Rotation axis demultiplexer enabling simultaneous computed tomography of multiple samples.

This paper describes a device that allows for simultaneous tomographic imaging of samples on three independent rotational axes. This rotation axis demultiplexer (POLYTOM) is equipped with anti-backlash gears and placed on a standard sample rotation stage thus allowing for the transformation of the input rotation axis onto two additional parallel vertical axes. Consequently, three times the number of samples can be investigated within a given time period, thereby reducing the acquisition time of multiple sample tomographic investigations by a factor of three.

Increased superior frontal gyrus activation during working memory processing in psychosis: Significant relation to cumulative antipsychotic medication and to negative symptoms.

Objectives: Impairment in working memory (WM) is a core symptom in schizophrenia. However, little is known about how clinical features influence functional brain activity specific to WM processing during the development of first-episode psychosis (FEP) to schizophrenia (SZ). We compared functional WM-specific brain activity in FEP and SZ patients, including the effects of the duration of illness, psychopathological factors and antipsychotic medication.

Counter striking psychosis: Commercial video games as potential treatment in schizophrenia? A systematic review of neuroimaging studies.

Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic, and strongly disabling neuropsychiatric disorder, characterized by cognitive decline, positive and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms respond well to antipsychotic medication and psycho-social interventions, in contrast to negative symptoms and neurocognitive impairments. Cognitive deficits have been linked to a poorer outcome and hence specific cognitive remediation therapies have been proposed.

Going into labor and beyond: phospholipase A2 in pregnancy.

The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) family is a very diverse group of enzymes, all serving in the cleavage of phospholipids, thereby releasing high amounts of arachidonic acid (AA) and lysophospholipids. AA serves as a substrate for prostaglandin production, which is of special importance in pregnancy for the onset of parturition. Novel research demonstrates that PLA2 action affects the immune response of the mother toward the child and is therefore probably implied in the tolerance of the fetus and prevention of miscarriage.

Does knowledge of fetal outcome influence the interpretation of intrapartum cardiotocography and subsequent clinical management? A multicentre European study.

Objective: To investigate whether knowledge of fetal outcome influences retrospective interpretation of cardiotocographic tracings and subsequent management recommendations.

Design: Prospective online study.

Setting: Seven university hospitals in five European countries.

Role of Serum Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Central N-Acetylaspartate for Clinical Response under Antidepressive Pharmacotherapy.

Background: The predictive therapeutic value of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its changes associated with the use of specific antidepressants are still unclear. In this study, we examined BDNF as a peripheral and NAA as a central biomarker over the time course of antidepressant treatment to specify both of their roles in the response to the medication and clinical outcome.

Methods: We examined serum BDNF (ELISA kit) in a sample of 76 (47 female and 29 male) depressed patients in a naturalistic setting.

Neuroimaging in moderate MDMA use: A systematic review.

MDMA ("ecstasy") is widely used as a recreational drug, although there has been some debate about its neurotoxic effects in humans. However, most studies have investigated subjects with heavy use patterns, and the effects of transient MDMA use are unclear. In this review, we therefore focus on subjects with moderate use patterns, in order to assess the evidence for harmful effects.

Brain Diffusion Changes in Emerging Psychosis and the Impact of State-Dependent Psychopathology.

Background/aims: Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have shown microstructural changes in the brain white matter of at-risk mental state (ARMS) subjects for psychosis and patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). However, only a few studies have been conducted in clinical high-risk samples and findings in both groups are inconsistent, in particular along the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF).

Methods: This DTI study used tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) between ARMS subjects, untreated and antipsychotic-treated FEP patients and healthy controls (HC) across the whole brain and the SLF.

Stability of trauma-related symptoms during acute substance use treatment.

It is unclear whether post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and reports of traumatic childhood experiences decline during substance withdrawal. A convenience sample of 34 inpatients of the Psychiatric University Clinics in Basel was recruited and general psychopathological and trauma-related symptoms were assessed with the Brief Symptom Checklist, Post-Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in the 1st and 3rd week of substance use treatment. The average age of the sample was 41.

Classifying individuals at high-risk for psychosis based on functional brain activity during working memory processing.

The psychosis high-risk state is accompanied by alterations in functional brain activity during working memory processing. We used binary automatic pattern-classification to discriminate between the at-risk mental state (ARMS), first episode psychosis (FEP) and healthy controls (HCs) based on n-back WM-induced brain activity. Linear support vector machines and leave-one-out-cross-validation were applied to fMRI data of matched ARMS, FEP and HC (19 subjects/group).

[A Systematic Review of Personality Disorders and Addiction: Epidemiology, Course and Treatment].

Aim: This paper provides a systematic overview of the comorbidity of personality and addictive disorders including behavioural addictions.

Method: Systematic review.

Results: Personality disorders and substance-related addictions show high comorbidity rates.

A groundwater management plan for Stuttgart.

In general, groundwater in urban areas is exposed to anthropogenic influence and suffers from concentrations of contaminants. Stuttgart, as a highly industrialized city, has more than 5000 contaminated sites which might influence the Stuttgart's mineral water quality. Despite tremendous efforts and intensive single site orientated remediation since 1984 in downtown, the mineral springs were still affected with chlorinated hydrocarbons at low concentrations.

Telomerase activation by genomic rearrangements in high-risk neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is a malignant paediatric tumour of the sympathetic nervous system. Roughly half of these tumours regress spontaneously or are cured by limited therapy. By contrast, high-risk neuroblastomas have an unfavourable clinical course despite intensive multimodal treatment, and their molecular basis has remained largely elusive.

Abnormal functional integration of thalamic low frequency oscillation in the BOLD signal after acute heroin treatment.

Heroin addiction is a severe relapsing brain disorder associated with impaired cognitive control, including deficits in attention allocation. The thalamus has a high density of opiate receptors and is critically involved in orchestrating cortical activity during cognitive control. However, there have been no studies on how acute heroin treatment modulates thalamic activity.

Response to Plasmapheresis Measured by Angiogenic Factors in a Woman with Antiphospholipid Syndrome in Pregnancy.

An imbalance of angiogenic and antiangiogenic placental factors such as endoglin and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 has been implicated in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Extraction of these substances by plasmapheresis might be a therapeutical approach in cases of severe early-onset preeclampsia. Case Report.

Nutritional aspects of depression.

Several nutrition, food and dietary compounds have been suggested to be involved in the onset and maintenance of depressive disorders and in the severity of depressive symptoms. Nutritional compounds might modulate depression associated biomarkers and parallel the development of depression, obesity and diabetes. In this context, recent studies revealed new mediators of both energy homeostasis and mood changes (i.

Loss of primary cilia correlates with cytologic severity in dysplastic melanocytic nevi.

Background: Primary cilia are ubiquitously present in cell surface organelles with essential functions in cellular proliferation, differentiation and development. We have previously shown that cilia in melanoma in situ, invasive melanoma and metastatic melanoma are nearly completely lost, whereas benign nevi are ciliated. Dysplastic nevi (DN) have a wide range of histopathologic features from mild (low-grade) to severe (high-grade) cytologic atypia and represent a key clinical and histopathologic marker for melanomagenesis.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with PCOS: comparison of different diagnostic definitions.

Study Question: Does the prevalence of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes vary in women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) according to different definitions?

Summary Answer: A comparison of different criteria revealed that there is a substantial risk for perinatal complications in PCOS women, regardless of the used definition.

What Is Known Already: Pregnant women with PCOS are susceptible to perinatal complications. At present, there are three main definitions for PCOS.

Effects of cortisol administration on craving in heroin addicts.

Heroin dependence is a severe and chronically relapsing substance use disorder with limited treatment options. Stress is known to increase craving and drug-taking behavior, but it is not known whether the stress hormone cortisol mediates these stress effects or whether cortisol may rather reduce craving, for example, by interfering with addiction memory. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of cortisol administration on craving in heroin-dependent patients and to determine whether the effects depend on the daily dose of heroin consumption.

Sex hormone-related neurosteroids differentially rescue bioenergetic deficits induced by amyloid-β or hyperphosphorylated tau protein.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease marked by a progressive cognitive decline. Metabolic impairments are common hallmarks of AD, and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau protein--the two foremost histopathological signs of AD--have been implicated in mitochondrial dysfunction. Neurosteroids have recently shown promise in alleviating cognitive and neuronal sequelae of AD.