Pain suppression in borderline personality disorder correlates with recency of self-injury, but not with psychometric scales, suggesting a state of acquired antinociception from repeated self-injury.
...Patients with borderline personality disorder, mostly female, exhibit severe autoaggressive behavior, namely an intentionally performed, nonsuicidal self-injury and severe blunting of pain perception, the mechanism of which is hitherto not understood. Because the nociceptive system displays a high degree of plasticity, the aim of this study was to analyze the relationship of pain perception to self-injurious behavior. Pain perception of mechanical and chemical noxious stimuli was studied by quantitative sensory testing in 22 patients (15 female, 7 male) with borderline personality disorder (BPD) according to DSM-IV and 22 age- and gender-matched controls. BPD patients exhibited a significantly higher pain threshold to pinprick stimuli (2.7 times higher than healthy control subjects), and significantly lower pain ratings to mechanical (pinprick, −28%) and chemical (capsaicin, −38%) stimulation. Capsaicin-induced pain decayed significantly faster in BPD patients (τ=49seconds) than in controls (τ=76seconds). These alterations of pain perception were generally present in the female, but not in the male subgroup of BPD patients. Analysis of pain intensity vs unpleasantness suggested that primarily the unpleasantness aspect of the pain experience was reduced. Blunting of pain sensation was significantly predicted by the recency of self-injurious behavior (multiple r=0.58). In line with recent data, we suggest an excess of endogenous antinociception in BPD patients resulting from self-inflicted multiple injuries. This exaggerated pain control is conceived to operate via an uncoupling of the evaluative or emotional–affective from the sensory-discriminative dimension of pain.
Abstract Background: To assess criteria and to identify predictive factors for functional outcome. The criteria should cover all domains proposed by the Remission in Schizophrenia Working Group. ...Method: PANSS ratings were used to evaluate the symptomatic treatment outcome of 262 inpatients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders within a naturalistic multicenter trial. Functional remission was defined as a GAF score > 61 (Global Assessment of Functioning Scale), SOFAS score > 61 (Social and Occupational Functioning Scale) and a SF-36 mental health subscore > 40 (Medical Outcomes Study—Short Form Health Survey). Multivariate logistic regression and CART analyses were used to determine valid clinical and sociodemographic predictors. Results: In total, 52 patients (20%) fulfilled the criteria for functional remission, 125 patients (48%) achieved symptomatic resolution and when criteria for functional remission and symptomatic resolution were combined 33 patients (13%) achieved complete remission. Younger age, employment, a shorter duration of illness, a shorter length of current episode, less suicidality, and a lower PANSS negative and global subscore at admission were predictive of functional remission. The regression model showed a predictive value of more than 80%. Conclusions: A significant association was found between functional remission and symptomatic resolution, indicating reasonable validity of the proposed definition for functional outcome. The revealed predictors for functional treatment outcome emphasize the need for psychosocial and vocational rehabilitation in schizophrenic patients.
Background
Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is a common non‐scarring alopecia characterized by widening of the midline hair part at the crown (vertex). In 1977, Ludwig developed a scale that graded ...the degree of visible vertex hair thinning from I (least severe) to III (most severe). However, by the time patients exhibit the full manifestations of ‘Ludwig I’, they have already lost a significant volume of hair. Although current therapies may realistically halt progression of hair loss, improvements in hair density is often more limited. Identification and grading of FPHL at an earlier stage is desirable to institute appropriate therapy before significant hair loss has occurred and to enable monitoring over time.
Aim
To generate consensus guidance for the recognition and quantification of FPHL that can be used in the clinic.
Methods
Nine clinicians from Europe, North America and Australia experienced in the management of FPHL developed this scale by consensus.
Results
We propose a three‐point severity scale (termed the FPHL Severity Index (FPHL‐SI)) that combines validated measures of hair shedding, midline hair density and scalp trichoscopy criteria to produce a total FPHL‐SI score (maximum score = 20). The score is designed to grade FPHL severity over time, while being sufficiently sensitive to identify early disease. A score of 0–4 makes FPHL unlikely; a score of 5–9 would indicate early‐stage FPHL, with higher scores indicating greater disease severity.
Conclusions
As a starting point for further public debate, we employ criteria already used in clinical practice to generate a pragmatic FPHL grading system (FPHL‐SI) of sufficient sensitivity to identify and monitor early FPHL changes. This may have to be further optimized after systematic validation in clinical practice.
Expanding the detection efficiency of silicon drift detectors Schlosser, D.M.; Lechner, P.; Lutz, G. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
12/2010, Letnik:
624, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
To expand the detection efficiency Silicon Drift Detectors (SDDs) with various customized radiation entrance windows, optimized detector areas and geometries have been developed. Optimum values for ...energy resolution, peak to background ratio (P/B) and high count rate capability support the development. Detailed results on sensors optimized for light element detection down to Boron or even lower will be reported. New developments for detecting medium and high X-ray energies by increasing the effective detector thickness will be presented. Gamma-ray detectors consisting of a SDD coupled to scintillators like CsI(Tl) and LaBr
3(Ce) have been examined. Results of the energy resolution for the
137Cs 662
keV line and the light yield (LY) of such detector systems will be reported.
Analysis of 3555 HIV-seropositive specimens, collected in Cameroon from 2002 to 2006, led to the identification of four HIV-1 group N infections based on differential seroreactivity to HIV ...env-derived peptides and proteins and confirmation by nucleic acid amplification. Group N prevalence continues to be low accounting for only 0.1% of HIV infections in Cameroon. Near full-length genomic sequences were obtained from viral RNA or proviral DNA by PCR amplification of overlapping fragments for three isolates, 06CM-U14296, 06CM-U14842, and 02CM-SJGddd. Two genome segments, partial pol and env-nef, were obtained from viral RNA for the fourth isolate, 02CM-TIM0217. With the four group N isolates identified in this study and group N sequences previously reported, eight near full-length and five partial genome sequences are now available. Despite genetic divergence from HIV-1 group M and O, all of the group N infections evaluated by five commercial HIV immunoassays were detected.
This paper analyzes a North-South trade model with offshoring and unemployment due to union wage setting. A reduction in the cost of offshoring decreases employment in the North except possibly if ...there is little offshoring initially. If the scale of Northern firms also falls, then each Northern agent’s welfare declines. Unions have an incentive to reduce their own bargaining power by strategically delegating wage negotiation so as to cushion the negative employment effects.
We have optimized the expression level of 20 mammalian G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. We found that altering expression parameters, including growth ...temperature, and supplementation of the culture medium with specific GPCR ligands, histidine, and DMSO increased the amount of functional receptor, as assessed by ligand binding, by more than eightfold over standard expression conditions. Unexpectedly, we found that the overall amount of GPCR proteins expressed, in most cases, varied only marginally between standard and optimized expression conditions. Accordingly, the optimized expression conditions resulted in a marked fractional increase in the ratio of ligand binding‐competent receptor to total expressed receptor. The results of this study suggest a general approach for increasing yields of functional mammalian GPCRs severalfold over standard expression conditions by using a set of optimized expression condition parameters that we have characterized for the Pichia expression system. Overall, we have more than doubled the number of GPCR targets that can be produced in our laboratories in sufficient amounts for structural studies.
Melanoma in advanced stages is one of the most aggressive tumors and the deadliest of skin cancers. To date, the histopathological staging focuses on tumor thickness, and clinical staging is a major ...estimate of the clinical behavior of primary melanoma. Here we report on an observational study with in-depth molecular profiling at the protein level including post-translational modifications (PTMs) on eleven primary tumors from melanoma patients. Global proteomics, phosphoproteomics, and acetylomics were performed on each sample. We observed an up-regulation of key mitochondrial functions, including the mitochondrial translation machinery and the down-regulation of structural proteins involved in cell adhesion, the cytoskeleton organization, and epidermis development, which dictates the progression of the disease. Additionally, the PTM level pathways related to RNA processing and transport, as well as chromatin organization, were dysregulated in relation to the progression of melanoma. Most of the pathways dysregulated in this cohort were enriched in genes differentially expressed at the transcript level when similar groups are compared or metastasis to primary melanomas. At the genome level, we found significant differences in the mutation profiles between metastatic and primary melanomas. Our findings also highlighted sex-related differences in the molecular profiles. Remarkably, primary melanomas in women showed higher levels of antigen processing and presentation, and activation of the immune system response. Our results provide novel insights, relevant for developing personalized precision treatments for melanoma patients.
Defining the pathways that control cardiac development facilitates understanding the pathogenesis of congenital heart disease. Herein, we identify enrichment of a Cullin5 Ub ligase key subunit, Asb2, ...in myocardial progenitors and differentiated cardiomyocytes. Using two conditional murine knockouts, Nkx+/Cre.Asb2fl/fl and AHF-Cre.Asb2fl/fl, and tissue clarifying technique, we reveal Asb2 requirement for embryonic survival and complete heart looping. Deletion of Asb2 results in upregulation of its target Filamin A (Flna), and concurrent Flna deletion partially rescues embryonic lethality. Conditional AHF-Cre.Asb2 knockouts harboring one Flna allele have double outlet right ventricle (DORV), which is rescued by biallelic Flna excision. Transcriptomic and immunofluorescence analyses identify Tgfβ/Smad as downstream targets of Asb2/Flna. Finally, using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, we demonstrate Asb2 requirement for human cardiomyocyte differentiation suggesting a conserved mechanism between mice and humans. Collectively, our study provides deeper mechanistic understanding of the role of the ubiquitin proteasome system in cardiac development and suggests a previously unidentified murine model for DORV.
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•Flna removal partially rescues embryonic lethality of Asb2-heart-specific knockout•AHF-Asb2 knockouts harboring one Flna allele have double outlet right ventricle•Asb2-Flna regulate TGFβ-Smad2 signaling in the heart•Conserved role of Asb2 in heart morphogenesis between mice and humans
Biological Sciences; Molecular Biology; Developmental Biology
Objective:Relapse and its predictors were examined among patients with schizophrenia in the year after hospital discharge.
Methods:The sample included 200 patients with schizophrenia participating in ...a German multicenter study. Relapse was defined as a worsening of psychopathological symptoms or rehospitalization in the year after hospital discharge. Predictors examined were variables related to course of illness and to response and remission at discharge.
Results:Fifty-two percent of participants had a relapse. Patients whose symptoms were not in remission at discharge were more likely to have a relapse, as were those who had more severe symptoms and more side effects at discharge. Those who experienced a relapse were less likely to be taking a second-generation antipsychotic at discharge, less likely to have a positive attitude toward treatment adherence, and less likely to be employed.
Conclusions:The high rate of relapse among patients with schizophrenia highlights the need to improve current treatment strategies. (Psychiatric Services 63:87–90, 2012)
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