Intrinsic "self-consistent" phenomenon based on holistic view of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

The fundamental principle of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is holism, and it is crucial for TCM to address the key issue of the "holistic view" of Chinese herbal medicine. While the overall regulatory effects of Chinese herbal medicine have been widely recognized, the holistic internal logic of individual ingredients of Chinese herbal medicines require further clarification. In order to comprehensively understand the mechanism of action of Chinese herbal medicine, this paper combined the holistic view of Chinese herbal medicine with differentiation thinking to explore the intrinsic logical relationships within Chinese herbal medicine. Starting from the perspective of the coexistence of multiple components in Chinese herbal medicine, this paper systematically examined the "self-consistent" phenomenon within single Chinese herbal medicine. This phenomenon refers to the consistent or opposing actions of various components in terms of their physical and chemical properties, pharmacokinetic effects, biological effects, flavors and properties, and TCM efficacy. The paper summarized various logical relationships of syndrome differentiation exhibited by the same Chinese herbal medicine, analyzed the underlying reasons, and focused on analyzing external factors affecting the "self-consistent" phenomenon in the efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine, aiming to better elucidate the theoretical basis of the pharmacological effects of Chinese herbal medicine, further enrich the scientific connotation of the holistic view of Chinese herbal medicine, and provide theoretical guidance for the preparation process, compatibility patterns, and formulation design of Chinese herbal medicine.

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP: PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING IN CONTEXT OF LIFE SKILLS

Leadership is a complex multi-faceted phenomenon. Signi?cant school wide change is impossible without effective school leadership. Life Skills is a role orientation and consistent with predictions, results suggest that different patterns of Skills lead to different forms of organizational learning. There are many passionate advocates already providing strong leadership development who have dedicated their work to make schools learning communities that support leadership learning. School Head must be enabled and encouraged to analyze comprehensively and respond knowledgeably to the local context and work closely with and through their colleagues to establish good working relationship with staff. it is the prime duty of school head to promote quality teaching of teachers to meet the high level of learning for all children in their classes. School principal /head has the most signi?cant in?uence on teacher's professional development and also on student's learning. School head is directly responsible for leading learning by creating a conducive environment for learning.

Inatención del conductor: Un estudio acerca de las relaciones entre redes atencionales y la propensión a cometer errores durante la conducción / Driver inattention: Relationships between attentional networks and propensity to commit errors while driving

Los accidentes de tránsito son un fenómeno complejo, resultado de factores ambientales, vehiculares y humanos, y una de las principales causas de muerte a nivel mundial. La inatenciónes un factor primordial que contribuye a los accidentes de tránsito. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue analizar la relación entre la atención según el modelo de redes atencionales de Posner (1994) y la propensión a cometer errores relacionados con la inatención durante la conducción vehicular. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 70 participantes, edades entre 19 y 59 años, ambos géneros, 9.83 años de experticia como promedio. Se utilizó el Cuestionario de Experiencias durante la conducción (ARDES-ERIC),Test de Redes Atencionales (ANT) y un cuestionario sociodemográfico. Los resultados indican que existe una correlación significativa en-tre el tiempo de reacción (TR) total y la propensión a cometer errores durante la conducción. La interacción entre la experticia y el TR total sobre la propensión a cometer errores fue significativa. La atención ejecutiva tuvo un efecto significativo sobre la propensión a cometer errores y la dimensión de control. El modelo que incluye la red de orientación y tiempos de reacción explicó el 20% de la propensión a cometer errores en la conducción. Una alta orientación está asociada con una baja propensión a cometer errores, y los tiempos de reacción más lentos están relacionados con altos errores de conducción. Los resultados son consistentes con estudios previos y aportan nueva evidencia sobre el rol de los tiempos de reacción y redes atencionales en interacción con variables sociodemográficas y experticia sobre la propensión a cometer errores en la conducción.

Traffic accidents are a complex phenomenon resulting from a combination of environmental, vehicular and human factors, which have become one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Inattention is one of the main factors contributing to traffic accidents. The aim was to analyze the relationships between attention and the error proneness while driving. Posner´s model states three attentional networks quantified by reaction time measures: orienting, alerting, and executive control (Posner, 1994; Fan et al., 2002). Orienting is responsible for the information selection. Alerting facilitates achieving and sustaining an alert state. Executive attention controls interference and solves conflicts between possible responses. Driver inattention was conceptualized from a perspective of individual differences as a "tendency or personal propensity of drivers to experience attentional lapses" (Ledesma et al., 2010, 2015). This tendency canbe expressed at different levels of driving behavior: operational level, maneuvering, and strategic level (Michon, 1985). The sample consisted of 70 drivers from Buenos Aires (Argentina), both genders (57% female; Mage = 29.29; SD =9.258; Mexperience years = 9.83; SD = 8.861), inclusion criteria: driver's license, regular driving during the last two months (at least once a week), normal vision, and at least one year of driving experience. Factorial design 2 (low- high for each of the attentional networks) x 2 (gender). Measures: ARDES-ERIC (Ledesma et al., 2010): a 19-items self-report instrument to evaluate individual differences in the propensity to commit attentional failures while driving and can be classified according to the driving task le-vel at which they occur (navigation, maneuve-ring, or control) (Alpha: .88; navigation Alpha:.744, maneuvering Alpha: .727, and control Alpha: .770), Attention Network Test (Fan et al., 2002) to measure three attentional networks: alerting (Alpha: .52), orienting (Alpha: .61), and executive attention (Alpha: .77) and RT attention (Alpha: .87) and a sociodemographic questionnaire that includes question about driver behavior (e.g. frequency and experience). Results show that no relationship was detected between ARDES and age but there are significant correlation between ARDES and driving task level with Global Reaction Time (Global RT). ANOVA results show a significant interaction between Global Reaction Times and expertise on driving errors [F(1,64) = 7.746; p < .01; η² =.108]. Experts drivers with low RT (lower processing speed) have a higher propensity to commit attentional failures while driving (Mlowrt =35.58; SD = 13.08; Mhighrt = 26.95; SD = 5.21).There are no interactions between Global RT, sociodemographics variables (age, gender), and driving frequency on propensity to commiterrors. Global RT correlates significantly withtotal score driving errors (r= .373, p < .01). Executive Attention has a significant effect on total driving errors [F(1,66)= 3.760; p = .05; η² =.054], and only on the Control Dimension [F(1,66) =7.889; p < .01; η² =.124]. There are no effects of Alerting and Orienting on total driving errors neither on each dimension of driving. A linear regression model involving the Orientation network and Global RT explained the 20% of the total variance of the error proneness while driving (R² adjusted= .203). A higher level of Orienting attention is related to a lower propensity to commit errors (ß= -.332; p < .01), and alower processing speed (higher Global RT) explained higher driving errors (ß = .242; p <.05). Results are consistent with previous studies (López-Ramón et al., 2011) and provide new evidence about the role of executive control on specific dimensions of driving. In addition, the findings provide new evidence on the role of reaction times and attentional networks, in interaction with sociodemographic variables and expertise on the propensity to commit errors while driving. Limitations and theoretical-practical implications will be discussed.

Expression of Pref-1 and Related Chemokines during theDevelopment of Rat Mesenteric Lymph Nodes / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of Pref-1+ adipocyte progenitor cells to mobilize into mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and the dynamic expression of related chemokines during the development of rat MLNs.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemical analyses were used to detect the expression of Pref-1 and related chemokines. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to observe the changes in ultrastructure of MLNs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Cells containing lipid droplets were found in all rat MLNs at embryonic day (E) 18.5, 2 and 6 weeks (w) after birth, and they were similar to fibroblastic reticular cells (FRCs) or follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) under TEM. Pref-1+ adipocyte progenitor cells were found in all MLNs. The expression level of Pref-1 was significantly increased at 2 w after birth and decreased at 6 w after birth. The tendency of Cxcl12 expression was consistent with that of Pref-1 and was positively correlated with the expression of Pref-1 (P < 0.01; r = 0.897). At E18.5, Cxcl13, and Ccr7 were significantly expressed in the MLN anlage, but the expression level of Ccl21 was low. The expression level of Cxcl13, Ccr7, and Ccl21 in MLN were significantly increased at 2 w after birth (P < 0.05), while the expression of Ccr7 and Ccl21 were significantly decreased at 6 w after birth (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Adipocyte progenitor cells are involved in the rat MLNs development through differentiation into FRC and FDC. The expression of the relevant chemokines during the development of MLNs is dynamic and may be related to the maintenance of lymph nodes self-balance state.</p>

Automatically feeding strategy for 1,3-propanediol fermentation of Klebsiella pneumoniae LDH526 / 生物工程学报

1,3-propanediol is an important chemical used as building block for the synthesis of highly promising polyesters such as polytrimethylene terephthalate. A genetically modified Klebsiella pneumoniae LDH526 can use glycerol as sole carbon source and produce 1,3-propanediol with the titer above 90 g/L. A key factor affecting the production of 1,3-propanediol by the mutant K. pneumoniae is the accurate control of the feeding of glycerol. To generate a robust and reproducible fermentation process of 1,3-propanediol, we designed and optimized an automatically feeding strategy of glycerol based on fermentation kinetics. By coupling the substrate feeding rate with easily observed variables -pH and fermentation time, we have achieved self-starting glycerol feeding and dynamic control of the glycerol concentration during the fermentation process. This automated system allowed us to generate a reproducible, consistent and operator-independent process from lab-scale to production scale. The final concentration of 1,3-propanediol was above 95 g/L after 72 h.

Genetic approach to track neural cell fate decisions using human embryonic stem cells

With their capability to undergo unlimited self-renewal and to differentiate into all cell types in the body, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold great promise in human cell therapy. However, there are limited tools for easily identifying and isolating live hESC-derived cells. To track hESC-derived neural progenitor cells (NPCs), we applied homologous recombination to knock-in the mCherry gene into the Nestin locus of hESCs. This facilitated the genetic labeling of Nestin positive neural progenitor cells with mCherry. Our reporter system enables the visualization of neural induction from hESCs both in vitro (embryoid bodies) and in vivo (teratomas). This system also permits the identification of different neural subpopulations based on the intensity of our fluorescent reporter. In this context, a high level of mCherry expression showed enrichment for neural progenitors, while lower mCherry corresponded with more committed neural states. Combination of mCherry high expression with cell surface antigen staining enabled further enrichment of hESC-derived NPCs. These mCherry(+) NPCs could be expanded in culture and their differentiation resulted in a down-regulation of mCherry consistent with the loss of Nestin expression. Therefore, we have developed a fluorescent reporter system that can be used to trace neural differentiation events of hESCs.

Expression of CD48 as a live marker to distinguish division of hematopoietic stem cells / 中国实验血液学杂志

Hematopoietic stem cells are capable of self-renewal or differentiation when they divide. Three types of cell divisions exist. A dividing stem cell may generate 2 new stem cells (symmetrical renewal division), or 2 differentiating cells (symmetrical differentiation division), or 1 cell of each type (asymmetrical division). This study was aimed to explore an efficient and stable method to distinguish the way of cell division in hematopoietic stem cells. Previous studies showed that the distribution of Numb in a cell could be used to distinguish the type of cell division in various kinds of cells. Therefore, the distribution of Numb protein was detected by immunofluorescence in mitotic CD48(-)CD150(+)LSK cells of mice exploring the relationship between Numb protein and centrosomes. Since CD48 positive marks the HSC that have lost the ability to reconstitute the blood system in mice, CD48 marker could be used to distinguish cell fate decision between self-renewal and differentiation as a living marker. In this study, the CD48(-)CD150(+)LSK cells were sorted from bone marrow cells of mice and the cells were directly labeled with Alexa Fluor (AF) 488-conjugated anti-CD48 antibody in living cultures. After 3 days, the percentage of AF488(+) cells was evaluated under microscope and by FACS. Then colony forming cell assay (CFC) was performed and the ability of cell proliferation were compared between AF488(+) and AF488(-) cells. The results showed that Numb could be used to distinguish different cell division types of hematopoietic stem cells, which was symmetrically or asymmetrically segregated in mitotic CD48(-)CD150(+)LSK cells. The self-labeled fluorochrome could be detected both by FACS as well as microscope. There were about 40% AF488(+) cells after 3 day-cultures in medium titrated with self-labeled AF 488-conjugated anti-CD48 antibody, and the results were consistent between confocal fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry analysis. The colony forming ability of AF488(+) cells was significantly higher than that of AF488(-) cells (P < 0.05). The proliferation ability of AF488(-) cells was also significantly higher than AF488(+) cells (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the expression of CD48 can distinguish cell division of hematopoietic stem cells and can be used as a live marker for the loss of stemness. In comparison with the Numb protein staining, this method can be used in living cells, thus provides greater convenience for subsequent cell culture studies and cell transplantation experiments.

Morphological observation of human gastric cancer cell SGC-7901 clones and identification of gastric cancer stem cells / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To dynamically investigate the morphology of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cell clones, and then compare the tumorigenic ability of different clones in order to identify the tumor stem cell clones.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clones derived from gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells were assessed by morphological observation, and the clone formation rate and proportion of each clone were calculated. The expression of CD44 and CDX2 in different clones was detected by immunofluorescence microscopy and Western blot. Furthermore, different clones were isolated and cultured, and their self-renewal property was assayed. Cells of different clones were subcutaneously inoculated into nude mice and the tumorigenic ability of each group was determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Clones derived from gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells had three types, i.e. clones of tight, transitional and loose types. The total clone formation rate was (9.80 ± 1.07)%, and the proportion of tight, transitional and loose type clones was 10.2%, 56.0% and 33.8%, respectively. The results of immunofluorescence microscopic examination showed that the signal of CD44 was significantly stronger in the tight clones than in the transitional and loose clones, however, the signal of CDX2 was weakest in the tight colonies. The results of Western blot were consistent with that of immunofluorescence microscopic observation. SGC-7901 cells of tight clones possessed strong ability of self-renewal and in vivo tumorigenicity in the nude mice.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SGC-7901 cell clones vary in morphology and differentiation, and the tight type clones may include rich gastric cancer stem cells.</p>

Confiabilidad y validez de la escala de depresión CES-D en un censo de estudiantes de nivel medio superior y superior, en la Ciudad de México / Reliability and validity of the depression scale CES-D in high school and college students from Mexico city: Results from a census

Introduction Depression and its symptoms are becoming one of the most important health problems worldwide. The impact of depression on the productive life of people, and the burden it represents because of its co-morbidity, is growing. Some authors estimate that depression is the second cause for the global loss of years of healthy life and the first one in developed countries. An increasing proportion of teenage population has mental health issues. Depression and its symptoms are among the most common, but they are not an epidemic problem yet, although spread enough as to maintain interest in its current impact and in its negative consequences over individual health. Depression has a prominent place among mood disorders in Mexico (4.5%), and women are who mostly suffer it (5.8%), which has remained consistent over time. Different difficult situations occur during adolescence along with depression, depressive mood, and depressive symptoms. This situation may be related to changes and processes that occur during this period when individuals cope with situations they cannot handle, which in turn become stressful. Therefore, it is necessary to study and to work with adolescents in order to be able to differentiate affective, cognitive, somatic, and behavioral expressions, which are proper to this stage, from those possibly caused by an illness that could have negative consequences. Adolescent depression influences mood and the way individuals live unpleasant or annoying experiences, thus it affects almost every aspect of life and becomes a risk factor for psychiatric and behavioral problems. However, there are some areas that need more research, for example: the specific characteristics and expressions of the problem including gender comparisons and using designs with special groups. Data show that depression is growing in adolescents; therefore it is a priority to work on detection and prevention to reduce its impact on mental health and to develop cost-effective intervention strategies. One way to do this is using valid-reliable screening tools because they are cheap, and methodologically-logistically useful. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) has been used in different studies with Mexican adolescents, and has proven to have good psychometric characteristics. The CES-D has never been used with an entire population in a great scale study. The objective of this paper is to measure the validity and reliability of the scale (construct, concurrent, and external validity, as well as internal consistency) in a population of high school and college freshman students from Mexico City. Method Design. The study was a census made with high school and college freshman students during 2009. Data were collected in 22 schools. Population. A sample of 58568 students participated in the census. The mean age was 1 7 years old (±2.7). Most of the students lived in homes with one to four other persons at the moment of the study (55.4%); 86% said that only their father worked at that moment, and 59.4 said that only the mother; 79.7% of the students lived with both parents, and 1 7.9% only with their mother; 57403 students (98.0% of the population) completed the CES-D in the age range of 14-24 years: 27264 (47.5%) men, and 30139 (52.5%) women. Instrument. The Automated Medical Examination (Examen Médico Automatizado-EMA) is a diagnostic questionnaire designed by the General Directorate of Medical Services (Dirección General de Servicios Médicos) of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). It is a questionnaire with four self-report forms that collect information about the physical and mental health, the family, and the general context of every student. This information is used to create a diagnosis of vulnerability and a predictive profile for developing prevention programs, as well as research protocols that help in promoting a culture for health care. The CES-D was included for the measurement in 2009. Results Overall internal consistency was adequate (α=.83). Internal consistency was tested by sex; the coefficient was higher for women (α=.84). Factor analysis generated a four-factor solution (explained variance 54.1%); each factor had good internal consistency and theoretical agreement. The scale showed a significant discriminative power for opposite scores (z=-l44.121, p<.001), and a positive significant correlation with the Okasha Suicidality Scale (rΦ=.325, p = .000). A cut-off point of 16 or higher was established to identify students with high depressive symptomatology. 14.7% of the participants in this study had high depressive symptomatology (11.1% men, 1 7.9% women). Conclusions The CES-D is a valid and reliable epidemiological instrument for different populations. Since depression is a complex and dynamic phenomenon, it is important to evaluate the psychometric properties of any instrument used to measure it. The results of this study showed that the CES-D maintains its internal consistency as well as good concurrent-external validity. Coefficients are higher for women and they increase with age; thus, it would be necessary to refine some aspects to measure younger subjects in a more consistent manner. The data proved that CES-D is a useful instrument for distinguishing different levels of depressive symptomatology; this is relevant because the scale is often used in collective contexts, allowing systematic monitoring of depression with good cost-effective results. Monitoring is also important to keep acceptable levels of emotional wellbeing in student population. Development and refinement of instruments such as the CES-D would potentially lead to opportune and reliable detection of adolescents who may be at risk for suffering mental health problems. This would facilitate implementing more stable and continuous prevention and attention programs to reduce the negative impact of depression in the short term.

Introducción La depresión y sus manifestaciones sintomatológicas son parte de los principales problemas de salud entre la población mundial y su impacto en la vida productiva ha aumentado con respecto a otras enfermedades. En México, esta tendencia y sus consecuencias negativas en el desarrollo hacia la adultez justifican la necesidad de atenderla y prevenirla. A través de instrumentos de tamizaje válidos y confiables como la Escala de Depresión del Centro de Estudios Epidemiológicos [Center for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale: CES-D) diseñada en 1977 por Radloff, ha sido posible detectar posibles casos clínicos de depresión en diversos estudios con adolescentes escolares. Sin embargo, hasta ahora no se había documentado su comportamiento en una población de estudiantes a gran escala. Método El levantamiento de la información se realizó en agosto de 2009, previo al inicio del ciclo escolar. Se obtuvo información de 57403 alumnos, de los cuales 47.5% fueron hombres y 52.5% mujeres, con una edad promedio de 17 años (±2.7). Instrumento. La CES-D se incorporó en los formatos del Examen Médico Automatizado (EMA) quese utilizaron para realizar el levantamiento censal entre los alumnos de nuevo ingreso a bachillerato o licenciatura. Resultados Consistencia inferna y validez de constructo. La consistencia interna de la escala global mostró un índice satisfactorio (α=0.83). Los índices de contabilidad fueron adecuados para todos los grupos de edad. El análisis factorial con extracción de componentes principales y rotación oblicua arrojó una estructura de cuatro factores con valores Eigen mayores a uno, que explican 54.1% de la varianza; los coeficientes de consistencia interna y concordancia teórica resultaron satisfactorios: Afecto deprimido, Afecto positivo, Somatización e Interpersonal (como un indicador integrado por sólo dos reactivos). Validez concurrente por medio de grupos contrastados. En la prueba de grupos contrastados se compararon los puntajes globales de la CES-D que se situaron por debajo del percent i I 25 versus aquéllos por arriba del percentil 75. Se utilizó una comparación de promedios de Mann-Whitney, que mostró diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los cuartiles contrastados (z = -144.121, p<.001). Validez externa. Se analizó mediante su asociación con la Escala de Expectativas de Vivir-Morir de Okasha (que también se aplica en el EMA), obteniendo una correlación positiva y significativa entre quienes tuvieron sintomatología depresiva elevada y quienes manifestaron deseos de morir (rΦ, = 0.325, p = .000). Detección de sintomatología depresiva elevada. La definición operacional de la sintomatología depresiva elevada se definió con el punto de corte (PC) de la CES-D con base en la media más una desviación estándar (PC> 1 6) con lo que se detectó una frecuencia de sintomatología depresiva elevada de 14.7% (n = 8,197): 11.1% en varones y 1 7.9% en mujeres. Conclusiones Los resultados muestran que en poblaciones tan grandes como la del presente estudio, la CES-D es una herramienta útil y adecuada, breve y fácil de aplicar y analizar para establecer un monitoreo que dé respuesta a una de las necesidades más apremiantes en la población escolar: la detección de la sintomatología depresiva elevada como un aspecto importante del malestar emocional. Sirve, además, para determinar la magnitud de la problemática y arribar a su prevención y, de ser el caso, instrumentar acciones para su tratamiento. La relevancia de los resultados obtenidos radica en que se trata de población escolar que puede llegar a requerir atención y prevención oportunas en salud mental en etapas tempranas de la enfermedad, incluso antes de la confirmación diagnóstica en los servicios especializados. Esta detección deriva en beneficios para la población escolar y en estrategias funcionales de atención adecuada y costo-efectivas.

Telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter-driven expression of iodine pump genes for targeted radioiodine therapy of malignant glioma cells / 癌症

Radioiodine is a routine therapy for differentiated thyroid cancers. Non-thyroid cancers can intake radioiodine after transfection of the human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS) gene. The human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter, an excellent tumor-specific promoter, has potential value for targeted gene therapy of glioma. We used the hTERT promoter to drive the expression of the hNIS and human thyroid peroxidase (hTPO) gene as a primary step for testing the effects of radioiodine therapy on malignant glioma. The U87 and U251 cells were co-transfected with two adenoviral vectors, in which the hNIS gene had been coupled to the hTERT promoter and the hTPO gene had been coupled to the CMV promoter, respectively. Then, we performed Western blot, 125I intake and efflux assays, and clonogenic assay with cancer cells. We also did 99mTc tumor imaging of nude mice models. After co-transfection with Ad-hTERT-hNIS and Ad-CMV-hTPO, glioma cells showed the 125I intake almost 1.5 times higher than cells transfected with Ad-hTERT-hNIS alone. Western blots revealed bands of approximately 70 kDa and 110 kDa, consistent with the hNIS and hTPO proteins. In clonogenic assay, approximately 90% of co-transfected cells were killed, compared to 50% of control cells after incubated with 37 MBq of 131I. These results demonstrated that radioiodine therapy was effective in treating malignant glioma cell lines following induction of tumor-specific iodide intake by the hTERT promoter-directed hNIS expression in vitro. Co-transfected hNIS and hTPO genes can result in increased intake and longer retention of radioiodine. Nude mice harboring xenografts transfected with Ad-hTERT-NIS can take 99mTc scans.

Research on hyaluronic acid and pectin complex / 生物医学工程学杂志

Several complexes with different mass ratios of hyaluronic acid to pectin were studied using AFM and IR at the room temperature kept by air conditioning. The results showed that hyaluronic acid and pectin were in the state of being complex and were consistent when the concentrations of hyaluronic acid and pectin were above 1 mg/ml and 5 mg/ml respectively, and the mass ratio was 1 : 5. The complex self-assembled to composite grain-shaped film. In comparison with simple hyaluronic acid, the viscosity of hylauronic acid and pectin complex was stronger, and water-solubility was lower. The complex has the bio-function of both hylauronic acid and pectin and has wide application potential in the field of biomedical engineering.

Association between violent behavior and psychotic relapse in schizophrenia: once more through the revolving door? / Asociación de la conducta violenta y la recída psicótica en la esquizofrenia: ¿una vez más a través de la puerta revolvente?

Summary: The potential for violence in a number of persons with mental illnesses stimulates public fear and prevents general acceptance of persons with psychiatric disabilities. Schizophrenia has been the diagnosis most often associated with violence as it has been taken as a paradigm of insanity, incompetence and dangerousness. Clinicians' efforts to prevent violence through conventional external patient treatment are impede by several situational variables and patients become trapped in a costly cycle of repeated institutional admissions (revolving door phenomenon) in the most restrictive settings, going through involuntary in-patient treatment. The major hypothesis proposed in this review is that violence in schizophrenia can become a part of a self-perpetuating cycle, in which the combination of non-adherence to treatment and an inadequate management of illness from families and caregivers leads to violent behavior and deteriorated social relationships, finally resulting in institutional recidivism. As some of the initial symptoms of the illness, such as irritability and agitation may not be detected by the patient and his/her family, these symptoms eventually can easily escalate into open hostility, and the accompanying behavior is frequently violent. Disturbed moods secondary to psychotic symptoms, such as fear and anger apparently can also activate violent psychotic action. Accordingly, the path from the characteristics of the illness to violence leads to them through psychotic symptoms and lack of insight, and results in symptom-consistent violence. When psychotic symptoms and violent behavior cannot be managed by caregivers, patients are brought to the attention of psychiatric services and frequently admitted to patient service. During admission for a psychotic episode, there are more violent incidents than later on in the disease. As patients respond to medication and hospital environment, violent incidents and psychotic symptoms decrease in frequency and severity. After hospital discharge, patients may assume greater autonomy and control over several aspects of their daily lives. Nevertheless, this process may be hampered by familial reactions to the burden of living with a family member with schizophrenia. This burden can also be exacerbated because many patients have a history of violent behavior and families may experience negative attitudes towards them. In line with this, there is evidence of significant differences between the professionals' perception about symptoms and illness, and that of the patient and his/her family. Sometimes, these different conceptions may reflect a lack of awareness regarding illness and treatment that may lead to discontinue medication. Medication suspension can lead to an eventual relapse which most obvious sign is the emergence of positive psychotic symptoms. Nevertheless if a patient has a past history of violent behavior, it is very likely that these behaviors will appear during relapse and it may be necessary to consider hospitalization. Although treatment with antipsychotics may be useful when violence is secondary to psychotic symptoms, violence might be indirectly reduced through clinical programs aimed at increasing insight into illness and treatment. A psychoeducational strategy may improve antipsychotic treatment compliance by helping the patients to work through their ambivalence regarding antipsychotic medication. For families, a psychoeducation strategy can lead to a change in attitudes toward the disorder, as well as to promote problem-solving skills for violence. The model presented here suggests that violence in schizophrenia is conditioned by several factors such as psychotic symptoms, medication non-compliance and lack of social support. The prevention of violent behavior in schizophrenia should include attention to other areas, such as the quality of the social environment surrounding the patient. For the "revolving door" patients, violence may be a key factor that complicates treatment. Health professionals have the responsibility to work in partnership with patients and their families for the prevention of violence.

Resumen: La esquizofrenia ha sido el principal diagnóstico psiquiátrico asociado con la violencia. La prevención de la violencia a través del tratamiento ambulatorio se ha visto obstaculizada por diversas variables situacionales y muchos pacientes llegan a verse inmersos en un ciclo de continuas admisiones hospitalarias (fenómeno de la puerta revolvente). La hipótesis central de la presente revisión es que la violencia en la esquizofrenia puede formar parte de un ciclo recurrente de hospitalizaciones psiquiátricas, en el que, combinados la falta de adhesión al tratamiento y el manejo inadecuado de la enfermedad por parte de los familiares, dan por resultado la manifestación del comportamiento violento. Diversas investigaciones han mostrado que tanto los síntomas psicóticos, como las alteraciones del ánimo secundarias a su presencia y la falta de una conciencia de enfermedad, son las principales características de la esquizofrenia, asociadas con la manifestación de la violencia en dicho padecimiento. Cuando los familiares no pueden manejar los síntomas psicóticos y el comportamiento violento del paciente, se busca la atención en un servicio especializado de psiquiatría, y con frecuencia, el paciente tiene que ser hospitalizado. La manifestación de conductas violentas ha sido considerada como una de las principales causas de hospitalización psiquiátrica. Diversas investigaciones han documentado que los actos violentos se presentan con mayor frecuencia durante la admisión hospitalaria por un episodio psicótico que en otros momentos durante el curso del padecimiento. Asimismo, la hospitalización psiquiátrica pos sí misma reduce la frecuencia e intensidad de la violencia, debido probablemente al tratamiento con antipsicóticos y al entorno restrictivo de las instalaciones. Tras la alta hospitalaria, los pacientes viven un proceso de transición mediante el cual van asumiendo mayor autonomía y control sobre diversos aspectos de su vida cotidiana. Sin embargo, este proceso se puede ver obstaculizado por las reacciones familiares secundarias al desgaste físico y emocional de vivir con un familiar con esquizofrenia. Asimismo, este desgaste puede verse exacerbado debido al antecedente de violencia en muchos de estos pacientes. Se ha descrito que la percepción que tienen los pacientes y sus familiares con respecto a los síntomas de la enfermedad difiere significativamente de la de los especialistas de la salud mental. A veces, estas diferencias se asocian con falta de discernimiento y conciencia sobre la enfermedad y con la necesidad de tratamiento médico, lo que a su vez puede llevar a la suspensión del mismo. La suspensión del tratamiento farmacológico induce a una eventual recaída cuyos signos más evidentes son los síntomas psicóticos. No obstante, si un paciente tiene antecedentes de comportamiento violento, es muy probable que este comportamiento surja durante la recaída y que sea necesario considerar nuevamente la hospitalización. En estos pacientes, en quienes la violencia tiene un importante papel en las hospitalizaciones recurrentes, es necesario considerar el establecimiento de programas clínicos, que incluyan la psicoeducación, dirigidos a incrementar la conciencia del paciente y de los familiares, sobre la enfermedad y la necesidad del tratamiento farmacológico. El modelo presentado en esta revisión sugiere que la violencia en la esquizofrenia es una condición generada por diversos factores tales como los síntomas psicóticos, la falta de adherencia al tratamiento y el inadecuado apoyo social. La prevención de la conducta violenta en la esquizofrenia no sólo debe fundamentarse en el uso de antipsicóticos, ya que existen otras áreas en las que intervienen las características propias del individuo y su entorno social. Los profesionales de la salud mental tienen la responsabilidad de trabajar en conjunto con los pacientes y sus familiares para prevenir la manifestación de conductas violentas. Es necesario realizar futuros estudios dirigidos a evaluar la forma en la que los servicios de salud mental pueden ser más efectivos en la reducción y prevención de la violencia en la esquizofrenia.

Medidas de afrontamiento religioso y espiritualidad en adultos mayores mexicanos

resumen está disponible en el texto completo

Summary: Spiritual life seems to play an important role in coping with stress in older adults. Spiritual life has been documented to have a positive effect on the sense of personal wellbeing in seniors and it has been inversely related to depression, to low levels of loneliness and psychopathology measured by MMPI-2. It has been documented that, when spirituality forms part of the subject's personality it tends to be expressed in his/her religious coping strategies and to have a positive impact on his/her health when these strategies are effectively used against stress during hospitalization and illness and against losses common in older age that are associated with depression. Two general approaches to the study of religious coping have been emphasized: a) the specific ways of coping, in which religious coping is a multidimensional phenomenon, which may include forgiveness, purification and confession, spiritual support, etc.; b) the study of coping patterns. The second approach includes religious coping methods and the patterns of interrelation they involve. Pargament et al. have distinguished between positive religious coping and negative religious coping; the former leads the individual towards productive and efficient spiritual coping associated with better health indicators than the negative coping strategy. According to the authors above mentioned, positive religious coping includes methods such as benevolent religious appraisal, collaborative religious coping and seeking spiritual support, seeking the support of clergy and church members, religious help and religious forgiveness. Negative religious coping includes methods such as punishing religious reappraisal, demonic religious appraisal, the reappraisal of the power of God, spiritual discontent, self directed religious coping, and interpersonal religious discontent. Pargament et al. have included these coping patterns in the Scale of Positive and Negative Patterns of Religious Coping Methods (Brief-RCOPE). Our research was aimed at identifying the validity and reliability of the religious coping scale (Brief-RCOPE) proposed by Pargament et al. in two samples of older adults living in Mexico City and selected according to availability in two health clinics. Additionally, with the objective of gaining greater knowledge of the characteristics of religious coping and the spiritual life of older Mexican adults, our research explored the possible existence of significant differences in the above mentioned variables regarding sex, age, education and religious denomination, marital and employment status. The subjects answered a questionnaire containing 37 questions with dichotomic multiple choice answers (likert type) which included: 1) demographic information; 2) the Positive and Negative Methods of Religious Coping Scale, Brief- RCOPE, with two subscales (positive religious coping and negative religious coping); 3) the subscale of Religious Coping when Confronting Loneliness, ARS, from the Loneliness Multiphase Inventory, IMSOL; and 4) the subscale of the Relationship with God from the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale, EBE. The results obtained allowed us to conclude that the tools that were used have adequate internal consistency which we obtained by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient; however, the negative religious coping subscale gave conservative results that may indicate the need for further investigation. A significant association between the positive Brief-RCOPE, Religious Coping when confronted with loneliness and the subscale of Relationship with God was found, which supports the convergent validity of the first subscale. On the contrary, and in a way consistent with the results of the authors negative Brief-RCOPE was not significantly associated with the other scales, but had a conservative association with regard to a measurement consisting of two items in the Relationship with God subscale. These items seem to specifically evaluate the dissatisfaction of the individual in his/her relationship with God. We calculated the factorial structure of the tools through the analysis of major components with varimax rotation of eigenvalues greater than 1: For Brief-RCOPE it was only possible to confirm a well defined structure representing 49.5% of the variance explained with an internal consistency of α=.82 and which corresponded to positive religious coping. The Scale of Religious Coping when confronted with loneliness maintained a solid structure based on only one component which explained the 70.2% variance, according to the expectations of the author, with an internal consistency of α=.91. The EBE subscale of the Relationship with God presented two clearly defined components, which explained the 59.3% variance. The first component seems to evaluate a satisfactory relationship with God, whereas the second one seems to indicate an unsatisfactory one. In analyzing the socio-demographic variables, we found that the tendency to cope with feelings of loneliness through greater closeness with God was more frequent among women ( X=18.46) than among men ( X=16.47; t=2.04, p=.04). On the other hand, Religious Coping, when confronted with loneliness, seems so show a relationship that changes with the number of years of schooling: the higher the educational level, the less this coping strategy was used (elementary school, =18.66; middle school, X=17.71; high school, X=17.55; college, X=14.61; F=3.252, p=.024). Meanwhile, those subjects who were in a relationship (either married or living with their partner) tended to resort to religious coping to a lesser extent (Positive Brief-RCOPE, =19.29, ARS, X=16.72), than single people (single, widowed, separated or divorced) did (Positive Brief-RCOPE, =21.44, t=2.203, p=.030; ARS, =18.85, t=2.249, p=.026.) Finally, we compared the largest religious groups -Catholics and Christians- and we found that the latter turn more frequently to religious coping when confronted with loneliness ( X=20.45) than Catholics do ( X=17.30; t=2.667, p=.017). On the other hand, traditional christian denominations relate to God more frequently ( X=40.27) than Catholics do ( X=37.35; t=2.345, p=.032). Results reported here significantly attest to the psychometric qualities of the tools utilized. However, the negative coping subscale appears to call for further research. The IMSOL Religious Coping subscale proved to have the best psychometric properties, as regards internal consistency, validity and factorial structure for its use in research protocols dealing with older Mexican adults. Although EBE's Relationship with God subscale resulted in two clearly defined components instead of one, it was also shown to have psychometric qualities that make it useful for research. The analysis of the significant differences that exist in sociodemographic variables shows findings that are consistent with other research carried out in the Mexican context. The results obtained give empirical evidence on the way older Mexican adults live their spiritual life. Although the results described herein cannot be generalized, since they are not based on a random sample they contribute data that is consistent with other research.

Prediction of plasma protein binding of cephalosporins from polar molecular surface areas / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To predict the plasma protein binding rate of cephalosporins from their molecular structural parameters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The minimum energy conformations of cephalosporins were obtained from the optimization of the standard molecular geometry with the semiempirical self-consistent field molecular orbital calculation AM1 method; Mont Carlo method was used to calculate the polar molecular surface areas; the stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to obtain the correlation equations.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The plasma protein binding rate of cephalosporins (fb) was well correlated with their molecular weights (MW) and surface areas of hydrogen-bonding donors (SH). The regression equation was: fb=0.5057+2.861x10(-3) MW-0.1572SH+4.714x10(-3) SH2(n=22, r=0.9042).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Plasma protein binding of cephalosporins is closely related with their lipophilicity and hydrogen- bonding potential. The plasma protein binding rate of cephalosporins can be predicted from their molecular weights and surface areas of hydrogen-bonding donors.</p>

Development of children's self-regulation competence and its relationship with behavioral problems / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the development of self-regulation competence and its relationship with behavioral problems in Chinese children with the method of questionnaire assessment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The subjects of the study consisted of 18 to 36 months old toddlers and 3 to 6 years old children. Self-regulation competence in this study included effortful control and self-regulation development. Effortful control is the concept described in Rothbart theory. Attentional focus and inhibitory control were two components in effortful control, which mainly reflect the positive control of emotion and behavior. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) and Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) were adopted to assess the attentional focus and inhibitory control of effortful control and impulsivity in children at different ages. Achenbach's Children Behavioral Checklist was used to measure behavioral problems in three to five years old children.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 114 18 to 36 months old toddlers and 443 3 to 6 years old children were enrolled in data analysis. (1) The internal consistency of attentional focus in ECBQ and CBQ, alpha (Cronbach) value was respectively 0.89 and 0.75. The internal consistency of inhibitory control, alpha value was respectively 0.84 and 0.78. The alpha value of self-regulation development was respectively 0.84 and 0.94. (2) In 18 to 36 months old toddlers, there was no significant difference between genders in effortful control and self-regulation development. In 3 to 6 years old children, the score of girls' effortful control was higher than the score of boys' effortful control, the scores of girls' self-regulation development factor except regulation motion were significantly higher than boys (t = 4.27 and 11.14, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). (3) The self-regulation competence including attentional focus, inhibitory control and all the factors in self-regulation development was significantly higher with age in three to six years old children (F = 2.9-10.16, P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Children in this period already had some regulation skills. The development of regulation competence and regulation skill was not on the same step. Some were fast and some were slow. (4) The scores of attention focus and inhibitory control had significantly positive correlation with the general score of self-regulation development, the coefficient of partial correlation analysis was 0.52 and 0.64, respectively (P < 0.001). (5) The impulsivity had no significant correlation with self-regulation competence in 18 to 36 months old toddlers. The scores of impulsivity and behavioral problems scores had significantly negative correlation with attentional focus, inhibitory control and self-regulation development in 3-to-6 years old children. The coefficients were at low level, none was beyond -0.30 (P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Effortful control or self-regulation had sex differences, girls had higher competence than boys, except motivation of self-regulation. But such sex differences did not show significant difference in children younger than three years of age in this study. This phenomenon is consistent with the development of self-regulation reported by Kopp. Child self-regulation competence increases with age. Generally speaking, the lower self-regulation competent, the higher impulsivity and behavioral problems, but the correlation was at a low level. For assessment and prediction of occurrence of behavioral problems, self-regulation competence should be combined with the other influential factors.</p>

Prediction of human intestinal absorption from net polar atomic charges of drug molecules / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To predict human intestinal absorption and permeability coefficients in Caco-2 cell monolayers from net polar atomic charges of drug molecules.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The net atomic charges and the volumes of drug molecules were obtained with the semiempirical self-consistent field molecular orbital calculation CNDO/2 method and Mont Carlo method respectively, using the minimum energy conformation obtained from the optimization of the standard molecular geometry with the molecular mechanics MM+ method. The stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to obtain the correlation equations.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Both percent of human intestinal absorption and permeability coefficients in Caco-2 cell monolayers of drug molecules were well correlated with the sum of the net atomic charges of all hydrogen-bonding donors (sigmaQH) and the sum of the net atomic charges of all hydrogen-bonding acceptors (sigmaQN, 0). The more the net positive atomic charges of hydrogen-bonding donors and the net negative atomic charges of hydrogen-bonding acceptors, the less were the percent human intestinal absorption and permeability coefficients in Caco-2 cell monolayers of drug molecules.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Drug absorption in human intestines is closely related with its hydrogen-bonding potential. The drug molecules with weaker hydrogen-bonding potential have greater percent human intestinal absorption. The net polar atomic charges can be computed simply, so they can be used in high throughput screening of oral drugs.</p>

Investigation of the in vivo desintegration and transit behavior of tetramethylpyrazine phosphate pulsincap capsule in the gastrointestinal tract of dogs by gamma scintigraphy / 生物医学工程学杂志

This study aims to investigate whether a self-made novel pulsatile drug delivery system--razine phosphate pulsincap capsule-will achieve a pulsatile drug release in vivo and to study the drug release sites. A gamma scintigraphic study was conducted to assess the in vivo transit and release behavior of the pulsincap capsule with a drug tablet containing 99mTc-labeled diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of dog. The results revealed that after a time interval (lag time), the drug tablet began to disintegrate and then released at the pylorus of stomach or in the small intestine of dogs with a relatively rapid release rate, which was consistent with the expected pulsed release pattern. The in vivo lag time of the pulsincap capsule in dog was shortened with the decrease of erodible plugs(EP) weight. Thus we can achieve a desirable lag time to meet the chronotherapeutic requirements by adjusting the weight of EP.

Tratamiento psicofisiológico y conductual del trastorno de ansiedad

resumen está disponible en el texto completo

Abstract: Panic disorder is a complex phenomenon according to its biochemical and psychosocial etiology. Therapeutic interventions of panic disorder are aimed to promote effectiveness through the combined use of medication and behavioral cognitive therapy. Anxiety is a normal human response. Moderate levels of anxiety are well accepted because they act as an aid to improve performance, and high levels of anxiety are experienced as normal if they are consistent with the demands of the situation. Persons with anxiety disorders complain of experiencing anxiety too often but they seek help also to overcome fears they recognize as irrational and intrusive. From a psychological point of view, behavioral cognitive techniques -such as hyperventilation control, exposure, and cognitive therapy- and structured problem solving have been successful in the treatment of the symptoms associated to anxiety. It is worth to emphasize that graded exposure is perhaps the most powerful technique assisting patients to overcome fearful situations. Cognitions are also important because it has been found that panic attacks occur when people process information in the external environment, as well as internal somatic stimuli, as though they were threatening experiences. In other words, they feel they have no control over their sensations. Panic attacks prevalence in Mexico City is 1.1% in men and 2.5% in women. It is more frequent among 25-to 34- year old single men and married women, with an average scholarity between 7 and 9 years. From a biological point of view, it is suggested that the etiology of panic attacks involves the participation of the serotonergic and adrenergic neurotransmitter systems, as well as the GABA/ benzodiacepine. Studies based on the noradrenergic theory had lead to conclude that panicking patients have more sensitive brainstem carbon dioxide receptors than normal control subjects. At the same time, other lines of work indicate that serotonergic transmission may also play an important role in the genesis of panic attacks. It has been found that patients with panic disorder may have a lower tolerance threshold to methoclorophenylpiperazine response than control subjects because of hypertensive serotonergic receptors. The accumulated laboratory evidence seems to support the idea that panic attacks begin with the stimulation of irritable foci in one of three brainstem areas: the medullary chemoreceptors, the noradrenergic pontine locus coeruleus, or the serotonergic midbrain dorsal raphe. On the other hand, biofeedback is a psychophysiological intervention that allows in the first place for the external control of some of the physical symptoms involved in this disorder, which is later transferred to internal control of psychophysiological cognitions and behaviors that enable the patient to prevent symptom's occurrence. Based on the principles of the General Systems Theory, biofeedback utilizes the concepts of self regulation and disregulation to describe the conditions under wich normally integrated self-regulatory systems may become imbalanced with regard to their positive and negative feedback loops. Technically, all that a person needs to do is to attend to the signals feedback and not to "try" to control them; the effects of a positive feedback loop should occur automatically, without conscious awareness, as long as the person processes the stimuli. Biofeedback has been effectively used in the treatment of essential hypertension, migraine headaches, Raynaud's disease, tension headaches, temporomandibular joint syndrome, asthma, primary dysmenorrhea, peptic ulcers, fecal incontinence, and conditioning of electroencephalographic rhythms, among other problems. The present study reports data from 32 panic disorder outpatients from the National Psychiatry Institute, Mexico City. They were randomly assigned to: Control Group (N = 14): daily doses of 75 milligrams of imipramine. The participants of this group were required to assist to the psychology department in order to obtain a baseline (pre-test and post-test) with the biofeedback equipment. In addition, every two weeks they visited a psychiatrist who verified that there were no collateral effects from the medicament. Experimental Group (N = 18): besides daily doses of imipramine, and visits to the psychiatrist, these patients went through eight multimodal biofeedback and behavioral cognitive techniques which were assisted with relaxation training sessions. All biofeedback sessions lasted 30 minutes divided in six five-minute trails. The first and final trials served to stabilize the biological responses, and the four middle trials were used to give biofeedback and reinforcement to the response being trained in addition to the verbal explanation of the changes occurring on the screen of the computer. All patients were assessed with the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, and with Beck's Anxiety and Depression Inventories. Results showed that patients in the experimental group reported significant lower scores in the anxiety sensitivity index than the control group. Post-test differences showed that the electromiographic and electrodermic activity from the experimental group was lower than the one from the control group. Diaphragmatic respiration training and progressive muscular relaxation and imagery proved to be effective in reducing the symptoms associated to panic attacks. The overall final result is that all patients improved clinically. They verbally reported that the intensity, frequency and evitative behaviors derived from panic attacks had almost disappeared. However, the cognitive factor of anxiety sensitivity changed significanty only in the experimental group. These findings support the hypothesis that clinical improvement results from a symptom "reattribution" which gives them cognitive skills to cope with stressing stimuli. Further studies should reassess the effectiveness of the combined treatment (imipramine and behavioral cognitive techniques). It is also recommended to expand the study to generalized anxiety disorder and to adjust the experimental design in order to incorporate a second phase with neurofeedback as independent variable. Equally important is to investigate the mechanisms of the hypnotic ability and its impact on the clinical improvement of anxiety disorders.

Apego al tratamiento psicoterapéutico grupal en pacientes con Trastorno Límite de la Personalidad. Estudio piloto en pacientes de 18 a 24 años

resumen está disponible en el texto completo

Abstract: The treatment of election for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), consists on the combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Concerning a psychoanalitic and individual focuse, there has been found, that in spite of the differences in orientations and the therapists experience, the manifestations of the disorder tend to decrease. First of all, a decrease in the impulsivity and an increase in the affective stability is seen, whether the identity alterations modify poorly with treatments of a duration of up to two years. Traditionally, patients with BPD have not been considered apt for group therapy, because their disruptive behavior interferes with the development of the groupal cohesion; however, this characteristics are the ones that can be rapidly treated in the group, when putting a slight pressure on the patient so he can modify this maladaptive behavior. The objectives of group therapy, are consistent with the ones in individual therapy. They include stability for patients, management of impulsivity and other symptoms, and management of the reactions in the transference and countertransference. The presence of other patients helps to establish limits between the participants and it also generates an altruistic interaction, in which they can consolídate their changes in the process of helping others. Group therapists suggest that individual therapy can be accelerated if the patient participates in the group in which the primitive fantasies are stimulated and where the group structure provides a support that helps personal growth. One of the most difficult tasks in any therapy is the desertion of the patients. Specially, the group is vulnerable to desertion, in its initial stage, since it has been recorded that there is a 13 to 63% of desertions. The purpose of the present study was to determine the psychological and psychopathological variables in patients with BPD, that influence the compliance in a group therapy. All the candidates in this investigation were patients with a probable diagnose of BPD, that had been sent to the Psychotherapy Department of National Institute of Psychiatry, aged between 18 to 24 years. This diagnose was corroborated with the SCID II. A descriptive study was made with the characteristics of the patients in some different areas: character and temperament, self esteem, quality of life, psychosocial functioning, interpersonal problems, ego strength, and psychiatric symptoms. A total of 24 weekly sessions with a duration of an hour and a half, were conducted under the direction of two psychotherapists and a non active observer. A Spearman correlation was used to correlate the psychological variables with the number of assisted sessions. We included 16 female patients, with an age mean of 20.43 years; the mean of assistance to the group was of 4.5 sessions. None of the subjects assisted to all the 24 sessions and 56% of the patients deserted the group as well as the pharmacological treatment. The findings of the correlations between the number of assisted sessions and the psychological variables, suggested first of all, a positive relation between the persistence scale of the ITC and a negative association with the subscales 1 (preoccupation vs optimism) and 4 (fatigability vs energy). Other findings suggested negative correlations between the psychosis scale of the SCL 90 and the evitative scale. The rest of the scales did not have a significative correlation with the number of assisted sessions. The items mentioned during the sessions by the patients consisted in the extreme dependency to the external criticism, that came from significative figures. The patients also talked about some of the common symptoms of BPD, like frustration, intolerance, suicide, lack of affective stability, self mutilations, rage, ambivalence, poor self concept, feelings of inferiority, and low self esteem. The percentage of desertion in this study was a lot higher than expected, assuming that in a regular group basis, there is 30% to 40% of desertion. It also came to our attention, that groupal phenomena, were not observed. Specially identifications and groupal cohesion, were not developed in this case. The patients collaborated exclusively with the therapists; they did not give any devolutions to other patients. They all waited for their turn, changing the theme, in a way that satisfied their own conflicts. The universality of the experience phenomenon was no seen, since the patients, did not feel that the others had the same problems, conflicts emotions or ideas, feeling supported or relieved by it. In conclusion, the patients with BPD, in our institution have a bad compliance in a group therapy, in which only personality disorders are admitted. These patients did not blend within the environment, because the groupal phenomena that produce the changes were not seen at all. This is probably associated with the intrinsic characteristics of the disorder, and this is why the probable changes in the patients should be evaluated and this technique questioned, as a reliable treatment method for personality disorders. A comparison of this technique with others, such as individual therapy and the combination of both, should be also considered. The Psychobiologic model of Cloninger, used in other investigations to predict the efficacy of pharmacotherapy, can be used to make a prediction of the compliance of BPD with groupal therapy. This data should be considered in the previous evaluation of the patients, with the goal of establishing different strategies, and an adequate treatment, for subjects with these characteristics.

Correlation between absorption rates of beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rat small intestine and their molecular structures / 浙江大学学报·医学版

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the correlation between the absorption rate constants of beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rat small intestinal segments and their molecular structural parameters.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The net atomic charges and the molecular volumes of 11 beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists were obtained with the semiempirical self-consistent field molecular orbital calculation CNDO/2 method and Mont Carlo method respectively, using the minimum energy conformation obtained from the optimization of the standard molecular geometry with the molecular mechanics MM+ method. The stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to obtain the correlation equations.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The absorption rate constants of beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rat jejunum or ileum were well linearly correlated with the sum of the net charges of all hydrogen atoms and the molecular volumes. The beta-adrenoreceptor antagonist with higher lipophilicity, weaker hydrogen-bonding potential,and smaller molecular volume had greater absorption rate constants.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The absorption rate constants of beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rat small intestinal segments are mainly related with their lipophilicity,hydrogen-bonding potential and molecular size.</p>