Saliency and context play a role in infants' texture segmentation

We investigated whether young infants orient reliably towards more salient vs. less salient objects in a visual scene. Subjects were tested with stimuli presented on textured fields, one side showing a target stimulus (a 'more salient' or 'less salient' texture patch) and the other a background stimulus. Infants typically preferred the more salient, but not the less salient target. Their behaviour depended on the configuration of the background stimulus. In contrast, 3-4 year-old children always showed a preference for the target stimulus, regardless of the configuration of the background. We conclude that both saliency of a target stimulus and its context play a role in early texture segmentation.     

Genomic imbalances in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines

Genomic imbalances were investigated in 15 T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines using the comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) technique. In addition, in vitro response to the cytostatic drug doxorubicin was evaluated by means of a growth inhibition assay. The number of significant DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) varied from 0 to 16 per cell line and the number of additional alterations with borderline significance was in a range of 0-7. Three of the cell lines had a total number of genomic changes of >/=20, five had 11-19, and eight had 10 nM (BE-13, CCRF-CEM1, HUT-78, J-Jhan, Karpas-45, MOLT-17, and PF-382). The average number of CNAs per cell line was higher in the sensitive than in the resistant group (total 13.1:8.5; significant CNAs 9.1:5.8).     

Coping with PKU: results of narrative interviews with parents

Eleven parents of 8-year-olds suffering from PKU were interviewed about their experiences with the disease. The narrative interview method was selected in order to expose the problems from the parents' angle without infuence through expert prompting. On being notified of the diagnosis after birth, the parents were extremely shocked and went through emotional crises and adjustment problems during the first 12 months. The narcissistic hurt of not having a healthy child was compounded by problems with dietary technique. The behaviour and development of the children themselves were no particular problem. Handling the diet ranked highest among the problems raised by the parents. It turned out that all the parents did not always apply the diet strictly and deviated from it. The underlying reason was a compromise between an ideal attitude towards the diet with the accompanying experience of loss and guilt, and the goal of undisturbed personality development of the child. Discussion groups with therapeutic support are suggested as a way of relieving the burden on the parents.On behalf of a group of psychologists cooperating for the PKU study: S. Börner, B. Granitzny, R. Matthaei, U. Michel, E. Schmidt, A. Stachiw, J. Weglage, and H. Weyhreter     

Toxicity of Chlorate and Chlorite to Selected Species of Algae, Bacteria, and Fungi

The present study confirms that chlorate is toxic only to brown algae and not to species of other ecologically relevant taxa. The brown algaEctocarpus variabilisexhibited a LOEC of 0.005 mM (0.4 mg ClO⁻₃/liter) and an LC₅₀of 0.012 mM, when cultured with nitrate as a sole source of nitrogen. The toxicity to species other than brown algae as measured in growth inhibition tests ranged from 0.75 mM (96-h NOEC) forSelenastrum capricornutumto ≥7.48 mM (48-h NOEC) for the fungusTrichoderma hamatum. The nitrogen source, nitrate or ammonium, did not significantly influence the toxicity to the nonsensitive species. The tests on brown algae found that as compared with ammonium, the toxicity to nitrate-grown cultures is higher by a factor of about 10. This confirms the hypothesis that nitrate reductase is involved in the toxic effects of chlorate on brown algae. Chlorite, tested as a potential toxic metabolite of chlorate, demonstrated high toxicity to many of the taxa tested and only low toxicity toE. variabilis. It may be concluded that brown algae are exceptionally sensitive to chlorate. It may also be concluded that various nitrogen sources could not induce toxicity in nonsensitive species. From these experiments no conclusions could be drawn as to the potential role of chlorite in chlorate toxicity. Furthermore it may be concluded thatE. variabilisis a suitable laboratory test species for further investigations into the mechanism of chlorate toxicity to brown algae.     

Behaviour therapy within a setting of Karma Yoga

Every therapist must take into account the social and cultural background of the patient and must adapt the therapy accordingly. A 43-year-old Hindu woman with obsessive fantasies was given a combination of (1) flooding, (2) assertion training, (3) correction of misconceptions (teachings) within the context of her culture, and (4) Karma Yoga. Though various other therapeutic attempts over 7 years had failed to obtain improvement, with behaviour therapy the patient improved significantly within a year.