Transitionsorientierte Patientenschulung bei Adoleszenten und jungen Erwachsenen mit ADHS

Hintergrund: Der Übergang von der kind- zur erwachsenenzentrierten Behandlung birgt bei chronischen Erkrankungen zahlreiche Herausforderungen. Dies kann bei Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-/Hyperaktivitätsstörungen (ADHS) durch krankheitsspezifische Charakteristika zusätzlich erschwert werden. Ziel dieser Sekundäranalyse war die Evaluation eines Transitionsworkshops bei Betroffenen mit ADHS. Methodik: Insgesamt wurden 56 Adoleszente und junge Erwachsene mit ADHS (Alter M = 17.3 Jahre, SD = 1.1, 17.9 % weiblich) und ihre Eltern quasirandomisiert einer Kontroll- (KG, n = 28) oder Interventionsgruppe (IG, n = 28) zugewiesen. Die KG erhielt die reguläre medizinische Versorgung, während die IG zusätzlich an einem eineinhalbtägigen Transitionsworkshop (ModuS-T) teilnahm. Vor Beginn sowie vier Wochen nach der Intervention wurden die Transitionskompetenz mit der 'Transitionskompetenzskala' (TKS), die Patientenaktivierung mit der 'Patient Activation Measure 13 for Adolescents' (PAM® 13) und die Versorgungszufriedenheit mit dem 'Fragebogen zur Patientenzufriedenheit' (ZUF-8) erfasst. Ergebnisse: Die IG wies eine signifikant verbesserte Transitionskompetenz (p <= .001) gegenüber der KG auf. Hinsichtlich der Patientenaktivierung zeigte sich kein bedeutsamer Interventionseffekt (p = .194). Insgesamt wies die IG eine hohe Zufriedenheit mit dem Workshop auf. Diskussion: Bislang wurden Transitionsworkshops überwiegend bei somatischen Erkrankungen evaluiert. Diese Sekundäranalyse deutet darauf hin, dass ein generisch konzipierter Workshop auch bei psychischen Erkrankungen mit einer verbesserten Transitionskompetenz und hohen Versorgungszufriedenheit assoziiert ist. Die Integration derartiger Angebote in den Versorgungsalltag ist zu diskutieren

Native and artificial forisomes : functions and applications

Forisomes are remarkable protein bodies found exclusively in the phloem of the Fabaceae. When the phloem is wounded, forisomes are converted from a condensed to a dispersed state in an ATP-independent reaction triggered by Ca(2+), thereby plugging the sieve tubes and preventing the loss of photoassimilates. Potentially, forisomes are ideal biomaterials for technical devices because the conformational changes can be replicated in vitro and are fully reversible over a large number of cycles. However, the development of technical devices based on forisomes has been hampered by the laborious and time-consuming process of purifying native forisomes from plants. More recently, the problem has been overcome by the production of recombinant artificial forisomes. This is a milestone in the development of forisome-based devices, not only because large quantities of homogeneous forisomes can be produced on demand, but also because their properties can be tailored for particular applications. In this review, we discuss the physical and molecular properties of native and artificial forisomes, focusing on their current applications in technical devices and potential developments in the future

Parental Disease Specific Knowledge and Its Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life

Objective: Structured education programs have been shown to improve somatic outcome and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a variety of chronic childhood diseases. Similar data are scarce in paediatric liver transplantation (pLTx). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of parental disease-specific knowledge and psychosocial disease outcome in patients after pLTx. Methods: Parents of 113 children (chronic liver disease n = 25, after pLTx n = 88) completed the transplant module of the HRQOL questionnaire PedsQL, the “Ulm quality of life inventory for parents of children with chronic diseases” ULQUI, and a tailor-made questionnaire to test disease-specific knowledge. Results: Parental knowledge was highest on the topic of “liver transplantation” and lowest in “basic background knowledge” (76% and 56% correct answers respectively). Knowledge performance was only marginally associated with HRQOL scores, with better knowledge being related to worse HRQOL outcomes. In contrast, self-estimation of knowledge performance showed significant positive correlations with both PedsQL and ULQUI results. Conclusion: Patient HRQOL and parental emotional wellbeing after pLTx are associated with positive self-estimation of parental disease-specific knowledge. Objective disease-specific knowledge has little impact on HRQOL. Parental education programs need to overcome language barriers and address self-efficacy in order to improve HRQOL after pLTx

P-proteins in Arabidopsis are heteromeric structures involved in rapid sieve tube sealing

Structural phloem proteins (P-proteins) are characteristic components of the sieve elements in all dicotyledonous and many monocotyledonous angiosperms. Tobacco P-proteins were recently evidenced to be encoded by the widespread SEO gene family, and tobacco SEO proteins were shown to be directly involved in sieve tube sealing thus preventing the loss of photosynthate. Analysis of the two Arabidopsis SEO proteins (AtSEOa and AtSEOb) indicated that the corresponding P-protein subunits do not act in a redundant manner. However, there are still pending questions regarding the interaction properties and specific functions of AtSEOa and AtSEOb as well as the general function of structural P-proteins in Arabidopsis. In this study, we characterized the Arabidopsis P-proteins in more detail. We used in planta bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays to confirm the predicted heteromeric interactions between AtSEOa and AtSEOb. Arabidopsis mutants depleted for one or both AtSEO proteins lacked the typical P-protein structures normally found in sieve elements, underlining the identity of AtSEO proteins as P-proteins and furthermore providing the means to determine the role of Arabidopsis P-proteins in sieve tube sealing. We therefore developed an assay based on phloem exudation. Mutants with reduced AtSEO expression levels lost twice as much photosynthate following injury as comparable wild-type plants, confirming that Arabidopsis P-proteins are indeed involved in sieve tube sealing

LABOCA commissioned on APEX Testing of Multi-conjugate AO Demonstrator Astroparticle Physics in Europe Weighing Ultracompact Dwarf GalaxiesTelescopes and Instrumentation A New Era in Submillimetre Continuum Astronomy has Begun: LABOCA Starts Operation on

LABOCA silicon wafer. Each small square is a bolometer. 1 �Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie

Validation of self-reported figural drawing scales against anthropometric measurements in adults

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to validate figural drawing scales depicting extremely lean to extremely obese subjects to obtain proxies for BMI and waist circumference in postal surveys. DESIGN: Reported figural scales and anthropometric data from a large population-based postal survey were validated with measured anthropometric data from the same individuals by means of receiver-operating characteristic curves and a BMI prediction model. SETTING: Adult participants in a Scandinavian cohort study first recruited in 1990 and followed up twice since. SUBJECTS: Individuals aged 38-66 years with complete data for BMI (n 1580) and waist circumference (n 1017). RESULTS: Median BMI and waist circumference increased exponentially with increasing figural scales. Receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses showed a high predictive ability to identify individuals with BMI > 25·0 kg/m2 in both sexes. The optimal figural scales for identifying overweight or obese individuals with a correct detection rate were 4 and 5 in women, and 5 and 6 in men, respectively. The prediction model explained 74 % of the variance among women and 62 % among men. Predicted BMI differed only marginally from objectively measured BMI. CONCLUSIONS: Figural drawing scales explained a large part of the anthropometric variance in this population and showed a high predictive ability for identifying overweight/obese subjects. These figural scales can be used with confidence as proxies of BMI and waist circumference in settings where objective measures are not feasible