Biological relevance and methodological implications of unexpected hearing thresholds in a diving bird.

Many animals alternate between different media, such as air and water, thanks to specific adaptations. Among birds, penguins (Sphenisciformes) have the most extreme morphological, physiological, and behavioural adaptations to their amphibious lifestyle. Their auditory perception of sound, potentially matching different impedances in air and under water, is largely unknown particularly in terms of whether their underwater adaptations may have affected their in-air hearing capacity.

Alterations of the gut microbiota in borderline personality disorder.

Objective: A growing body of research has shown that people with a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including depression, present with alterations of the gut microbiota, although it is unclear if differences may be caused by the action of psychotropic medication. No data exist for patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD), a psychiatric condition that is frequently comorbidly associated with depression.

Methods: Twenty-four unmedicated patients and twenty-one age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited.

One-to-one innervation of vocal muscles allows precise control of birdsong.

The motor control resolution of any animal behavior is limited to the minimal force step available when activating muscles, which is set by the number and size distribution of motor units (MUs) and muscle-specific force. Birdsong is an excellent model system for understanding acquisition and maintenance of complex fine motor skills, but we know surprisingly little about how the motor pool controlling the syrinx is organized and how MU recruitment drives changes in vocal output. Here we developed an experimental paradigm to measure MU size distribution using spatiotemporal imaging of intracellular calcium concentration in cross-sections of living intact syrinx muscles.

Are Icelandic harbor seals acoustically cryptic to avoid predation?

Male harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) produce stereotypic underwater roars during the mating season. It remains unclear to what extent roar structures vary due to predation levels. Here, seal roars from waters with many (Iceland) and few (Denmark and Sweden) predators were compared.

Linking unfounded beliefs to genetic dopamine availability.

Unfounded convictions involving beliefs in the paranormal, grandiosity ideas or suspicious thoughts are endorsed at varying degrees among the general population. Here, we investigated the neurobiopsychological basis of the observed inter-individual variability in the propensity toward unfounded beliefs. One hundred two healthy individuals were genotyped for four polymorphisms in the COMT gene (rs6269, rs4633, rs4818, and rs4680, also known as val (158) met) that define common functional haplotypes with substantial impact on synaptic dopamine degradation, completed a questionnaire measuring unfounded beliefs, and took part in a behavioral experiment assessing perceptual inference.

The influence of dopamine-related genes on perceptual stability.

Bistable perception is the spontaneous and automatic alternation between two different perceptual states that occurs when sensory information is ambiguous. Perceptual alternation rates are robust within individuals but vary substantially between individuals. Slowed perceptual switching has been consistently reported in patients with bipolar disorder (BPD) and has been suggested as a trait marker for this disease.

Delusions and the role of beliefs in perceptual inference.

Delusions are unfounded yet tenacious beliefs and a symptom of psychotic disorder. Varying degrees of delusional ideation are also found in the healthy population. Here, we empirically validated a neurocognitive model that explains both the formation and the persistence of delusional beliefs in terms of altered perceptual inference.

[Outlines of interdisciplinary addiction research given by the example of medical imaging with PET, SPECT and fMRI regarding effects of psychotropic substances].

The addiction phenomenon provides a fertile ground for the application of the tools of medical imaging which contribute to the development of scientific conceptualization of the effect of psychotropic substances. Medical imaging as for instance PET (Positron Emission Tomography), SPECT (Single Photon Emission Tomography) or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) are well established for the examination of functional activity in the living brain. Medical imaging permits the development of functional activation maps during perceptual, cognitive or emotional efforts with a high temporal and spatial resolution.

Gender differences in health-related quality of life on admission to a maintenance treatment program.

We compared the gender differences in health-related quality of life (QOL) on admission to a maintenance program. 103 opioid users (65 men and 38 women) admitted to a maintenance treatment program during 2000-2002 were studied. During this period we assessed the QOL status using the German version ('Berlin Quality of Life Profile') of the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile.

[Current consumer conditions among opioid addicts--implications for maintenance-treatment programmes provided by ambulatory drug treatment centers and physicians].

Background: Anonymous evaluation of the current conditions of drug scene and drug consumption, entrance age, personal motives for drug consumption and satisfaction among opioid-dependent clients with treatments available within an ambulant maintenance treatment setting.

Methods: The questionnaire for the study was based on representative studies and covered 112 questions regarding drug consumption. In addition, an instrument of the "Hessische Landesstelle gegen die Suchtgefahren", which measures satisfaction of opioid clients regarding public drug-treatment centers, was used.

Buprenorphine versus methadone maintenance treatment in an ambulant setting: a health-related quality of life assessment.

Background: To compare the effects on quality of life (QOL) of oral methadone with sublingual buprenorphine.

Methods: We performed an open-label, non-randomized, two-site (methadone-buprenorphine) study. During 6 months we assessed the quality of life status of 53 opioid-dependent patients admitted to a methadone or buprenorphine maintenance programme using the German version (Berlin Quality of Life Profile) of the Lancashire Quality of Life Profile.

Functional differentiation and selective inactivation of multiple Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes involved in very-long-chain fatty acid synthesis.

While de novo fatty acid synthesis uses acetyl-CoA, fatty acid elongation uses longer-chain acyl-CoAs as primers. Several mutations that interfere with fatty acid elongation in yeast have already been described, suggesting that there may be different elongases for medium- and long-chain acyl-CoA primers. In the present study, an experimental approach is described that allows differential characterization of the various yeast elongases in vitro.

[Subjective wellbeing and somatic markers in methadone substitution. Evaluation of 61 heroin addicts].

Aim: In 61 patients with the ICD-10 diagnosis "heroin dependence" an evaluation of subjective well-being with consideration given to coexisting symptoms prior to and 4 months after initiation of methadone maintenance.

Method: The Lancashire Quality of Life Profile and, for the clinical physical side effects, the opioid withdrawal scale proposed by Bradley and Seldenburg, were used. Additionally, urinalysis was performed.

Low degree of activation of circulating neutrophils determined by flow cytometry during cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Background: Enhanced expression of adhesion molecules LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) and Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is held responsible for postoperative complications. Surface expression of these molecules, intracellular pH (pH(i)), and oxidative burst capacity was analyzed to test for neutrophil activation during pediatric cardiac surgery.

Methods: Blood samples were drawn from 36 patients (age: 3--16 years) 24 h preoperatively, after onset of anesthesia, after connection to CPB (CPB1, before and after passing CPB, n = 15), at reperfusion (CPB2), and up to 7 days postoperatively.

Simulation of sputter-induced roughness for depth profiling of thin film structures.

Sputtering induced surface roughening is the dominant factor that degrades depth resolution in sputter profiling of polycrystalline film samples. Due to the dependence of the sputtering yield on the crystallographic orientation, ion beam incidence angle and composition, the local sputtering rate differs from grain to grain. A simple computer program based on a model of Marton and Fine can simulate such a roughness development within one layer, an improved version can even be applied for interfaces.

Interpretation of sputter depth profiles by mixing simulations.

The interpretation of sputter depth profiles can be simplified by use of computer simulations. Distortions caused by mixing effects and distortions caused by the information depth of the analytical method have to be distinguished. Atomic mixing and the information depth distort the depth profile simultaneously.

Serum concentrations of circulating endogenous granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in HIV-1-seropositive injecting drug users.

Objectives: We compared serum concentrations cytokines in seronegative and seropositive HIV-I intravenous drug abusers.

Methods: The cytokines granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and the immune activation markers soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) and neopterin were determined in sera of HIV-1-seropositive and HIV-1-seronegative injecting drug users (IDUs).

Results: HIV-1-seropositive IDUs showed significantly lower serum concentrations of GM-CSF (p = 0.

Methadone-substitution and driving ability.

A general statement about the driving ability of HIV-positive as well as HIV-negative addicts undergoing methadone-substitution treatment cannot be made with certainty. Even isolated observations are not significant; only an individually performed assessment, free of prejudice and conscientiously done is decisive. The formal assertion that addiction equals driving-inability, which is largely practised at present, is inadmissible and therefore harmful to the therapeutic efforts for rehabilitation.

A survey of drug deaths in western Austria.

We evaluated the drug deaths in western Austria during the period from 1981 to 1991. The increase of fatal cases is partly due to a change in statistical methods and the definition of 'drug victims'. In this paper a survey is given concerning the drug deaths investigated forensically and toxicologically in our area of responsibility.

[Fatalities in drug-dependent patients. A critical analysis].

The disquieting increase in the mortality of drug addicts observed in recent years cannot be ascribed to only one or a few well defined causes, such as the spread of the HI virus or AIDS, changes in drug consumption habits of multiple dependents or ineffective therapeutic measures. Primarily, an interaction of medical, social and psychological causes is emerging. In a well-defined addict population, 35 deaths of intravenous drug users were registered in the period 1987-1990.

Double-tracer SPECT in patients with AIDS encephalopathy: a comparison of 123I-IMP with 99Tcm-HMPAO.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using N-isopropyl-p-(123I)iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP) and 99Tcm-hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (99Tcm-HMPAO) was performed in 25 patients with different clinical stages of AIDS encephalopathy. The average interval between the two examinations was 7 days. In 15 of the 25 cases (60%) 99Tcm-HMPAO scans were different from 123I-IMP scans.

Trends in HIV infection among intravenous drug users in Innsbruck, Austria.

The first HIV test among intravenous drug users (IVDUs) at the AIDS clinic and/or the drug dependency clinic of the University of Innsbruck was the basis for the calculation of the proportions of those testing HIV seropositive annually over the period 1985-1990. The numbers testing HIV seropositive at the drug dependency clinic declined drastically, from 72.2% in 1985 to 12.

Single photon emission computed tomography in AIDS dementia complex.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) studies were performed in AIDS dementia complex using IMP in 12 patients (and HM-PAO in four of these same patients). In all patients, SPECT revealed either multiple or focal uptake defects, the latter corresponding with focal signs or symptoms in all but one case. Computerized tomography showed a diffuse cerebral atrophy in eight of 12 patients, magnetic resonance imaging exhibited changes like atrophy and/or leukoencephalopathy in two of five cases.