47 research outputs found
THE QUEST FOR SYSTEMS THEORY: BRIDGING PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND COMPUTATIONAL BIO-PSYCHIATRY - THE EXAMPLE OF ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL
THE QUEST FOR SYSTEMS THEORY: BRIDGING PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND COMPUTATIONAL BIO-PSYCHIATRY - THE EXAMPLE OF ALCOHOL WITHDRAWAL
Humanƶkologie der Krisen: Systemische AnnƤherungen an COVID-19
Die COVID-19-Pandemie perturbiert alle gesellschaftlichen Sektoren und fĆ¼hrt eindrĆ¼cklich vor Augen, dass sie miteinander verwoben sind. Dieser Prozess lƤsst sich gut als VerhƤltnis von Resilienz und VulnerabilitƤt der Teilsysteme begreifen. Aus aktuellen human ƶkologischen Diskursen mit systemtheoretischem Fokus leiten wir zwei Rahmenmodel le zum Struktur- und ProzessverstƤndnis der Pandemie und ihrer Effekte ab und stellen sie hier zur Diskussion
Steps Toward an Integrative Clinical Systems Psychology
Clinical fields of the āsciences of the mindā (psychotherapy, psychiatry, etc.) lack integrative conceptual frameworks that have explanatory power. Mainly descriptive-classificatory taxonomies like DSM dominate the field. New taxonomies such as Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) aim to collect scientific knowledge regarding āsystemsā for āprocessesā of the brain. These terms have a supradisciplinaryā meaning if they are considered in context of Systems Science. This field emerges as a platform of theories like general systems theory, catastrophe theory, synergetics, chaos theory, etc. It provides a lot of abstract concepts, constructs, methods and models. We assume that these tools also enable theoretical integration in the diversified field of clinical practice in the sciences of the mind. Additionally, systems thinking in clinical psychology improves conceptual links to currently network-oriented neurobiology. However, clear definitions of systemic terms are necessary to emerge from their mainly metaphorical use. Here we revise mainly terms like āstructureā, āprocessā and ādynamicsā as they are used already in psychology, psychoanalysis, psychopathology and psychiatry in an ill-defined way. For instance, affective-cognitive structures like ālife spaceā or āobject representationsā can be seen as products of mental processing. These structures, in turn, modulate dynamics of mental processes. Additionally, we suggest a coupled network concept of emotions and motivations as the main subsystem that modulates mental dynamics that results in a qualitative systemic model of the mind. Finally, we assume that a revisited systemic approach could improve interdisciplinary understanding of the mental
Peripheral blood natural killer cell percentages in granulomatosis with polyangiitis correlate with disease inactivity and stage
Introduction: The role of CD3āCD56+ natural killer (NK) cells in granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is poorly understood. Recently, it has been shown that peripheral blood NK cells can kill renal microvascular endothelial cells, suggesting a pathogenic role of NK cells in this disease. So far, subset distribution, phenotype, and function of peripheral blood NK cells in relation to GPA disease activity have not been elucidated. Moreover, it is not known whether NK cells infiltrate GPA tissue lesions. Methods: Paraffin sections of GPA granulomas and controls were stained with anti-CD56 and anti-CD3 antibodies. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. NK cell degranulation was analyzed using cocultures of patient PBMCs with target cells and surface expression of CD107a. Clinical data were extracted from medical records. Statistical analysis was performed in an exploratory way. Results: CD56+ cells were not detectable in active granulomatous GPA lesions but were found frequently in granulomas from tuberculosis and sarcoidosis patients. In GPA, the proportion of NK cells among peripheral blood lymphocytes correlated negatively with the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS) (nā=ā28). Accordingly, NK cell percentages correlated positively with the duration of remission (nā=ā28) and were significantly higher in inactive GPA (BVASā=ā0, nā=ā17) than in active GPA, healthy controls (nā=ā29), and inactive control diseases (nā=ā12). The highest NK cell percentages were found in patients with long-term remission and tapered immunosuppressive therapy. NK cell percentages >18.5Ā % of peripheral blood lymphocytes (nā=ā12/28) determined GPA inactivity with a specificity of 100Ā %. The differentiation into CD56dim and CD56bright NK cell subsets was unchanged in GPA (nā=ā28), irrespective of disease activity. Similar surface expression of the activating NK cell-receptors (NKp30, NKp46, and NKG2D) was determined. Like in healthy controls, GPA NK cells degranulated in the presence of NK cell receptor ligand bearing epithelial and lymphatic target cells. Conclusions: NK cells were not detectable in GPA granulomas. Peripheral blood NK cell percentages positively correlate with the suppression of GPA activity and could serve as a biomarker for GPA activity. Peripheral blood NK cells in GPA patients are mature NK cells with preserved immune recognition
The Quest for System-Theoretical Medicine in the COVID-19 Era
Precision medicine and molecular systems medicine (MSM) are highly utilized and successful approaches to improve understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of many diseases from bench-to-bedside. Especially in the COVID-19 pandemic, molecular techniques and biotechnological innovation have proven to be of utmost importance for rapid developments in disease diagnostics and treatment, including DNA and RNA sequencing technology, treatment with drugs and natural products and vaccine development. The COVID-19 crisis, however, has also demonstrated the need for systemic thinking and transdisciplinarity and the limits of MSM: the neglect of the bio-psycho-social systemic nature of humans and their context as the object of individual therapeutic and population-oriented interventions. COVID-19 illustrates how a medical problem requires a transdisciplinary approach in epidemiology, pathology, internal medicine, public health, environmental medicine, and socio-economic modeling. Regarding the need for conceptual integration of these different kinds of knowledge we suggest the application of general system theory (GST). This approach endorses an organism-centered view on health and disease, which according to Ludwig von Bertalanffy who was the founder of GST, we call Organismal Systems Medicine (OSM). We argue that systems science offers wider applications in the field of pathology and can contribute to an integrative systems medicine by (i) integration of evidence across functional and structural differentially scaled subsystems, (ii) conceptualization of complex multilevel systems, and (iii) suggesting mechanisms and non-linear relationships underlying the observed phenomena. We underline these points with a proposal on multi-level systems pathology including neurophysiology, endocrinology, immune system, genetics, and general metabolism. An integration of these areas is necessary to understand excess mortality rates and polypharmacological treatments. In the pandemic era this multi-level systems pathology is most important to assess potential vaccines, their effectiveness, short-, and long-time adverse effects. We further argue that these conceptual frameworks are not only valid in the COVID-19 era but also important to be integrated in a medicinal curriculum
Comparative analysis of non-autonomous effects of tasiRNAs and miRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana
In plants, small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) can trigger a silencing signal that may spread within a tissue to adjacent cells or even systemically to other organs. Movement of the signal is initially limited to a few cells, but in some cases the signal can be amplified and travel over larger distances. How far silencing initiated by other classes of plant small RNAs (sRNAs) than siRNAs can extend has been less clear. Using a system based on the silencing of the CH42 gene, we have tracked the mobility of silencing signals initiated in phloem companion cells by artificial microRNAs (miRNA) and trans-acting siRNA (tasiRNA) that have the same primary sequence. In this system, both the ta-siRNA and the miRNA act at a distance. Non-autonomous effects of the miRNA can be triggered by several different miRNA precursors deployed as backbones. While the tasiRNA also acts non-autonomously, it has a much greater range than the miRNA or hairpin-derived siRNAs directed against CH42, indicating that biogenesis can determine the non-autonomous effects of sRNAs. In agreement with this hypothesis, the silencing signals initiated by different sRNAs differ in their genetic requirements
Mitochondrial physiology
As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery