Efficacy of a brief manualized intervention Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) adapted to German cancer care settings: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Although psycho-oncological interventions have been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression and enhance quality of life, a substantial number of patients with advanced cancer do not receive psycho-oncological interventions tailored to their individual situation. Given the lack of reliable data on the efficacy of psycho-oncological interventions in palliative care settings, we aim to examine the efficacy of a brief, manualized individual psychotherapy for patients with advanced cancer: Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM). CALM aims to reduce depression and death anxiety, to strengthen communication with health care providers, and to enhance hope and meaning in life. We adapted the intervention for German cancer care settings. Methods/Design: We use a single-blinded randomized-controlled trial design with two treatment conditions: intervention group (IG, CALM) and control group (CG). Patients in the CG receive a usual non-manualized supportive psycho-oncological intervention (SPI). Patients are randomized between the IG and CG and assessed at baseline (t0), after three (t1) and after 6 months (t2). We include patients with a malignant solid tumor who have tumor stages of III or IV (UICC classification). Patients who are included in the study are at least 18 years old, speak German fluently, score greater than or equal to nine on the PHQ-9 or/and greater than or equal to five on the Distress Thermometer. It is further necessary that there is no evidence of severe cognitive impairments. We measure depression, anxiety, distress, quality of life, demoralization, symptom distress, fatigue as well as spiritual well-being, posttraumatic growth and close relationship experiences using validated questionnaires. We hypothesize that patients in the IG will show a significantly lower level of depression 6 months after baseline compared to patients in the CG. We further hypothesize a significant reduction in anxiety and fatigue as well as significant improvements in psychological and spiritual well-being, meaning and post-traumatic growth in the IG compared to CG 6 months after baseline. Discussion: Our study will contribute important statistical evidence on whether CALM can reduce depression and existential distress in a German sample of advanced and highly distressed cancer patients

Caveolin-1 protects B6129 mice against Helicobacter pylori gastritis.

Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is a scaffold protein and pathogen receptor in the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract. Chronic infection of gastric epithelial cells by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a major risk factor for human gastric cancer (GC) where Cav1 is frequently down-regulated. However, the function of Cav1 in H. pylori infection and pathogenesis of GC remained unknown. We show here that Cav1-deficient mice, infected for 11 months with the CagA-delivery deficient H. pylori strain SS1, developed more severe gastritis and tissue damage, including loss of parietal cells and foveolar hyperplasia, and displayed lower colonisation of the gastric mucosa than wild-type B6129 littermates. Cav1-null mice showed enhanced infiltration of macrophages and B-cells and secretion of chemokines (RANTES) but had reduced levels of CD25+ regulatory T-cells. Cav1-deficient human GC cells (AGS), infected with the CagA-delivery proficient H. pylori strain G27, were more sensitive to CagA-related cytoskeletal stress morphologies ("humming bird") compared to AGS cells stably transfected with Cav1 (AGS/Cav1). Infection of AGS/Cav1 cells triggered the recruitment of p120 RhoGTPase-activating protein/deleted in liver cancer-1 (p120RhoGAP/DLC1) to Cav1 and counteracted CagA-induced cytoskeletal rearrangements. In human GC cell lines (MKN45, N87) and mouse stomach tissue, H. pylori down-regulated endogenous expression of Cav1 independently of CagA. Mechanistically, H. pylori activated sterol-responsive element-binding protein-1 (SREBP1) to repress transcription of the human Cav1 gene from sterol-responsive elements (SREs) in the proximal Cav1 promoter. These data suggested a protective role of Cav1 against H. pylori-induced inflammation and tissue damage. We propose that H. pylori exploits down-regulation of Cav1 to subvert the host's immune response and to promote signalling of its virulence factors in host cells

Vascular surveillance by haptotactic blood platelets in inflammation and infection

Breakdown of vascular barriers is a major complication of inflammatory diseases. Anucleate platelets form blood-clots during thrombosis, but also play a crucial role in inflammation. While spatio-temporal dynamics of clot formation are well characterized, the cell-biological mechanisms of platelet recruitment to inflammatory micro-environments remain incompletely understood. Here we identify Arp2/3-dependent lamellipodia formation as a prominent morphological feature of immune-responsive platelets. Platelets use lamellipodia to scan for fibrin(ogen) deposited on the inflamed vasculature and to directionally spread, to polarize and to govern haptotactic migration along gradients of the adhesive ligand. Platelet-specific abrogation of Arp2/3 interferes with haptotactic repositioning of platelets to microlesions, thus impairing vascular sealing and provoking inflammatory microbleeding. During infection, haptotaxis promotes capture of bacteria and prevents hematogenic dissemination, rendering platelets gate-keepers of the inflamed microvasculature. Consequently, these findings identify haptotaxis as a key effector function of immune-responsive platelets

Do genetic factors protect for early onset lung cancer? A case control study before the age of 50 years

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early onset lung cancer shows some familial aggregation, pointing to a genetic predisposition. This study was set up to investigate the role of candidate genes in the susceptibility to lung cancer patients younger than 51 years at diagnosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>246 patients with a primary, histologically or cytologically confirmed neoplasm, recruited from 2000 to 2003 in major lung clinics across Germany, were matched to 223 unrelated healthy controls. 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms of genes with reported associations to lung cancer have been genotyped.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Genetic associations or gene-smoking interactions was found for <it>GPX1(Pro200Leu) </it>and <it>EPHX1(His113Tyr)</it>. Carriers of the Leu-allele of <it>GPX1(Pro200Leu) </it>showed a significant risk reduction of OR = 0.6 (95% CI: 0.4–0.8, p = 0.002) in general and of OR = 0.3 (95% CI:0.1–0.8, p = 0.012) within heavy smokers. We could also find a risk decreasing genetic effect for His-carriers of <it>EPHX1(His113Tyr) </it>for moderate smokers (OR = 0.2, 95% CI:0.1–0.7, p = 0.012). Considered both variants together, a monotone decrease of the OR was found for smokers (OR of 0.20; 95% CI: 0.07–0.60) for each protective allele.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Smoking is the most important risk factor for young lung cancer patients. However, this study provides some support for the T-Allel of <it>GPX1(Pro200Leu) </it>and the C-Allele of <it>EPHX1(His113Tyr) </it>to play a protective role in early onset lung cancer susceptibility.</p

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

"… das war fast Glück!" Interview mit Franz Schuh

Was kann das sein, die Utopie des Wiener Gemeindebaus? Franz Schuh, Schriftsteller und Essayist, beantwortet diese Frage mit der Beschreibung alltäglicher Erfahrungen der Menschen, denen der Gemeindebau ein Dach über dem Kopf gibt. Utopie kann eine neue Heizung sein, die Jahre der Kälte und Mühsal beendet, und sie kann eine Form des Zusammenlebens sein, in der etwa die Kinderbetreuung gemeinsam organisiert wird. Franz Schuh, geboren 1947, ist im Gemeindebau aufgewachsen. Seine Erinnerungen an die Kindheit sind Teil seines 2008 bei Zsolnay erschienen Buches Memoiren. Ein Interview gegen mich selbst. Im Gespräch, das Julia Rosenberger und Florian Bettel im März 2012 mit dem Autor geführt haben, bezieht Franz Schuh seine Ausführungen auf den Gemeindebau seiner Kindheit. Den Versuch von Wiener Wohnen beispielsweise, ein „problemloses und angenehmes“ Zusammenleben über Regeln herzustellen, kommentiert Franz Schuh damit, dass das Leben früher „nicht dramatisiert durch Verbote und Regeln“ gewesen sei, vielmehr habe die Arbeit, die als Absicherung gegen die omnipräsente Armut galt, dominiert. Das Utopische des Gemeindebaus in den 1950er-Jahren vermutet Schuh also nicht im ideologischen Kampf des Proletariats, sondern in der Sehnsucht nach Sicherheit in einer von Instabilität und Armut geprägten kapitalistischen Gesellschaft

Skilled Voices?: Reflections on Political Participation and Education in Austria

This study, part of OECD/CERI's project on Measuring the Social Outcomes of Learning, investigates the relationship between educational attainment and political participation in Austria. First, a model based on various theoretical considerations is introduced. This incorporates direct educational effects as well as indirect effects that occur through material resources, social capital, civic orientations and values. Using a multivariate analytical approach the model is applied to the 2002 European Social Survey. Three forms of political participation are distinguished, namely voting, elite-directed and elite-challenging activities. Educational attainment is found to have significant effects on all three types but the strongest impact is on elite-challenging activities. The latter includes forms of political action such as signing petitions and buying or boycotting certain products which are increasingly accepted as a legitimate way to express one's political preferences. Most of the effects of education arise through intermediate variables, including social capital (especially affiliation with non-political organisations), civic orientations (political interest as well as internal and external efficacy) and individual (postmaterialist) values. The effect of education on elite-directed activity operated primarily through organisational affiliation, as well as internal and external efficacy. In contrast, the effect of education on elite-challenging activity seems to be fostered via social environments that combine high levels of political interest, interpersonal trust, postmaterialist values and a certain degree of scepticism against political institutions. The paper concludes with suggestions for policy and research. Ce rapport, publié dans le cadre du projet « Mesurer les retombées sociales de l'éducation », étudie la relation entre niveau d'instruction et participation politique en Autriche. Dans un premier temps, il présente un modèle basé sur diverses considérations théoriques. Cela comprend à la fois les effets éducatifs directs et indirects qui se produisent en fonction des ressources matérielles, du capital social, des orientations civiques et des valeurs. A partir d'une approche analytique à plusieurs variables, le modèle est appliqué à l'Enquête Sociale Européenne de 2002. On distingue trois formes de participation politique, à savoir le vote, les activités conduites par l'élite et celles contestant l'élite. On s'aperçoit que le niveau d'instruction a des effets significatifs sur ces trois formes de participation, et plus particulièrement sur les activités contestant l'élite. Ces dernières incluent des actions politiques telles que la signature de pétitions, l'achat ou le boycott de certains produits, actions qui sont de plus en plus considérées comme une façon légitime d'exprimer ses préférences politiques. La plupart des effets de l'éducation se produisent au moyen de variables intermédiaires, notamment le capital social (et plus particulièrement l'affiliation à des organisations apolitiques), les orientations civiques (l'intérêt politique tout comme l'efficacité interne ou externe) et les valeurs (post-matérialistes) individuelles. L'éducation exerce un impact sur les activités conduites par l'élite principalement via l'affiliation à des organisations, et via l'efficacité interne et externe. Quant aux effets de l'éducation sur les activités contestant l'élite, ils s'exercent par le biais de l'environnement social qui inclut à la foi un niveau élevé d'intérêt politique, la confiance interpersonnelle, des valeurs post-matérialistes et un certain degré de scepticisme vis-à-vis des institutions politiques. En conclusion, ce rapport fait des recommandations en matière de politique et de recherche.