[For the Benefit of the Children - Judical Requested Counselling of High Conflict Parents in Educational- and Family-Counselling]. / Zum Wohle der Kinder ­ Gerichtlich angeordnete Beratung von Hochkonflikt-Eltern in der Erziehungs- und Familienberatung.

For the Benefit of the Children - Judical Requested Counselling of High Conflict Parents in Educational- and Family-Counselling Educational- and Family Counselling supports families as assistance for parenting for a successful growing up of children. Family Counselling is a voluntary offer, which is provided by a multi professional team. The counselling is confidential and bound to secrecy. According to the regulations of the law concerning the proceedings in family cases and the non-contentious jurisdiction (FamFG) the court has several options for action, such as, for example, to order a counselling in the context of child and youth service. Court related inquiries have led to advancement in Educational- and Family Counselling. In the article basic aspects of specific approaches are described.

Bioactive compounds, folates and antioxidant properties of tomatoes (Lycopersicum esculentum) during vine ripening.

Bioactive compounds and their relationship with antioxidant activity were determined in three tomato cultivars (Ronaldo, Siena and Copo) during vine ripening. The lycopene, chlorophyll (total, a and b), total phenolic, flavonoid, vitamin C and folate contents, and the antioxidant activity, by the ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay and the beta-carotene lineolate system, were determined in the samples. Tomato ripening involved the breakdown of chlorophylls, accompanied by a continuous increase in the lycopene content. Total phenolics, flavonoids and vitamin C increased significantly during ripening, whereas the folate content fell markedly as tomatoes turned from green to red. The lycopene and flavonoid content was highest in the Copo cultivar, vitamin C and folate highest in Ronaldo, and total phenolics highest in Siena. The antioxidant activity, as measured with the ferric reducing/antioxidant power assay, increased significantly during ripening in all extracts, and showed a positive correlation with the total phenolic and flavonoid contents. However, when measured with the beta-carotene lineolate system, the antioxidant activity decreased significantly during ripening; perhaps due to the antioxidant activity of chlorophylls and the peroxidation activity of vitamin C.

famoses: a modular educational program for children with epilepsy and their parents.

BACKGROUND: It is known that most adult patients with epilepsy often have poor knowledge of their disorder, treatment options, and social and vocational consequences, despite the huge amount of information available. Being pressed for time, health care professionals often are not able to provide the repetitive counseling and instruction necessary to address epilepsy care adequately. Therefore educational programs are considered extremely important in filling the gap. METHOD: For German-speaking countries, two educational programs called famoses, modulares Schulungsprogramm Epilepsie fur Familien [modular service package epilepsy for families], were developed by a multidisciplinary group of neuropediatricians, psychologists, social workers, and educators. The aims of the famoses programs are to improve children's and parents' knowledge about epilepsy and to help patients of childhood age and their parents achieve a better understanding of their disease, gain more self-confidence, and reduce specific fears regarding epilepsy. famoses comprises two different educational programs: famoses for kids with epilepsy within the developmental period of ages 7 to 13, and famoses for parents or caretakers. The programs are designed for interactive small-group education. RESULTS: The child-centered educational program is based on a fictional story: The children are sailors on a virtual cruise, sailing from island to island, accompanied by educated trainers. On each island there is something new to discover about epilepsy. The parent (and caretaker)-centered educational program covers different topics-overview and content of the program, basic knowledge, diagnostics, therapy, prognosis and development, and living with epilepsy-within six modules. The program was implemented in Germany and Switzerland in the spring of 2005 and is now operating in different epilepsy centers. CONCLUSION: Within comprehensive therapeutic management of epilepsy, educational programs for patients, and for parents (caretakers) of children with epilepsy, are considered to be extremely important. Such educational programs have two main goals: to increase knowledge about the disorder, and to strengthen the patients' responsibility for themselves, with the consequence of living with as few limitations as possible. famoses is an effective component of this comprehensive care. The program has been operating successfully in different epilepsy centers in Germany and Switzerland since the spring of 2005.

Detection of key factors in the extraction and quantification of lycopene from tomato and tomato products.

The analytical process of lycopene extraction and photometrical determination was critically examined for raw tomato and processed tomato products by means of a 2 IV (15-10) Plackett-Burman experimental design in order to identify the key factors (KFs) involved. Fifteen apparent key factors (AKFs) reported in the literature were selected: sample weight (X1); volume of extraction solution (X2); antioxidant concentration (BHT, X3); neutralizing agent concentration (MgCO 3, X4); light presence during lycopene extraction (X5), homogenization velocity (X6) and time (X7), agitation time (X8), and temperature (X9) during the extraction process; water volume for separation of polar/nonpolar phases (X11); presence of inert atmosphere throughout the process (X12); time (X13), temperature (X14), and light presence (X10) during separation of phases and time delay for reading (X15). In general, higher lycopene concentrations in samples led to a higher number of key factors (KF). Thus, for raw tomato (lycopene range 1.22-2.29 mg/100 g) no KF were found, whereas for tomato sauce (lycopene range from 5.80 to 8.60 mg/100 g) one KF (X4) and for tomato paste (lycopene range from 35.80 to 51.27 mg/100 g) five KFs (X1, X2, X4, X11, and X12) were detected. For lycopene paste, X1 and X2 were identified as the KFs with the greatest impact on results, although in fact the X1/X2 ratio was the real cause. The results suggest that, with increased processing, the physical and chemical structure of lycopene becomes less important since the identified KFs explain almost 90% of variability in tomato paste but only 32% in raw tomato.

Measuring productivity changes in economic evaluation: setting the research agenda.

Productivity costs related to illness may be relevant in assessing healthcare programmes for patients, as well as occupational interventions for workers. When performing an economic evaluation for both types of programmes, a sound methodology for measuring and valuing these productivity costs is essential. This article reviews research questions related to productivity and health, focusing on the costs of short-term absence from work, productivity costs without absence ('presenteeism') and possible compensation mechanisms and circumstances that may affect productivity costs. Furthermore, the important but under-explored relationship between productivity and QOL is analysed. Strategies for better answers on these research questions, such as developing more valid measurement instruments, are discussed. It is stressed that the analysis of productivity costs should not be restricted to the level of the individual patient and worker but extended to the level of teams of workers and firms. It may be advisable to explore several issues such as compensation mechanisms and efficiency losses in detail using employee questionnaires and consecutively applying the key elements in patient settings. It seems advisable to develop flexible, modular instruments for measuring and valuing absence from work, compensation mechanisms, efficiency loss and details of jobs and organisation in an integrative and consistent way. Further, it seems crucial to identify what determinants of jobs and organisations are the key factors in estimating productivity costs. This list of determinants could be mapped with a classification of jobs, to be used as a screener in patient questionnaires.

Changes in antioxidant compounds during the shelf life of commercial tomato juices in different packaging materials.

Tomatoes provide an optimal mix of dietary antioxidants that may be responsible for the reported health benefits of tomato consumption. However, technological processing, packaging materials, and storage conditions have an impact on the nutritional quality of tomato products by affecting the stability of antioxidant nutrients to different extents. In this study, we evaluated the stability of the antioxidant compounds (lycopene, ascorbic acid, total phenols, and total flavonoids) present in commercially available tomato juices during storage extended for 12 months at three different temperatures (8, 22, and 37 degrees C). To further characterize the impact of storage conditions, two commonly used packaging materials (Tetra pack and glass bottles) were used to determine whether packaging materials affect antioxidant stability. Overall, the total lycopene, total phenolic compounds, and total flavonoids remained almost stable during storage for 12 months, regardless of the packaging material used, indicating that tomato juices maintain their nutritional value in terms of antioxidant composition during their shelf life. However, ascorbic acid was the most labile antioxidant and was markedly affected by storage conditions. The hydrophilic total antioxidant activity (TAA) paralleled the losses in ascorbic acid content, whereas the lipophilic TAA remained substantially stable throughout the storage trial.

Influence of lycopene and vitamin C from tomato juice on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation.

A human study was carried out to investigate whether tomato juice, rich in natural lycopene and fortified with vitamin C, is able to reduce several biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation and whether the effect can be attributed to lycopene, vitamin C or any other micronutrient. Following a 2-week depletion phase, volunteers were assigned randomly to ingest either tomato juice with (LC) or without (L) vitamin C fortification for 2 weeks (daily dose 20.6 mg lycopene and 45.5/435 mg vitamin C). Plasma and urine were analysed for carotenoids and vitamin C, lipid status, antioxidant capacity, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and 8-epi-PGF2alpha, protein carbonyls, cytokines IL-1beta and TNFalpha and C-reactive protein (CRP). The consumption of tomato juice led to a reduction in total cholesterol levels (L: 157.6 v. 153.2 mg/dl, P = 0.008; LC: 153.4 v. 147.4 mg/dl, P = 0.002) and that of CRP (L: 315.6 v. 262.3 microg/l, P = 0.017; LC: 319.2 v. 247.1 microg/l, P = 0.001) in both groups. The vitamin C-fortified juice slightly raised the antioxidant capacity in urine and decreased TBARS in plasma and urine. All other markers were affected to a lesser extent or remained unchanged. Cholesterol reduction was correlated with lycopene uptake (P = 0.003), whereas the other effects could not be related with particular micronutrients. Any beneficial effects of tomato consumption for human health cannot be attributed only to lycopene and, as the additional supplementation with ascorbic acid indicates, a variety of antioxidants might be needed to optimize protection against chronic diseases.

Matrix cell adhesion activation by non-adhesion proteins.

Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix is important in many biological processes. Various ligands and cell surface receptors have been defined. In vitro cell adhesion to matrix proteins and to other 'adhesion' proteins is generally measured on plastic culture substrates. We have found that the presence of low levels of adhesion proteins, e.g. fibronectin, together with high concentrations of non-adhesion proteins, e.g. osteonectin, can promote cell attachment on plastic culture dishes. This promotion of adhesion occurs even when the concentrations of fibronectin, collagen and other adhesive proteins are too low to support cell attachment alone. Other non-adhesive proteins that have similar activity in 'triggering' the attachment of cells to low levels of adhesion molecules include bovine serum albumin (BSA) and cytochrome C. The non-adhesive protein must be added to the plate first, or together with the low amount of the adhesion protein, to 'activate' cell attachment. Adding the adhesion protein fibronectin to the plate first, followed by osteonectin, resulted in no 'activation' of attachment. The non-adhesive protein did not bind to the adhesive protein nor did it alter the level of adhesive protein binding to the substrate. The non-adhesive protein did, however, expose integrin-binding sites of the adhesive protein fibronectin. These data confirm and extend previous data by others demonstrating the role of non-adhesive proteins in regulating the conformation and cell adhesive activity of matrix adhesion proteins on plastic surfaces. Such findings might explain contradictions in the literature about the activity of 'adhesive proteins'.