On the role of the QB protein of PS II in photoinhibition

AbstractPreillumination of spinach thylakoid membranes under strictly anaerobic conditions (i.e. in the presence of glucose oxidase) and in the absence of an electron acceptor inactivates specifically photosystem (PS) II. Inhibition can be complete within 3 min depending on the glucose oxidase concentration and light intensity. Artificial donor or acceptor systems do not restore PS II. Atrazine binding affinity is not diminished. No degradation of peptide subunits is observed. Trypsinized PS II preparations, in which the QB-binding site has been destroyed, can also be inactivated by light. It is concluded that photoinhibition of thylakoid membranes under anaerobic conditions inactivates the reaction center of PS II. This photoinactivation does not depend on the degradation of a peptide subunit. Not only the QB site but also a modified (trypsinized) QA site can induce photoinhibition

Being accurate about accuracy in verbal deception detection

PURPOSE: Verbal credibility assessments examine language differences to tell truthful from deceptive statements (e.g., of allegations of child sexual abuse). The dominant approach in psycholegal deception research to date (used in 81% of recent studies that report on accuracy) to estimate the accuracy of a method is to find the optimal statistical separation between lies and truths in a single dataset. However, this method lacks safeguards against accuracy overestimation. METHOD & RESULTS: A simulation study and empirical data show that this procedure produces overoptimistic accuracy rates that, especially for small sample size studies typical of this field, yield misleading conclusions up to the point that a non-diagnostic tool can be shown to be a valid one. Cross-validation is an easy remedy to this problem. CONCLUSIONS: We caution psycholegal researchers to be more accurate about accuracy and propose guidelines for calculating and reporting accuracy rates

The effectiveness of individual schema therapy in older adults with borderline personality disorder:Protocol of a multiple-baseline study

BackgroundThe treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been examined extensively in adults up to the age of fifty in the past quarter of a century, but there is still a world to discover in treating BPD in older adults. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy in older adults with BPD.Methods/designA multiple baseline design is used in which participants are randomly assigned to baseline length. The primary outcome measure is assessed weekly and consists of the credibility of negative core beliefs. Secondary outcome measures are quality of life, psychological distress, early maladaptive schemas, schema modes, severity of BPD symptoms and meeting the criteria for BPD. Ten older adults (age > 60 years) with BPD are treated with schema therapy, with weekly sessions during one year. This treatment phase is preceded by a baseline phase varying from 4 to 8 weeks. After treatment, there is a 6-month follow-up phase with monthly booster sessions.DiscussionTo our knowledge, this is the first empirical study of the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic treatment for BPD in older adults. Because of the different manifestation of BPD in later life, besides section II DSM-5 criteria, the alternative, dimensional model for personality disorders of DSM-5 is used to assess BPD in older adults