Leaf trait modification in European beech trees in response to climatic and edaphic drought.

Leaf morphological and physiological traits control the carbon and water relations of mature trees and are determinants of drought tolerance, but it is not well understood how they are modified in response to water deficits. We analysed five sun-canopy leaf traits (mean leaf size (LS), specific leaf area (SLA), Huber value (HV), water potential at turgor loss point (Ψtlp ) and foliar carbon isotope signature (δ13 C)) in European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) across three precipitation gradients sampled in moist (2010), dry (2019) and very dry (2018) summers, and tested their response to short-term water deficits (climatic water balance (CWB) preceding sample collection) and long-term water availability (mean annual precipitation (MAP), plant-available soil water capacity (AWC) and neighbourhood competition). Across the 34 sites, LS varied seven-fold (3.9-27.0 cm2 ), SLA four-fold (77.1-306.9 cm²·g-1 ) and HV six-fold (1.0-6.65 cm2 ·m-2 ). In the 2018 dataset, LS showed a negative and HV a positive relationship to MAP, which contradicts relations found in multi-species samples. Average Ψtlp ranged from -1.90 to -2.62 MPa and decreased across the sites with decreasing CWB in the month prior to measurement, as well as with decreasing MAP and AWC in 2019. Studied leaf traits varied considerably between years, suggesting that mast fruiting and the severe 2018 drought caused the formation of smaller leaves. We conclude that sun-canopy leaf traits of European beech exhibit considerable plasticity in response to climatic and edaphic aridity, and that osmotic adjustment may be an important element in the drought response strategy of this anisohydric tree species.

[Patients with ICD-10 disorders F3 and F4 in psychiatric and psychosomatic in-patient units - who is treated where? : Allocation features from the PfAD study]. / Patienten mit Störungen nach ICD-10 F3 und F4 in Psychiatrie und Psychosomatik ­ wer wird wo behandelt? : Merkmale der Zuweisung aus der PfAD-Studie.

BACKGROUND: In Germany, in-patient treatment of patients with depressive, neurotic, anxiety, and somatoform disorders (ICD-10 F3, F4) is carried out in different settings in psychiatry and psychosomatics. Which patient characteristics determine referral to one or the other specialty is a crucial question in mental health policy and is a matter of ongoing controversy. However, comparative data on patient populations are widely lacking. METHODS: In the study of Treatment Pathways of Patients with Anxiety and Depression (PfAD study), a total of 320 patients with ICD-10 F3/F4 clinical diagnoses were consecutively recruited from four treatment settings (psychiatric depression ward, psychiatric crisis intervention ward, psychiatric day hospitals, or psychosomatic hospital units; 80 participants per setting) and investigated. RESULTS: In all treatment settings, patients with considerable severity of illness and chronicity were treated. Female gender, higher education, and higher income predicted referral to psychosomatic units; male gender, transfer from another hospital or emergency hospitalization, co-morbidity with a personality disorder, higher general psychiatric co-morbidity, and danger to self at admission predicted referral to psychiatric unit. Patients in psychosomatic units had neither more psychosomatic disorders nor more somatic problems. DISCUSSION: There is considerable overlap between the clientele of psychiatric and psychosomatic units. Referral and allocation appears to be determined by aspects of severity and social status.

[Forensic psychiatry in Germany. Comparison of different trends of expansion in the different states of Germany]. / Massregelvollzug nach para. 63 StGB. Vergleich der Entwicklungen in den Bundesländern.

BACKGROUND: German forensic psychiatric hospitals are confronted with a continuously increasing number of mentally disordered offenders. It has not yet been studied whether and to what extent this increase varies between individual states of the German republic. Variability would indicate possibilities of regulation. METHODS: We analyzed annual data from the Federal German Office of Statistics on hospital treatment orders (Paragraph 63 German penal code; incidence) and capacity/occupancy of forensic hospitals (prevalence). The observation period included the period from 1993 to 2003. RESULTS: There were noticeable differences in all cross-sectional and longitudinal measures (rates of sentencing/incidence and occupancy/prevalence, slope of incidence growth and prevalence, rates of balancing/discharging). Differences between the federal states increased over the period under observation. CONCLUSIONS: Divergent trends of the German states despite common statutory foundations are indicative of options to control the increase in mentally disordered offenders. Possible causes of the divergent trends are discussed.

[Do low-threshold detoxification units reach new groups of the drug dependent?]. / Erreichen niedrigschwellige Entzugsstationen neue Gruppen von Drogenabhängigen?

The conventional form of detoxication for illicit drug users in German psychiatric hospitals is an inpatient treatment approach connected with high admission prerequisites. These demand a high stage of motivational compliance from of the patients, e.g. the determination to continue with long-term treatment aiming at a life free of drugs. This strategy is termed "high-threshold" approach. A new form of inpatient treatment is the "low-threshold" approach offering intervals of some days or weeks free of drugs to illicit drug users, supported by professional detoxication strategies. This study compares client characteristics of illicit drug users treated at "high-threshold" vs. "low-threshold" units. A new subpopulation of clients could be reached who are more advanced in their drug intake careers and less influenced by social pressure to enter treatment. The differences in clients treated can be explained rather by differences in admission prerequisites than by a more balanced distribution of sexes in the newly introduced detoxication programme.

[Various forms of chronicity in addicted patients at a psychiatric hospital]. / Unterschiedliche Formen der Chronifizierung bei suchtkranken Patienten eines psychiatrischen Krankenhauses.

Developing differential treatments for addicts implies discrimination of clinically relevant subgroups of addicts. It is common practice to classify patients by their capability to engage in an in-patient therapy covering a period of six month on average. This rough classification offers no starting-point to optimize therapeutic strategies especially for patients with only insufficient understanding of and suffering from their disorder (so-called depraved alcoholics). They are rarely motivated to continue therapy. Most patients at the admission ward for addicts at the State Mental Hospital Weissenau belong to that group of patients. Our study enclosed 362 patients from this ward, and we used the varying disease- and treatment-careers, which differ in duration and/or frequency to make up four subgroups of patients according to that different forms of chronicity. The groups differ in a number of social, treatment- and disease-related features. Guided by clinical practice, such a formation of subgroups can be seen as a first step in the identification of subpopulations of chronic addicted. Conclusions how to complete existing medical care and guidance-patterns can be drawn.

Isolation and characterization of soluble cytochrome c-553 and membrane-bound cytochrome f-553 from thylakoids of the green alga Scenedesmus acutus.

Soluble cytochrome c-553 and membrane-bound cytochrome f-553 from the alga Scenedesmus acutus were purified to apparent homogeneity. The properties of cytochrome c-553 are comparable to preparations obtained from other eukaryotic algae, whereas the thylakoid-bound species resembles higher plant cytochrome f. Common characteristics are: 1. An asymmetrical alpha-band at 553 nm. 2. A midpoint redox potential of +38 MV (pH 7.0), with a pH dependency above pH 8.0 of -60mV/pH unit. 3. Formation of a pyridine hemochromogen with a maximum at 550 nm; no adducts with CN- or CO are observed. Distinguishing features are: 1. Cytochrome f-553 has a more complicated beta-band, with maxima at 531.5 and 524 nm, and hence a more complex low-temperature spectrum. Also the positions of the gamma- and delta-bank at 421.5 and 331 nm, respectively, distinguish cytochrome f-553 from cytochrome c-553, with gamma- and delta-bands at 416 and 318 nm. 2. The ferricytochrome c-553 spectrum exhibits a weak band at 692 nm, which is not observed with cytochrome f.