Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its 'Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles', which was first published in 2014 and then in 2018 as MISEV2014 and MISEV2018, respectively. The goal of the current document, MISEV2023, is to provide researchers with an updated snapshot of available approaches and their advantages and limitations for production, separation and characterisation of EVs from multiple sources, including cell culture, body fluids and solid tissues. In addition to presenting the latest state of the art in basic principles of EV research, this document also covers advanced techniques and approaches that are currently expanding the boundaries of the field. MISEV2023 also includes new sections on EV release and uptake and a brief discussion of in vivo approaches to study EVs. Compiling feedback from ISEV expert task forces and more than 1000 researchers, this document conveys the current state of EV research to facilitate robust scientific discoveries and move the field forward even more rapidly

Using a multi-level tailored design process to develop a customer satisfaction survey for university evaluation

A multi-level procedure is described in order to develop a total quality management survey tool in the field of engineering academia. As a first step a review of available evaluation tools for universities is conducted, resulting in over 150 items used for evaluation purposes. Secondly all dimensions of educational evaluation used in previous research are summarized, resulting in 15 dimensions. In a third step, items are assigned to the dimensions, overlapping items were combined or removed, and item content and dimensions were adjusted to the specific conditions of the target faculty. Fourthly, the resulting twelve dimensions were used in first, investigative interviews in the target population. Results indicate that eleven dimensions sufficiently mapped all aspects of evaluation. After revising the items to improve understanding in a fifth step cognitive pretests were conducted. The final revision resulted in 83 items assigned to eleven dimensions

Empirical competence-testing: A psychometric examination of the German version of the Emotional Competence Inventory

The “Emotional Competence Inventory“ (ECI 2.0) by Goleman and Boyatzis assesses emotional intelligence (EI) in organizational context by means of 72 items in 4 clusters (self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, social skills) which at large consist of 18 competencies. Our study examines the psychometric properties of the first German translation of this instrument in two different surveys (N = 236). If all items are included in reliability analysis the ECI is reliable (Cronbach’s Alpha = .90), whereas the reliability of the four sub dimensions is much smaller (Alpha = .62 - .81). For 43 items the corrected item-total correlation with its own scale is higher than correlations with the other three clusters. Convergent validity was examined by using another EI instrument (Wong & Law, 2002). We found a significant correlation between the two instruments (r = .41). The German version of the ECI seems to be quite useful, although the high reliability is achieved by a large number of items. Possibilities of improvement are discussed

Emotional Intelligence and its consequences for occupational and life satisfaction - Emotional Intelligence in the context of irrational beliefs

According to Albert Ellis' theory of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy irrational beliefs (IB) lead to maladaptive emotions. A central component of irrationality is the denial of one's own possibilities to control important aspects of life. A specific IB is that one cannot control and thus cannot avoid certain emotion states. Emotion research considers regulative emotion control a pivotal component of the concept of emotional intelligence (EI). A negative association between IB and EI can thus be theoretically derived from both concepts. Furthermore both should be related to life satisfaction. We examined the relationship between IB and EI using standardized questionnaire instruments and the predictive value of both concepts regarding life satisfaction. We found a significant negative correlation between both conceptions (r = -.21). Life satisfaction and occupational satisfaction are better predicted by IB. R² increases from .04 to .12 when both concepts are incorporated in regression analysis

Wirksamkeit einer Kombinationsbehandlung bestehend aus Osteopathie und Hypnose bei Schmerzpatienten

Eine experimentelle Kontrollgruppenstudie untersucht die Wirksamkeit einer Kombinationsbehandlung bei Schmerzpatienten. Die Behandlungsintervention bestand aus Osteopathie als physischer und Hypnose als psychologischer Behandlung. Es wurden 56 Schmerzpatienten über 2-3 Therapiesitzungen osteopathisch behandelt. Zusätzlich hörte Gruppe eins während der Behandlung eine Hypnose-CD zur Schmerzreduktion, während die Kontrollgruppe eine Entspannungs-CD hörte. Die Untersuchung wurde als Doppelblindstudie an verschiedenen Behandlungszentren durchgeführt. Zur Überprüfung der kurzfristigen Wirksamkeit werden t-Tests über 2 Messzeitpunkte (Prä- und Post- Katamnesen), sowie Effektstärken berechnet. Folgende abhängige Variable werden mittels standardisierter Verfahren erfasst: Schmerzintensität, Schmerzempfindung, allgemeine psychische und physische Symptome und Lebenszufriedenheit. Für alle Variablen ergibt sich im Prä-Post-Vergleich eine signifikante Verbesserung beider Behandlungsgruppen mit mittleren Effektstärken. Differentielle Wirksamkeitsunterschiede zwischen den beiden Gruppen ergeben sich nicht. Es kann ein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen den Behandelnden nachgewiesen werden. Anwendungsimplikationen werden diskutiert

Effects of excision of a mass lesion of the precentral region of the left hemisphere on disturbances of graphomotor output

In the present study, the effect of neurosurgery on graphomotor output of a right-handed female patient with a mass lesion of the precentral region of the left frontal lobe was reported. For examination of handwriting movements a digitizing tablet was used. Preoperatively, the patient showed longer movement times than healthy subjects and patients with lesions of the left frontal lobe without involvement of the precentral region. Furthermore, the analysis of kinematic data revealed a severe dysfluency of her handwriting. Postoperatively, a significant improvement of writing time and fluency of handwriting was observed. Since the integrity of handwriting plays an important role in everyday functioning, disturbances of handwriting movements should be objectified and reassessed in follow-up assessment using new techniques such as digitizing tablets

Ultrafast control of strong light-matter coupling

We dynamically modulate strong light–matter coupling in a GaAs/AlGaAs microcavity using intense ultrashort laser pulses tuned below the interband exciton energy, which induce a transient Stark shift of the cavity polaritons. For 225-fs pulses, shorter than the cavity Rabi cycle period of 1000 fs, this shift decouples excitons and cavity photons for the duration of the pulse, interrupting the periodic energy exchange between photonic and electronic states. For 1500-fs pulses, longer than the Rabi cycle period, however, the Stark shift does not affect the strong coupling. The two regimes are marked by distinctly different line shapes in ultrafast reflectivity measurements—regardless of the Stark field intensity. The crossover marks the transition from adiabatic to diabatic switching of strong light–matter coupling

Wir bitten um ein differenziertes Urteil: Möglichkeiten zur Reduktion von Nondifferentiation bei Rating-Skalen

Nondifferentiation ist ein generelles Phänomen bei der Einschätzung von Meinungsgegenständen mittels Rating-Skalen: Zwischen den Meinungsgegenständen wird nicht so deutlich unterschieden, wie aufgrund der Skalen möglich. In zwei experimentellen Studien zu unterschiedlichen Meinungsgegenständen werden in der Literatur diskutierte Verfahren zur Reduzierung der Nondifferentiation zusammen mit einem hierfür bisher nicht verwendeten Verfahren (konstante Summe, KS) hinsichtlich ihres Einflusses auf Nondifferentiation verglichen. Eine erste Studie (N = 139) belegt eine signifikant erhöhte Differenzierung bei KS im Vergleich zu einem verbalen Einschub. Für eine zweite Studie werden in einer Voruntersuchung (N = 138) stark positiv und stark negativ eingeschätzte Meinungsgegenstände ausgewählt, die in der anschließenden Hauptuntersuchung (N = 200) ohne Messwiederholung bewertet werden. Hierbei werden insgesamt 3 verschiedene Verfahren zur Verbesserung der Differenzierung verwendet und einem rein verbalen Einschub gegenübergestellt. Auch hierbei erweist sich die KS generell als das Verfahren, das die höchste Differenzierung bewirkt

Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance

We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 --> D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set. These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c. From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+ semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950 (+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57 +- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes, tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN