Heaven's Gate nach der kognitiven Wende: Sind wir mit emotionszentrierten Ansätzen endlich im Psychotherapiehimmel angekommen?

Auswirkungen von Störungen des emotionalen Erlebens auf psychopathologische Zustände und emotionszentrierte Ansätze der Psychotherapie werden erläutert. Nach einem historischen Abriss über die Rolle von Emotionen in Theorie und Praxis der Psychotherapie werden zunächst biologische und neuromodulatorische Prozesse der Emotionsregulation beschrieben. Anschließend werden auf der Basis psychologischer Konzepte Funktionen von Emotionen und emotionale Kontrollprozesse reflektiert. Vor diesem Hintergrund werden Veränderungen emotionaler Regulationsstrategien durch Psychotherapie erörtert und Möglichkeiten der emotionalen Kompetenzsteigerung diskutiert.

Collimated Field Emission Beams from Metal Double-Gate Nanotip Arrays Optically Excited via Surface Plasmon Resonance

The generation of collimated electron beams from metal double-gate nanotip arrays excited by near infrared laser pulses is studied. Using electromagnetic and particle tracking simulations, we showed that electron pulses with small rms transverse velocities are efficiently produced from nanotip arrays by laser-induced field emission with the laser wavelength tuned to surface plasmon polariton resonance of the stacked double-gate structure. The result indicates the possibility of realizing a metal nanotip array cathode that outperforms state-of-the-art photocathodes.

Randomized Trial to Evaluate Tandosporine in Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-Related Macular Degeneration: the GATE Study.

PURPOSE To determine the safety and efficacy of AL-8309B (tandospirone) in the management of patients with geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and obtain standardized data on GA lesion growth progression. DESIGN Prospective, controlled, double-masked, randomized, multicenter phase 3 clinical trial. METHODS Setting: 48 clinical sites. PATIENTS Patients with GA associated with AMD were enrolled. All patients were followed for a minimum of 30 months, and up to 36 months. Intervention Procedures: Patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive AL-8309B ophthalmic solution 1.0%, 1.75%, or vehicle, administered as a twice-daily topical ocular drop. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary efficacy endpoint was mean annualized lesion enlargement from baseline as assessed with fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging. RESULTS A total of 768 eyes of 768 patients were enrolled and treated with AL-8309B 1.0% (N=250), AL-8309B 1.75% (N=258), or vehicle (N= 260). An increase in mean lesion size was observed in both the AL-8309B and vehicle treatment groups, and growth rates were similar in all treatment groups. Annualized lesion growth rates were 1.73, 1.76 and 1.71 mm(2) for AL-8309B 1.0%, AL-8309B 1.75%, and vehicle, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AL-8309B 1.0% and 1.75% did not affect lesion growth in eyes with GA secondary to AMD. There were no clinically relevant safety issues identified for AL-8309B. The large natural history dataset from this study is a valuable repository for future comparisons.

Numerical study of the laser-tip coupling in surface plasmon assisted stacked-double-gate field emitter arrays

Recently, sub-wavelength-pitch stacked double-gate metal nanotip arrays have been proposed to realize high current, high brightness electron bunches for ultrabright cathodes for x-ray free-electron laser applications. With the proposed device structure, ultrafast field emission of photoexcited electrons is efficiently driven by vertical incident near infrared laser pulses, via near field coupling of the surface plasmon polariton resonance of the gate electrodes with the nanotip apex. In this work, in order to gain insight in the underlying physical processes, the authors report detailed numerical studies of the proposed device. The results indicate the importance of the interaction of the double-layer surface plasmon polariton, the position of the nanotip, as well as the incident angle of the near infrared laser pulses.

A verified spider bite and a review of the literature confirm Indian ornamental tree spiders (Poecilotheria species) as underestimated theraphosids of medical importance.

Literature on bird spider or tarantula bites (Theraphosidae) is rare. This is astonishing as they are coveted pets and interaction with their keepers (feeding, cleaning the terrarium or taking them out to hold) might increase the possibility for bites. Yet, this seems to be a rare event and might be why most theraphosids are considered to be harmless, even though the urticating hairs of many American species can cause disagreeable allergic reactions. We are describing a case of a verified bite by an Indian ornamental tree spider (Poecilotheria regalis), where the patient developed severe, long lasting muscle cramps several hours after the bite. We present a comprehensive review of the literature on bites of these beautiful spiders and conclude that a delayed onset of severe muscle cramps, lasting for days, is characteristic for Poecilotheria bites. We discuss Poecilotheria species as an exception from the general assumption that theraphosid bites are harmless to humans.

High-density large-scale field emitter arrays for x-ray free electron laser cathodes

High brightness electron sources are of great importance for the operation of the hard X-ray free electron lasers. Field emission cathodes based on the double-gate metallic field emitter arrays (FEAs) can potentially offer higher brightness than the currently used ones. We report on the successful application of electron beam lithography for fabrication of the large-scale single-gate as well as double-gate FEAs. We demonstrate operational high-density single-gate FEAs with sub-micron pitch and total number of tips up to 106 as well as large-scale double-gate FEAs with large collimation gate apertures. The details of design, fabrication procedure and successful measurements of the emission current from the single- and double-gate cathodes are presented.

High-density metallic nano-emitter arrays and their field emission characteristics

We report the fabrication and field emission properties of high-density nano-emitter arrays with on-chip electron extraction gate electrodes and up to 106 metallic nanotips that have an apex curvature radius of a few nanometers and a the tip density exceeding 108 cm−2. The gate electrode was fabricated on top of the nano-emitter arrays using a self-aligned polymer mask method. By applying a hot-press step for the polymer planarization, gate–nanotip alignment precision below 10 nm was achieved. Fabricated devices exhibited stable field electron emission with a current density of 0.1 A cm−2, indicating that these are promising for applications that require a miniature high-brightness electron source.

Induction of autophagy is a key component of all-trans-retinoic acid-induced differentiation in leukemia cells and a potential target for pharmacologic modulation

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is characterized by the accumulation of immature blood cell precursors in the bone marrow. Pharmacologically overcoming the differentiation block in this condition is an attractive therapeutic avenue, which has achieved success only in a subtype of AML, acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Attempts to emulate this success in other AML subtypes have thus far been unsuccessful. Autophagy is a conserved protein degradation pathway with important roles in mammalian cell differentiation, particularly within the hematopoietic system. In the study described here, we investigated the functional importance of autophagy in APL cell differentiation. We found that autophagy is increased during all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA)-induced granulocytic differentiation of the APL cell line NB4 and that this is associated with increased expression of LC3II and GATE-16 proteins involved in autophagosome formation. Autophagy inhibition, using either drugs (chloroquine/3-methyladenine) or short-hairpin RNA targeting the essential autophagy gene ATG7, attenuates myeloid differentiation. Importantly, we found that enhancing autophagy promotes ATRA-induced granulocytic differentiation of an ATRA-resistant derivative of the non-APL AML HL60 cell line (HL60-Diff-R). These data support the development of strategies to stimulate autophagy as a novel approach to promote differentiation in AML.

DNA Catalysis: The Chemical Repertoire of DNAzymes

Deoxyribozymes or DNAzymes are single-stranded catalytic DNA molecules that are obtained by combinatorial in vitro selection methods. Initially conceived to function as gene silencing agents, the scope of DNAzymes has rapidly expanded into diverse fields, including biosensing, diagnostics, logic gate operations, and the development of novel synthetic and biological tools. In this review, an overview of all the different chemical reactions catalyzed by DNAzymes is given with an emphasis on RNA cleavage and the use of non-nucleosidic substrates. The use of modified nucleoside triphosphates (dN*TPs) to expand the chemical space to be explored in selection experiments and ultimately to generate DNAzymes with an expanded chemical repertoire is also highlighted.