Monographies on drugs, which are frequently analysed in the course of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Monographien über Medikamente, die regelmässig im Rahmen des Therapeutic Drug Monitorings analysiert werden

In 1995 the working group "Drug Monitoring” of the Swiss Society of Clinical Chemistry (SSCC) has already published a printed version of drug monographs, which are now newly compiled and presented in a standardised manner. The aim of these monographs is to give an overview on the most important informations that are necessary in order to request a drug analysis or is helpful to interpret the results. Therefore, the targeted audience are laboratory health professionals or the receivers of the reports. There is information provided on the indication for therapeutic drug monitoring, protein binding, metabolic pathways and enzymes involved, elimination half life time and elimination routes as well as information on therapeutic or toxic concentrations. Because preanalytical considerations are of particular importance for therapeutic drug monitoring, there is also information given at which time the determination of the drug concentration is reasonable and when steady-state concentrations are reached after changing the dose. Furthermore, the stability of the drug and its metabolite(s), respectively, after blood sampling is described. For readers with a specific interest, references to important publications are given. The number of the monographs will be continuously enlarged. The updated files are presented on the homepage of the SSCC (www.sscc.ch). We hope that these monographs are helpful for you handling therapeutic drug monitoring and look forward to comments of the audienc

Psychological morbidity, social intimacy, physical symptomatology, and lifestyle in adult children of divorced parents

This study assessed the relationships between psychological morbidity, social intimacy, perception of the parental relationship, lifestyle and physical symptomatology as well as the contributors of physical symptomatology, in adult children of divorced parents. Participants answered the Physical Symptom Questionnaire, the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale, the Lifestyle Questionnaire, the Social Intimacy Scale and The Perception of the Parental Relationship Scale. Results revealed that older participants showed lower levels of anxiety, depression and stress and that male participants perceived the parental relationship as better when compared to females. There was a negative association between depression and the duration of parental divorce. Adult children with greater physical symptoms and more anxious showed less social intimacy. The latter was associated with a less healthy lifestyle. As expected less physical symptomatology was associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Anxiety was the only variable that contributed to physical symptomatology. Intervention should be gender sensitive and focus early on on the identification of psychological morbidity, social intimacy, healthy behaviors, and physical symptomatology, in adult children whose parents are in the process of divorcing.(undefined

Analysis of landrace cultivation in Europe: A means to support in situ conservation of crop diversity

During the last century, the progressive substitution of landraces with modern, high yielding varieties, led to a dramatic reduction of in situ conserved crop diversity in Europe. Nowadays there is limited and scattered information on where landraces are cultivated. To fill this gap and lay the groundwork for a regional landrace in situ conservation strategy, information on more than 19,335 geo-referenced landrace cultivation sites were collated from 14 European countries. According to collected data, landraces of 141 herbaceous and 48 tree species are cultivated across Europe: Italy (107 species), Greece (93), Portugal (45) and Spain (44) hold the highest numbers. Common bean, onion, tomato, potato and apple are the species of main interest in the covered countries. As from collected data, about 19.8% of landrace cultivation sites are in protected areas of the Natura 2000 network. We also got evidence that 16.7% and 19.3% of conservation varieties of agricultural species and vegetables are currently cultivated, respectively. Results of the GIS analysis allowed the identification of 1261 cells (25 km × 25 km) including all the cultivation sites, distributed across all European biogeographical regions. Data of this study constitute the largest ever produced database of in situ-maintained landraces and the first attempt to create an inventory for the entire Europe. The availability of such resource will serve for better planning of actions and development of policies to protect landraces and foster their use

Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 Preferentially Grows as Aggregates in Liquid Batch Cultures and Disperses upon Starvation

In both natural and artificial environments, bacteria predominantly grow in biofilms, and bacteria often disperse from biofilms as freely suspended single-cells. In the present study, the formation and dispersal of planktonic cellular aggregates, or ‘suspended biofilms’, by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in liquid batch cultures were closely examined, and compared to biofilm formation on a matrix of polyester (PE) fibers as solid surface in batch cultures. Plankton samples were analyzed by laser-diffraction particle-size scanning (LDA) and microscopy of aggregates. Interestingly, LDA indicated that up to 90% of the total planktonic biomass consisted of cellular aggregates in the size range of 10–400 µm in diameter during the growth phase, as opposed to individual cells. In cultures with PE surfaces, P. aeruginosa preferred to grow in biofilms, as opposed to planktonicly. However, upon carbon, nitrogen or oxygen limitation, the planktonic aggregates and PE-attached biofilms dispersed into single cells, resulting in an increase in optical density (OD) independent of cellular growth. During growth, planktonic aggregates and PE-attached biofilms contained densely packed viable cells and extracellular DNA (eDNA), and starvation resulted in a loss of viable cells, and an increase in dead cells and eDNA. Furthermore, a release of metabolites and infective bacteriophage into the culture supernatant, and a marked decrease in intracellular concentration of the second messenger cyclic di-GMP, was observed in dispersing cultures. Thus, what traditionally has been described as planktonic, individual cell cultures of P. aeruginosa, are in fact suspended biofilms, and such aggregates have behaviors and responses (e.g. dispersal) similar to surface associated biofilms. In addition, we suggest that this planktonic biofilm model system can provide the basis for a detailed analysis of the synchronized biofilm life cycle of P. aeruginosa

Use of an Electrochemical Split Cell Technique to Evaluate the Influence of Shewanella oneidensis Activities on Corrosion of Carbon Steel

Microbially induced corrosion (MIC) is a complex problem that affects various industries. Several techniques have been developed to monitor corrosion and elucidate corrosion mechanisms, including microbiological processes that induce metal deterioration. We used zero resistance ammetry (ZRA) in a split chamber configuration to evaluate the effects of the facultatively anaerobic Fe(III) reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 on the corrosion of UNS G10180 carbon steel. We show that activities of S. oneidensis inhibit corrosion of steel with which that organism has direct contact. However, when a carbon steel coupon in contact with S. oneidensis was electrically connected to a second coupon that was free of biofilm (in separate chambers of the split chamber assembly), ZRA-based measurements indicated that current moved from the S. oneidensis-containing chamber to the cell-free chamber. This electron transfer enhanced the O2 reduction reaction on the coupon deployed in the cell free chamber, and consequently, enhanced oxidation and corrosion of that electrode. Our results illustrate a novel mechanism for MIC in cases where metal surfaces are heterogeneously covered by biofilms

Knowledge Sharing on Best Practices for Managing Crop Genebanks

The Crop Genebank Knowledge Base (CGKB) is an initiative of the Consultative Group of International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP). The CGKB was created for sharing knowledge about best practices for managing plant genetic resources (PGR), and making effective decisions about genebank management. Genebank practices from CGIAR Centers and national genebanks were gathered for nine crops (banana, barley, cassava, chickpea, forage grasses and legumes, maize, rice and wheat). This information will help PGR professionals to participate in a global crop conservation effort. An interactive approach with many partners and stakeholders was used to gather published and unpublished information about genebank management. Information on crop-specific best practices was initially collected from crop experts using pre-defined forms. In parallel, a web portal was developed using the open-source content management system (CMS) Joomla!. The CMS allows several editors to maintain pages and update them. Other participatory tools such as wiki pages, a blog, a discussion forum and online forms have been set up to gather future contributions, including information on other crops. The site provides a one-stop platform for information on conservation, characterization, regeneration and safety duplication of each of the nine crops. It also provides information on general (non-crop-specific) genebank management procedures, as well as a comprehensive bibliography of online publications, a glossary, links to relevant external websites, video and photo materials, and training modules. This paper discusses a process of collective action to develop a multi-institutional web platform, highlights important criteria for success, challenges and major lessons learned, and proposes options for the way forward

Extent and structure of linkage disequilibrium in canola quality winter rapeseed (Brassica napus L.)

Linkage disequilibrium was investigated in canola quality winter rapeseed to analyze (1) the prospects for whole-genome association analyses and (2) the impact of the recent breeding history of rapeseed on linkage disequilibrium. A total of 845 mapped AFLP markers with allele frequencies ≥0.1 were used for the analysis of linkage disequilibrium in a population of 85 canola quality winter rapeseed genotypes. A low overall level of linkage disequilibrium was found with a mean r2 of only 0.027 over all 356,590 possible marker pairs. At a significance threshold of P = 2.8 × 10−7, which was derived by a Bonferroni correction from a global α-level of 0.1, only 0.78% of the marker pairs were in significant linkage disequilibrium. Among physically linked marker pairs, the level of linkage disequilibrium was about five times higher with more than 10% of marker pairs in significant linkage disequilibrium. Linkage disequilibrium decayed rapidly with distance between linked markers with high levels of linkage disequilibrium extending only for about 2 cM. Owing to the rapid decay of linkage disequilibrium with distance association analyses in canola quality rapeseed will have a significantly higher resolution than QTL analyses in segregating populations by interval mapping, but much larger number of markers will be necessary to cover the whole genome. A major impact of the recent breeding history of rapeseed on linkage disequilibrium could not be observed