"I was able to share more details": The experiences of using a smartphone application to support shared decision making in young people with psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the experiences of young adults with psychosis using a smartphone application to promote patient activation and support shared decision making in their outpatient treatment. METHOD: Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants who had access to the app while receiving mental health treatment. Qualitative data from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis aimed at experiences of interacting with the app. RESULTS: Four themes were extracted from the interviews: supporting users with memory difficulties, giving symptoms substance, a new source of information to guide conversations, and the challenge of capturing complex experiences digitally. While the majority of the themes highlight the benefits of using the app in ways that may facilitate communication between patient and provider, the participants also described some negative experiences when interacting with the app concerning failure to communicate nuances and emotional states satisfyingly. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Experiences with the app were double sided. On the one hand, the use of the app supports communication, and conversely, interaction with the app can create limitations and new challenges for communication. There is a need for more research to understand the use of mental health smartphone apps and their role in supporting interactive processes such as shared decision making in mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The D-A-(C) index: A practical approach towards the microbiological-ecological monitoring of groundwater ecosystems.

Groundwater is not only a vital resource, but also one of the largest terrestrial aquatic ecosystems on Earth. However, to date, ecological criteria are often not considered in routine groundwater monitoring, mainly because of the lack of suitable ecological assessment tools. Prokaryotic microorganisms are ubiquitous in groundwater ecosystems even under the harshest conditions, making them ideal bioindicators for ecological monitoring. We have developed a simple, inexpensive approach that enables ecological groundwater monitoring based on three microbiological parameters that can be easily integrated into existing routine monitoring practices: prokaryotic cell density (D) measured by flow cytometry; activity (A) measured as prokaryotic intracellular ATP concentrations using a simple cell-lysis-luminescence assay; and, as an optional parameter, the bioavailable carbon (C) measured as the concentration of assimilable organic carbon in a simple batch growth assay. We analyzed data for three case studies of different disturbances representing some of the main threats to groundwater ecosystems, i.e. organic contamination with hydrocarbons, surface water intrusion, and agricultural land use. For all three disturbances, disturbed samples could be reliably distinguished from undisturbed samples based on a single index value obtained from multivariate outlier analyses of the microbial variables. We could show that this multivariate approach allowed for a significantly more sensitive and reliable detection of disturbed samples compared to separate univariate outlier analyses of the measured variables. Furthermore, a comparison of non-contaminated aquifers from nine different regions across Germany revealed distinct multivariate signatures along the three microbial variables, which should be considered when applying our approach in practice. In essence, our approach offers a practical tool for the detection of disturbances of groundwater ecosystems based on microbial parameters which can be seamlessly extended in the future by additional parameters for higher sensitivity as well as flexibility.

A new ¹5N tracer method to determine N turnover and denitrification of Pseudomonas stutzeri.

Although denitrification is one of the key processes of ecosystem N turnover, the understanding of the regulation of the denitrification pathway is still limited due to the lack of feasible methods for the quantification of N2 formation. Based on the previously developed isotope pairing method, we present a new in vitro ¹5N tracer method for the quantification of N2 released from denitrification by bacterial cultures. The application of the new method was enabled by replacing the background air in the sample flasks with a gas mixture of He and O2 with an approximately 50-fold reduced N2 background (1.7% v/v), allowing for a direct and sensitive quantification of N2 formation with isotope-ratio mass spectrometry after ¹5N-labelling on the one hand, but leaving the method relatively insensitive to intrusion of ambient N2 on the other hand. The method was tested on bacterial cultures of Pseudomonas stutzeri grown at different oxygen levels. Additionally, NO and N2O formation were determined with a chemoluminescence analyser and a gas chromatograph, respectively. Following labelling with ¹5N-ammonium and ¹5N-nitrate, it could be shown that P. stutzeri used ammonium preferably for biomass build-up, and nitrate preferably as electron acceptor. Between 84-107% of the total available N could be recovered. Due to the high sensitivity of the new method only low levels of ¹5N tracer were necessary, minimising substrate-induced effects and making this method also an appropriate tool for the use on soil cores. By that it offers a new method for studying denitrification in terrestrial ecosystems.

Biosynthesis of docosahexaenoic acid in Euglena gracilis: biochemical and molecular evidence for the involvement of a Delta4-fatty acyl group desaturase.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can be synthesized via alternative routes from which only the omega3/omega6-pathways involve the action of a Delta4-fatty acid desaturase. We examined the suitability of Euglena gracilis, Thraustochytrium sp., Schizochytrium sp., and Crypthecodinium cohnii to serve as sources for cloning a cDNA encoding a Delta4-fatty acid desaturase. For this purpose we carried out in vivo labeling studies with radiolabeled C22 polyunsaturated fatty acid substrates. Schizochytrium sp. was unable to convert exogenously supplied [2-(14)C]-docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, 22:5(Delta)(7,10,13,16,19)) to DHA, while E. gracilis and Thraustochytrium sp. carried out this desaturation very efficiently. Hydrogenation and alpha-oxidation of the labeled DHA isolated from these two organisms showed that it was the result of direct Delta4-desaturation and not of substrate breakdown and resynthesis. To clone the desaturase gene, a cDNA library of E. gracilis was subjected to mass sequencing. A full-length clone with highest homology to the Delta4-desaturase of Thraustochytrium sp. was isolated, and its function was verified by heterologous expression in yeast. The desaturase efficiently converted DPA to DHA. Analysis of the substrate specificity demonstrated that the enzyme activity was not limited to C22 fatty acids, since it also efficiently desaturated C16 fatty acids. The enzyme showed strict Delta4-regioselectivity and required the presence of a Delta7-double bond in the substrate. Positional analysis of phosphatidylcholine revealed that the proportion of the Delta4-desaturated products was up to 20 times higher in the sn-2 position than in the sn-1 position.

Adaptation of sucrose metabolism in the Escherichia coli wild-type strain EC3132.

Although Escherichia coli strain EC3132 possesses a chromosomally encoded sucrose metabolic pathway, its growth on low sucrose concentrations (5 mM) is unusually slow, with a doubling time of 20 h. In this report we describe the subcloning and further characterization of the corresponding csc genes and adjacent genes. The csc regulon comprises three genes for a sucrose permease, a fructokinase, and a sucrose hydrolase (genes cscB, cscK, and cscA, respectively). The genes are arranged in two operons and are negatively controlled at the transcriptional level by the repressor CscR. Furthermore, csc gene expression was found to be cyclic AMP-CrpA dependent. A comparison of the genomic sequences of the E. coli strains EC3132, K-12, and O157:H7 in addition to Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 revealed that the csc genes are located in a hot spot region for chromosomal rearrangements in enteric bacteria. The comparison further indicated that the csc genes might have been transferred relatively recently to the E. coli wild-type EC3132 at around the time when the different strains of the enteric bacteria diverged. We found evidence that a mobile genetic element, which used the gene argW for site-specific integration into the chromosome, was probably involved in this horizontal gene transfer and that the csc genes are still in the process of optimal adaptation to the new host. Selection for such adaptational mutants growing faster on low sucrose concentrations gave three different classes of mutants. One class comprised cscR(Con) mutations that expressed all csc genes constitutively. The second class constituted a cscKo operator mutation, which became inducible for csc gene expression at low sucrose concentrations. The third class was found to be a mutation in the sucrose permease that caused an increase in transport activity.

Novel fatty acid elongases and their use for the reconstitution of docosahexaenoic acid biosynthesis.

In algae, the biosynthesis of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6omega3; DHA) proceeds via the elongation of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5omega3; EPA) to 22:5omega3, which is required as a substrate for the final Delta4 desaturation. To isolate the elongase specific for this step, we searched expressed sequence tag and genomic databases from the algae Ostreococcus tauri and Thalassiosira pseudonana, from the fish Oncorhynchus mykiss, from the frog Xenopus laevis, and from the sea squirt Ciona intestinalis using as a query the elongase sequence PpPSE1 from the moss Physcomitrella patens. The open reading frames of the identified elongase candidates were expressed in yeast for functional characterization. By this, we identified two types of elongases from O. tauri and T. pseudonana: one specific for the elongation of (Delta6-)C18-PUFAs and one specific for (Delta5-)C20-PUFAs, showing highest activity with EPA. The clones isolated from O. mykiss, X. laevis, and C. intestinalis accepted both C18- and C20-PUFAs. By coexpression of the Delta6- and Delta5-elongases from T. pseudonana and O. tauri, respectively, with the Delta5- and Delta4-desaturases from two other algae we successfully implemented DHA synthesis in stearidonic acid-fed yeast. This may be considered an encouraging first step in future efforts to implement this biosynthetic sequence into transgenic oilseed crops.