Methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a connectogen with empathogenic, entactogenic, and still further connective properties: It is time to reconcile "the great entactogen-empathogen debate".

Science on methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and MDMA-like substances is faced with the unique situation that this class of psychoactive agents is referred to with two basic names for its effects on the mind: empathogens and entactogens. Empathogen usually refers to the prosocial, empathetic, and openness properties of MDMA, while entactogen usually refers to the introspective and self-awareness properties of this substance. We review the origin and usage of the two terms, and also review recent findings that support that MDMA is an empathogen and an entactogen.

Case report: Maintaining altered states of consciousness over repeated ketamine infusions may be key to facilitate long-lasting antidepressant effects: some initial lessons from a personalized-dosing single-case study.

Background: The interest in psychoactive agents for treating mental disorders has gathered a growing body of scientific interest. However, research on the relationship between altered states of consciousness (ASCs) and ketamine's antidepressant properties is still limited. Likewise, approaches to sustain early treatment success for the long-term are needed.

The revival of the psychedelic experience scale: Revealing its extended-mystical, visual, and distressing experiential spectrum with LSD and psilocybin studies.

Background: Research with the Psychedelic Experience Questionnaire/Scale (PES) focuses on questions relating to mystical experience (Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ)). The psychometric potential of the non-MEQ items of the PES remains largely unexplored.

Aims: We investigated whether the PES also yields subscales besides the MEQ30 subscales.

Buddhist-like opposite diminishing and non-judging during ketamine infusion are associated with antidepressant response: an open-label personalized-dosing study.

Cognition that is not dominated by thinking in terms of opposites (opposite diminishing) or by making judgments (non-judging) can be found both in Buddhist/mindfulness contexts and in mental states that are fostered by dissociative psychedelics (-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists) such as ketamine. Especially for the Buddhist/mindfulness case, both opposite diminishing and non-judging have been proposed to relate to mental well-being. Whether ketamine-occasioned opposite diminishing and/or non-judging relate to increased mental well-being in the form of antidepressant response is unknown, and was investigated in the present study.

Happiness feels light and sadness feels heavy: introducing valence-related bodily sensation maps of emotions.

Bodily sensation mapping (BSM) is a recently developed self-report tool for the assessment of emotions in which people draw their sensations of activation in a body silhouette. Following the circumplex model of affect, activity and valence are the underling dimensions of every emotional experience. The aim of this study was to introduce the neglected valence dimension in BSM.

A standard conceptual framework for the study of subjective time.

Research on the mental representation of time ('subjective time') has provided broad insights into the nature of time perception and temporal processing. As the field comprises different scientific disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy, and neuroscience, studies differ with regard to the basic terms and concepts used. For this reason, research on subjective time lacks a coherent conceptual system.

Is mental time embodied interpersonally?

Recent evidence has shown that the mental representation of time is "embodied"-time is expressed via the hands, the eyes, and the whole body. These findings suggest the existence of a manually reflected mental time line running (in Western culture) horizontally from left (past) to right (future) and an ocularly reflected mental time line running from left/down (past) to right/up (future). We addressed the question whether mental time is also reflected interpersonally and investigated whether an avatar's face orientation (left vs.

The use of ene adducts to study and engineer enoyl-thioester reductases.

An improved understanding of enzymes' catalytic proficiency and stereoselectivity would further enable applications in chemistry, biocatalysis and industrial biotechnology. We use a chemical probe to dissect individual catalytic steps of enoyl-thioester reductases (Etrs), validating an active site tyrosine as the cryptic proton donor and explaining how it had eluded definitive identification. This information enabled the rational redesign of Etr, yielding mutants that create products with inverted stereochemistry at wild type-like turnover frequency.

Plant material features responsible for bamboo's excellent mechanical performance: a comparison of tensile properties of bamboo and spruce at the tissue, fibre and cell wall levels.

Background And Aims: Bamboo is well known for its fast growth and excellent mechanical performance, but the underlying relationships between its structure and properties are only partially known. Since it lacks secondary thickening, bamboo cannot use adaptive growth in the same way as a tree would in order to modify the geometry of the stem and increase its moment of inertia to cope with bending stresses caused by wind loads. Consequently, mechanical adaptation can only be achieved at the tissue level, and this study aims to examine how this is achieved by comparison with a softwood tree species at the tissue, fibre and cell wall levels.

Mass discrimination in high-mass MALDI-MS.

In high-mass matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), the accessible m/z range is limited by the detector used. Therefore, special high-mass detectors based on ion conversion dynodes (ICDs) have been developed. Recently, we have found that mass bias may exist when such ICD detectors are used [Weidmann et al.

Modeling the ecology of symbiont-mediated protection against parasites.

There is increasing evidence that many maternally transmitted symbionts protect their hosts against parasites, thus ensuring their own persistence. Despite the protection they provide, such symbionts are typically found in only a fraction of the host population. This suggests that symbiont-conferred resistance is costly or that the maternal inheritance of symbionts is not perfect.

Brain-immune interactions and the neural basis of disease-avoidant ingestive behaviour.

Neuro-immune interactions are widely manifested in animal physiology. Since immunity competes for energy with other physiological functions, it is subject to a circadian trade-off between other energy-demanding processes, such as neural activity, locomotion and thermoregulation. When immunity is challenged, this trade-off is tilted to an adaptive energy protecting and reallocation strategy that is identified as 'sickness behaviour'.

Combination of temozolomide with immunocytokine F16-IL2 for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Background: Glioblastoma patients are still not cured by the treatments available at the moment. We investigated the therapeutic properties of temozolomide in combination with F16-IL2, a clinical-stage immunocytokine consisting of human interleukin (IL)-2 fused to the human antibody F16, specific to the A1 domain of tenascin-C.

Methods: We conducted three preclinical therapy studies, using subcutaneous and intracranial U87MG glioblastoma tumours xenografted in BALB/c nude mice.

Genome-scale proteomics reveals Arabidopsis thaliana gene models and proteome dynamics.

We have assembled a proteome map for Arabidopsis thaliana from high-density, organ-specific proteome catalogs that we generated for different organs, developmental stages, and undifferentiated cultured cells. We matched 86,456 unique peptides to 13,029 proteins and provide expression evidence for 57 gene models that are not represented in the TAIR7 protein database. Analysis of the proteome identified organ-specific biomarkers and allowed us to compile an organ-specific set of proteotypic peptides for 4105 proteins to facilitate targeted quantitative proteomics surveys.

Production of recombinant bacteriocin divercin V41 by high cell density Escherichia coli batch and fed-batch cultures.

To increase the yield of heterologous production of the class II bacteriocin DvnRV41 with Escherichia coli Origami (DE3) (pLysS/pCR03), induction of bacteriocin gene expression was optimized by varying the inducer isopropyl beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) concentration (0-2 mM), and controlled batch and fed-batch cultures were tested on a 2-L scale. A concentration of 0.5 mM IPTG was found to be optimal for cell growth and bacteriocin production.

Optimization of a hybrid chromatography-crystallization process for the separation of Tröger's base enantiomers.

This paper presents an analysis of a hybrid process consisting of simulated moving bed (SMB) chromatography and crystallization and studies its performance for the separation of the Tröger's base enantiomers. The SMB is simulated using a detailed model including column efficiency, thus, implying a proper evaluation of the effect of column size on column efficiency and separation performance. The crystallization operations are accounted for through material balances, assuming equilibrium between enantiopure crystals and mother liquor.

Effect of pressure drop on solute retention and column efficiency in supercritical fluid chromatography.

The effect of pressure drop on the performance of supercritical fluid chromatographic systems is studied. Experiments have been conducted at different pressures and at 55 and 65 degrees C. Experiments at conditions leading to large and small pressure drops have been performed.

Enantioseparation of 1-phenyl-1-propanol by supercritical fluid-simulated moving bed chromatography.

The enantioseparation of 1-phenyl-1-propanol through the supercritical fluid-simulated moving bed (SF-SMB) process is studied. Non-linear isotherms were measured on an analytical column, and used together with the triangle theory for SMB design to select operating conditions for the SF-SMB. Experiments were carried out on a pilot-scale SF-SMB plant at conditions that corresponded to the non-linear range of the isotherm.

In silico genome-scale reconstruction and validation of the Staphylococcus aureus metabolic network.

A genome-scale metabolic model of the Gram-positive, facultative anaerobic opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus N315 was constructed based on current genomic data, literature, and physiological information. The model comprises 774 metabolic processes representing approximately 23% of all protein-coding regions. The model was extensively validated against experimental observations and it correctly predicted main physiological properties of the wild-type strain, such as aerobic and anaerobic respiration and fermentation.

Enantioseparation of 1-phenyl-1-propanol on Chiralcel OD by supercritical fluid chromatography. I. Linear isotherm.

The supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) separation of the enantiomers of 1-phenyl-1-propanol on the chiral stationary phase Chiralcel OD under linear conditions is studied. Supercritical CO2 modified with methanol is used as a mobile phase. The effect of modifier concentration, pressure and temperature is studied.

Two-fraction and three-fraction continuous simulated moving bed separation of nucleosides.

A new experimental set-up and a new simulated moving bed (SMB) operation are presented in this work. A desktop SMB unit developed as a modification of the commercial AKTA explorer working platform has been utilized for the separation of different mixtures of nucleosides. Both two fraction and three fraction SMB separations have been carried out, the latter made possible by the adoption of a new SMB configuration and operating mode (three fraction SMB, 3F-SMB, operation).

Optimizing control of simulated moving beds--linear isotherm.

A new optimization based adaptive control strategy for simulated moving beds (SMBs) is proposed. A linearized reduced order model, which accounts for the periodic nature of the SMB process, is used for online optimization and control. The manipulated variables are the four inlet flow rates, the outputs are the raffinate and extract concentrations.

Solvent gradient operation of simulated moving beds. 2. Langmuir isotherms.

Simulated Moving Bed separations of enantiomers or fine chemicals are usually carried out in the isocratic mode, i.e. by applying the same operating conditions (temperature, pressure, mobile phase composition, pH) in the whole SMB unit.