Dissociative symptoms in female patients with mood and anxiety disorders: a psychopathological and temperamental investigation

OBJECTIVE

Dissociative symptoms are frequent among psychiatric patients and may considerably affect patients' psychopathological condition and treatment outcomes. The objectives of the study are to assess the presence of dissociative symptoms in female patients with mood and anxiety disorders, to investigate their correlation with the clinical severity of the disorders and to investigate those personality traits that are more frequent in patients with high levels of dissociation.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

50 Caucasian females were enrolled in the study. Patients were assessed through the Self-Report Symptom Check-List, the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and rating scales for Depression and Anxiety.

RESULTS

The mean DES score in the overall sample was 16.6. 32% of patients had a DES score > 20. Depressive symptoms positively correlated with the DES total scores. Dissociator patients presented some significantly different temperamental characteristics in comparison with non dissociator patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Dissociative symptoms are highly present in patients with mood and anxiety disorders and correlate with the severity of depressive symptoms. Specific personality traits more frequently observed in dissociator people may represent predisposing factors; their early identification could be clinically relevant.

Solidification Behaviour of PA6/iPP Blends at High Cooling Rates

The non isothermal crystallization behaviour of two model blends of immiscible polymers (an isotactic polypropylene and a polyamide-6) was examined by a quenching procedure within a range of cooling rates from 0.1 to above 1000°C/s in order to emulate the solidification conditions arising during polymer processing. The final structure of the blends was analyzed by density and WAXD and the transition from stable to metastable phases in the blends and the pure homopolymers was compared examining their dependence on cooling rate. This shows that crystallization in the blends is always faster since the transitions move to larger cooling rates. Observation of morphological details suggests that this can be due to enhanced nucleation at the interface. The density variation in the case of the polyamide-6 rich blend is larger than expected from an additive volume contribution which may be ascribed to development of microvoids at the interface. In the case of the isotactic polypropylene rich blend the additive volume contribution is consistent with experimental observations.

Carbon dioxide assimilation in cyanobacteria: regulation of ribulose, 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase

Cyanobacteria assimilate carbon dioxide through the Calvin cycle and therefore must regulate the activity of ribulose 1,5-bisophosphate carboxylase. Using an in situ assay, as well as measuring the activity in crude, partially purified, and homogeneous preparations, we can show that a number of phosphorylated intermediates exert a regulatory role. Three diverse organisms, Agmenellum quadruplicatum, Aphanocapsa 6714, and Anabaena sp. CA, were studied, and it was found that the in situ and cell-free carboxylase activities were particularly affected by low levels of phosphogluconate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. There was a marked activation by these ligands when the inactive enzyme was assayed in the presence of low levels of bicarbonate, a result significantly different from a previous report. Moreover, the fully activated enzyme was inhibited by phosphogluconate. In situ Anabaena CA carboxylase activity exhibited a particular capacity for activation by phosphogluconate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. However, activation of the crude, partially purified, or homogeneous Anabaena CA carboxylase by phosphogluconate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate was significantly decreased when compared with enzyme activity in permeabilized cells. It appears that the microenvironment or the conformation of the enzyme within the cell may be significantly different from that of the isolated enzyme.