Chronological relationship between antisocial personality disorder and alcohol dependence

Personality disorders, and particularly antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), frequently co-occur with alcohol dependence. ASPD is considered to be an important cofactor in the pathogenesis and clinical course of alcohol dependence. The chronological relationship between the onset of symptoms of ASPD and alcohol-dependence characteristics has not yet been studied in great detail and the role of ASID in classification schemes of alcohol dependence as suggested by Cloninger and Schuckit has yet to be determined. We studied 55 alcohol-dependent patients to assess the prevalence and age at manifestation of ASPD, conduct disorder characteristics as well as alcohol dependence by employing the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IIIR. Results indicate that the onset of ASPD characteristics precede that of alcohol dependence by some 4 years. This finding suggests that in patients with ASPD, alcohol dependence might be a secondary syndrome as suggested by previous research. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

Changing Identity: The Emergence of Social Groups

The original Homo Economicus has progressed from an atomistic and self-interested individual to a socially embedded agent in modern economics. In particular, social interaction models suggest that the individual’s own utility of undertaking an action may be influenced by the number of peers taking this same action. Hence, people gain by conforming to, or differentiating their behaviour from that of others. A number of papers have also suggested why people want to conform. In particular, Akerlof and Kranton (2000, 2002, 2005) suggest that people belong to certain groups and wish to adopt the corresponding social identity by behaving according to the behavioural prescriptions of these groups. In this paper, we present a social interaction model that is based on a different account of identity. The concept of identity used here is on a more personal level and suggests that people have desired self-images of themselves that they wish to attain at some time in the future. Hence, individuals aim to transform their current individual characteristics into those of their self-image. They try to achieve this by joining social groups and adopting the typical characteristics of these groups. However, groups will be modified over time by the people joining them. This may induce individuals to revise their previous choices and eventually to move on and to choose different groups. The model thus presents an endogeneous interaction structure and offers an account of endogenous group formation as well as an endogenous evolution of personal identity. We further study in what sense and under what conditions the dynamics at the individual and at the social level will reach an “equilibrium” and what the nature of such an equilibrium is.Economic agent, social interaction, conformity, personal identity, self-image, change

Impulsive traits and 5-HT2A receptor promoter polymorphism in alcohol dependents: Possible association but no influence of personality disorders

Objective: Impulsive behavior in alcoholics puts them at serious risk of severer course of disease and has been related to the serotonergic neurotransmission dysfunction. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between impulsive aggression in alcohol dependents with regard to the G-1438A polymorphism in the promoter region of the 5-HT2A receptor gene. Furthermore, we investigated the statistical interaction between 5-HT2A alleles, antisocial personality disorder (APD) and impulsive aggression in alcohol dependents. Alcohol dependents were investigated because these personality disorders and impulsive behavior are very frequent in alcohol dependence anf of clinical relevance. Methods: One hundred and thirty-five patients of German descent meeting DSM-IV criteria of alcohol dependence were recruited. Blood samples were taken from alcohol dependents to determine 5-HT2A promoter polymorphisms using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) of lymphocyte DNA. Impulsive aggression was assessed using a German version of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale which was translated and backtranslated. Alcohol dependents were subdivided into low- or high-impulsivity groups using a median split of the Barratt score. APD and borderline personality disorder (BPD) were assessed using the SCID-II interview. Results: The low-impulsivity group was slightly older and showed a later age at alcoholism onset than the highly impulsive group. Alcohol dependents with high impulsive traits showed a significant association with 5-HT2A 1438 A alleles. After excluding alcohol dependents with APD or BPD from the analysis, this association remained significant. Furthermore, no association between APD, BPD and 5-HT2A alleles was noted. Conclusions: Inpatient alcohol dependents showed a significant association between 5-HT2A A alleles and impulsive traits, independent of the presence of APD or BPD. No association was noted between personality disorders and the polymorphism. This is the first report about an association of 5-HT2A promoter polymorphism and impulsive behavior in alcohol dependents. This finding may refer only to impulsive traits and may be independent of personality disorders in this sample. These results have to be confirmed in larger samples and in healthy control subjects to determine whether this association is of general validity. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

Growth of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) roots in biopores with differing carbon and nitrogen contents

Large sized, vertical biopores can provide preferential pathways for root growth, hence facilitating the exploration of great soil depths by crop roots. This is of particular importance for organic production systems, where crops are more dependent on nutrient acquisition from the solid soil phase than under conditions of mainstream agriculture. The relevance of biopores for nutrient acquisition from the subsoil can possibly depend on their individual properties. The aim of this study was to test how different chemical pore wall properties affect the growth of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) roots in large sized biopores. Bulk soil, pore wall material and roots from individual biopores were collected from three depth layers in 45-75 cm soil depth. C and N contents in the pore walls were up to 3 times higher than in the bulk soil. A large variation of C and N contents between the walls of individual biopores indicated that the quality of the pore wall is a function of pore colonization by earthworms over time. N-rich pores hosted more roots than N-poor pores. It is concluded that elevated C and N concentrations in pore walls can facilitate the exploration of the subsoil by crop roots

Einfluss von Einstrahlungsintensität, Stickstoffangebot, Düngungsverfahren und Hornkieselapplikation auf den Nitrat-, Ascorbinsäure- und Glucosinolatgehalt bei Salatrauke (Eruca sativa)

Effects of nitrogen supply (high / low), fertilizer type (biodynamic / organic / mineral) and application of the biodynamic horn silica preparation on nitrate, ascorbic acid and glucosinolate contents of rocket (Eruca sativa L.) were studied under conditions of full sunlight (100% photosynthetically active radiation PAR) and shading (55% PAR). Nitrate contents increased in response to shading and under conditions of full sunlight also in response to high nitrogen supply and mineral fertilization. Ascorbic acid contents were significantly higher with low nitrogen supply, biodynamic and organic fertilization, horn silica application and under conditions of low nitrogen supply with full sunlight. Glucosinolate contents were significantly increased by low nitrogen supply, full sunlight (in combination with biodynamic fertilization) as well as biodynamic and organic fertilization (under conditions of full sunlight)

Untersuchungen von Salatrauke (Eruca sativa) mit den drei Bildschaffenden Methoden Kupferchloridkristallisation, Steigbildmethode und Rundfilterchromatographie

Ten encoded rocket samples from 2009 were taken from a field trial on the comparison of nitrogen supply and different organic and conventional production systems at Hennef, Germany. The samples were examined with the image forming methods biocrystallization according to Pfeiffer, capillary dynamolysis according to Wala and circular chromatography according to Pfeiffer. The images of the encoded samples were a) characterised and b) assigned to experimental factors. The factors investigated were i) nitrogen supply, ii) fertilizer type, and iii) horn silica application. The ten samples were assigned 100% correctly to low and high N supply, to mineral fertilization and manure fertilization and to with or without horn silica application

Differenzierung und Identifizierung von Weizen aus ökologischen und konventionellen Anbausystemen durch die kombinierte Anwendung von drei Bildschaffenden Methoden

By combined application of the three picture forming methods biocrystallization ac-cording to Pfeiffer, capillary dynamolisis according to Wala and circular chromatogra-phy according to Pfeiffer encoded food samples from different production systems have been repeatedly differentiated and identified by Dr. Ursula Graf. In the present study we tested whether by using the combined three picture forming methods en-coded food samples from different production systems could also be differentiated and identified in a different laboratory by another trained person. Ten encoded wheat samples each from 2000 and 2005 harvests were taken from the long-term DOK- trial in Oberwil/Switzerland and examined with the pictomorphological methods. The wheat samples derived from the production systems ‘bio-dynamic’, ‘bio-organic’, ‘unfertil-ized’, ‘mineral fertilization’ and ‘conventional’ (mineral fertilization combined with ma-nure application) could be differentiated and identified, with partial differentiation and identification of the two production systems ‘bio-dynamic’ and ‘bio-organic’

Untersuchungen von Weizen (Triticum aestivum L.) mit den drei Bildschaffenden Methoden Kupferchloridkristallisation, Steigbildmethode und Rundfilterchromatographie

Ten encoded wheat samples from 2008 were taken from a field trial on the comparison of different organic and conventional production systems at Hennef, Germany. The samples were examined with the image forming methods biocrystallization, capillary dynamolysis and circular chromatography. The images of the encoded samples were a) characterised and b) assigned to experimental factors. The factors investigated were i) nitrogen supply, ii) fertilizer type, and iii) horn silica application. The ten samples were assigned 100% correctly to low and high N supply. Within the production methods, samples were assigned correctly to mineral fertilization and manure fertilization