Attribution style of adolescents with school-reported social, emotional and behavioural difficulties

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationships between attribution style and social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBDs), and to explore differences in attribution tendencies between adolescents with and without SEBDs. In total, 72 adolescents attending a school in London were recruited; 27 were receiving support for SEBDs from the behaviour and education support team at their school and 45 were recruited from the main school population. Participants completed the Children’s Attribution Style Questionnaire and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that adolescents with SEBDs had a more negative attribution style, made more stable attributions of negative events and reported fewer internal attributions of positive events than students without SEBDs. The findings highlight the importance of cognitive factors in providing a basis for interventions intending to address young people’s behaviour and cater for the heterogeneous nature of SEBDs

The emergence of non-secretory multiple myeloma during the non-cytotoxic treatment of essential thrombocythemia: A case report

Introduction. The emergence of multiple myeloma as a second malignancy in patients with essential thrombocythemia is extremely rare. Several cases have been published so far, pointing out the impact of a cytotoxic effect during treatment of essential thrombocythemia on the development of multiple myeloma. Case presentation. We report the case of a 52-year-old Caucasian man who presented to our hospital because of leukocytosis, a slightly decreased hemoglobin level and thrombocytosis. After a complete hematological work-up, essential thrombocythemia was diagnosed. The patient was included in a multicenter clinical study, treated with anagrelide and his platelet counts were maintained in the normal range for more than 3 years. A sudden drop in his hemoglobin level with normal leukocyte and platelet count occurred at the same time as a back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging of his spine revealed the existence of a pathological fracture of Th4, the collapse of the upper edge of Th7 and osteolytic lesions of multiple thoracic vertebrae. Repeated hematological examinations, including bone biopsy with immunohistochemistry, disclosed diagnosis of multiple myeloma of the non-secretory type. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge this is the first published case in which multiple myeloma developed during the treatment of essential thrombocythemia with the non-cytotoxic drug anagrelide. Our attempts to find a common origin for the coexistence of multiple myeloma and essential thrombocythemia have not confirmed the genetic basis of their appearance. Further studies are needed to determine the biological impact of this coexistence

Pros and cons of different therapeutic antibody formats for recombinant antivenom development.

Antibody technologies are being increasingly applied in the field of toxinology. Fuelled by the many advances in immunology, synthetic biology, and antibody research, different approaches and antibody formats are being investigated for the ability to neutralize animal toxins. These different molecular formats each have their own therapeutic characteristics. In this review, we provide an overview of the advances made in the development of toxin-targeting antibodies, and discuss the benefits and drawbacks of different antibody formats in relation to their ability to neutralize toxins, pharmacokinetic features, propensity to cause adverse reactions, formulation, and expression for research and development (R&D) purposes and large-scale manufacturing. A research trend seems to be emerging towards the use of human antibody formats as well as camelid heavy-domain antibody fragments due to their compatibility with the human immune system, beneficial therapeutic properties, and the ability to manufacture these molecules cost-effectively

Effect of tomato fruit development stages on yield, fruit quality and heavy metal content

Harvesting tomato at various maturity stages can result differences in yield and the quality of fruits. The research was conducted at Butmir with local tomato cultivars ('Novosadski jabuCar' and 'Sarajevski jabucar' during the years of 2012 and 2013. Fruit samples were taken in two harvests at two different stages of maturity (physiological maturity: the first change of fruit colour; technological maturity: 5 days after the first change of colour). The following parameters were observed at the both stages of maturity: yield, dry matter content, total sugar and total acid, presence of heavy metals (As, Cd and Pb). No statistically significant differences in yield were recorded in cultivars, maturity stages or year of research. The highest content of dry matter was recorded in Novosadski jabucar' (5.12% at physiological and 5.48% at technological maturity). Total acid content was the highest in 'Sarajevski jabucar' at physiological maturity (2.05%). There were no significant differences in total sugar content. The heavy metals (As, Cd and Pb) were detected in fruits, but their content was within allowed limits. The higher content of Cd was recorded in Novosadski jabucar' at technological maturity (0.33 mg kg(-1)) comparing to physiological maturity (0.027 mg kg(-1)). No differences were recorded in 'Sarajevski jabucar'

The effect of different pollutants exposure on the pigment content of pigmented macrophage aggregates in the spleen of Vardar chub ( Squalius vardarensis

Pigmented macrophage aggregates (MAs) are known to change under influence of various factors, such as aging, season, starvation and/or pollution. In this study, changes in the pigment content of the MAs in the spleen of Vardar chub (Squalius vardarensis, Karaman) (n=129) collected in spring and autumn, from three rivers with different pollution impact was examined: Zletovska River (metals), Kriva River (metals and municipal wastewater), Bregalnica River (municipal wastewater). Collected data revealed increased relative volume and number of MAs containing hemosiderin under the influence of metals, significant in autumn (p<0.05). In chub exposed to metals combined with municipal wastewater, significant increase of lipochrome accumulation in MAs in autumn, melanin in MAs in fish captured in the spring season, and number of splenic MAs containing combination of melanin and lipochrome was noted. Volumes and number of MAs containing combination of hemosiderin and lipochrome increased in spleen of fish captured in autumn from both Zletovska River and Kriva River, most likely due to the contribution of hemosiderin and lipochrome, respectively. Values measured for the various pigments in splenic MAs in fish captured from Bregalnica River, were overall closer to the values measured for fish captured from Kriva River. Notably, melanin and lipochrome are more likely to be found in fish from waters influenced by municipal wastewater (organic pollution) and hemosiderin in fish spleen from water influenced by mining activity (heavy metals pollution)