ALBERT

Description: The weed Phalaris brachystachys Link. severely affects winter cereal production. Acetyle-CoA Carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting herbicides are commonly used to control this weed in wheat fields. Thirty-six populations with suspected resistance to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides were collected from wheat fields in the Golestan Province in Iran. A rapid test performed in Petri dishes and whole-plant dose–response experiments were conducted to confirm and investigate the resistance level of P. brachystachys to ACCase-inhibiting herbicides. The seed bioassay results showed that 0.02 mg ai L−1 clodinafop-propargyl (CP) and 1.36 mg ai L−1 of the diclofop-methyl (DM) solution were the optimal amounts for reliably screening resistant and susceptible P. brachystachys populations. In the whole plant bioassay, all populations were found to be resistant to CP, resistance ratios ranging from 2.7 to 11.6, and all of the CP-resistant populations exhibited resistance to DM. Fourteen populations showed low resistance to cycloxydim, and thirteen of these populations were also 2-fold resistant to pinoxaden. The results showed that DM resistance in some P. brachystachys populations is likely due to their enhanced herbicide metabolism, which involves Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, as demonstrated by the indirect assay. This is the first report confirming the cross-resistance of ACCase-inhibiting herbicides in P. brachystachys in Iran.

Description: The paper addresses the evaluation of the uncertainty sources of a test bed system for calibrating voltage transformers vs. temperature. In particular, the Monte Carlo method has been applied in order to evaluate the effects of the uncertainty sources in two different conditions: by using the nominal accuracy specifications of the elements which compose the setup, or by exploiting the results of their metrological characterization. In addition, the influence of random effects on the system accuracy has been quantified and evaluated. From the results, it emerges that the choice of the uncertainty evaluation method affects the overall study. As a matter of fact, the use of a metrological characterization or of accuracy specifications provided by the manufacturers provides respectively an accuracy of 0.1 and 0.5 for the overall measurement setup.

Description: ObjectiveA subgroup of parents of children who have been treated for childhood cancer report high levels of psychological distress. To date there is no empirically supported psychological treatment targeting cancer-related psychological distress in this population. The aim of the current study was to test the feasibility and preliminarily evaluate the effect of individualized face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for parents of children after the end of treatment for childhood cancer. A secondary aim was to present a cognitive behavioral conceptualization of cancer-related distress for these parents.MethodsAn open trial was conducted where 15 parents of children who had completed successful treatment for cancer three months to five years earlier and who reported psychological distress related to a child’s previous cancer disease were provided CBT at a maximum of 15 sessions. Participants were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up using self-reported psychological distress (including posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), depression, and anxiety) and the diagnostic Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Feasibility outcomes relating to recruitment, data collection, and delivery of the treatment were also examined. Individual case formulations for each participant guided the intervention and these were aggregated and presented in a conceptualization detailing core symptoms and their suggested maintenance mechanisms.ResultsA total of 93% of the participants completed the treatment and all of them completed the follow-up assessment. From baseline to post-assessment, parents reported significant improvements in PTSS, depression, and anxiety with medium to large effect sizes (Cohen’sd= 0.65–0.92). Results were maintained or improved at a three-month follow-up. At baseline, seven (47%) participants fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder and four (29%) fulfilled the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder, compared to none at a post-assessment and a follow-up assessment. The resulting cognitive behavioral conceptualization suggests traumatic stress and depression as the core features of distress, and avoidance and inactivity is suggested as the core maintenance mechanisms.ConclusionThe treatment was feasible and acceptable to the participants. Significant improvements in distress were observed during the study. Overall, results suggest that the psychological treatment for parents of children after end of treatment for childhood cancer used in the current study is promising and should be tested and evaluated in future studies.

Description: Objective To systematically review the efficacy of psychological, pharmacological, and combined treatments for binge eating disorder (BED). Method Systematic search and meta-analysis. Results We found 45 unique studies with low/medium risk of bias, and moderate support for the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and CBT guided self-help (with moderate quality of evidence), and modest support for interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), and lisdexamfetamine (with low quality of evidence) in the treatment of adults with BED in terms of cessation of or reduction in the frequency of binge eating. The results on weight loss were disappointing. Only lisdexamfetamine showed a very modest effect on weight loss (low quality of evidence). While there is limited support for the long-term effect of psychological treatments, we have currently no data to ascertain the long-term effect of drug treatments. Some undesired side effects are more common in drug treatment compared to placebo, while the side effects of psychological treatments are unknown. Direct comparisons between pharmaceutical and psychological treatments are lacking as well as data to generalize these results to adolescents. Conclusion We found moderate support for the efficacy of CBT and guided self-help for the treatment of BED. However, IPT, SSRI, and lisdexamfetamine received only modest support in terms of cessation of or reduction in the frequency of binge eating. The lack of long-term follow-ups is alarming, especially with regard to medication. Long-term follow-ups, standardized assessments including measures of quality of life, and the study of underrepresented populations should be a priority for future research.