Acceptance and commitment therapy as an adjunct to the MOVE! programme: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: The current study tested the efficacy of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) group intervention for disinhibited eating behaviour as an adjunct to the Veterans Affairs MOVE!© weight management programme. METHODS: Veterans (N = 88) with overweight or obesity who completed the MOVE! weight management programme and self-identified as having problems with 'stress-related eating' were randomized to four 2-h weekly ACT sessions or a continued behavioural weight-loss (BWL) intervention. Assessments were completed at baseline, post-treatment and 3- and 6-month follow-up on outcomes of interest including measures of disinhibited eating patterns, obesity-related quality of life, weight-related experiential avoidance and weight. RESULTS: The BWL group exhibited significantly greater reductions in binge eating behaviour at post-treatment compared with the ACT group. Significant improvements in other outcomes were found with minimal differences between groups. In both groups, decreases in weight-related experiential avoidance were related to improvements in binge eating behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the continued BWL intervention resulted in larger improvements in binge eating behaviour than the ACT intervention. The two groups showed similar improvements in other disinhibited eating outcomes. Future studies are encouraged to determine if more integrated or longer duration of ACT treatment may maximize eating outcomes in MOVE.Trial Registration Number: This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov database (NCT01757847).

An analysis of Pseudomonas genomic diversity in take-all infected wheat fields reveals the lasting impact of wheat cultivars on the soil microbiota.

Manipulation of the soil microbiota associated with crop plants has huge promise for the control of crop pathogens. However, to fully realize this potential we need a better understanding of the relationship between the soil environment and the genes and phenotypes that enable microbes to colonize plants and contribute to biocontrol. A recent 2 years of investigation into the effect of wheat variety on second year crop yield in the context of take-all fungal infection presented the opportunity to examine soil microbiomes under closely defined field conditions. Amplicon sequencing of second year soil samples showed that Pseudomonas spp. were particularly affected by the wheat cultivar grown in year one. Consequently, 318 rhizosphere-associated Pseudomonas fluorescens strains were isolated and characterized across a variety of genetic and phenotypic traits. Again, the wheat variety grown in the first year of the study was shown to exert considerable selective pressure on both the extent and nature of Pseudomonas genomic diversity. Furthermore, multiple significant correlations were identified within the phenotypic/genetic structure of the Pseudomonas population, and between individual genotypes and the external wheat field environment. The approach outlined here has considerable future potential for our understanding of plant-microbe interactions, and for the broader analysis of complex microbial communities.

Water Sensitive Urban Design retrofits in Copenhagen - 40% to the sewer, 60% to the city.

Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is emerging in Denmark. This interdisciplinary desk study investigated the options for WSUD retrofitting in a 15 km(2) combined sewer catchment area in Copenhagen. The study was developed in collaboration with the City of Copenhagen and its water utility, and involved researchers representing hydrogeology, sewer hydraulics, environmental chemistry/economics/engineering, landscape architecture and urban planning. The resulting catchment strategy suggests the implementation of five sub-strategies. First, disconnection is focused within sites that are relatively easy to disconnect, due to stormwater quality, soil conditions, stakeholder issues, and the provision of unbuilt sites. Second, stormwater runoff is infiltrated in areas with relatively deep groundwater levels at a ratio that doesn't create a critical rise in the groundwater table to the surface. Third, neighbourhoods located near low-lying streams and public parks are disconnected from the sewer system and the sloping terrain is utilised to convey runoff. Fourth, the promotion of coherent blue and green wedges in the city is linked with WSUD retrofits and urban climate-proofing. Fifth, WSUD is implemented with delayed and regulated overflows to the sewer system. The results are partially adopted by the City of Copenhagen and currently under pilot testing.

[Cefixime therapy in patients with proven gonorrhea]. / Cefiximtherapie bei Patienten mit nachgewiesener Gonorrhoe.

Cefixime is a new third generation oral cephalosporin that exhibits excellent antibacterial activity against Neisseria gonorrhoeae, including beta-lactamase-positive strains. In an open uncontrolled clinical trial 14 male patients suffering from acute gonorrhea, aged 23 to 48 years, were treated with a single dose of 400 mg of cefixime. All 13 fully evaluable patients were clinically and bacteriologically cured. Side effects were not reported.

A new method for the estimation of C3d. Affinity clearance of C-determinant-bearing C3 molecules and fragments followed by estimation of C3d by ELISA.

A method is described to quantitate human complement fragment C3d. Test samples were treated with a predetermined excess of anti-C3c-Sepharose beads in the presence of EDTA to remove all the C-determinant-bearing C3 molecules or fragments. C3d left in the supernatant was then estimated by ELISA. Using this method, C3d could be estimated accurately in normal plasma samples. A good correlation (r = 0.93) was observed between C3d values obtained by this method and values obtained by the widely used method of Perrin and coworkers. The average C3d plasma concentration was 2.8 mg/l (SD = 0.7 mg/l, n = 21). The interassay coefficient of variation using a normal plasma pool (C3d 2.7 mg/l) was 8.3% and using normal plasma pools in which the C3d concentrations were raised to 10.3 and 17.4 mg/l by the addition of aged normal serum the levels were 8.0 and 7.5% respectively. Intra-assay coefficients of variation with these samples were 4.6, 3.0 and 2.8%, respectively. 16 patients with renal dysfunction had C3d levels in the range of 4.3-10.0 mg/l and 15 patients undergoing continued ambulant peritoneal dialysis had levels of 3.3-12.2 mg/l. The C3d content in peritoneal dialysate of patients undergoing dialysis varied from 9.3 to 383 micrograms/l.

[Treatment of gonorrhea with spectinomycin and penicillin]. / Die Behandlung der Gonorrhoe mit Spectinomycin und Penicillin.

In an open clinical trial, spectinomycin and penicillin G were compared with regard to clinical efficacy, side effects, as well as bacteriological sensitivity in patients suffering from acute gonorrhea. The study was concerned with 176 female patients of a harbor medical practice who were frequently changing partners. 87 out of these patients were treated with spectinomycin, 89 of them with penicillin G. Smear specimens of all patients were tested microscopically; in addition, we performed bacteriological tests (as agar diffusion test, tube dilution test, beta-lactamase test). Both spectinomycin and penicillin showed a good clinical efficacy, except for one case of resistance against penicillin. Afterwards, this patient was successfully treated with spectinomycin. Apart from intermittent pain in the injection area, no side effects have been reported in either group of patients.