Early sudden gains in psychotherapy under routine clinic conditions: Practice-based evidence.

Sudden gains---large, enduring reductions in symptom intensity from one session to the next--were identified by T. Z. Tang and R. J. DeRubeis (1999) on the basis of data from 2 manualized clinical trials of cognitive therapy for depression. The authors found similar sudden gains among clients with a variety of disorders treated with a variety of approaches in routine clinic settings. Clients (N=135 who met inclusion criteria) completed short forms of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-SF) preceding 7 to 74 individual sessions. Those who experienced sudden gains within their first 16 sessions (n=23) had significantly lower CORE-SF scores in their final 3 sessions than did the other clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ringworm infection among agricultural workers

Electron microscopic observations revealed for the first time a few number of Langerhans cells within the intradermal apocrine duct of the normal human axillary skin. In many respects the fine structural features of Langerhans cells were noted to be identical with those described in the epidermis. Our present results suggest that Langerhans cells could be a stable and constant cellular constituent for the normal apocrine ducts. The significance of this presence of Langerhans cells remains to be investigated.     

Dielectric and mechanical behaviour of polyurethane networks from poly(oxypropylene)diols or-triols and diisocyanate

Summary Thermally stimulated depolarization currents and dielectric and dynamic mechanical behaviour of polyurethane networks prepared from poly(oxypropylene)diols or-triols and 4,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate were studied. While the frequency and temperature positions of mechanical and dielectric functions are predominantly determined by the concentration of polar urethane groups in the network chain, the equilibrium modulus correlates with network chain length. The effect of the chain polarity on the shape of loss permittivity vs. frequency curves is more pronounced in the low frequency region than in the high frequency one and is practically the same for stoichiometric and off-stoichiometric networks measured earlier.     

Standardization Approaches for Extracellular Vesicle Loading with Oligonucleotides and Biologics

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are widely recognized for their potential as drug delivery systems. EVs are membranous nanoparticles shed from cells. Among their natural features are their ability to shield cargo molecules against degradation and enable their functional internalization into target cells. Especially biological or bio-inspired large molecules (LMs), like nucleic acids, proteins, peptides, and others, may profit from encapsulation in EVs for drug delivery purposes. In the last years, a variety of loading protocols are explored for different LMs. The lack of standardization in the EV drug delivery field has impeded their comparability so far. Currently, the first reporting frameworks and workflows for EV drug loading are proposed. The aim of this review is to summarize these evolving standardization approaches and set recently developed methods into context. This will allow for enhanced comparability of future work on EV drug loading with LMs.     

Bayerisches Forschungsverbundvorhaben „Nachhaltige Altlastenbewältigung unter Einbeziehung des natürlichen Reinigungsvermögens“

The Bavarian network-project “sustainable management of contaminated sites in consideration of natural attenuation” was fully allocated by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environmental Public, Health and Consumer Protection (StMUGV, former StMLU) with funds amounting to 2.24 million Euros. The two-year research network-project began in June 2001 and ended in May 2003. In addition to the universities of the six subprojects, representatives of partner engineering companies, regional authorities and administration groups were also actively involved. One of the objective targets was to identify the general conditions under which we can find sufficient natural attenuation potential, using innovative methods and investigation techniques. The results have been entered into an application-oriented guide for the implementation of natural attenuation measures, which will be available for regional authorities and engineering companies. The present contribution is intended to be an introduction to the following published subprojects: RÜTTINGER et al. (2006), HANAUER et al. (2006), MARCZINEK et al. (2006) and PRECHTEL et al. (2006). It describes the targets, structure, organisation and the subprojects of the Bavarian network-project ?sustainable management of contaminated sites in consideration of natural attenuation“ providing an overview as well as some basic definitions.     

The snow vole (Chionomys nivalis) as an appropriate environmental bioindicator in alpine ecosystems

The snow vole (Chionomys nivalis, Martins, 1842) is a common species in the Bulgarian high mountains. Its populations are distributed in different altitudes, regions, and keep stable population density. This is the reason the species has been tested as a bioindicator for environmental quality in alpine ecosystems. The cumulative environmental impact in snow vole populations was evaluated using cytogenetical, hematological, ecotoxicological, radiometrical, ecophysiological, and morphophysiological indices. Standard karyotype, chromosomal aberrations, and other diversions have been observed. These investigations reveal that the snow vole is one of the most appropriate species that can be used as a biomonitor for environmental assessment in mountain areas.     

A robust protein host for anchoring chelating ligands and organocatalysts

In order to put the previously proposed concept of directed evolution of hybrid catalysts (proteins that harbor synthetic transition-metal catalysts or organocatalysts) into practice, several prerequisites must be met. The availability of a robust host protein that can be expressed in sufficiently large amounts, and that can be purified in a simple manner is crucial. The thermostable enzyme tHisF from Thermotoga maritima, which constitutes the synthase subunit of a bi-enzyme complex that is instrumental in the biosynthesis of histidine, fulfills these requirements. In the present study, fermentation has been miniaturized and parallelized, as has purification of the protein by simple heat treatment. Several mutants with strategically placed cysteines for subsequent bioconjugation have been produced. One of the tHisF mutants, Cys9Ala/Asp11Cys, was subjected to bioconjugation by the introduction of a variety of ligands for potential metal ligation, of a ligand/metal moiety, and of several organocatalytic entities that comprise a flavin or thiazolium salts. Characterization by mass spectrometry and tryptic digestion was achieved. As a result of this study, a platform for performing future directed evolution of these hybrid catalysts is now available.     

Chemical Ecology of Cave-Dwelling Millipedes: Defensive Secretions of the Typhloiulini (Diplopoda,Julida, Julidae)

Cave animals live under highly constant ecological conditions and in permanent darkness, and many evolutionary adaptations of cave-dwellers have been triggered by their specific environment. A similar “cave effect” leading to pronounced chemical interactions under such conditions may be assumed, but the chemoecology of troglobionts is mostly unknown. We investigated the defensive chemistry of a largely cave-dwelling julid group, the controversial tribe “Typhloiulini”, and we included some cave-dwelling and some endogean representatives. While chemical defense in juliform diplopods is known to be highly uniform, and mainly based on methyl- and methoxy-substituted benzoquinones, the defensive secretions of typhloiulines contained ethyl-benzoquinones and related compounds. Interestingly, ethyl-benzoquinones were found in some, but not all cave-dwelling typhloiulines, and some non-cave dwellers also contained these compounds. On the other hand, ethyl-benzoquinones were not detected in troglobiont nor in endogean typhloiuline outgroups. In order to explain the taxonomic pattern of ethyl-benzoquinone occurrence, and to unravel whether a cave-effect triggered ethyl-benzoquinone evolution, we classed the “Typhloiulini” investigated here within a phylogenetic framework of julid taxa, and traced the evolutionary history of ethyl-benzoquinones in typhloiulines in relation to cave-dwelling. The results indicated a cave-independent evolution of ethyl-substituted benzoquinones, indicating the absence of a “cave effect” on the secretions of troglobiont Typhloiulini. Ethyl-benzoquinones probably evolved early in an epi- or endogean ancestor of a clade including several, but not all Typhloiulus (basically comprising a taxonomic entity known as “Typhloiulus sensu stricto”) and Serboiulus. Ethyl-benzoquinones are proposed as novel and valuable chemical characters for julid systematics.