Species- and sex-specific chemical composition from an internal gland-like tissue of an African frog family.

Intraspecific chemical communication in frogs is understudied and the few published cases are limited to externally visible and male-specific breeding glands. Frogs of the family Odontobatrachidae, a West African endemic complex of five morphologically cryptic species, have large, fatty gland-like strands along their lower mandible. We investigated the general anatomy of this gland-like strand and analysed its chemical composition. We found the strand to be present in males and females of all species. The strand varies in markedness, with well-developed strands usually found in reproductively active individuals. The strands are situated under particularly thin skin sections, the vocal sac in male frogs and a respective area in females. Gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis revealed that the strands contain sex- and species-specific chemical profiles, which are consistent across geographically distant populations. The profiles varied between reproductive and non-reproductive individuals. These results indicate that the mandibular strands in the Odontobatrachidae comprise a so far overlooked structure (potentially a gland) that most likely plays a role in the mating and/or breeding behaviour of the five Odontobatrachus species. Our results highlight the relevance of multimodal signalling in anurans, and indicate that chemical communication in frogs may not be restricted to sexually dimorphic, apparent skin glands.

[Development of a self-report questionnaire for the measurement of stigmatizing attitudes of the psychiatric staff towards patients with borderline personality disorder]. / Entwicklung eines Selbstauskunftsfragebogens zur Erfassung stigmatisierender Einstellungen des psychiatrischen Personals gegenüber Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung.

OBJECTIVE: The development of a self-report questionnaire for quantitative measurement of stigmatizing attitudes of the psychiatric staff towards patients with borderline personality disorder. METHOD: Online survey with psychiatrists, psychologists and nursing staff (n=94) in the (semi-)stationary psychiatric sector with translated items of an attitude questionnaire, followed by a principal component analysis and correlations between principal components and social distance. RESULTS: Analyses revealed a 4-principal component structure (BPD-treatment difficulties, BPD-assessment of suicide risk, BPD-assumption of manipulative tendencies, BPD-negative emotions) with 63,60% explained variance and small to large correlations between principal components and social distance. CONCLUSION: Results initially indicate possible validity and reliability of the developed questionnaire. Further analyses with larger sample size and confirmatory factor analysis for continued development are advised.

Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the sediments and their impacts on bacterial community structure: A case study of Bamen Bay in China.

Heavy metal pollution associated with human activity is of big concern in tropical bays. Microorganisms may be highly sensitive to heavy metals. Nonetheless, little is known about effects of heavy metals on microbial structure in tropical bay sediments. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and potential ecological risk index analysis were used to analyze the relationships between nine metals (arsenic, lead, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel) and bacterial communities in the sediments of Bamen Bay, China. Our results showed that Bamen Bay was under a considerable ecological risk and cadmium had the highest monomial potential ecological risk. In addition, individual metal contamination correlated with bacterial community composition but not with bacterial α-diversity. Arsenic was the metal influencing bacterial community structure the most. Our findings provide a novel insight into the monitoring and remediation of heavy metal pollution in tropical bays.

[Are Especially Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder Stigmatised by Psychiatric Nurses?] / Werden besonders Patienten mit einer Persönlichkeitsstörung vom Borderline-Typ durch das psychiatrische Pflegepersonal stigmatisiert?

OBJECTIVE: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) appears to be the most stigmatized diagnosis among personality disorders. This study aims to assess attitudes of psychiatric nurses towards patients with BPD compared to patients with depressive disorder. METHOD: 37 psychiatric nurses were randomized to an experimental between-subject design, in form of two questionnaires with different vignettes. The vignettes examined main outcomes such as negative attitudes, social distance and emotional reactions. RESULTS: Significant moderate to large differences in terms of social distance (p = 0.033, d = -0.736) and single emotional reactions towards patients with BPD (p = 0.017, d = 0.82), e. g. "I have compassion with her" were found. CONCLUSION: Patients with BPD have a substantial need for support. Quality and standards of inpatient care of patients with a BPS disorder can only guaranteed by giving adequate information about the causes of the disorder and professional treatment of the patients. Personnel must be trained to be able to cope with the specifics of the symptoms in BPD patients.