Searches for lepton number violation and resonances in K± → πμμ decays

The NA48/2 experiment at CERN collected a large sample of charged kaon decays to final states with multiple charged particles in 2003–2004. A new upper limit on the rate of the lepton number violating decay K±→π∓μ±μ± is reported: B(K±→π∓μ±μ±)<8.6×10−11 at 90% CL. Searches for two-body resonances X in K±→πμμ decays (such as heavy neutral leptons N4 and inflatons χ ) are also presented. In the absence of signals, upper limits are set on the products of branching fractions B(K±→μ±N4)B(N4→πμ) and B(K±→π±X)B(X→μ+μ−) for ranges of assumed resonance masses and lifetimes. The limits are in the (10−11,10−9) range for resonance lifetimes below 100 ps.

The genetic epidemiology of unipolar depression and panic disorder.

Neuropsychologische Charakterisierung des Phänotyps Schizophrenie

Die Charakterisierung des Phanotyps im Rahmen genetischer Untersuchungen der Schizophrenie ist von entscheidender Bedeutung. Gleichwohl erweist sich die Validitat der klinischen Diagnose „Schizophrenie“zur alleinigen Charakterisierung des Phanotyps „Schizophrenie“als fraglich im Hinblick auf Sensitivitat (relativ geringes familiares Wiederholungsrisiko sowie relativ niedrige Konkordanzrate bei monozygoten Zwillingen) und Spezifitat (relativ hohe Anzahl sporadischer, nicht-familiarer Falle). Daraus ergibt sich die Frage, ob in den Familien Schizophrener lediglich die diagnostisch identifizierbaren psychopathologischen Syndrome oder auch andere, mit der Schizophrenie assoziierte Merkmale uber…

What are depressive symptoms in acutely ill patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder?

AbstractBackground:Aim was to examine depressive symptoms in acutely ill schizophrenia patients on a single symptom basis and to evaluate their relationship with positive, negative and general psychopathological symptoms.Methods:Two hundred and seventy-eight patients suffering from a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were analysed within a naturalistic study by the German Research Network on Schizophrenia. Using the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) depressive symptoms were examined and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was applied to assess positive, negative and general symptoms. Correlation and factor analyses were calculated to detect the underlying structur…

Identification of two novel polymorphisms and a rare deletion variant in the human dopamine D4 receptor gene

We report two novel polymorphisms and a rare deletion variant in the human dopaine D4 receptor gene. The two polymorphisms are characterized by single base pair substitutions, namely a G-->C transversion changing codon 11 from GGG (encoding Gly) to CGG (encoding Arg) and a C-->T transition in position -11 upstream from the start codon. The Arg11 variant occurs at a frequency of about 1% and the C-->T transition at a frequency of about 7% in German control subjects (n = 148). Allele frequencies observed in patients suffering from schizophrenia (n = 256) and bipolar affective disorder (n = 99) were similar. The deletion variant is characterized by a 21 bp deletion affecting codons 36 to 42 co…

Einfluss von multimodaler sportlicher Aktivität auf Kognition und Alltagskompetenzen bei früher Alzheimer-Demenz (SPORT&KOG)

Der vorliegende Bericht beschreibt ein vom Bundesministerium für Gesundheit gefördertes Vorhaben zum «Leuchtturmprojekt Demenz» im Themenfeld 1 «Therapie und Pflegemaßnahmen: Wirksamkeit unter Alltagsbedingungen». Hierbei handelt es sich um eine multizentrische randomisierte Interventionsstudie, die den Einfluss von Sport (multimodale sportliche Aktivität) unter kontrollierten Bedingungen auf die kognitive Entwicklung von Alzheimer-Patienten im frühen Stadium prüft. In einem zweiarmigen Design werden je 150 Patienten mit früher AD unter Verum- bzw. Kontroll-Bedingungen untersucht. Die Verum-Gruppe erhält ein spezifisches sportliches Trainingsprogramm. In der Kontrollgruppe werden lediglich…

The association between psychopathological aspects and CT measurements in affective disorders.

Asymmetrie des Planum temporale bei Zwillingen und Schizophrenen

Anhand eines Zwillingskollektivs und einer Gruppe ersterkrankter Schizophrener (zehn eineiige und zehn zweieiige Zwillingspaare, 38 ersterkrankte Schizophrene, 15 Kontrollen) wird ein moglicher genetischer Einflus auf Grose und Windungsmuster des Planum temporale untersucht. MRT: FLASH-3D-T1-gewichtete Datensatze aus koronaren 3-mm-Schichten; 3D-Rekonstruktion mit ISG-Workstation Allegro. Gemessen wurden Lange und Flache des Planum temporale und Lange des Heschlschen Gyrus. Der Windungsverlauf wurde nach qualitativen Kriterien beurteilt. Schizophrene zeigen im Gegensatz zu gesunden Kontrollen, eineiigen und zweieiigen Zwillingen vor allem bei der Lanlge und weniger bei der Flache des Planum…

Genetic Heterogeneity and Phenotype Variation of Schizophrenia

It is well proven that the manifestation of schizophrenia is under genetic control (Kendler and Diehl 1993). It is however less clear: 1. How relevant environmental factors are, and how they operate and interact with genetic factors. 2. If the genetic susceptibility is identical across the total population of schizophrenics (or at least across all subjects with familial schizophrenia), or if the specific genetic components vary across families. 3. What is transmitted in families of schizophrenics and how co-familial traits are related to genetic and genetic risk factors; are only disorders and symptoms that belong to the schizophrenic sepctrum transmitted or are neurophysiological, neuropsy…

Morbid risks for major disorders and frequencies of personality disorders among spouses of psychiatric inpatients and controls

Three hundred fifty-three psychiatric inpatients and their 192 living spouses and 98 control subjects and their 54 living spouses were examined and interviewed for affective, schizoaffective, schizophrenic (Research Diagnostic Criteria [RDC]), and personality disorders (DSM-III-R) using the Lifetime Version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS-L) and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-Personality Disorders (SCID). The morbid risks of spouses for unipolar depression were between .15 and .25, and those for other major disorders were below .03. The morbid risks of spouses of bipolar patients for unipolar depression exceeded those of other spouses by 50% wi…

Meta-analysis of 74,046 individuals identifies 11 new susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease

Eleven susceptibility loci for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) were identified by previous studies; however, a large portion of the genetic risk for this disease remains unexplained. We conducted a large, two-stage meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in individuals of European ancestry. In stage 1, we used genotyped and imputed data (7,055,881 SNPs) to perform meta-analysis on 4 previously published GWAS data sets consisting of 17,008 Alzheimer's disease cases and 37,154 controls. In stage 2, 11,632 SNPs were genotyped and tested for association in an independent set of 8,572 Alzheimer's disease cases and 11,312 controls. In addition to the APOE locu…