90, P = .05; CR alone Z = 0.67, P = .21). There was also a significant group by time effect for social cognition, measured this website by the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (F = 5.473, P = .050): CR + MRIGE demonstrated significantly greater improvement than CR alone (CR + MRIGE, Z = 1.98, P = .02; CR alone, Z = 1.00, P =.05). Conclusions: Combined CR with emotion perception remediation produced greater improvements in emotion recognition, emotion discrimination, social functioning, and neurocognition compared with CR alone in chronic schizophrenia.”
“Glucosylation of flavonoids improves their bioavaibility

and pharmacological properties. An organic solvent-tolerant bacterium Staphylococcus saprophyticus CQ16 was newly isolated and was found to glucosylate daidzein. Strikingly, the polar solvent 15% DMSO significantly improved the glucosylation of daidzein with 3.5 times selleck chemical yield, and glucosylation was further improved with the supplemental co-solvents. The most effective glucosylation of daidzein to daidzein-7-O-glucoside catalyzed by whole cells of strain CQ16 was achieved with a molar yield of 90% in a system with addition of 15% DMSO and 0.5% butyl acetate. The conversion process produced very few by-products, and therefore

simplified purification of the glycoside product. The glucosyltransferase from strain CQ16 showed broad substrate specificity to the various flavonoids as well as flavonoid analogs, nonetheless an exquisite regioselectivity of the C-7 hydroxyl group of flavonoids. It would be substantive benefits for exploiting the new candidates with higher bioavailability for pharmaceuticals. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Land conversion is one of the major global changes that threaten population viability. As with many industrial activities, quarrying highly modifies land cover, destroying previous habitats but also creating new conditions potentially supporting functioning and connectivity of pioneer species. Using a multi-landscape and -temporal approach, we assessed the impact of quarrying on the genetic diversity of two selleck compound amphibians with contrasted ecological constraints:

the common toad (Bufo bufo) and the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita), favouring vegetated and pioneer environments, respectively. The study was conducted across six areas of ca. 250 km(2) each. Mixed effect models were used to determine which landscape features affect the genetic diversity of the two species. These analyses were performed at three time points (1940s, 1970s and 2000s). Genetic diversity of B. bufo was found to increase with the area of semi-wooded and herbaceous vegetation, and decrease with the area of roads and urbanized areas. Genetic diversity of B. calamita increased with the area of bare ground and of quarries, and decreased with the area of dense woods. We found no effect of quarrying on B. bufo, unlike for B. calamita in which genetic diversity was favoured by quarrying at all three time-points.