Validation of the German version of the work and social adjustment scale in a sample of depressed patients.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the key factors contributing to difficulties in one's ability to work, and serves as one of the major reasons why employees apply for psychotherapy and receive insurance subsidization of treatments. Hence, an increasing and growing number of studies rely on workability assessment scales as their primary outcome measure. The Work and Social Assessment Scale (WSAS) has been documented as one of the most psychometrically reliable and valid tools especially developed to assess workability and social functioning in patients with mental health problems. Yet, the application of the WSAS in Germany has been limited due to the paucity of a valid questionnaire in the German language. The objective of the present study was to translate the WSAS, as a brief and easy administrable tool into German and test its psychometric properties in a sample of adults with depression. METHODS: Two hundred seventy-seven patients (M = 48.3 years, SD = 11.1) with mild to moderately severe depression were recruited. A multistep translation from English into the German language was performed and the factorial validity, criterion validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, and floor and ceiling effects were examined. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis results confirmed the one-factor structure of the WSAS. Significant correlations with the WHODAS 2-0 questionnaire, a measure of functionality, demonstrated good convergent validity. Significant correlations with depression and quality of life demonstrated good criterion validity. The WSAS also demonstrated strong internal consistency (α = .89), and the absence of floor and ceiling effects indicated good sensitivity of the instrument. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study demonstrated that the German version of the WSAS has good psychometric properties comparable to other international versions of this scale. The findings recommend a global assessment of psychosocial functioning with the sum score of the WSAS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN identifier: ISRCTN28972230 . Date of registration June 26th 2018.

Segmentation, retardation and mass approximation of birefringent particles on a standard light microscope.

This study presents a simple technique for the approximation of retardation, thickness and mass of birefringent particles with a retardation from 8 to 231 nm retardation. Tuning of the imaging system (standard light microscope equipped with a left and a right circular polarizer) to match grey values of polymer retarder films of known retardation with rendered grey values allows for a robust calibration and accurate approximation of retardation. In addition, a technique for accurate particle segmentation using a Canny-Deriche algorithm was used to minimize the bias on mass estimated from different thresholding techniques. The technique was tested using microscopic calcitic plates called coccoliths produced by the marine algal group coccolithophores, and the results compare well with published coccolith mass estimates obtained from volumetric analysis. LAY DESCRIPTION: Material with certain optical properties display interference colours when observed in a light microscope under circular polarized light. This study presents a simple technique for measuring the thickness and retardation of small particles within the 8 to 231 nm retardation range based on the grey values of their interference colours. Retardation is a measure of the distance between waves of two mutually perpendicular polarized light waves after passing through material. The technique involves the tuning of a standard light microscope system equipped with a left and a right circular polarizer and a digital camera to match grey values of polymer retarder films with a known retardation with grey values of a digitially rendered Michel-Lévy chart. A technique for accurate isolation of particles from the image background using a Canny-Deriche algorithm is also described, which avoids possible biased results from thresholding. The techniques were tested using microscopic calcitic plates called coccoliths produced by the marine algal group coccolithophores, and the results compare well with published estimates obtained from volumetric analysis.

[Specific intraoperative and secondary complications of biological reconstructions following extralesional tumour resections of malignant bone tumours]. / Operationstypische und sekundäre Komplikationen biologischer Rekonstruktionsverfahren nach extraläsionaler Tumorresektion bei malignen Knochentumoren.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of primary malignant bone tumours is interdisciplinary and individually adapted to the patient. Nowadays, limb salvage surgery is usually possible, and the subsequent reconstruction is carried out either by implantation of modular tumour megaprostheses or by biological reconstruction procedures. Special surgical and secondary complications have to be considered. OBJECTIVES: Indication and explanation of various biological reconstruction procedures and presentation of specific peri- and postoperative complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An adapted literature review and the contribution of our own therapy experiences and case studies for the presentation of biological reconstructions and their complication management was performed. RESULTS: In biological reconstructions, autografts, allografts or a combination of autografts and allografts are used. Stabilization is achieved with screw and plate osteosyntheses. The most common secondary complications are pseudarthrosis, interponate fracture, graft necrosis and secondary malpositions. CONCLUSION: In selected cases, particularly at the upper extremities and in dia- or metaphyseal tumour sites, biological reconstruction after extralesional tumor resection is the surgical therapy of choice. The rate of long-term revision interventions is significantly lower compared to modular tumour megaprostheses. Biological reconstructions and the treatment of specific complications have to be performed in specialized centres for musculoskeletal surgical oncology/tumor orthopedics.

Accurate representation of interference colours (Michel-Lévy chart): from rendering to image colour correction.

Here a work flow towards an accurate representation of interference colours (Michel-Lévy chart) digitally captured on a polarised light microscope using dry and oil immersion objectives is presented. The work flow includes accurate rendering of interference colours considering the colour temperature of the light source of the microscope and chromatic adaptation to white points of RGB colour spaces as well as the colour correction of the camera using readily available colour targets. The quality of different colour correction profiles was tested independently on an IT8.7/1 target. The best performing profile was using the XYZ cLUT algorithm and it revealed a ΔE00 of 1.9 (6.4 no profile) at 5× and 1.1 (8.4 no profile) at 100× magnification, respectively. The overall performance of the workflow was tested by comparing rendered interference colours with colour-corrected images of a quartz wedge captured over a retardation range from 80-2500 nm at 5× magnification. Uncorrected images of the quartz wedge in sRGB colour space revealed a mean ΔE00 of 12.3, which could be reduced to a mean of 4.9 by applying a camera correction profile based on an IT8.7/1 target and the Matrix only algorithm (ΔE00 < 1.0 signifies colour differences imperceptible by the human eye). ΔE00 varied significantly over the retardation range of 80-2500 nm of the quartz wedge, but the reasons for this variation is not well understood and the quality of colour correction might be further improved in future by using custom made colour targets specifically designed for the analysis of high-order interference colours.

Calcium sensitivity of glutamate release in a calyx-type terminal.

Synaptic efficacy critically depends on the presynaptic intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). We measured the calcium sensitivity of glutamate release in a rat auditory brainstem synapse by laser photolysis of caged calcium. A rise in [Ca2+]i to 1 micromolar readily evoked release. An increase to >30 micromolar depleted the releasable vesicle pool in <0.5 millisecond. A comparison with action potential-evoked release suggested that a brief increase of [Ca2+]i to approximately 10 micromolar would be sufficient to reproduce the physiological release pattern. Thus, the calcium sensitivity of release at this synapse is high, and the distinction between phasic and delayed release is less pronounced than previously thought.

Postsynaptic Ca2+ influx mediated by three different pathways during synaptic transmission at a calyx-type synapse.

Whole-cell recordings and Ca2+ flux measurements were made at a giant calyx-type synapse in rat brainstem slices to determine the contribution of glutamate receptor (GluR) channels and voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCCs) to postsynaptic Ca2+ influx during synaptic transmission. A single presynaptic action potential (AP) evoked an EPSP, followed by a single AP. The EPSP-AP sequence caused a postsynaptic Ca2+ influx of approximately 3.0 pC, primarily through VDCCs ( approximately 70%) and NMDA-type (up to 30%) channels but also through AMPA-type (<5%) GluR channels. At -80 mV, the fractional Ca2+ current (Pf) mediated by AMPA receptor (AMPAR) and NMDA receptor (NMDAR) channels was 1.3 and 11-12%, respectively. Simulations of the time course of Ca2+ influx through GluR channels suggested that the small contribution of AMPAR channels occurred only during the first few milliseconds of an EPSP, whereas influx through NMDAR channels dominated later. The NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ influx was localized in regions covered by the presynaptic terminal, whereas the Ca2+ influx mediated by VDCCs was more homogeneously distributed. Because of the temporal and spatial differences, calcium ions entering through the three different pathways are likely to activate different intracellular targets in the postsynaptic cell.

Allelic interactions at the nivea locus of Antirrhinum.

Most null alleles at the nivea (niv) locus are recessive to Niv+ and, when homozygous, give white flowers rather than the red of the wild type. In contrast, the niv-571 allele is semidominant; although it gives white flowers when homozygous, very pale flowers result when this allele is heterozygous with NIV+. We showed that in heterozygotes, niv-571 acts in trans to inhibit expression of its Niv+ homology 25-fold to 50-fold. The inhibition is reversible after meiosis and partially reversible somatically. The niv-571 allele carries a transposable element Tam3 insertion and three truncated copies of the niv gene, one copy being in inverse orientation. Analysis of two further niv alleles, niv-572 and niv-527, showed that excision of Tam3 from niv-571 does not affect the ability of the allele to repress Niv+ and that one truncated niv copy alone is insufficient to confer semidominance. The detailed structures of various semidominant niv alleles suggest that their effects in trans are not readily explained by production of antisense RNA but are more easily reconciled with a direct recognition/interaction between homologous genes, reminiscent of cosuppression and transvection phenomena described in other systems.

Differential early activation of defense-related genes in elicitor-treated parsley cells.

A cDNA library from cultured parsley (Petroselinum crispum) cells was differentially screened using labeled run-off transcripts derived from nucleic of elicitor-treated and untreated cells. This resulted in the isolation of 18 independent cDNA families representing putative defense-related genes. All genes are rapidly and transiently activated after elicitor application, but the time courses of transcriptional activity exhibit considerable variations, indicating differences in the mechanisms of gene regulation.

Rapid activation by fungal elicitor of genes encoding "pathogenesis-related" proteins in cultured parsley cells.

Administration of a cell-wall preparation from the fungus Phytophthora megasperma f. sp. glycinea, which acts as an elicitor of phytoalexin production in cell suspension cultures of parsley (Petroselinum crispum), also results in a rapid and dramatic increase in the relative amounts of mRNAs coding for a number of small proteins having low isoelectric points. According to various operational criteria, the translation products are classified as "pathogenesis-related" (PR) proteins. Here we report that the cDNA inserts of two pBR322-derived plasmids, pcPR1 and pcPR2, are homologous to mRNAs coding for one (PR1) and three (PR2) of these proteins in hybrid-selected in vitro translation experiments. Nuclear run-off transcription studies show that activation of the corresponding genes is extremely rapid; we observed a 4-fold increase in the transcription rate of the PR1 gene within 5 min and a 3-fold increase for the PR2 gene within 20 min following elicitation. Subsequent increases in the amounts of PR1 and PR2 mRNAs indicate that regulation of PR protein synthesis occurs at the transcriptional level.

[Computer tomography in the investigation of the suprarenal gland (author's transl)]. / Computertomographische Nebennierendiagnostik.

The computer tomographic appearances of pathological processes in the suprarenal were evaluated in 55 patients; consideration is given to individual normal variations and to various sources of error. It is concluded that adrenal computer tomography is the primary radiological means of diagnosis, particularly for diseases which deform the contours of the glands. Usually angiography is unnecessary. The structure and density of various adrenal masses, and their behaviour after intravenous contrast, usually provide a fairly accurate diagnosis. Nevertheless, exact evaluation of the findings can only be made in the clinical context and decisions regarding treatment should be the result of an interdisciplinary approach.

[Drainage following urological surgery]. / Drainage nach urologischen Eingriffen.

Prolonged leakage of urine and infection are the most troublesome complications following surgical exposure of the lumen of the urinary tract. The available methods of wound and urinary drainage are discussed. Careful attention should be paid to the material from which the drain is manufactured, because of long periods of drainage in a closed system.

[Computer tomography and retroperitoneal fibrosis (Ormond's disease) (author's transl)]. / Computertomographie und retroperitoneale Fibrose (Morbus Ormond).

Four patients with retroperitoneal fibrosis (Ormond's disease) were examined by computer tomography; the appearances are described and the differential diagnosis discussed. Computer tomography clearly defines the proliferative-inflammatory process and together with conventional radiology, angiography and lymphangiography it permits a presumptive diagnosis of retroperitoneal fibrosis. The non-invasive nature of computer tomography makes it the method of choice for follow-up of this disease.