a central entity called Network Resource Management (N-RM) gives handover recommendations to mobile terminals. Based on these recommendations and local knowledge on link qualities, the terminals choose the cell to switch to. The N-RM should have a global view on the networks to give best recommendations. We designed the Generic Metering Infrastructure (GMI), a publish/subscribe system to collect information about access networks and terminals efficiently. We investigate the tradeoff between the signalling overhead caused by data collection and the quality of the handover decisions and show, how smart monitoring can reduce the amount of measurement data while ensuring the efficient use of heterogeneous networks. In addition, our simulation results show that combined local and central handover decisions significantly increase the capacity of the networks as compared to only local decisions.     

Tin Dioxide Sensing Layer Grown on Tubular Nanostructures by a Non‐Aqueous Atomic Layer Deposition Process

A new atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for nanocrystalline tin dioxide films is developed and applied for the coating of nanostructured materials. This approach, which is adapted from non‐hydrolytic sol‐gel chemistry, permits the deposition of SnO₂ at temperatures as low as 75 °C. It allows the coating of the inner and outer surface of multiwalled carbon nanotubes with a highly conformal film of controllable thickness. The ALD‐coated tubes are investigated as active components in gas‐sensor devices. Due to the formation of a p‐n heterojunction between the highly conductive support and the SnO₂ thin film an enhancement of the gas sensing response is observed.     

In vitro analysis of binding capacities of calcium to phytic acid in different food samples

The present work was performed to study the role which plays phytic acid in calcium binding, and to determine the calcium binding capacities in different foods, using in vitro extractions. Different food samples (soybeans, oats, chickpea, rice flour, and corn semolina) were extracted for 4 h at 37 °C using artificial simulated gastrointestinal juice (pepsin) at pH=2. The total calcium and phytic acid concentrations were determined by AAS and capillary electrophoresis, respectively, at pH=2 and pH=8 after neutralisation with a sodium hydroxide solution (3 M). Having determined the binding capacities of calcium in each food, we then use these results to estimate the fraction of calcium available for resorption during the process of digestion, when food moves from the acid pH of the stomach to the alkaline milieu of the intestines. The results obtained for the foods analysed show that the capacity of calcium to bind to phytic acid exhibits a clear pH dependence. The calculated calcium binding capacities, or the molar ratio of calcium to phytic acid in the in vitro extracted foods, varies from 3 mol calcium per mol phytic acid for soybean, chickpea and oats, to 2 mol calcium per mol phytic acid for rice, to1 mol calcium per mol phytic acid in corn semolina. Calcium may bind to one or more of the phosphate groups of phytic acid. Previous studies have demonstrated that phytic acid has the ability to bind minerals, proteins, and starch, and have then considered it as an inhibitor to the bioavailability of minerals and trace elements.     

Determination of celiac disease-specific peptidase activity of germinated cereals

A method to determine the celiac disease-specific peptidase activity of different germinated cereals was developed. Kernels of common wheat, spelt, emmer, einkorn, rye, and barley were germinated, lyophilized, and milled into flour and bran. The latter was extracted at pH 4.0 to obtain a solution enriched with peptidases. The synthetic α-gliadin peptide with the amino acid sequence PQPQLPYPQPQLPY (peptide IV), which has been shown to be toxic for celiac disease patients, was selected as substrate for bran peptidases. It was quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on C₁₈ silica gel. For kinetic studies, rye bran extract was incubated with peptide IV at 50 °C and pH 6.5. The peptide was degraded continuously, and only 30.2% of the original peptide was detected after 90 min. Accordingly, the bran extracts of all cereals were investigated. The incubation time was set to 60 min at 50 °C, and the degradation of peptide IV was performed at pH 4.0 and 6.5, respectively. Except for rye, peptide degradation was faster at pH 4.0 than at pH 6.5. At pH 4.0, emmer extract was most active, followed by spelt, common wheat, and einkorn extracts. The activity of rye and barley extracts was significantly lower. In conclusion, the method is easy to perform, quick, and provides reproducible results. It can be applied to other peptidase sources such as bacterial or fungal cultures to optimize peptidase preparations suitable for detoxifying gluten-containing food or for drugs to treat celiac disease.     

Investigation of Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia enterocolitica-like bacteria,and thermotolerant campylobacters in Norwegian pork products

Altogether, Yersinia spp. were isolated from 41 (27.0%) of 152 samples of retail pork products. Thermotolerant campylobacters were not detected in this study. Yersinia spp. were recovered from 39 (30.7%) of the 127 raw pork samples and from two (8.0%) of the 25 cooked pork samples investigated. Sixty distinct strains were isolated. Y. enterocolitica comprised 58.3% of the total number, followed by Y. intermedia (20.0%), Y. kristensenii (18.3%), and Y. frederiksenii (3.3%). The serotyping scheme employed enabled us to type 91.7% of the strains. The most frequently isolated serotype was O:5 which comprised 20.0% of the total number, followed by O:7, 8 (11.7%), and O:11 (8.3%). Only one strain of O:3/biotype 4, the predominant human pathogen in Europe, was isolated. This was the only isolate which provoked positive reaction in the autoagglutination virulence assay. A second O:3 strain was classified as Y. kristensenii. Optimal recovery of Yersinia spp. was achieved using three-weeks cold enrichment in addition to a two-step procedure based on pre-enrichment in a low-selectivity medium (8 days, 4°C) followed by selective enrichment in modified Rappaport broth (4 days, 20–25°C). The results indicate that Yersinia spp. are more likely to be isolated from foods with a high level of coliforms than from foods with low coliform counts.     

Remodeling of the infarct territory in the time course of infarct healing in humans

Object  

To analyze the remodeling processes of the infarct territory in the time course of infarct healing.