P-glycoprotein expression in lamina propria lymphocytes of duodenal biopsy samples in dogs with chronic idiopathic enteropathies

P-glycoprotein (p-gp) is a transmembrane protein functioning as a drug-efflux pump in the intestinal epithelium. Human patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who fail to respond to treatment with steroids express high levels of p-gp in lamina propria lymphocytes. The purpose of this study was to investigate p-gp expression in duodenal biopsy samples of dogs with chronic enteropathies and to evaluate the expression of p-gp after treatment with a known inducer of p-gp (prednisolone). Duodenal biopsy samples from 48 dogs were evaluated immunohistochemically with the mouse monoclonal antibody C219 for expression of p-gp in lamina propria lymphocytes. Biopsy samples were available from 15 dogs after treatment with prednisolone and 16 dogs after dietary therapy alone ("elimination diet"). Treatment with prednisolone resulted in an increase in p-gp expression (P=0.005). In contrast, dietary treatment alone produced no significant change in p-gp expression (P=0.59). A low p-gp score before initiation of steroid treatment was significantly associated with a positive response to treatment (P=0.01). These results indicate that lamina propria lymphocyte expression of p-gp is upregulated after prednisolone treatment in dogs with IBD, and that mucosal expression of p-gp may be of value in predicting the response to therapy.

Lung aeration during sleep

BACKGROUND: During sleep, ventilation and functional residual capacity (FRC) decrease slightly. This study addresses regional lung aeration during wakefulness and sleep. METHODS: Ten healthy subjects underwent spirometry awake and with polysomnography, including pulse oximetry, and also CT when awake and during sleep. Lung aeration in different lung regions was analyzed. Another three subjects were studied awake to develop a protocol for dynamic CT scanning during breathing. RESULTS: Aeration in the dorsal, dependent lung region decreased from a mean of 1.14 +/- 0.34 mL (+/- SD) of gas per gram of lung tissue during wakefulness to 1.04 +/- 0.29 mL/g during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep (- 9%) [p = 0.034]. In contrast, aeration increased in the most ventral, nondependent lung region, from 3.52 +/- 0.77 to 3.73 +/- 0.83 mL/g (+ 6%) [p = 0.007]. In one subject studied during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, aeration decreased from 0.84 to 0.65 mL/g (- 23%). The fall in dorsal lung aeration during sleep correlated to awake FRC (R(2) = 0.60; p = 0.008). Airway closure, measured awake, occurred near and sometimes above the FRC level. Ventilation tended to be larger in dependent, dorsal lung regions, both awake and during sleep (upper region vs lower region, 3.8% vs 4.9% awake, p = 0.16, and 4.5% vs 5.5% asleep, p = 0.09, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Aeration is reduced in dependent lung regions and increased in ventral regions during NREM and REM sleep. Ventilation was more uniformly distributed between upper and lower lung regions than has previously been reported in awake, upright subjects. Reduced respiratory muscle tone and airway closure are likely causative factors.

Links between body mass index, total body fat, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and insulin sensitivity in patients with obesity related to depression, anger, and anxiety

OBJECTIVE: Define links between psychosocial parameters and metabolic variables in obese females before and after a low-calorie diet. METHOD: Nine female obese patients (age 36.1 +/- 7.1 years, body mass index [BMI] > 30 kg/m2) were investigated before and after a 6-week low-calorie diet accompanied by behavior therapy. Blood lipids, insulin sensitivity (Bergman protocol), fat distribution (by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry [DEXA]), as well as psychological parameters such as depression, anger, anxiety, symptom load, and well-being, were assessed before and after the dieting period. RESULTS: The females lost 9.6 +/- 2.8 kg (p < .0001) of body weight, their BMI was reduced by 3.5 +/- 0.3 kg/m2 (p < .0001), and insulin sensitivity increased from 3.0 +/- 1.8 to 4.3 +/- 1.5 mg/kg (p = .05). Their abdominal fat content decreased from 22.3 +/- 5.5 to 18.9 +/- 4.5 kg (p < .0001). In parallel, psychological parameters such as irritability (p < .05) and cognitive control (p < .0001) increased, whereas feelings of hunger (p < .05), externality (p < .05), interpersonal sensitivity (p < .01), paranoid ideation (p < .05), psychoticism (p < .01), and global severity index (p < .01) decreased. Prospectively, differences in body fat (percent) were correlated to nervousness (p < .05). Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) differences were significantly correlated to sociability (p < .05) and inversely to emotional instability (p < .05), whereas emotional instability was inversely correlated to differences in insulin sensitivity (p < .01). DISCUSSION: Weight reduction may lead to better somatic risk factor control. Women with more nervousness and better sociability at the beginning of a diet period may lose more weight than others.

The keratinocyte in epidermal renewal and defence

Traditionally, keratinocytes have been considered inert constituents of the multilayered epidermis. Today's understanding has fundamentally changed. The keratinocyte is now recognized as an active player in epidermal renewal with key functions in the skin's immune defence. Under homeostatic conditions, keratinocyte progenitor cells are believed to divide symmetrically or asymmetrically, that is they continue to proliferate or go on to terminally differentiate and build up the overlaying epidermis. The fine-tuned process of epidermal renewal relies on an extraordinary network of signalling cascades which are governed by keratinocyte-receptor interactions with the environment through paracrine and autocrine circuits. Opposing this coordinated homeostatic process are signals of wounding and inflammation. They alter the fate of the keratinocyte and its response to the environment through changes in adhesion molecules and surface receptors, in addition to triggering an immediate inflammatory keratinocyte response in terms of secretion of cytokines, chemokines and antimicrobial peptides. If uncontrolled, the fundamental changes imposed by wounding and inflammation upon the homeostatic programme can lead to severe skin lesions including chronic inflammatory disorders. This review will describe the current knowledge of the regulatory signalling network which allows the keratinocyte to actively impact both epidermal homeostasis and the inflammatory response.

Successful Careers in Football – Findings of a Person-Oriented Study

A successful career in football is the result of the appropriate interaction between different aspects of an individual’s life, since the various areas and phases of one’s life depend on each other. An endogenous causal relationship exists throughout a person’s entire history (Mayer, 1990). In particular, their family, work and sports career must be tuned to each other. The transition from the initial stages of education (compulsory schooling) to vocational training, which coincides with the beginning of the selection for the national youth teams, is a particularly critical phase (Wylleman, Theeboom, & Lavallee, 2004). In order to do justice to the overall life situation of a young sports talent during this transition phase, we have adopted a holistic perspective and follow Bergman, Magnusson and El-Khouri (2003) in using a person-oriented and systemic approach. In doing so, our main focus lies on the person-environment system. This overall system is made up of various subsystems, consisting of several operating factors which interact with one another. The different levels to which these operating factors are expressed lead to observable patterns, which can be summarised in the form of types. Particularly promising types can therefore be identified and the developmental process can be described. Former players on the Swiss U16 to U21 national football teams, born between 1981 and 1987 (n=159), were interviewed concerning their careers, and the operating factors school/vocational training, family support and sports environment were examined. With the help of the LICUR method (Linking of Clusters after removal of Residue) (Bergman et al., 2003), developmental types were identified which were promising in terms of achieving top performance in adulthood. A range of developmental types and anti-types emerge for the transition from the under-15 phase to the over-16 phase. One particularly promising type is observed in the over-16 phase, for which the operating factors education, family support and participation in national U16 to U18 teams have slightly above-average scores, with scores that are well above average in the sports environment.

Fussball-Juniorennationalspieler im Spannungsfeld zwischen sportlichem Erfolg und Berufsausbildung

Da eine leistungssportliche Fussball Karriere mit Blick auf eine existenzsichernde Zukunft ein risikoreiches Unterfangen ist, absolvieren die meisten Schweizer Fussball-Juniorennationalspieler auch eine Berufsausbildung. Daher stellt sich die Frage, ob und unter welchen Bedingungen eine erfolgreiche Fussballkarriere möglich ist, wenn parallel ein Berufsabschluss angestrebt wird. Nach Mayer (2009) vollzieht sich der menschliche Lebensverlauf in verschiedenen Lebensbereichen, die sich gegenseitig beeinflussen. Um dieser Interdependenz gerecht zu werden, wurde von einem personorientierten Ansatz ausgegangen, der Entwicklungsprozesse möglichst ganzheitlich zu erfassen vermag. 159 ehemalige Schweizer Juniorennationalspieler wurden zu ihrer Karriere retrospektiv befragt und die Daten mittels LICUR-Methode (Bergman, Magnusson, & El-Khouri, 2003) ausgewertet. Dabei wurden auf der Grundlage relevanter Variablen der sportlichen Laufbahn, der beruflichen Ausbildung und der familialen Unterstützung spezifische Muster identifiziert und diese anschließend mit einem Leistungskriterium im Höchstleistungsalter verglichen. Dadurch konnten erfolgsversprechende Entwicklungsmuster aufgedeckt werden. Es zeigt sich, dass der kritische Übergang von der Development zur Mastery Phase (Salmela, 1994) insgesamt durch Kontinuität geprägt ist. Die erfolgreichsten Muster charakterisieren sich durch eine überdurchschnittlich hohe Unterstützung durch die Familie bei gleichzeitig überdurchschnittlich professionellen Förderbedingungen im Club.

Muster, Entwicklungstypen und Persönlichkeit

Studien zu Sozialisationswirkungen sportlicher Aktivitäten auf Facetten der Persönlichkeit (z. B. Selbstkonzept) haben sich bislang in der Regel auf die Analyse isolierter Effekte des Sports konzentriert, ohne weitere Entwicklungskontexte (wie z. B. die Familie) angemessen zu berücksichtigen. Da hierin eine wesentliche Ursache für die unbefriedigende Befundlage gesehen wird, bemüht sich der Beitrag darum, die Rolle des Sports für das Selbstkonzept im komplexen Wirkungsgeflecht verschiedener Entwicklungskontexte herauszuarbeiten. 121 Heranwachsende wurden in einer personorientierten Längsschnittsstudie untersucht und die Daten mit der LICUR-Methode (z. B. Bergman, Magnusson & El-Khouri, 2003) ausgewertet. Die dabei identifizierten Subgruppen unterscheiden sich in allen untersuchten Facetten des Selbstkonzepts bedeutsam, zeigen sowohl zeitstabile als auch dynamische Werteprofile ihrer Entwicklungsfaktoren und folgen überzufällig häufig einzelnen Entwicklungswegen. Aus diesen Befunden werden Konsequenzen für eine ganzheitliche und funktionale Selbstkonzeptförderung durch Sport abgeleitet.

National youth team football players between the conflicting priorities of sports success and vocational training

In view of the risks involved in relying on a professional career in football as a way of making a future living, most players on Swiss National Youth Football Teams pursue some form of vocational training at the same time. This paper investigates the question under what conditions a successful football career is possible when faced with such a dual burden. In order to examine the development process as holistically as possible, a person-oriented approach was chosen. 159 former Swiss National Youth Team players were retrospectively interviewed about their careers, and the data were analysed using the LICUR method (Bergman, Magnusson, & El-Khouri, 2003). This involves identifying certain patterns in the relevant variables of sports career, vocational career and family support, and then comparing these with the performance at the age of peak performance. Through this, it was possible to identify promising patterns of development. It turns out that the critical transition, at the age of about 15–16 years, is characterised overall by stability. The most successful patterns display above-average family support accompanied by above-average professional talent promotion in the clubs. In this constellation, the football players who are later successful pursue vocational training courses leading to low levels of educational qualification.

Der Übergang ins Hochschulstudium: Prozesse und Mechanismen am Beispiel der deutschen Schweiz

Im Allgemeinen wird zum einen die Auffassung geteilt, dass auch ein Land wie die Schweiz auf ein steigendes Angebot qualifizierter und hochqualifizierter Arbeitskräfte angewiesen ist, um wirtschaftliche Prosperität und allgemeine Wohlfahrt dauerhaft sicherstellen zu können (vgl. SKBF 2010). Zum anderen wird dem modernen Bildungssystem – unter Gewährleistung zumindest formaler Chancengleichheit – die Aufgabe zugeschrieben, mittels ausreichender Bildungsgelegenheiten für dieses Angebot an Humankapital zu sorgen (vgl. Müller und Kogan 2010; Müller et al. 1997; Seibert et al. 2010).

Bildungsungleichheit im Lichte aktueller Theorieanwendung in der soziologischen Bildungsforschung

Aufgrund der institutionalisierten Kopplung des Bildungssystems mit den Arbeitsmärkten und der Verteilung von Einkommen und sozialstaatlichen Anrechten über das Erwerbssystem ist das zuvor erworbene Bildungszertifikat eine bedeutsame Voraussetzung nicht nur für den Arbeitsmarktzutritt, sondern auch für die Klassenpositionen im Lebensverlauf und den daran geknüpften Lebenschancen (vgl. Allmendinger 1989; Mayer und Blossfeld 1990; Müller und Shavit 1998; Solga 2005). Während in den 1980er und 1990er Jahren der Zusammenhang von Bildung, Beschäftigung und Sozialstatus sowie die Beschreibung der Bildungsexpansion und sozialen Ungleichheit von Bildungschancen (vgl. Müller und Haun 1994; Handl 1985; Henz und Maas 1995; Meulemann 1995; Schimpl-Neimanns 2000) im Vordergrund der deutschsprachigen soziologischen Bildungsforschung standen, bemüht sie sich seit Ende der 1990er Jahren die Genese und Reproduktion von Bildungsungleichheiten systematisch statt ad hoc zu erklären (vgl. Becker 2011).

Psychological, Educational and Sociological Perspectives on Success and Well-Being in Career Development

Back Cover Text This collection covers how success and well-being relate to each other in early career development in the domains of employment and education. It gives a conceptual overview of success and well-being as established in the psychological research tradition, complemented by educational and sociological approaches. The volume presents articles on success and well-being in applied contexts, such as well-being as an individual resource during school-to-work transition, or well-being and success at the workplace. Work psychologists, social psychologists, educational researchers, and sociologists will find this book valuable, as it provides unique insights into social and psychological processes afforded by the combination of disciplines, concepts, and a diversity of approaches. Table of Contents Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Robin Samuel, Manfred Max Bergman, Anita C. Keller and Norbert K. Semmer 2. The Influence of Career Success on Subjective Well-Being Andrea E. Abele-Brehm 3. Upper-Secondary Educational Trajectories and Young Men’s and Women’s Self-Esteem Development in Switzerland Sybille Bayard, Monika Staffelbach, Phillip Fischer and Marlies Buchmann. 4. Young People’s Progress after Dropout from Vocational Edu-cation and Training: Transitions and Occupational Integration at Stake. Longitudinal Qualitative Perspective Barbara Duc and Nadia Lamamra 5. Success, Well-Being and Social Recognition: An Interactional Perspective on Vocational Training Practices Stefano A. Losa, Barbara Duc and Laurent Filliettaz. 6. Agentic Pathways toward Fulfillment in Work Jeylan T. Mortimer, Mike Vuolo and Jeremy Staff 7. The How and Why of the Relationship between Job Insecuri-ty, Subjective Career Success, and Turnover Intention Cécile Tschopp and Gudela Grote 8. Work Experiences and Well-Being in the First Years of Professional Work in Switzerland: A Ten-Year Follow-up Study Wolfgang Kälin, Anita C. Keller, Franziska Tschan, Achim Elfering and Norbert K. Semmer 9. The Meaning and Measurement of Well-Being as an Indicator of Success Anita C. Keller, Norbert K. Semmer, Robin Samuel and Manfred Max Bergman

Morphological evaluation of spermatogenesis in Lake Magadi tilapia (Alcolapia grahami): a fish living on the edge

Spermatogenesis in Lake Magadi tilapia (Alcolapia grahami), a cichlid fish endemic to the highly alkaline and saline Lake Magadi in Kenya, was evaluated using light and transmission electron microscopy. Spermatogenesis, typified by its three major phases (spermatocytogenesis, meiosis and spermiogenesis), was demonstrated by the presence of maturational spermatogenic cells namely spermatogonia, spermatocytes, spermatids and spermatozoa. Primary spermatogonia, the largest of all the germ cells, underwent a series of mitotic divisions producing primary spermatocytes, which then entered two consecutive meiotic divisions to produce secondary spermatocytes and spermatids. Spermatids, in turn, passed through three structurally distinct developmental stages typical of type-I spermiogenesis to yield typical primitive anacrosomal spermatozoa of the externally fertilizing type (aquasperm). The spermatozoon of this fish exhibited a spheroidal head with the nucleus containing highly electron-dense chromatin globules, a midpiece containing ten ovoid mitochondria arranged in two rows and a flagellum formed by the typical 9 + 2 microtubule axoneme. In addition, the midpiece, with no cytoplasmic sheath, appeared to end blindly distally in a lobe-like pattern around the flagellum; a feature that was unique and considered adaptive for the spermatozoon of this species to the harsh external environment. These observations show that the testis of A. grahami often undergoes active spermatogenesis despite the harsh environmental conditions to which it is exposed on a daily basis within the lake. Further, the spermiogenic features and spermatozoal ultrastructure appear to be characteristic of Cichlidae and, therefore, may be of phylogenetic significance.

Who gets the high quality jobs ten years after compulsory school?

Good work quality is crucial for employee well-being and health. Indicators of work quality are, among others, aspects of one’s work organization and learning opportunities. Based on the Job-Demands Control model we investigate if a) young employees are confronted with different combinations of job characteristics, b) cluster membership is predicted through socio-demographic and educational factors as well as positive self-evaluations and health, and c) cluster membership leads to different associations with job-related and general well-being. Based on TREE (Transition from Education to Employment) data we found three clusters of job characteristics, i.e. high resources – low demands, medium resources – medium demands, and low resources – high demands. Likelihood to be in a more favourable group was higher for females and young employees who reported more positive self-evaluations and higher learning efforts after compulsory school. Young employees in more favourable groups also reported higher levels of job-related and general well-being.

Zur Stabilität von Motiv- und Zielprofilen im Freizeit- und Gesundheitssport

Einleitung: Massnahmen der Sportförderung werden selten systematisch auf sportbezogene Motive und Ziele ausgerichtet, obwohl sie für das Wohlbefinden und die Aufrechterhaltung des Gesundheitsverhaltens bedeutsam sind. Sudeck, Lehnert und Conzelmann (2011) haben typische Motiv- und Zielprofile im Freizeit- und Gesundheitssport identifiziert. Diese „motivbasierten Sporttypen“ bieten eine Möglich-keit, Menschen im mittleren Erwachsenenalter anhand ihrer Beweggründe zum Sporttreiben zu seg-mentieren und Fördermassnahmen darauf abzustimmen. Motive werden als zeitlich relativ überdau-ernde Dispositionen angesehen (Lehnert, Sudeck & Conzelmann, 2011). Empirische Nachweise für die längerfristige Stabilität von Motiv- und Zielprofilen im Freizeit- und Gesundheitssport fehlen aller-dings bislang. Daher wird im vorliegenden Beitrag die zeitliche Stabilität von Motiv- und Zielprofilen über 15 Monate analysiert. Methoden: Die Basisstichprobe besteht aus 228 Hochschulangestellten (MAlter = 48.1 Jahre, SDAlter = 8.1 Jahre, 61% Frauen), welche im Rahmen des Projekts „Welcher Sport für wen?“ im Mai 2008 (T1) an einem Sport-Check teilnahmen (Sudeck et al., 2011). Am Sport-Check wurden die sportbezogenen Motive und Ziele mit dem Berner Motiv- und Zielinventar (Lehnert, Sudeck & Conzelmann, 2011) schriftlich er-fragt. Bei 100 Personen (MAlter = 46.8 Jahre, SDAlter = 7.6 Jahre, 62% Frauen) konnte das Merkmal im September 2009 (T2) erneut mittels Onlinefragebogen erhoben werden. Die Daten dieser Teilstich-probe wurden mit der LICUR-Methode (Bergman, Magnusson & El-Khouri, 2003) ausgewertet. Zu-nächst wurden zu beiden Messzeitpunkten typische Motiv- und Zielprofile clusteranalytisch be-stimmt. Darauf aufbauend wurde analysiert, inwieweit sich die Cluster von T1 und T2 ähneln (struktu-relle Stabilität) und welche Entwicklungswege zwischen den gefundenen Clustern überzufällig häufig begangenen werden (individuelle Stabilität). Resultate und Diskussion: Zu T1 konnten neun typische Motiv- und Zielprofile identifiziert werden. Diese entsprechen mehrheit-lich den motivbasierten Sporttypen von Sudeck et al. (2011). Zu T2 wurden wiederum neun charakte-ristische Motiv- und Zielprofile ermittelt. Die Clusterlösungen der beiden Messzeitpunkte weisen eine grosse Ähnlichkeit auf. Die signifikanten Entwicklungswege zwischen T1 und T2 verdeutlichen, dass die Mitglieder eines Clusters überzufällig häufig zu einem Clusterpartner – d. h. einem Typen mit sehr ähnlichen Clusterzentroiden – übertreten. Die Ergebnisse sprechen insgesamt für eine hohe struktu-relle und individuelle Stabilität von Motiv- und Zielprofilen im mittleren Erwachsenenalter. Eine Ab-stimmung von mehrwöchigen Sportangeboten und -beratungen auf die individuellen Motive und Ziele scheint aufgrund ihres zeitlich überdauernden Charakters folglich lohnenswert. Literatur: Bergman, L. R., Magnusson, D. & El-Khouri, B. M. (2003). Studying individual development in an inter-individual context. A person-oriented approach. Mahwah, N. J.: Erlbaum. Lehnert, K., Sudeck, G. & Conzelmann, A. (2011). BMZI – Berner Motiv- und Zielinventar im Freizeit- und Gesundheitssport. Diagnostica, 57(3), 146-159. Sudeck, G., Lehnert, K. & Conzelmann, A. (2011). Motivbasierte Sporttypen. Auf dem Weg zur Perso-norientierung im zielgruppenspezifischen Freizeit- und Gesundheitssport. Zeitschrift für Sport-psychologie, 18(1), 1-17.