Comorbid substance abuse and brain morphology in recent-onset psychosis

The aim of the presented study was to compare schizophrenia and schizoaffective patients early in the course of the disease with and without comorbid substance abuse disorder (SUD vs. NSUD) with regard to brain morphology. In a prospective design 41 patients (20 SUD vs. 21 NSUD) diagnosed as recent-onset schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder consecutively admitted to hospital received standardized psychopathological evaluation (BPRS, SANS, MADRS, CGI, GAF) and MRI scanning with volumetric measurement of superior temporal gyrus (STG), amygdala-hippocampal complex, and cingulum. Patients with SUD (primarily cannabis) were significantly younger, predominantly male and had a lower socioeconomic status. Despite less attentional impairment (SANS subscore) and elevated anxiety/depression (BPRS subscore) in patients with SUD compared to NSUD, no other psychopathological differences could be detected. There were no differences in the assessed temporolimbic brain morphology between the two subgroups. In conclusion, in this study substance abuse in recent-onset psychosis had no effect on brain morphology and the earlier onset of psychosis in patients with comorbid SUD could not be explained by supposed accentuated brain abnormalities in temporolimbic regions

ZnO : Al films deposited by in-line reactive AC magnetron sputtering for a-Si : H thin film solar cells

Sittinger V, Ruske F, Werner W, et al. ZnO : Al films deposited by in-line reactive AC magnetron sputtering for a-Si : H thin film solar cells. Thin Solid Films. 2006;496(1):16-25.Throughout the last years strong efforts have been made to use aluminium doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) films on glass as substrates for amorphous or amorphous/microcrystalline silicon solar cells. The material promises better performance at low cost especially because ZnO:Al can be roughened in order to enhance the light scattering into the cell. Best optical and electrical properties are Usually achieved by RF Sputtering of ceramic targets. For this process deposition rates are low and the costs are comparatively high. Reactive sputtering from metallic Zn/Al compound targets offers higher rates and a comparable high film quality in respect to transmission and conductivity. In the presented work the process has been optimised to lead to high quality films as shown by reproducible cell efficiencies of around 9% initial for single junction amorphous silicon solar cells on commercial glass substrates. The crucial point for achieving high efficiencies is to know the dependency of the surface structure after the roughening step, which is usually performed in a wet etch, oil the deposition parameters like oxygen partial pressure, aluminium content of the targets and temperature. The most important insights are discussed and the process of optimisation is presented. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A method to screen and evaluate tissue adhesives for joint repair applications

Abstract Background Tissue adhesives are useful means for various medical procedures. Since varying requirements cause that a single adhesive cannot meet all needs, bond strength testing remains one of the key applications used to screen for new products and study the influence of experimental variables. This study was conducted to develop an easy to use method to screen and evaluate tissue adhesives for tissue engineering applications. Method Tissue grips were designed to facilitate the reproducible production of substrate tissue and adhesive strength measurements in universal testing machines. Porcine femoral condyles were used to generate osteochondral test tissue cylinders (substrates) of different shapes. Viability of substrates was tested using PI/FDA staining. Self-bonding properties were determined to examine reusability of substrates (n = 3). Serial measurements (n = 5) in different operation modes (OM) were performed to analyze the bonding strength of tissue adhesives in bone (OM-1) and cartilage tissue either in isolation (OM-2) or under specific requirements in joint repair such as filling cartilage defects with clinical applied fibrin/PLGA-cell-transplants (OM-3) or tissues (OM-4). The efficiency of the method was determined on the basis of adhesive properties of fibrin glue for different assembly times (30 s, 60 s). Seven randomly generated collagen formulations were analyzed to examine the potential of method to identify new tissue adhesives. Results Viability analysis of test tissue cylinders revealed vital cells (>80%) in cartilage components even 48 h post preparation. Reuse (n = 10) of test substrate did not significantly change adhesive characteristics. Adhesive strength of fibrin varied in different test settings (OM-1: 7.1 kPa, OM-2: 2.6 kPa, OM-3: 32.7 kPa, OM-4: 30.1 kPa) and was increasing with assembly time on average (2.4-fold). The screening of the different collagen formulations revealed a substance with significant higher adhesive strength on cartilage (14.8 kPa) and bone tissue (11.8 kPa) compared to fibrin and also considerable adhesive properties when filling defects with cartilage tissue (23.2 kPa). Conclusion The method confirmed adhesive properties of fibrin and demonstrated the dependence of adhesive properties and applied settings. Furthermore the method was suitable to screen for potential adhesives and to identify a promising candidate for cartilage and bone applications. The method can offer simple, replicable and efficient evaluation of adhesive properties in ex vivo specimens and may be a useful supplement to existing methods in clinical relevant settings.</p