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Background: The aim of this study is to validate the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology Short Form (PO-Bado SF), a six item interview-based expert rating scale for distress screening in cancer patients., Methods: Using a heterogeneous multicenter study sample (n = 1551), we examined validity, reliability, and dimensionality of the PO-Bado SF. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Distress Thermometer, the Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer, and the Patient Health Questionnaire were used to investigate convergent validity. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to address unidimensionality. An optimal cutoff point was determined by ROC analysis and the maximum of Youden's index. An additional study with n = 41 audio recorded PO-Bado SF interviews was carried out to assess inter-rater reliability., Results: Mean age of the study sample was 64.0 (SD = 12.0), 42% were women. About 24% of the patients suffered from metastases. The one-factor solution was confirmed; internal consistency of the PO-Bado SF was high (α = 0.84). The PO-Bado SF total score correlated significantly with all psychosocial measures, the highest correlation was with the HADS total score (r = 0.64). Patients with severe disease conditions (metastases, psychological/psychiatric treatment in the past, low performance status) received higher distress ratings (p < 0.001). Using HADS total score (>13) as external criterion, an optimal PO-Bado SF cutoff score of >9 emerged (sensitivity 0.75; specificity 0.82). Inter-rater reliability was satisfactory for each of the six items (intra class correlation of 0.75 to 0.85)., Conclusions: The PO-Bado SF is a short, reliable and valid expert rating scale to identify distressed cancer patients., (Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Burkholderia cepacia H111, which was isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient, effectively kills the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Depending on the medium used for growth of the bacterium two different killing modes were observed. On high-osmolarity medium the nematodes became paralysed and died within 24 h. Using filter assays we provide evidence that this killing mode involves the production of an extracellular toxin. On nematode growth medium killing occurs over the course of 2-3 days and involves the accumulation of bacteria in the intestinal lumen of C. elegans. We demonstrate that the cep quorum-sensing system of H111 is required for efficient killing of C. elegans under both killing conditions. Using the C. elegans phm-2 mutant that has a non-functional grinder evidence is provided that the cep system is required to enter the intestinal lumen but is dispensable for the colonization of the gut. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the type II secretion machinery is not essential for nematode killing.