Strukturelle und quantitative Identifizierung der Einzelkomponenten in Lipidgemischen

Lipidomics aims to qualitatively and quantitatively define lipid classes, including their molecular species, in biological systems. Continuous technical advances in instrumentation enable a high level of sensitivity and precision. Due to the broad diversity of chemical structures of lipids, different methods and strategies are being applied for the investigation of lipids. In this study lipophilic extracts of pig brain (liver, kidney, heart and human blood plasma) were examined with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry (MS) after separation with solid phase extraction (SPE) in different lipid fractions. The aim of this work was the identification and quantification of the individual components in lipid mixtures. After the class separation the individual components of phosphatidylethanolamine and galactosylcerebroside were further separated with an isocratic High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC)method. At first an optimized dual phase extraction procedure for tissues was developed in this thesis which enables a quantitative isolation of analytes under mild conditions. The focus of this work was the SPE method development. The SPE technique is easy, rapid, and reliable. The growing popularity of SPE is in part due to the operational simplicity and cost reduction in solvents and because it is easy to automate. The developed SPE method for phospholipid class separation with the use of silica gel cartridge allowed the separation of neutral lipids, galactocerebroside, sulfatide, cardiolipin, phosphatidylethanolamine and plasmalogen, as well as the approximately separation of phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyeline. The method proved to be reproducible and showed recoveries higher 73%. The individual components of the phosphatidylethanolamine fraction from each tissue were analyzed with the separation by RP-HPLC-MS. A total of 25 phosphatidylethanolamine components were baseline separated in a period of 20 min (eluting 6.8 min - 18.6 min). Here also the differences of the lipid components of the various organs were analyzed and discussed in relation to their functions. With the same method 19 galactocerebroside were separated. This confirms the potential of the method developed in this work for the detailed characterization of heterogeneous lipid compositions

Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among obese pregnant and postpartum women: an intervention study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although studies have shown an association between anxiety and depression and obesity, psychological health among obese women during and after pregnancy has not been carefully studied. The aim of this study was to investigate psychological well-being using symptoms of depression and/or anxiety among obese pregnant women attending a weight gain restriction program and to then compare this group with a control group receiving traditional antenatal care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>151 obese pregnant women in an intervention group and 188 obese pregnant women in a control group answered the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Group differences between the two groups were estimated by using the χ²- test on categorical variables. The Student's <it>t</it>-test on continuous, normally distributed variables measuring changes in mean score on BAI and EPDS over time was used. To make a more comprehensive assessment of group differences, between as well as within the two groups, logistic regressions were performed with the BAI and EPDS as dependent variables, measured at gestational weeks 15 and 35 and 11 weeks postnatal. The grouping variable has been adjusted for socio-demographic variables and complications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety during pregnancy varied between 24% and 25% in the intervention group and 22% and 23% in the control group. The prevalence of symptoms of anxiety postnatally was 9% in the intervention group and 11% in the control group. Five percent of the women in the intervention group and 4% of the women in the control group showed symptoms of anxiety during the course of pregnancy and at the postpartum assessment. The prevalence of symptoms of depression during pregnancy varied between 19% and 22% in the intervention group but was constant at 18% in the control group. Postnatal prevalence was 11% in both groups. Six percent of the women in the intervention group and 4% in the control group showed symptoms of depression during the course of pregnancy and at the postpartum assessment. We found no differences between the two groups as concerns demographic characteristics, weight gain in kg, or the distribution of scores on anxiety and depressive symptoms nor did we find differences in the fluctuation of anxiety and depressive symptoms over time between the women in the intervention group and in the control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Obese pregnant women attending an intervention program seem to have the same risk of experiencing anxiety and/or depressive symptoms as do obese pregnant and postnatal women in general.</p

Teaching Legal Ethics: Exploring the Continuum

Spaeth et al assert that the only reason to teach legal ethics, or professional responsibility, is to try to make the legal profession more worthy of its stated ideals. The University of Pennsylvania Law School Center on Professionalism\u27s efforts to achieve this are discussed

The Law of Lenity: Enacting a Codified Federal Rule of Lenity

The rule of lenity is an ancient canon of statutory construction that requires courts to find in favor of criminal defendants charged under ambiguous statutes. Traditionally, lenity endorses important constitutional concerns regarding due notice, consistent enforcement of law, and legislative supremacy. In modern courts, if lenity were regularly—and properly—applied, it could combat important social problems that plague our criminal justice system. Ambiguous laws allow government actors to arbitrarily target disfavored groups. And more generally, ambiguity within criminal law contributes to overcriminalization, wanton punishment, and capricious enforcement. As the volume of federal criminal law continues to expand, this overcriminalization leads to extreme mass incarceration in the United States. Lenity, if applied more potently in the federal courts, could help combat these serious social issues by supplying a safety valve against the multitude of ambiguous statutes written by Congress. The problem with lenity today, however, is that courts are rarely clear where lenity should fit within criminal statutory interpretation. Federal courts, including the Supreme Court, alter how they apply lenity case by case. This Note argues that lenity should be codified federally as a clear statement rule, as several states have already done. Specifically, to achieve a consistent and strong application of lenity in the federal courts, Congress should direct the federal courts to apply lenity immediately after an initial textual analysis fails to clarify an ambiguous statute. Codified lenity would guide courts in lenity’s application and underscore its fundamental importance to the criminal justice system

Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass Tort MDLs (First Edition)

Mass-tort MDLs dominate the federal civil docket, yet they present enormous challenges to transferee judges assigned to manage them. There is little official guidance and no rules specific to the management of mass-tort MDLs, often requiring the transferee judge to develop procedures out of whole cloth. Beginning in 2013, the Bolch Judicial Institute (then the Center for Judicial Studies) sought to address this issue through a series of annual bench-bar conferences. From these conferences came the Guidelines and Best Practices for Large and Mass-Tort MDLs document, which is designed to help judges and legal practitioners understand and efficiently navigate complex MDL procedures. As with any group product of this nature, where some consensus must be reached, the drafters and other participants are not individually responsible for any particular statement or provision, and may or may not agree with any particular statement or provision. The document does not necessarily represent the views of the Duke Law faculty or the Law School or University

Relationship quality in lesbian and heterosexual couples undergoing treatment with assisted reproduction

One of the major factors impacting on a couples relationship is the desire to have children. To many couples having a child is a confirmation of their love and relationship and a means to deepen and develop their intimate relationship. At the same time parental stress can impact on relationship quality. Relationship quality in lesbian couples is, currently, sparsely studied. The aim of the present study was to compare lesbian and heterosexual couples perceptions of their relationship quality at the commencement of assisted reproduction, and to relate this to background data such as educational level, having previous children and, for lesbian couples, the use of a known versus anonymous donor. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanThe present study is part of the prospective longitudinal oSwedish study on gamete donation, including all fertility clinics performing donation treatment in Sweden. Of a consecutive cohort of 214 lesbian couples about to receive donor insemination and 212 heterosexual couples starting regular IVF treatment, 166 lesbian couples (78 response) and 151 heterosexual couples (71 response) accepted participation in the study. At commencement of assisted reproduction participants individually completed questionnaires including the instrument oENRICH, which is a standardized measure concerning relationship quality. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanIn general, the couples rated their relationship quality as good, the lesbian couple better than the heterosexuals. In addition, the lesbian women with previous children assessed their relationship quality lower than did the lesbian woman without previous children. For heterosexual couples previous children did not influence their relationship quality. Higher educational levels reduced the satisfaction with the sexual relationship (P 0.04) for treated lesbian women, and enhanced the rating of conflict resolution for treated lesbian women (P 0.03) and their partners (P 0.02). Heterosexual women with high levels of education expressed more satisfaction with communication in their relationship (P 0.02) than did heterosexual women with lower educational levels. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanIn this Swedish study sample of lesbian and heterosexual couples relationships, we found that they were generally well adjusted and stable in their relationships when starting treatment with donated sperm or IVF, respectively. However, where lesbian women had children from a previous relationship, it decreased relationship quality. For the heterosexual couples previous children did not affect relationship quality.Funding Agencies|Merck Serono||Uppsala/ Orebro Regional Research Council||Medical Research Council of Southeast Sweden|

Trends in caesarean section and instrumental deliveries in relation to Body Mass Index: a clinical survey during 1978 - 2001

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the last 20 years the rate of CS has increased in Sweden as it has in many other countries. The proportion of pregnant women suffering from a high BMI has also increased rapidly during the same time period. It would therefore be of interest to study both how and if these two observations are related to each other. The aim was therefore to study trends in mode of caesarean section (CS) and instrumental deliveries among women in three BMI groups over a time span of almost 25 years with special focus on the observed body weight of pregnant women.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The design is a retrospective cohort study using medical records of consecutively delivered women at two delivery wards in South East Sweden during the years 1978, 1986, 1992, 1997 and 2001.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No significant time-trends were found for CS and instrumental delivery within each BMI-group for the time period studied. The proportion of women with BMI ≥ 25 delivered by means of CS or instrumental delivery increased quite dramatically from 1978 to 2001 (χ²test for trend; p < 0.001 for both CS and instrumental deliveries). The mean birth weight in relation to BMI and year of study among women delivered by means of CS decreased, a trend that was most evident between 1997 and 2001 (F-test; p = 0.005, p = 0.004, and p = 0.003 for BMI < 20, 20-24.9, and ≥ 25, respectively).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Overweight and obese pregnant women constitute a rapidly growing proportion of the total number of CS and instrumental deliveries. Planning and allocation of health resources must be adjusted to this fact and its implications.</p