Delivery of N-Cadherin Targeting Peptides to Vascular Tissues by Surface-Modified Polyurethane Nanoparticles via a Drug-Coated Balloon.

Restenosis remains a long-standing limitation to effectively maintain functional blood flow after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). While the use of drug-coated balloons (DCBs) containing antiproliferative drugs has improved patient outcomes, limited tissue transfer and poor therapeutic targeting capabilities contribute to off-target cytotoxicity, precluding adequate endothelial repair. In this work, a DCB system was designed and tested to achieve defined arterial delivery of an antirestenosis therapeutic candidate, cadherin-2 (N-cadherin) mimetic peptides (NCad), shown to selectively inhibit smooth muscle cell migration and limit intimal thickening in early animal PTA models.

Cardiomyocyte STIM1 downregulation exacerbates post-Myocardial Infarction remodeling by dysregulating mitochondrial ultrastructure and metabolic signaling.

Background: Loss of stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) expression in smooth muscle cells protects against ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Whether and how decreased STIM1 expression in cardiomyocytes (CM) impacts cardiac remodeling in response to I/R injury remains unknown.

Objective: To examine mechanisms by which decreased CM-STIM1 expression in the adult heart modulates cardiac function before and after I/R injury.

The role of motivation in selection processes-comparing sports and business.

Talent identification and selection in sports pose significant challenges, necessitating a nuanced understanding of factors influencing athletes' elite-level potential. While physical and physiological aspects have conventionally played roles in the selection process, also other constructs of talent development have to be considered. Various talent models have included psychological aspects, especially motivation, as either moderators or catalysts.

Effects of deliberate practice and structured feedback in psychotherapy training (DeeP): a study protocol of a randomized-control-trial.

Background: Psychotherapeutic competencies encompass a variety of skills that influence the work and therapeutic success of psychotherapists. In particular, interpersonal skills and the associated ability to react appropriately in complex therapy situations have already shown significant correlations with later therapeutic success. Strengthening interpersonal skills should therefore be a central aim of psychotherapy training.

[Organised abuse in the GDR - A Secondary Analysis of the Victims' Perspective].

Objective: Organiszed abuse (OA) is a form of long-lasting, mostly sexualized violence against children, youth, or women by networked perpetrators for financial and power-related enrichment. Individual reports and historical analyses imply this violence could have taken place in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This study is the first to shed light on OA in the GDR from the perspective of those affected.

Competence-Based Trainings for Psychological Treatments - A Transtheoretical Perspective.

Background: Although in most countries psychotherapy trainings focus on one treatment orientation, such an approach is associated with systematic shortcomings. The priorities from teaching one theoretical framework should be moved to a more rigorous orientation in science and evidence-based practice, and to the needs of patients, even if strategies of different theoretical approaches need to be combined.

Method: We discuss whether competence-based trainings in psychological treatments offer a better framework to facilitate the progress of psychological treatments to a professional academic discipline with transtheoretical exchange, and we provide an example of a transtheoretical education in the basic competences of psychological treatments.

[Aspects of Utilization of Psychotherapy in Germany in Times of the GDR and Later].

Objective The aim of the study was to examine real differences in the use of psychotherapy in the New Federal States during the GDR era and today. In addition, differences according to the willingness seeking psychotherapy as well as barriers in opinions and contact to the mentally ill between people from the New Federal States, the Old Federal States and people who moved from the New Federal States to the Old Federal States (internal migrants) should be recorded, taking into account generational effects (experience of the Cold War - birth before / after January 1, 1980). Methods To investigate these questions, the data from a representative survey in the New Federal States of N=2729 people as well as the data from a second online based survey of people from the New and Old Federal States as well as internal migrants with a total of N=4789 participants were evaluated.

Adaptive group behavior of Fragile X mice in unfamiliar environments.

Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) stands out as a prominent cause of inherited intellectual disability and a prevalent disorder closely linked to autism. FXS is characterized by substantial alterations in social behavior, encompassing social withdrawal, avoidance of eye contact, heightened social anxiety, increased arousal levels, language deficits, and challenges in regulating emotions. Conventional behavioral assessments primarily focus on short-term interactions within controlled settings.

Specific challenges of researching stress in the context of quiet political repression.

Political repression beneath the threshold of criminal prosecution is a phenomenon of past and present, predominantly authoritarian, regimes. This so-called repression includes measures such as the limitation of freedom of speech, surveillance of (perceived) political opponents, or the spreading of rumors to socially isolate targets. Such experiences of chronic stress show significant psychological and physiological health consequences in affected individuals.

A web-based knowledge database to provide evidence-based information to cancer patients: Utilization within the PIKKO study.

Purpose: Cancer is associated with an urgent need for understandable and reliable information, which is often not satisfied by information available online. Therefore, as part of the PIKKO project, a web-based knowledge database (WDB) was introduced to provide cancer patients with quality-assured, evidence-based information. This paper aims to provide insights into the usage (Who? How? What?) and the effects regarding health literacy of the WDB.

[New Normative Values for the German Short Version of the Resilience Scale (RS-13)].

Objective: In a representative survey conducted in Germany, normative values for the German short version of the RS-13 resilience scale were updated and compared with the data from a previous representative survey conducted in 2001.

Methods: In a representative study conducted by the social science research institute USUMA GmbH in 2021, people aged 16 to 95 years (N=2,505) were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone. Data were compared to representative data collected in 2001 (N=2,045), and the influence of demographic variables on resilience was examined.

[Staff hebdomadaire qualité et gestion des risques en gériatrie: un outil d'appropriation de la démarche qualité pour le management des unités].

The quality approach has become essential in geriatric hospital services, but also in the medico-social sector. This process is continuous and shared by all those in charge of the care units, to facilitate unit management and support caregivers in this approach. The weekly structured quality staff meeting is a relevant tool to facilitate the understanding and appropriation of this approach by the medical and nursing managers of the care units.

The predictive value of cortisol in psychodynamic psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder: Extended results of the SOPHONET-Study.

Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders (AD), yet a vast majority of patients do not respond to therapy, necessitating the identification of predictors to enhance outcomes. Several studies have explored the relationship between stress response and treatment outcome, as a potential treatment mechanism. However, the latter remains under-researched in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD).

Sexual differences in neuronal and synaptic properties across subregions of the mouse insular cortex.

Background: The insular cortex (IC) plays a pivotal role in processing interoceptive and emotional information, offering insights into sex differences in behavior and cognition. The IC comprises two distinct subregions: the anterior insular cortex (aIC), that processes emotional and social signals, and the posterior insular cortex (pIC), specialized in interoception and perception of pain. Pyramidal projection neurons within the IC integrate multimodal sensory inputs, influencing behavior and cognition.

Sex-specific modulation of early life vocalization and cognition by Fmr1 gene dosage in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome.

Background: Pup-dam ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) are essential to cognitive and socio-emotional development. In autism and Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), disruptions in pup-dam USV communication hint at a possible connection between abnormal early developmental USV communication and the later emergence of communication and social deficits.

Methods: Here, we gathered USVs from PND 10 FXS pups during a short period of separation from their mothers, encompassing animals of all possible genotypes and both sexes (i.

Evaluating a novel accelerated free-breathing late gadolinium enhancement imaging sequence for assessment of myocardial injury.

Introduction: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), plays an important role in the diagnosis and prognostication of ischemic and non-ischemic myocardial injury. Conventional LGE sequences require patients to perform multiple breath-holds and require long acquisition times. In this study, we compare image quality and assessment of myocardial LGE using an accelerated free-breathing sequence to the conventional standard-of-care sequence.

Attachment styles and healthcare utilization: exploring the role of the patient-doctor relationship.

Background: With the purpose of improving healthcare, past research has examined the link between healthcare utilization and attachment. It is suggested that an individual's attachment style influences both the quality of their patient-physician relationship and healthcare utilization patterns. Nevertheless, most studies concentrate on the individual aspect, overlooking the dyadic dimension; specifically, the investigation of how insecure attachment relates to health behavior within patient-physician relationships.

Adverse events in psychotherapy randomized controlled trials: A systematic review.

Although evidence for benefits of psychotherapy is substantial, less is known about potential harm. Therefore, we systematically summarized randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to compile evidence-based data on the frequency and characteristics of adverse events (AEs) of psychotherapy. This systematic review of result publications is based on a review of harm consideration in psychotherapy study protocols.