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Tissue-on-tissue friction testing was used to determine how instillation of hydrophilic polymer-containing formulations between the "blinking" tissues would compare with lubrication by saline, alone, or an oil-emulsion preparation. Best results were obtained for a formulation that contained active demulcents polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) and propylene glycol (PG), as well as a gellable polymer hydroxypropyl guar (HP-Guar) in a borate-buffered solution, in comparison with hydroxypropylcellulose-containing and carboxymethylcellulose-containing formulations. Superior performance of all the formulations was found for lubricating tissue-on-tissue couples, compared with metal-oxide-to-metal oxide interfaces, or metal oxide-to-tissue interfaces. A reciprocating pin-on-disc type friction/wear test device articulated the intimal faces of preserved human umbilical cord vein segments under increasing loads during simulated continuous "eye-blinking" with addition of increasing weights up to 60 g/cm2, simulating maximal eyelid force on the orbital globe. The tissue-on-tissue couples moved from liquid phase lubrication to boundary lubrication. After residual formulations were rinsed away with saline, persistence of low friction at the highest loads was indicative of formulation substantivity. Human umbilical cord vein segments were utilized in saline-wetted tissue-on-tissue couples that showed variable starting coefficients of friction in the range 0.2-0.4, producing moderate tearing and disruption of the interfacial layers above the medial collagen zone. The best-performing formulations instilled to the tissues pre-wetted with saline apparently reacted separately with each tissue face to produce a lower final and persistent coefficient of friction of about 0.05. Scanning electron microscopy and light microscopy of these guar-modified tissue specimens showed only a few superficial tissue disruptions, and some interphase swelling consistent with polymer uptake. The frictional values for lubricated couples having non-tissue members were considerably higher than the coefficients of friction measured for the similarly lubricated tissue-on-tissue couples, emphasizing the requirement that appropriate simulations are critical to obtaining clinically predictive data., (Copyright 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

J-proteins and Hsp70 chaperones function together in diverse cellular processes. We identified a cytosolic J-protein, Jjj1, of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that is associated with 60S ribosomal particles. Unlike Zuo1, a 60S subunit-associated J-protein that is a component of the chaperone machinery that binds nascent polypeptide chains upon their exit from the ribosome, Jjj1 plays a role in ribosome biogenesis. Cells lacking Jjj1 have phenotypes very similar to those lacking Rei1, a ribosome biogenesis factor associated with pre-60S ribosomal particles in the cytosol. Jjj1 stimulated the ATPase activity of the general cytosolic Hsp70 Ssa, but not Ssb, Zuo1's ribosome-associated Hsp70 partner. Overexpression of Jjj1, which is normally approximately 40-fold less abundant than Zuo1, can partially rescue the phenotypes of cells lacking Zuo1 as well as cells lacking Ssb. Together, these results are consistent with the idea that Jjj1 normally functions with Ssa in a late, cytosolic step of the biogenesis of 60S ribosomal subunits. In addition, because of its ability to bind 60S subunits, we hypothesize that Jjj1, when overexpressed, is able to partially substitute for the Zuo1:Ssb chaperone machinery by recruiting Ssa to the ribosome, facilitating its interaction with nascent polypeptide chains.

The adhesion of six fouling organisms: the barnacle Balanus eburneus, the gastropod mollusc Crepidulafornicata, the bivalve molluscs Crassostrea virginica and Ostrea/Dendrostrea spp., and the serpulid tubeworms Hydroides dianthus and H. elegans, to 12 silicone fouling-release surfaces was examined. Removal stress (adhesion strength) varied among the fouling species and among the surfaces. Principal component analysis of the removal stress data revealed that the fouling species fell into two distinct groups, one comprising the bivalve molluscs and tubeworms, and the other the barnacle and the gastropod mollusc. None of the silicone materials generated a minimum in removal stress for all the organisms tested, although several surfaces produced low adhesion strengths for both groups of species. These results suggest that fouling-release materials do not rank (in terms of adhesion strength) identically for all fouling organisms, and thus development of a globally-effective hull coating will continue to require testing against a diversity of encrusting species.

A small library of hydraphiles has been prepared that incorporates either 1,4-phenylenedioxy or 2,6-naphthalenedioxy within the spacer chains. The side chains attached to the distal macrocycles in these tris(macrocyclic) compounds are either n-dodecyl or benzyl. The presence of the arenes subunits significantly affect sodium cation release from vesicles. The efficacy of ion transport is paralleled by the toxicity of these compounds to Bacillus subtilis.

Hybrid sol-gel-derived xerogel films prepared from 45/55 (mol ratio) n-propyltrimethoxysilane (C3-TMOS)/tetramethylorthosilane (TMOS), 2/98 (mol ratio) bis[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]-ethylenediamine (enTMOS)/tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS), 50/50 (mol ratio) n-octyltriethoxysilane (C8-TEOS)/TMOS, and 50/50 (mol ratio) 3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane (TFP-TMOS)/TMOS were found to inhibit settlement of zoospores of the marine fouling alga Ulva (syn. Enteromorpha) relative to settlement on acid-washed glass and give greater release of settled zoospores relative to glass upon exposure to pressure from a water jet. The more hydrophobic 50/50 C8-TEOS/TMOS xerogel films had the lowest critical surface tension by comprehensive contact angle analysis and gave significantly greater release of 8-day Ulva sporeling biomass after exposure to turbulent flow generated by a flow channel than the other xerogel surfaces or glass. The 50/50 C8-TEOS/TMOS xerogel was also a fouling release surface for juveniles of the tropical barnacle Balanus amphitrite. X-ray photon electron data indicated that the alkylsilyl residues of the C3-TMOS-, C8-TEOS-, and TFP-TMOS-containing xerogels were located on the surface of the xerogel films (in a vacuum), which contributes to the film hydrophobicity. Similarly, the amine-containing silyl residues of the enTMOS/TEOS films were located at the surface of the xerogel films, which contributes to the more hydrophilic character and increased critical surface tension of these films.

Three insertion elements were previously found in a family of germ line-limited mobile elements, the Tlr elements, in the ciliate Tetrahymena. Each of the insertions contains an open reading frame (ORF). Sequence analysis of the deduced proteins encoded by the elements suggests that they are homing endonucleases. The genes are designated TIE1-1, TIE2-1, and TIE3-1 for Tetrahymena insertion-homing endonuclease. The endonuclease motif occupies the amino terminal half of each TIE protein. The C-terminal regions of the proteins are similar to the APETELA2 DNA binding domain of plant transcription factors. The TIE1 and TIE3 elements belong to families of repeated sequences in the germ line micronuclear genome. Comparison of the genes and the deduced proteins they encode suggests that there are at least two distinct families of homing endonuclease genes, each of which appears to be preferentially associated with a specific region of the Tlr elements. The TIE1 and TIE3 elements and their cognates undergo programmed elimination from the developing somatic macronucleus of Tetrahymena. The possible role of homing endonuclease-like genes in the DNA breakage step in developmentally programmed DNA elimination in Tetrahymena is discussed., (Copyright 2004 American Society for Microbiology)

We report on a 17-year-old boy who developed a marked increase in serum creatine kinase (CK) (9743 U/l) during treatment with risperidone for catatonic psychosis. Known causes of elevated CK such as delirium, malignant neuroleptic syndrome, infection, cocaine overdose, trauma, and intramuscular injections were ruled out. Vital signs remained always within the normal range. On discontinuation of risperidone, serum CK concentrations returned to 105 U/l within 1 week and remained within normal limits. While a transient moderate increase in CK activity at admission may be related to acute psychosis, risperidone seems to be the causative agent for the later marked elevation. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of risperidone-associated elevation of serum CK in an adolescent. While discontinuation of risperidone does not seem necessary in patients with a moderate increase of serum CK, withdrawal of neuroleptics is warranted in more severe cases.

276 treatment records of patients who were undergoing high-frequent, outpatient, individual, psychoanalytic therapy were analysed with respect to the prevalence and patterns of childhood sexual abuse in the history of these patients. 22.8% of all patients experienced narrowly defined sexual abuse during childhood (the end of the 17th year); additionally, 35.2% of all patients reported minor forms of sexually abusive experiences. The gender distribution, the age at onset of sexual abuse, and the relationship to the perpetrator were analysed. Looking at psychoanalytic diagnoses, a significant correlation between a history of childhood sexual abuse and a diagnosis of hysterical neurosis was found.

Amalgam remains the primary dental restorative for nearly 200,000,000 Indonesians. Ground occlusal dentin surfaces of 140 formaldehyde-treated human molars were used to study shear strengths of different adhesive bonds (40: Syntac/Variolink, 40: Amalgambond Plus (AP), 40: AP+microfibre, and 20: Amalcoden) to a spherical high-copper amalgam (Valiant, Ivoclar NA). After 24 h at 37 degrees C/100 RH, restorations were stored for 7 d under one of four different conditions (all 37 degrees C) : A, 100% RH; B, deionized water; C, 0.9% NaCl solution; D, saliva electrolyte solution. Amalcoden-treated samples were exposed to conditions A and B only. ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis (P<0.05) were applied. For any single storage condition, AP+microfibre bond strengths were significantly greater than those for other agents tested. Storage condition was a significant variable only for the AP+microfibre; weaker bond strengths were observed for saline-stored samples. Improvement of restorative-to-dentin interfaces, eliminating pulp sensitivity, can result from aldehyde pre-treatment of teeth, as well as from the use of microfibre-filled Amalgambond Plus. These results illustrate the importance of "stabilization" of the entire interphase.

Three areas of psychotherapy research can be delimited of which differential efficiency research promises to be the most fruitful, because it will eventually inform us which interventions with what kind of patient and what kind of problem will be the most constructive. One problem it can solve is the so-called equivalence paradox. This epitheton designates the fact, that in spite of the enormous differences in theory and interventions between the different kinds of psychotherapies, their results are not remarkably divergent. One quite popular hypothesis is that this is due to common factors, commun to any and every kind of psychotherapy. Our results indicate that this explanation is too simplistic because it uses a monosubstance-doses-effect-relationship model and disregards interaction. One other avenue is the relevant events approach. Our examples yield equivocal results. Nevertheless this remains a promising field of investigation. Finally there are time series analyses which are probably most germane to the field of psychotherapies. One illustration with a case of negative psychotherapy outcome is presented. Time series analysis is able to show that the patient changed to a negativistic attitude in the middle of session, whereas the psychoanalyst only changed at the beginning of session 10 respectively in its middle.

Our investigation assays if (i) the patient's thematization of and (ii) the attained degree of psychological clarification of "critical incidents" (sensu Rice & Saperia) covariate with favourable outcomes of psychotherapies. The sample consisted of 16 short psychotherapies (maximum 30 sessions), half of which treated with client centered (= CC) and the other half with psychodynamic (= PT) psychotherapy. These had been classified in a previous investigation (on the basis of questionnaire scores in 5 points in time, covering 12 years) into 8 differing time courses. Significant results are: "Critical incidents" were more often found in PT than in CC, reciprocally "psychological clarification" was higher in CC. In sessions rated "good" and in the 10 "ameliorating" time courses "critical incidents" were more frequent than in their respective countergroup. A crass exception was furnished by the "deteriorating" subgroup's quite high frequencies.

Normal fibroblasts and epithelial tumor cells were challenged by exposure for 24 hours to extracts of a pure metal, a metal alloy, and a polymer used in facial reconstruction to assess cellular growth effects. While none of these materials significantly altered fibroblast growth rates, poly-L-lactide inhibited carcinoma cell growth at 5.0% extract concentration. No carcinoma cell growth effects were seen from exposure to stainless steel or commercially pure titanium extracts.

Thomas and Schmitz claim that they "deliver a proof for the effectiveness of humanistic methods" (p. 25) with their study. However, they did not or were not able to verify their claim due to several reasons: The authors did not say if and if so to what extent the treatments carried out within the framework of the TK-regulation were treatments using humanistic methods. The validity of the only criterium used by the authors, the average duration of the inability to work, must be questioned. The inferential statistical treatment of the data is insufficient; a non-parametrical evaluation is necessary. Especially missing are personal details concerning the treatment groups (age, sex, occupation, method, duration and frequency of therapy), which are indispensable for a differentiated interpretation. In addition there are numerous formal faults (wrong quotations, mistakes in tables, unclear terms etc.). In view of this criticism we come to the conclusion that the results are to a large degree worthless, at least until several of our objections have been refuted by further information and adequate inferential statistical methods. This study is especially unsuitable to prove a however defined "effectiveness of out-patient psychotherapies", therefore also not suitable to prove the effectiveness of those treatments conducted within the framework of the TK-regulation and especially not suitable to prove the superiority of humanistic methods in comparison with psychoanalytic methods and behavioural therapy.

The longitudinal data of five psychotherapies, collected during the Hamburg Short Psychotherapy Comparison Experiment, were statistically reviewed by the method of time series analysis. The intention of the single case studies was to describe the therapist-patient-interactions in details for acquiring greater knowledge of the therapeutical process. The items to study were obtained by ratings. Although there were thirteen nonverbal characteristics of the therapist and the patient as well as one common feature of the relationship between them both. The results did not correspond with the theoretical expectations. There were only few changes in the behaviors of the therapists and the patients and there was little proof of mutual effects in their behaviors during the therapeutical process. Only one of the therapies showed a significant patient's reaction, but it was unexpectedly negativistic. This supports the idea, that the therapist's influence on the patient may not be very strong und may not necessarily be positive. However, there were some severe methodological data problems mainly concerning the applicability of the time series analysis. Nonequidistant measurements as well as the relative shortness of the time series made the validity of the results a topic to be discussed. In dealing with these problems, the necessity of conceptualizing the time structures of psychological processes became evident.

Inductively coupled argon plasma spectroscopic analysis was used to quantify titanium, aluminum, and vanadium corrosion products released by superficial layers of identically shaped commercially pure titanium and Ti-6A1-4V alloy dental implants. Halves of each of two originally sterile groups were analyzed directly from the manufacturer's packaging and the other halves received glow-discharge treatment prior to their corrosion assay. The implants were incubated in pH 3 modified saline solution and were analyzed after 2- and 12-week corrosion periods. Implants treated with glow discharge showed statistically significant reduction in the amounts of corrosion products released, apparently as a result of glow-discharge-produced surface oxides of greater passivity than originally present.

The radiofrequency-stimulated argon gas plasma (glow discharge) technique, already well-known for surface cleaning and activation of adhesion, was investigated for determination of its separate potential for rapid disinfection of dental operative instruments. Disinfection effectiveness was judged from diminished post-treatment recovery of viable organisms from the instruments agitated in saline. Streptococcus salivarius, Bacillus stearothermophilus, and Escherichia coli were used as primary contaminant organisms, dried from gelatin-thickened laboratory cultures onto the instruments and not subjected to any preliminary cleaning steps. Significant disinfection was obtained, with no sensible temperature increases, in under 10 minutes in laboratory apparatus consuming fewer than 5 Watts of power per cycle. Also, clinically used and deliberately-saliva-contaminated high-speed handpieces were gas-discharge-treated, with their resultant rapid disinfection noted by complete suppression of the viability of any transferred natural contaminant organisms within two minutes. With regard to preservation of instrument quality, it was also shown that this low-temperature gas-discharge method provides the noted substantial disinfection without deterioration of sharp edges. Work now in progress suggests that the method can provide cool, rapid, and complete sterilization when hydrogen peroxide vapors are present in the gas plasma used for treatment of instruments first given the normally recommended thorough pre-cleaning.

We report the cases of two patients who developed cranial nerve palsies after drinking ethylene glycol. A 33-year-old man developed multiple cranial nerve deficits nine days after the ingestion of ethylene glycol in a suicide attempt. Clinical findings included profound bilateral cranial nerve VII palsies and severe dysfunction of cranial nerves IX and X. The neuropathy occurred despite treatment with hemodialysis. The dysphagia completely cleared within two weeks, but at six months a severe bilateral cranial nerve VII dysfunction persisted. A 22-year-old man undergoing hemodialysis for ethylene glycol-induced renal failure developed bilateral cranial nerve VII dysfunction 14 days after ingestion. At a three-month follow-up, the patient demonstrated only moderate functional recovery. The etiology of the cranial nerve deficits is unknown but may be related to oxalate crystal deposition of ethylene glycol-induced pyridoxine dysfunction.

From 1981 to 1983 a special project on anorexia nervosa was granted within "Sonderforschungsbereich 115" (Hamburg--West Germany). We want to give a review of those aspects of our studies which led us to a therapeutic concept for severely affected inpatients. Starting in the diagnostic field with problems of motivation and alexithymia we turn to psychodynamic subgroups, mention the studies of endocrinology, the Self-structure and the father-types, continue with epidemiologic studies as a device of interpreting pathologic phenomena. Concerning our therapeutic investigations--basing on a long-term follow-up--we report on therapeutic elements, results, follow-up and a hierarchy in prognostic factors of our in-patient treatment. In a critical survey of the results we finally discuss therapeutic recommendations.

Due to historical developments the structure and function of German Psychosomatics is unique in the world. Hence, to predict its future is difficult. There is the intimate conjunction of psycho-somatics with psychotherapy and the mandatory teaching of this combination to medical students, so that every medical school has to have a corresponding department and that most of these are psychoanalytically orientated. Medical care insurances finance psycho-therapy to a degree unknown in any other country. Then, in excess of the 700 beds for psychosomatics/psychotherapy in university and communal hospitals, the FRG provides another 4000 beds which are legally, financially and geographically separated from the former. Epidemiological data show that in spite of the above average out-patient financing many patients in need are not treated psychotherapeutically until their working capacity is reduced by which they become subject to another (and separate) legal system: The law of rehabilitation the measures of which are financed by the federal or state pension funds. At this late stage only in-patient psychosomatic treatment has some chance of rehabilitation. Hence, in cooperation with private entrepreneurs or non-profit organizations the above-mentioned over 4000 additional beds were provided. Two examples show that the effects of psychotherapy with somatic illness (myocardial infarction and metastatic cancer) are remarkable but discrete and their full impact can only been seen after several years. These features probably explain the habitual underestimation of psychotherapy in medicine.

The fact that the gross outcomes of quite different forms of psychotherapy do not differ accordingly has been attributed to the existence of factors communal to any and every form of psychotherapy. For empirical study this thesis has to be dichotomized: (1) Are there really communal factors? (2) Do these engender communal effects in different therapies? Our empirical investigation of client-centered versus psycho-dynamic short psychotherapy shows that (1) is correct, however, the frequencies of these communal element often differ significantly between the two therapy samples. The results and (2) show that in spite of communality the correlation between a certain process category and an outcome variable regularly only attains significance in one but not the other therapy sample--sometimes they even show contrary signs. Hence the initially described explanation seems to be yet another myth in psychotherapy research. This myth assumes (i) interventions to be "monosubstances" (ii) the "doses" of which can be adequately measured in frequency per time unit and (iii) which shows a monotone relation to outcome.

In a series of 756 glutaraldehyde-stabilized umbilical vein grafts implanted over a 7 1/2-year period, aneurysms were identified in seven cases. The earliest aneurysm was seen at 31 months after implantation and the remainder between 43 and 79 months after surgery. Corrective surgery was performed in five cases and succeeded in four. Although definite mechanisms have not been identified, mechanical fatigue, reversal of aldehyde crosslinks, and immunologic factors may be operative. The pathologic changes include: (1) actual dilation of both graft and mesh with or without intraluminal thrombus and, (2) maintenance of graft diameter with erosion of the umbilical vein and polyester mesh rupture leading to perigraft hematoma and false aneurysm formation. Microscopic examination and infrared spectral analysis confirmed the presence of host-contributed lipid in some specimens. Although this is a low incidence of aneurysm formation, umbilical vein grafts should be selected primarily for patients with limited life expectancy or for whom alternative materials with comparable or superior patency rates are not available or acceptable. Periodic angiography, particularly after 3 or 4 years, is recommended as a routine part of follow-up examinations. Improved graft materials and control of host environmental factors are potential means to reduce the noted degradation.

We are reporting about the stability of n = 218 female in-patient treatments of Anorexia nervosa carried out at the University Clinic at Hamburg-Eppendorf from 1965 to 1979 mainly by a special program: introductory interview (with the family present), in-patient medical treatment (bed-rest, phenothiazines, tube-feeding), strict regimen and addressing the patients' conflict situation. The average interval between the end of therapy and the follow-up examination was 9.8 years. We were able to collect data about 93 per cent (n = 202) of the former patients concerning their somatic, psychological and psychosocial status. Based on these data we could assess 30 patients (14 per cent of our basic sample) as free of symptoms while 84 patients (39 per cent) presented slight symptoms so that 53 per cent of the former patients could exercise their profession without being considerably handicapped and able to keep up a relationship with a partner. On the other hand, 39 patients (18 per cent) still showed marked symptoms at follow-up and with 19 patients (9 per cent) there were manifestations of severe or extreme symptoms. Thirty former patients (14 per cent) had died with the mortality rate distinctly increasing over the years. Possible interpretations of our results and consequences for therapy are presented.

As animal experiments are no adequate substitute, clinical research in psychosomatics is indispensable. In this domain the complexities of the human mind engender a host of pitfalls. Five of these are illustrated by concrete examples, and countermeasures are discussed. Patient selection processes must be evaded by field studies or be elucidated and described carefully. Observer influence is circumvened by non-obtrusive measurement or by keeping subjects 'naive'. The choice of variables to be studied is an open-ended venture. Instead of adhering to the homogeneity myth, we should search for clinically relevant subgroups. The post-propter problem needs more prospective studies.

Human blood platelet clustering and retention in vitro induced by medical grade Cuprophane and Silastic and by non-medical grade polyethylene and Mylar, are discussed. The influence of synthetic compounds on polymer-induced platelet clustering and retention has been evaluated, interpreted in terms of physicochemical parameters, and correlated with ADP- and human alpha-trombin-stimulated aggregation; the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient for a series of bis (alkylnipecotoylamino) alkanes was computed at r = 0.98 between (i) mylar-induced cluster formation and (ii) ADP-effected aggregation, and at r = 0.94 in corresponding correlations with thrombin as an inducing agent. All experiments were carried out in vitro. Due to the paucity of polymer specimens meeting the stipulated specifications, several evaluations had to be limited to triplicate and duplicate determinations.

Samples of mixed saliva and of parotid and sublingual/submandibular saliva fractions from four donors were subjected to instantaneous solidification in liquid nitrogen followed by sectioning in a microtome/cryostat. The sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, Alcian blue, Oil-red-O, or Sudan Black B and then examined at the light-microscopic level. In all the sectioned samples several previously never described features were observed, the most pronounced of which were a loose overall network structure and collections of lipoid droplets often in a loose arrangement. In the mixed saliva sample sections many of the microorganism-like structures were observed in large bunches associated with epithelial cells and densely staining saliva components. The present method was tested in a series of experiments for possible errors.

In 1971/72 eighty-seven psychoneurotic and psychosomatic patients of the Psychosomatic Outpatient Department at the University Clinic of Hamburg-Eppendorf attained an indication for short-term psychotherapy. Nineteen patients did not accept our offer despite a sufficient prognosis; they form the nontreated control group. The remaining 68 patients were assigned at random to a psychodynamic conflict-centered (n = 34) or to a client-centered therapy (n = 34), each with a maximum of 30 sessions. In spite of this long interval of 12 years we gained information about 82.5% of our patients. The follow-up program consisted of a multidimensional approach to describe the posttreatment development of our patients: psychological tests, self-rating by the patient and assessments by the follow-up interviewer and independent ratings of experts. The efficacy of short psychotherapy is seen in the test scale 'extraversion' for both treatment groups, for 'depression' only for the client-centered therapy; for the psychodynamic therapy there is a tendency for late changes. The clinical ratings show no significant differences between the treatment and the control groups. Sex combination in the therapeutic dyads (i.e. same sex vs. opposite sex) is important for patients' posttherapeutic development.

(1) Our intake sample (n = 214) shows the well-known preponderance of upper-middle and middle class; however, in our case this selection is wholly independent from the influence of psychotherapists. Mean 'duration of problem' was over 10 years for 31% and from 5 to 10 years for another 18%. The intake sample deviated significantly in 'pathological' direction in every one of the 12 test scale means of the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI) from the population means. (2) Comparisons of the averse (i.e. to psychotherapy) subsample versus the affine group yielded cues that the former sample was a bit less ill and came from a less sophisticated background. The averse sample had a near normal arithmetic mean in 'verbal fluency' whereas its affine counter group was significantly higher. Therapy refusers (a subgroup of the averse) were less ill and had more often come 'on their own' than the 3 other subsamples. Therapy completers (a subgroup of the affine) were more often married and had a higher proportion of patients with a very long (10 years) 'duration of problem'. (3) Therapists' selection of candidates for psychotherapy operated through prognostic predictions for the intake sample. The prognoses of the CC predictors were significantly more optimistic than those of the PT prognosticians. In regard to psychological tests both CC and PT prognostically favoured 'manifest anxious' and 'inhibited' (socially anxious) patients. This communal nucleus is expanded for PT to include less sociable but not undercontrolled patients, whereas CC prognosticians favoured depressed, inferior feeling, but more verbally intelligent patients with less psychosomatic instability. Thus, except perhaps for the CC therapists preferring verbal intelligence, our prognosticians resisted the famous attraction of the YAVIS patient (Y = young, A = attractive, V = verbal, I = intelligent, S = successful) [Goldstein, 1977 p. 6]. (4) Lot assignment achieved a random distribution. There is a nonsignificant tendency for the immediate therapy sample to be a bit more disturbed than the waiting group. The patients filling out session questionnaires might be a bit more disturbed than those not asked to fill these in.

There are empirical indications that the well-known weaknesses of the different psychosomatic specificity theorems are linked to their presupposition of a one-to-one relationship between one specific psychosocial configuration and one definite disease entity. An alternative conceptualization is offered: The majority of the psychosocial phenomena found within a definite disease entity fall into a small group of perhaps half a dozen different patterns. Only a minority of cases show a high variation with many different patterns - some even individually unique. This alternative concept demands different research strategies and methods which are provided by taxometrics. This is illustrated with examples from a follow-up study of anorexia nervosa.

The objective of this study was to determine whether detectable differences exist in the initial process of tissue incorporation of implant materials of different original surface energies. Our earlier work focused on materials implanted for days to months; the experiments reported here addressed the initial 2 hours of implantation. Surface-treated metal implants were placed in the fascial plane in the back of New Zealand white rabbits for 5 minutes to 2 hours. Prior to implantation, the metal plates were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, ellipsometry, and contact potential methods; the same analytical techniques, as well as scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measurements were applied to the explanted samples. No significant cellular adhesion was observed within the first 2 hours of implantation. Films rich in lipids and proteins were detected on the implants, however, within 5 minutes. There is good evidence for specific film differentiation as a function of differing initial substratum surface energies.

Both for research and for training in psychoanalysis psychoanalytic dialogues must be made publicly accessible. With traditional procedures (supervision, case seminars, publications) condensations are inevitable, for which, however, no binding rules exist. Empirical research results are quoted to show that these condensations are highly selective. We cannot see any immediately plausible external criteria to decide which kinds of selective condensations are justified and which are not. Heimann's conceptualisations of the three "positions" within which psychoanalysts function as therapists is introduced to explain why analysts especially fail to report their own interpretations. If one tries to evade the devil of selective condensation by audio-recording, one falls into the deep blue sea of the "systematic acoustic deficit". Of the "running commentary" within the analyst only the small part which is uttered as therapeutic intervention can be registered acoustically. From a discussion of the problems analysts and patients experience with audiorecordings it is argued that the analyst/patient dyads consenting to this procedure are a systematic sample and thus not representative for the total of analysts and their patients. Finally a research program is presented which tries to partly fill the systematic acoustic deficit by gathering "proning retrospectives". The latter are spoken by the analyst after each "proning" (= session) on the same cassette which recorded the therapy. In a free part the analyst free associates. In a second, the "intervention explication" part the analyst identifies roughly 3 "important" interventions and tries to formulate for each its source, its purpose and the point in time when he had conceived his formulation. An evaluation design for thus gathered information is described.

This investigation developed experimental evidence for the influence of different surface energy states on tissue incorporation of biomedical materials. Implants of two smooth metals, each with three different surface energy states, were placed in the subdermal fascial plane of the backs of New Zealand White rabbits and were allowed healing times of 10 and 20 days. The implant surfaces were thoroughly characterized by physical-chemical criteria prior to surgical placement and again following removal from the tissue capsules generated by the host animals. Quantitative histopathologic analysis, using standard morphometric criteria, of the adjacent tissues revealed up to a threefold increase of fibroblastic-fibrocytic cells against the initially scrupulously cleaned, high-surface-energy materials. The cells were flattened and active, producing tenacious bonds through a thin pre-adsorbed protein-dominated "conditioning" film, that could be broken only by cohesive failure in the tissue itself. In contrast, the lower-surface-energy materials typical of standard dental implants were "walled off" by a cell-poor, nonadhesive capsule with a fibrous interface separated from a thicker "conditioning" film by a lipid-rich mucus zone. The advantages of proper surface treatment to favor the desired degree of biological adhesion are apparent.

Prior to implantation trials in animals, the effect of steam sterilization on the surface properties of metallic and coated biomaterials was studied. Pure germanium plates and cast surgical Vitallium discs and subperiosteal implants were treated to present three standard types of biomaterials surfaces prior to steam sterilization, ranging from scrupulously clean, high-energy metals to uniformly low-energy organic layers. Both before and after sterilization, the sample surfaces were characterized by a variety of nondestructive physiochemical techniques. The results indicate that steam sterilization is likely to compromise the properties of otherwise carefully prepared biomedical implants by depositing hydrophobic organic and hygroscopic salt contaminants over the implant surfaces.