Prevalence of pain-related presentations in Canadian pediatric emergency departments.

Objective: Pain is a common reason for attendance to the emergency department; however, pediatric specific data on the prevalence, location, and etiology of painful presentations are limited in the literature. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of pain-related presentations to pediatric emergency departments during the triage process and characterize the anatomical locations and organ systems most affected by pain in a modern cohort.

Methods: A two-center health record review of triage documentation was conducted at Canadian pediatric emergency departments.

Benzannulation of heterocyclic frameworks by 1,1-carboboration pathways.

A small series of S- and N-heterocyclic 1,2-bis(trimethylsilylethynyl)arenes (2, 9, and 12) react with the strongly electrophilic borane B(C6F5)3 in consecutive 1,1-carboboration sequences to benzannulated heterocyclic systems. With this approach, highly substituted carbazole (6), benzothiophene (10), and quinoline (14) derivatives can be synthesized. While benzannulation occurs in all three cases, the reactions are quite different in detail.

Frustrated Lewis pair modification by 1,1-carboboration: disclosure of a phosphine oxide triggered nitrogen monoxide addition to an intramolecular P/B frustrated Lewis pair.

The vicinal frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) mes2P-CH2CH2-B(C6F5)2 (3) reacts with phenyl(trimethylsilyl)acetylene by 1,1-carboboration to give the extended C3-bridged FLP 6 featuring a substituted vinylborane subunit. The FLP 6 actively cleaves dihydrogen. The FLP 3 also undergoes a 1,1-carboboration reaction with diphenylphosphino(trimethylsilyl)acetylene to give the P/B/P FLP 11 that features a central unsaturated four-membered heterocyclic P/B FLP and a pendant CH2CH2-Pmes2 functional group.

Dibenzopentalenes from B(C6F5)3-induced cyclization reactions of 1,2-bis(phenylethynyl)benzenes.

'Lene' and mean: The strong Lewis acid B(C6F5)3 efficiently converts some bis(arylethynyl)benzenes into dibenzopentalenes through a series of Lewis acid induced cyclization reactions at room temperature. Thus the reaction has the potential to be useful in the synthesis of substituted dibenzopentalene derivatives which are difficult to make by conventional means.

Schema change without schema therapy: the role of early maladaptive schemata for a successful treatment of major depression.

Early maladaptive schemata (EMS) have repeatedly been shown to be associated with several psychopathological conditions, including depression. Schema therapy proposes interventions that aim at altering EMS. In the present study, we examined the effect of an integrative psychodynamic inpatient therapy without explicit focus on EMS in a sample with major depression.

1,1-Carboboration route to substituted naphthalenes.

1,2-Bis(alkynyl)benzene derivatives react with strongly electrophilic boranes to yield in boryl-functionalized bulky naphthalene derivatives by means of a sequence of 1,1-carboboration reactions. These substrates can be functionalized by transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.

Coagulation activation and fibrinolysis impairment are reduced in patients with anxiety and depression when medicated with serotonergic antidepressants.

Aims: Anxiety disorders have been shown to be correlated with an activation of coagulation and impairment of fibrinolysis. The aim of the study was to assess whether medication with a serotonergic antidepressant, which has been associated with abnormal bleeding, may modify this effect.

Methods: Thirty-one anxiety patients, mostly with comorbid depression, and 31 healthy controls were included in the study.

Relative hyperhomocysteinemia in patients with panic disorder: a case-control study.

Background: The aim of this work was to examine a possible association between a clinically relevant panic disorder and plasma total homocysteine concentration.

Methods: 23 patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia confirmed by a standardized clinical interview (Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-German version) and 23 healthy controls matched for gender and age completed questionnaires (SCL-K9, STAI, ADS, STAXI) and had blood drawn after a 15 min rest. Plasma total homocysteine concentrations were measured by competitive enzyme immunoassay.

Structural and functional characterization of the trifunctional antibody catumaxomab.

The Triomab family of trifunctional, bispecific antibodies that maintain an IgG-like shape are novel tumor targeting agents. These chimeras consist of two half antibodies, each with one light and one heavy chain, that originate from parental mouse IgG2a and rat IgG2b isotypes. This combination allows cost-effective biopharmaceutical manufacturing at an industrial scale since this specific mouse/rat isotype combination favors matching of corresponding antibody halves during production by means of quadroma technology.

A general theory on pain as an integrated thermodynamic mechanism.

The phenomenological concepts to describe pain as a primarily unidirectional warning mechanism for the existence of specific noxae appear to be insufficient. Here we present a theory and a model according to which pain can be represented as an integrated mechanism of local cell energy homeostasis. It postulates the occurrence of a pain sensation in case of a relative deficit of the intracellular metabolic power balance in tissues.

A model on the induction of adverse vascular long-term effects of NSAIDs.

The causes of increased rates of myocardial infarctions and strokes by application of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs) are unclear. Here we present a biochemical model that the long-term vascular effects of NSAIDs can be consequences of their antiproliferative cellular mechanism. The analysis of the model suggests that the intramitochondrial uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation induced by NSAIDs increases, through a reduced activity of ATP-dependent ionic pumps, the intra-cellular calcium x phosphate product with a consecutively increased formation and export of various calcium phosphate compounds.

Alexithymia, temperament and character as predictors of psychopathology in patients with major depression.

The study investigated the capacity of alexithymic personality features, in combination with temperament and character traits, age and gender, to predict psychopathological symptoms in patients with major depression. Consecutive patients (n=339) were investigated using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and the Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Rating Scales (HDRS, HARS). The amount of variance in SCL-90-R subscales and Hamilton scales predicted by TAS-20, TCI, age and gender was calculated by linear regression analyses.

Evidence for attenuated affective processing in obesity.

Attenuated affective processing is hypothesized to play a role in the development and maintenance of obesity. Using an affective priming task measuring automatic affective processing of verbal stimuli, a group of 30 obese participants in a weight-loss program at the Psychosomatic University Clinic Bonn (M age = 48.3, SD = 10.

Nature against nurture: calcification in the right thalamus in a young man with anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

This report describes the case of a young man with a large calcification in the right thalamus that was first diagnosed at 9 years of age. Case history reveals specific eating rituals and other obsessive-compulsive personality traits during the patient's childhood and adolescence, fulfilling diagnostic criteria of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. After a critical life event the patient develops anorexia nervosa.

Association between anxiety and factors of coagulation and fibrinolysis.

Background: Psychological stress and anxiety have been shown to produce an activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Resulting hypercoagulability is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and could therefore contribute to an increased prevalence of coronary artery disease in anxiety patients. However, hemostasis function has not yet been studied in patients with clinically relevant anxiety disorders.

Relationship between anger and pruritus perception in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria and psoriasis.

Background: There is evidence that chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) and psoriasis are associated with personality based difficulties in emotional regulation particularly with regard to the feeling of anger. This deficit in emotional awareness could lead to the phenomenon that emotions are rather experienced in bodily symptoms such as pruritus.

Aim: We investigated whether there is a relationship between pruritus as major symptoms in CIU and psoriasis and the experience of negative emotions.

Cross-cultural comparison of explanatory models of illness in schizophrenic patients in Jordan and Germany.

This study investigated illness concepts of schizophrenic patients in an Arab-Islamic and a western European cultural background. 24 Jordanian and 23 German inpatients were interviewed using an illness concept scale and a causal belief questionnaire. Jordanian patients tend to believe more in esoteric factors underlying their illness, and they perceive the illness to be more threatening.

Alexithymia and emotional distress in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy.

The authors studied 31 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) as compared with 31 age- and gender-matched control subjects, assessing emotional distress (ED), nine psychopathological symptoms, critical life events, and alexithymia. Results showed no difference in the number of critical life events; however CSC patients showed elevated ED and elevated scores on seven psychopathological symptoms, including hostility. Controlling for ED, CSC patients showed elevated alexithymia sum scores.

Temperament and character personality profiles and personality disorders in chronic pain patients.

In his psychobiological model of personality, Cloninger developed a novel approach concerning the relationships between psychopathological syndromes and personality. We investigated 207 chronic pain patients (CPPs) and compared them to 105 pain-free control subjects. Participants were assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), the Structured-Clinical-Interview-II, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Spielberger Anxiety Inventory.

Patients with obesity show reduced memory for others' body shape.

Social comparison theory assumes that individuals regularly compare themselves to others and that the comparisons are relevant for their self-esteem. For individuals with obesity, these social comparisons will yield a negative outcome with respect to body shape in the majority of social contacts. It is proposed that, when confronted with other persons, individuals with obesity avoid social comparisons on the dimension of body shape.

Disclosing the cancer diagnosis: what contributes to patient satisfaction?

Background: Despite the growing attention to the how, when and where of disclosing a cancer diagnosis, not all patients are satisfied with how the news is broken to them. As in German-speaking countries there is a lack of empirical studies on this subject, this analysis was conducted to determine how the cancer diagnosis was given in a German sample, and how satisfied the patients are with the disclosure experience.

Patients And Methods: 162 outpatients received a self-report questionnaire focusing on their experiences with physician-patient communication when the diagnosis was disclosed.

Interaction of psychological factors and the effect of epoetin-alfa treatment in cancer patients on hemoglobin and fatigue.

Introduction And Background: Epoetin alpha is known to produce a hematological response in anemic cancer patients. A concomitant reduction in fatigue as well as an improvement of depression and anxiety and of quality of life has been reported. However, these effects are discussed controversially.

Pharmacological concept for topical synergistic analgesia of peripheral neuromuscular pain.

A pharmacological concept of topical peripheral pain therapy with a combination of a sodium channel blocker from the class of local anesthetics and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) from the class of nonselective/ partially selective cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors is described. The dual mechanism of action of these substances on the cellular level interferes with pain components of both inflammatory and neuronal genesis and is functionally synergistic. This enables the combination of these agents to produce a more long-lasting analgesia than is attainable with either of the substances alone.