Zinc triggers a complex transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of the metal homeostasis gene FRD3 in Arabidopsis relatives.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, FRD3 (FERRIC CHELATE REDUCTASE DEFECTIVE 3) plays a central role in metal homeostasis. FRD3 is among a set of metal homeostasis genes that are constitutively highly expressed in roots and shoots of Arabidopsis halleri, a zinc hyperaccumulating and hypertolerant species. Here, we examined the regulation of FRD3 by zinc in both species to shed light on the evolutionary processes underlying the evolution of hyperaccumulation in A.

Assertive Anger Mediates Effects of Dialectical Behaviour-informed Skills Training for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT)-informed skills training for borderline personality disorder (BPD) aims at the development of specific emotion regulation skills in patients, particularly with regard to the regulation of problematic anger. While the effects of dialectical behaviour skills training have been shown, their processes of change are rarely examined. Neacsiu, Rizvi and Linehan (2010) found that patient's self-reported use of emotion regulation skills was a mediator of therapeutic change in these treatments; however, they found no effect for problematic anger.

Antimicrobial Peptides from the Aurein Family Form Ion-Selective Pores in Bacillus subtilis.

The mechanism of action of aurein 2.2 and aurein 2.3, antimicrobial peptides from the frog Litoria aurea, was investigated.

Planting molecular functions in an ecological context with Arabidopsis thaliana.

The vascular plant Arabidopsis thaliana is a central genetic model and universal reference organism in plant and crop science. The successful integration of different fields of research in the study of A. thaliana has made a large contribution to our molecular understanding of key concepts in biology.

Air pollution and cytokine responsiveness in asthmatic and non-asthmatic children.

Epidemiological studies indicate that asthmatic children are more susceptible to traffic-related air pollution exposure than non-asthmatic children. Local and systemic inflammation in combination with oxidative stress have been suggested as a possible susceptibility factor. We investigated effect modification by asthma status for the association between air pollution exposure and systemic effects using whole blood cytokine responsiveness as an inflammatory marker.

Winning is not enough: ventral striatum connectivity during physical aggression.

Social neuroscience studies have shown that the ventral striatum (VS), a highly reward-sensitive brain area, is activated when participants win competitive tasks. However, in these settings winning often entails both avoiding punishment and punishing the opponent. It is thus unclear whether the rewarding properties of winning are mainly associated to punishment avoidance, or if punishing the opponent can be additionally gratifying.

Wounding of Arabidopsis halleri leaves enhances cadmium accumulation that acts as a defense against herbivory.

Approximately 0.2% of all angiosperms are classified as metal hyperaccumulators based on their extraordinarily high leaf metal contents, for example >1% zinc, >0.1% nickel or >0.

Ambient air pollution and adult asthma incidence in six European cohorts (ESCAPE).

Background: Short-term exposure to air pollution has adverse effects among patients with asthma, but whether long-term exposure to air pollution is a cause of adult-onset asthma is unclear.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and adult onset asthma.

Methods: Asthma incidence was prospectively assessed in six European cohorts.

Natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to particle components: an analysis of 19 European cohorts within the multi-center ESCAPE project.

Background: Studies have shown associations between mortality and long-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution. Few cohort studies have estimated the effects of the elemental composition of particulate matter on mortality.

Objectives: Our aim was to study the association between natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to elemental components of particulate matter.

Emotional processing in a ten-session general psychiatric treatment for borderline personality disorder: a case study.

This study examines the effects of a borderline-specific treatment, called general psychiatric management, on emotional change, outcome and therapeutic alliance of an outpatient presenting with borderline personality disorder. Based on the sequential model of emotional processing, emotional states were assessed in a 10-session setting. The case showed an increase in expressions of distress and no change in therapeutic alliance and tended towards general deterioration.

Benign childhood epilepsy with Centro-Temporal spikes (BCECTSs), electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES), and academic decline--how aggressive should we be?

Since many of the children with BCECTSs display electrical status epilepticus during sleep and many present with different comorbidities, mainly ADHD and behavioral disturbances, clinicians are often confronted with the dilemma of how aggressive they should be with their efforts of normalizing the EEG. We conducted a retrospective study by screening medical records of all consecutive patients with BCECTSs, spike-wave index (SWI) >30%, and ADHD/ADD that were evaluated in our pediatric epilepsy service and were followed up for at least two years. Patients with neurocognitive deterioration detected by formal testing were excluded.

How to stop or change a motor response: Laplacian and independent component analysis approach.

Response inhibition is an essential control function necessary to adapt one's behavior. This key cognitive capacity is assumed to be dependent on the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia. It is unresolved whether varying inhibitory demands engage different control mechanisms or whether a single motor inhibitory mechanism is involved in any situation.

Acute stroke imaging: feasibility and value of MR angiography with high spatial and temporal resolution for vessel assessment and perfusion analysis in patients with wake-up stroke.

Rationale And Objectives: Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI) provides information that can be used to estimate the symptom onset in patients with wake-up stroke (WUS). Time-resolved MR angiography (MRA) is the fastest available MR sequence technique for vessel assessment, and the different phases acquired can provide information about cerebral perfusion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of time-resolved MRA both for the assessment of vessel morphology and for the feasibility of perfusion.

MMP-1 and -3 promoter variants are indicative of a common susceptibility for skin and lung aging: results from a cohort of elderly women (SALIA).

Studies have indicated that there may be a smoking-dependent association between skin wrinkling and airflow obstruction of the lung. It was suggested that this association might be because of an underlying susceptibility in genes responsible for extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. Our purpose was to confirm the association between skin wrinkling and airflow obstruction and to identify genetic polymorphisms indicative of an underlying susceptibility.

Is there a trade-off between glucosinolate-based organic and inorganic defences in a metal hyperaccumulator in the field?

Several plant species are able to not only tolerate but also hyperaccumulate heavy metals in their aboveground tissues. Thus, in addition to secondary metabolites acting as organic defences, metal hyperaccumulators possess an elemental defence that can act as protection against antagonists. Whereas several laboratory studies have determined potential relationships or trade-offs between organic and inorganic defences, little is known about whether these traits are interconnected in the field and which factors determine the compositions of organic defences and elements of leaf tissues most.

[Psychological Psychotherapy in Switzerland: Moving towards Transparency and Quality].

The article gives an overview of psychological psychotherapy in Switzerland. We describe the legal status of psychological psychotherapists, their position and role within the Swiss health-care system, the professional context they practice in, the format of psychotherapy training, various employment models of psychological psychotherapists, as well as the currently insufficient reimbursement situation of psychological psychotherapy. Reimbursement by mandatory health insurance is highlighted as the most important current challenge psychological psychotherapists face in Switzerland, on their way to be fully acknowledged as independent providers of psychotherapy.

Characterization of the histidine-rich loop of Arabidopsis vacuolar membrane zinc transporter AtMTP1 as a sensor of zinc level in the cytosol.

The vacuolar Zn(2+)/H(+) antiporter of Arabidopsis thaliana, AtMTP1, has a long cytosolic histidine-rich loop. A mutated AtMTP1 in which the first half of the loop (His-half) was deleted exhibited a 11-fold higher transport velocity in yeast cells. Transgenic lines overexpressing the His-half-deleted AtMTP1 in the loss-of-function mutant were evaluated for growth and metal content in the presence of various zinc concentrations.

Extra tree forests for sub-acute ischemic stroke lesion segmentation in MR sequences.

Background: To analyse the relationship between structure and (dys-)function of the brain after stroke, accurate and repeatable segmentation of the lesion area in magnetic resonance (MR) images is required. Manual delineation, the current gold standard, is time consuming and suffers from high intra- and inter-observer differences.

New Method: A new approach is presented for the automatic and reproducible segmentation of sub-acute ischemic stroke lesions in MR images in the presence of other pathologies.

What can reunification of East and West Germany tell us about the cause of the allergy epidemic?

The increase of allergies in East Germany--reaching West German prevalence shortly after the reunification--is considered a model for the allergy epidemic in the western world. Whether such a pattern was observed in all comparison studies and for all allergic manifestations is not known because a complete overview is missing. Hints about possible causal factors for the allergy epidemic could be gained by identifying known risk factors, which explain the observed pattern of allergy development in Germany.

Measurement procedure for glucose in serum using liquid chromatography isotope dilution--tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ID-MS/MS).

Background: We developed and validated a measurement procedure for glucose using liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry. The proposed method is intended to be used for setting target values in EQAS samples and for certification of glucose reference materials, including those in biological matrices.

Methods: Serum samples were spiked with internal standard 13C6 D-glucose.

One minute of grief: emotional processing in short-term dynamic psychotherapy for adjustment disorder.

Objective: Depth of emotional processing has shown to be related to outcome across approaches to psychotherapy. Moreover, a specific emotional sequence has been postulated and tested in several studies on experiential psychotherapy (Pascual-Leone & Greenberg, 2007). This process-outcome study aims at reproducing the sequential model of emotional processing in psychodynamic psychotherapy for adjustment disorder and linking these variables with ultimate therapeutic outcome.