Marine debris in harbour porpoises and seals from German waters.

Records of marine debris in and attached to stranded harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) were studied comprising information on 6587 carcasses collected along the German coast between 1990 and 2014, the decomposition state allowed for necropsy in 1622 cases. Marine debris items were recorded in 31 carcasses including 14 entanglements (5 harbour porpoises, 6 harbour seals, 3 grey seals) and 17 cases of ingestion (4 harbour porpoises, 10 harbour seals, 3 grey seals). Objects comprised general debris (35.1%) and fishing related debris (64.9%). Injuries associated with marine debris included lesions, suppurative ulcerative dermatitis, perforation of the digestive tract, abscessation, suppurative peritonitis and septicaemia. This study is the first investigation of marine debris findings in all three marine mammal species from German waters. It demonstrates the health impacts marine debris can have, including severe suffering and death. The results provide needed information on debris burdens in the North and Baltic Seas for implementing management directives, such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD).

Effects of benzodiazepine receptor partial inverse agonists in the elevated plus maze test of anxiety in the rat.

The present series of experiments examined the effects of five benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) partial inverse agonists on the behaviour of rats on an elevated plus maze. The drugs were tested in a standard plus maze with 3-cm walls added to the open arms, as this has been shown to increase the sensitivity of the plus maze to anxiogenic-like drugs effects (Jones and Cole 1995). The drugs tested were FG 7142 (0-100 mg/kg), beta-CCE (0-30 mg/kg), ZK 132,556 (0-100 mg/kg), ZK 90 886 (0-30 mg/kg) and Ro 15-4513 (0-30 mg/kg). In addition, to allow a comparison with previous studies, the effects of three reference substances, DMCM (0-2.5 mg/kg), pentylenetetrazol (PTZ; 0-30 mg/kg) and yohimbine (0-5 mg/kg), were also examined. These three reference compounds produced a dose-dependent reduction in the duration of open arm exploration and the total number of open arm entries, indicative of anxiogenic-like effects. DMCM produced significant effects at the doses of 1.25 and 2.5 mg/kg, PTZ at 30 mg/kg, and yohimbine at 5 mg/kg. The BZR partial inverse agonist FG 7142 (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg) also reduced the duration of open arm exploration and the total number of arm entries. The minimally effective dose resulted in a receptor occupancy of approximately 80%. Ro 15-4513 also produced anxiogenic-like effects, but only at a dose (30 mg/kg) that resulted in a receptor occupancy of approximately 95%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effects of benzodiazepine receptor ligands on the performance of an operant delayed matching to position task in rats: opposite effects of FG 7142 and lorazepam.

The effects of a series of benzodiazepine (BZ) receptor ligands, ranging from a full agonist through to partial inverse agonists, were examined on short term working memory in the rat. The behavioural paradigm used was a discrete trial, operant delayed matching to position task, as originally described by Dunnett (1985), with delays of 0, 5, 15 and 30 s. The benzodiazepine receptor (BZR) full agonist lorazepam (0.25, 0.375 and 0.5 mg/kg) dose and delay dependently impaired matching accuracy. Lorazepam also increased the latency to respond and decreased the number of nose pokes made into the food tray during the delays. In contrast, the BZR partial agonist ZK 95,962 (1, 3, 10 mg/kg) did not affect matching accuracy, but did increase the speed of responding. The BZR antagonist ZK 93,426 (1.25, 5, 25 mg/kg) had no effects in this paradigm. The BZR weak partial inverse agonists Ro 15-4513 (0.1, 1 and 10 mg/kg) and ZK 90,886 (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg) did not affect accuracy of performance. However, both of these drugs increased the latency to respond and decreased nose poke responses. These motoric effects were particularly strong following 10 mg/kg Ro 15-4513. This shows that the effects of drugs on the accuracy of responding and on the speed of responding can be dissociated. The BZR partial inverse agonist FG 7142 had effects on matching accuracy that were dependent upon dose. The lowest dose of FG 7142 (1 mg/kg) significantly improved accuracy, whereas the highest dose (10 mg/kg) impaired accuracy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[A brief psychotherapeutic synergistic approach in child and adolescent psychiatry]. / Ein kurztherapeutisch synergetischer Ansatz in der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie.

The controversy between the concepts of family therapy and systemic therapy is one issue to design a synergetic concept of brief therapy in the psychiatric treatment of children and adolescents. Some principles of the radical-constructivism, systemic theory an the psychology of narratives will be discussed and related to concepts of solution-oriented brief therapy. A case example demonstrates the perspectives of this approach in the ambulant psychiatric treatment.

Chronic ethanol administration alters binding of [(35)S]t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate to the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex in rat brain.

Chronic treatment of male Wistar rats with ethanol (15% v/v) in drinking fluid for a period of 3 months affected the binding of the chloride channel antagonist, [(35)S]TBPS, to well-washed synaptic membranes and slide-mounted brain slices, the affinity for [(35)S]TBPS in brains of ethanol-treated animals was significantly decreased in comparison to controls while receptor density was increased (P < 0.001). However, other well described treatments, viz. an ethanol-containing liquid diet and chronic inhalation of ethanol failed to demonstrate changes in the binding of [(35)S]TBPS in brain preparations. Our findings suggest that long-term administration of ethanol can induce alterations in the characteristics of the ionophore component of the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex. This may have relevance to ethanol-induced neuronal damage.

Effects of chronic ethanol exposure on the gaba-benzodiazepine receptor complex in rat brain.

Chronic treatment of male Wistar rats with ethanol by inhalation did not affect the binding of [(3)H]flunitrazepam, [(3)H]GABA or [(3)H]muscimol to extensively washed synaptic membranes. Neither the affinity (K(d)) nor the number of binding sites (Bmax) for these ligands was changed. However, GABA enhancement of [(3)H]flunitrazepam binding was significantly decreased by approx. 40% in ethanol-treated animals (172% compared to 215%). Acute treatment with ethanol did not produce changes in the binding of [(3)H]flunitrazepam or [(3)H]muscimol. These findings suggest that chronic ethanol treatment leads to uncoupling of the various receptor sites on the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor ionophore-complex in the brain.

Dimyristoylphosphatidic acid/cholesterol bilayers. Thermodynamic properties and kinetics of the phase transition as studied by the pressure jump relaxation technique.

Lipid bilayers and monolayers composed of dimyristoylphosphatidic acid (DMPA) and cholesterol were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and film balance measurements. Increasing cholesterol content decreases the bilayer phase transition temperature and enthalpy in a manner similar to that observed before for other lipid/cholesterol systems. In monomolecular films at the air-water interface cholesterol exhibits the well known condensing effect in the liquid-expanded phase, while the liquid-condensed phase is less affected. As with the bilayer phase transition, the transition temperature and change in area at the liquid-condensed to liquid-expanded phase transition, as measured from isobars at 25 dynes/cm, decreases with increasing cholesterol content. The kinetics of the phase transition of DMPA/cholesterol bilayers were measured using the pressure jump relaxation technique with optical detection. Three relaxation times were observed. The relaxation times and amplitudes pass through maximum values at the transition midpoint. With increasing cholesterol content the maximum values of the relaxation times decrease but not in a linear fashion. The time constants display an intermediate maximum at ca. 10% to 12 mol% cholesterol. This observation is discussed in terms of a possible change in the nature of the phase transition from first-order with phase separation to a continuous second-order transition. The dependence of the relaxation amplitudes on cholesterol content gave evidence for nucleation being the rate limiting step for the transition in this particular system.