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Personality functioning in inpatients with eating disorders: association with symptom severity and treatment outcome
No full textObjectiveImpairment in personality functioning (PF) has been linked to a number of mental disorders, including eating disorders (EDs). However, the precise relationship between PF and symptom severity, as well as the potential impact on outcome, remains unclear. The study aimed to analyse the association of PF and its change with severity of ED symptomatology as well as outcome of hospital treatment.MethodThe sample consisted of 397 patients with EDs, treated in 19 university hospitals for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy in Germany between 1/2019 and 12/2020. PF was measured with the Structure Questionnaire of the Operationalised Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD-SQ, short version), eating psychopathology with the ED examination questionnaire (EDE-Q). Outcome was defined as a change in the EDE-Q total score. We used Latent Change Score Modelling to analyse changes in ED pathology during treatment and a 1-year follow-up period.ResultsA higher level of impairment in PF at admission correlated with more eating psychopathology and a less favourable outcome. Additionally, greater improvement in PF correlated with greater improvements in ED symptomatology at discharge.ConclusionImpairment in PF needs to be part of diagnostic assessments and should be considered an important treatment target for psychotherapeutic interventions
Comparison of recognition of symptom burden in MPN between patient- and physician-reported assessment - an intraindividual analysis by the German Study Group for MPN (GSG-MPN)
No full textMyeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are associated with a variety of symptoms that severely impact patients’ quality of life and ability to perform daily activities. Recent studies showed differences in the perception of physician- versus patient-reported symptom burden. However, studies directly comparing patient- and physician-reported ratings are lacking. Here, a retrospective analysis on symptom burden of 3979 MPN patients of the Bioregistry of the German Study Group for MPN was conducted to intra-individually compare physician and patient reports collected at the same time. Cohen’s kappa was calculated to assess the degree of agreement between patient and physician reports. Factors influencing baseline symptom severity were identified using linear regression and adjusted Cox models were calculated to investigate the effect of symptom burden on survival. MPN patients had a high symptom burden, which neither decreased over time nor upon cytoreductive therapy. All symptoms were more frequently reported by patients compared to physicians. Agreement remained low and only slightly improved when considering a higher threshold for patient symptom severity. Patients with severe symptom burden had inferior survival compared to patients with less severe symptoms. Assessment of symptom burden in MPN is therefore insufficient and patient-reported outcome tools need to be implemented into clinical routine
Histology-specific prognostic significance of isolated tumor cells, micrometastases, and macrometastases in endometrial cancer
No full textFrom ground photos to aerial insights: automating citizen science labeling for tree species segmentation in uav images
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z-GrAdd – facile fabrication of various functional gradient materials by 3D printing using the gradual addition of reagents
No full textControl over physical and chemical properties during additive manufacturing is highly advantageous for fabricating functional gradient materials (FGM) with diverse applications. Conventional methods like vat exchange or grayscale light projection are often limited in producing graded properties or compositional gradients and they suffer from slow speed and complicated setups. Here, we present the z-GrAdd (z-Gradient by Addition of a reagent) method, a facile method for Digital Light Processing (DLP)-based vat photopolymerization of FGMs in a single structure through the gradual addition of a resin component to the vat during printing. The z-GrAdd enables continuous alteration of resin composition during the printing, resulting in gradient properties in z-direction. We demonstrate FGM fabrication with gradients of surface energy, porosity, and hardness using a range of acrylate-based resins. Surface energy gradients (18–29 mN/m) and hardness gradients (19.2–29.6 shore D) were achieved by gradual variation of the hydrophilic monomer and crosslinker content, respectively. Porosity was modulated by gradual increase in porogen (non-solvent) which implied polymerization-induced phase separation, resulting in a pore size increase and a corresponding roughness between 52–401 nm (Sq). The versatility of the FGMs with wettability gradients was shown for passive droplet manipulation and liquid imbibition control. To further highlight the versatility of the z-GrAdd for fabricating different gradients, structures with ascending and descending hardness gradients by consecutive addition of two different reagents were produced. In conclusion, z-GrAdd is suitable for various acrylate-based compositions allowing for an easy cost-effective implementation, and fabrication of a wide variety of applications
The bacterium P. aeruginosa disperses ordered membrane domains by targeting phase boundaries
No full textVarious pathogens use receptors on the host’s plasma membrane for their cellular uptake. For the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, interactions between its lectin LecA and the host cell glycosphingolipid globotriaosylceramide (also known as Gb3) are crucial for its internalization via the so-called lipid zipper mechanism. In this study, we investigated the interactions of the P. aeruginosa strain PAO1 with phase-separated lipid bilayers containing Gb3. Surprisingly, bacteria are mostly bound to the interphase of liquid-ordered (Lo) and liquid-disordered (Ld) membrane domains. Simultaneously with the formation of bacterial aggregates and the accumulation of membrane lipids, the lipid bilayers were drastically reorganized and Lo domains were dissolved. Surprisingly, Gb3 was found to play a role in the localization of the bacterium at the interface, less so LecA. When microspheres were used as a minimal mimic of the bacterium, these beads also localized preferentially at the Lo–Ld phase boundaries, but in contrast to living bacteria, beads were unable to cause membrane reorganization and dissolution of the Lo domain, even when coated with LecA. Targeting phase boundaries as “weak points” in membranes and thereby reorganizing and destabilizing the host cell plasma membrane could be an attractive entry strategy for P. aeruginosa and many other bacteria and viruses
