[Personality and personality disorders II. The Specificity of the DAPP-model as a diagnostic system for personality disorders].

The 'Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology - Basic Questionnaire' (DAPP) measures 18 traits to provide a systematic representation of the overall domain of personality disorders (PD). The present study investigated the relationships between DAPP personality profiles and dimensional assessments of DSM-IV PD in general population subjects (n = 156), and a sample of 220 nonpsychotic psychiatric patients (including n = 67 PD patients). Using nonmetric multidimensional scaling models the similarities between the 18 DAPP-factors and the dimensional scores of the 12 DSM-IV PD (inclusive appendix) were graphically represented in a 2-dimensional similarity-system.

[Personality and personality disorders I. Universality and sensitivity of dimensional personality models as diagnostic systems for personality disorders].

Objective: A dimensional diagnostic system for personality disorders (PD) postulates continuous transitions from normal to disordered personalities (continuity hypothesis) and universal validity of basic personality dimensions (universal hypothesis). In the present study three dimensional personality models that claim to provide a systematic representation of the overall domain of personality disorders were compared: the Big-Five model proposed by Costa and McCrae, the psychobiological model proposed by Cloninger and colleagues, and the "Dimensional Assessment of Personal Pathology (DAPP)" model proposed by Livesley and colleagues.

Method: The "Six Factor Test" (SFT) measuring the Big-Five factors of personality, the "Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)" measuring 4 temperament and 3 character dimensions, and the DAPP measuring 18 basic traits and 4 second ordered factors were administered to general population subjects (n = 156), and a clinical sample (n = 220) including a subsample of 69 patients with at least one diagnosis of DSM-IV PD.

The morphology of spastic intracerebral arterioles.

Pial and parenchymatous vessels of cat cerebral cortex were subjected to electrical stimulation by direct current by the application of a silver gel electrode to the vessel wall. A current of small intensity (5V, 10mA, 2s) was sufficient to produce spastic constriction of the pial arteries. Arterial spasm was always segmental and lasted up to 20 min.

The effect of prolonged experimental hypercapnia on the brain.

Thirteen adult rabbits were exposed to a breathing air mixture containing an increasing amount of CO2 for eight weeks. When the CO2 content reached 9 Vol% the animals became apathic and lost body weight. The EEG showed a reduction of the amplitudes of 1o Hz frequences.

Spastic constriction of cerebral vessels after electric convulsive treatment.

The brains of nine cats were subjected to bitemporal electric convulsive treatment. The current (AC, 220 V, 50 Hz, ca. 500 mA, 500 ms) was applied two to five times.

Effect of central venous pressure on brain tissue pressure and brain volume.

In cats, brain tissue pressure (BTP) was measured by the wick-catheter method. The BTP was positive, but lower than cerebrospinal fluid pressure. Elevation on central venous pressure led only to a transient proportional increase of BTP.

Effect of systemic arterial blood pressure on cerebral blood flow in intracranial hypertension.

In five baboons and 11 cats cerebral ischaemia was produced either by inflating an epidural balloon and or by ligating major arteries supplying the brain. Fifteen of the animals developed intracranial hypertension after cerebral ischaemia. If ICP were high, but still significantly lower than MABP, elevation of MABP by noradrenaline infusions was accompanied by a proportional increase of ICP.

Increase in cerebral perfusion pressure by arterial hypertension in brain swelling. A mathematical model of the volume-pressure relationship.

Brain swelling was produced in monkeys and cats by the inflation af an epidural balloon against the parietal lobe. Resulting changes in intracranial pressure (ICP) were correlated to variation in systemic arterial pressure (SAP). Intracranial perfusion pressure (ICPP) defined as the difference between SAP and ICP, was found to vary with the degree of arterial hyper-and hypotension.

The ulstratructure of reticulin.

The electron microscopic examination of various organs and tumours of different species proved that the ultrastructural equivalent of reticulin fibres is not a uniform substance. Reticulin fibres are either basement membranes or an amorphous mass which appears as argyrophil fibres under the light microscope. Microfibrils may in some cases produce an argyrophilic reticulum.

Experimental brain death. I. Morphology and fine structure of the brain.

The morphological characteristics of brain death were examined in baboons and cats after artificial cerebral ischaemia. All animals showed autolytic changes in the brain, ischaemic neuronal changes, midbrain haemorrhages, focal necrosis of the brain-stem, demarcation at C 1/C 2 cord segment, and displacement of cerebellar tissue. Ultrastructural examination revealed extreme brain oedema, autolytic changes, and complete obstruction of capillaries by astrocytic and endothelial swelling and intravascular blebs.