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The mating system and mating strategies of a species refer to the behavioral strategies used to obtain reproductive partners and ensure reproductive success. Common determining factors of mating systems and strategies are: the manner of mate acquisition, the number of mates obtained by an individual, as well as the absence or presence and duration of parental care. In mammals, the energetic investments in gametes and rearing offspring are typically larger for females than for males. Mate selection is thus a much more important decision for females than for the rather indiscriminate males. This dichotomy results in sexual selection, which in turn is determined by male–male competition for access to females, as well as female mate choice. Because receptive females are generally considered the limiting resource in reproduction, males face intrasexual competition for mates. In a multitude of mammalian species, including bears, this has resulted in pronounced sexual size dimorphism and polygamous mating systems. Despite common characteristics (e.g. sexual size dimorphism, polygamy), variation in mating systems and strategies occur among bear populations and species.
One hypothesis proposed to underlie formal thought disorder (FTD), the incoherent speech is seen in some patients with schizophrenia, is that it reflects impairment in frontal/executive function. While this proposal has received support in neuropsychological studies, it has been relatively little tested using functional imaging. This study aimed to examine brain activations associated with FTD, and its two main factor-analytically derived subsyndromes, during the performance of a working memory task.
Methods
Seventy patients with schizophrenia showing a full range of FTD scores and 70 matched healthy controls underwent fMRI during the performance of the 2-back version of the n-back task. Whole-brain corrected, voxel-based correlations with FTD scores were examined in the patient group.
Results
During 2-back performance the patients showed clusters of significant inverse correlation with FTD scores in the inferior frontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex bilaterally, the left temporal cortex and subcortically in the basal ganglia and thalamus. Further analysis revealed that these correlations reflected an association only with ‘alogia’ (poverty of speech, poverty of content of speech and perseveration) and not with the ‘fluent disorganization’ component of FTD.
Conclusions
This study provides functional imaging support for the view that FTD in schizophrenia may involve impaired executive/frontal function. However, the relationship appears to be exclusively with alogia and not with the variables contributing to fluent disorganization.
Functional brain activity has been only studied marginally in schizoaffective disorder (SAD), a disorder whose nosological status is controversial. The present study investigated the prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity of schizomanic patients during performance of a working memory task.
Method
13 schizoaffective patients, with current schizomanic episode (Young> 18); and 26 sex- and age-matched healthy controls underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing baseline, 1-back and 2-back versions of the n-back task. Linear models were used to obtain maps of activations and deactivations in the groups.
Results
During performance of the n-back task, controls showed activation in a cluster of frontal areas and de-activation in the medial orbitofrontal and anterior cingulate cortex. The SAD patients showed significantly less activation in prefrontal areas than the controls. They also showed a marked failure to de-activate in medial frontal cortex. The SAD patients’ impaired task performance was associated with both reduced activation of the dorsolateral PFC and reduced de-activation of the medial frontal areas.
Conclusions
Schizomanic patients show failure of activation in a network of cortical regions, and also a failure to de-activate the ventromedial PFC and anterior cingulate cortex. This latter area corresponds to the one of the components of the 'default mode network´. This pattern of abnormality is similar to that found by our group to characterise schizophrenia (failure to activate and failure to de-activate), but different from that which characterises manic patients (failure to de-activate only).
To describe validation process of the new apathy scale for institutionalized dementia patients (APADEM-NH).
Methods
100 elderly, institutionalized patients with diagnosis of probable Alzheimer Disease (AD) (57%), possible AD (13%), AD with cerebral vascular disease (CVD) (17%), Lewy Bodies Dementia (11%) and Parkinson associated to dementia (PDD) (2%). All stages of the disease severity according to the Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) were assessed. The Apathy Inventory (AI), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Cornell scale for depression, and the tested scale were applied. Re-test and inter-rater reliability was carried out in 50 patients. The feasibility and acceptability, reliability, validity, and measurement precision were analyzed.
Results
APADEM-NH final version consists of 26 items and 3 dimensions: Deficit of Thinking and Self-Generated behaviors (DT): 13 items, Emotional Blunting (EB): 7 items, and Cognitive Inertia (CI): 6 items. Mean application time was 9.56 minutes and 74% of applications were fully computable. All subscales showed floor and ceiling effect lower than 15%. Internal consistency was excellent for each dimension (Cronbach’s α DT = 0.88, α EB = 0.83, α CI= 0.88);Test-retest reliability for the items was kW=0,48-0,92; Inter-rater reliability reached kW values 0.84-1.00; The APADEM-NH total score showed a low/moderate correlation with apathy scales (Spearman ρ, AI =0.33; NPI-Apathy= 0,31), no correlation with depression scales (NPI-Dementia = -0.003; Cornell= 0,10), and high internal validity (ρ =0.69 0.80).
Conclusions
APADEM-NH is a brief, psychometrically acceptable, and valid scale to assess apathy in patients from mild to severe dementia and discerning between apathy and depression.
In Portugal, after the integration, in 1992, of the Mental Health Services in General Hospitals and, later, with the publication of the Mental Health Act in 1998, there was a clear choice, in terms of health policy, for the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill and for promoting the integration into their communities. In 1977, at the time called Mental Health Center of Viseu, inspired by the avant-garde currents of French sector psychiatry, pioneered through the creation of their Community Service, immediately reducing its capacity from 120 inpatients to 44.
Objectives
To conduct a descriptive analysis of the patient population monitored by the team of the Community Service of Centro Hospitalar Tondela-Viseu.
Aims
An observational, cross-sectional study.
Methods
Descriptive analysis. Data collected from the clinical files and the database built by this service team, analyzed in the program EXCEL ® 2010.
Results
The Community Service currently integrates 562 patients, about half of which are aged between 30 and 49 years. Most patients are male and the main diagnosis is schizophrenic psychosis.
Conclusions
The Community Services have progressively assumed a more relevant importance in the monitoring of individuals with mental illness, allowing their deinstitutionalization to happen and contributing to a more harmonious reintegration of these patients in their community.
Previous studies suggest a relationship between decreased serum cholesterollevels and impulsive/aggressive behaviors [1]; howeverwe found just one study in the literature based in eating disorder [2].
Aims
To investigate the potentialrelationship between lipid profile (cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides) andmeasures of impulsivity, aggression or suicidal behavior in a sample of nevertreated patient whit Eating disorder and healthy controls.
Methods
The first episode of eatingdisorders group consisted of 199 (age range 14-60) subjects included in DETECTAprogram of Cantabria, Spain, from 2011 to 2013. Other group of 199healthy controls were initially recruited from the community and matched by ageand gender. Socio-demographic information was collected for each subject. Clinicalcharacteristics were ascertained either from clinical charts or by directquestioning the study participants. Lifetime diagnosis of impulse control wasassessed with questionnaires developed ad hoc. Impulsivity was evaluated using self-administered questionnaires, EatingDisorder Inventory and Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory.
Results
Differences found betweensubgroups did not differ from those shown in the literature, with higher levelsof impulsivity in the group of Bulimia. However in the partial correlation we did not find a relationship betweencholesterol levels and Impulsivity. We neither found this relationshipbetween suicide attempts, pathological gambling, compulsive buying disorder, self-harm or kleptomania.
Conclusions
Although the biological mechanism between plasma hypocholesterolemia andimpulsive behavior has not been fully elucidated this relationship has beenestablished in others pathologies [3], howeverin eating disorders so far, this theory has not been proved.
Anorexia nervosa is a disorder of eating behavior that is a major health problem on our society. It is characterized by three main criteria: self-induced starvation, desire for thinness or fear of obesity, and the presence of medical signs and symptoms due to improper feeding. This work is focused on its treatment. The biopsychosocial approach allows the design and application of effective therapeutic strategies and a multidisciplinary team collaboration is essential.
Objectives
Research of current pharmacological and psychotherapy treatments options of the disease.
Material and methods
Literature review based on articles and publications on this topic.
Results
In anorexia nervosa, it is necessary to establish a therapeutic alliance between doctor and patient. Patient usually feels no motivation to improve. The different treatments options to combine, in terms of the patient status, are: nutritional rehabilitation, cognitive-behavioral, family and interpersonal psychotherapies and pharmacological treatment. It can be carried out at the ambulatory, at the day-hospital or by medical stay, even beyond patient will.
Conclusions
Nowadays, the nutritional rehabilitation is the best treatment established and it is the core treatment. About the psychotherapies, the cognitive-behavioral is the most used because it has exposed better results in all different studies proved and in clinical practices, followed by the family therapy which is the responsible of the patient family's treatment. Pharmacological treatment should not be used systematically and its exclusive use is not enough to resolve anorexia nervosa as there are needed also other treatments combined.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Almost 50 years after the mental health reform in Europe and the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, there seems to be a slow change in the social concept of mental disorder. However, in the case of mental retardation, little progress has been made, since the social approach to these patients does not seem to involve the promotion of their autonomy. This is a reality with implications in medical, social and forensic psychiatry settings.
Objective
We will present a statistical analysis on interdiction/inhabilitation processes in two districts of Portugal followed by a comparative analysis between Portuguese and other European countries’ civil law concerning the regulation of legal capacity.
Aims
Critical analysis of the means by which the concept of legal incapacity has been applied in the Portuguese social setting.
Methods
Descriptive and retrospective analyses of 500 expert reports in the districts of Coimbra and Viseu regarding interdiction/disqualification processes. Research on Pubmed and legal databases; keywords used: mental disability, mental retardation, civil law, mental incapacity, legal incapacity, legal capacity, interdiction, curator.
Results
The number of forensic psychiatric examinations has suffered a significant increase in the last years. The majority of these expertise concern interdiction/inhabilitation processes. Mental retardation is the more prevalent diagnosis, and the great majority of the cases were interdicted.
Conclusions
In Portugal, the law has been applied in order to safeguard the economic assets of mentally retarded individuals, but not in order to promote their social integration and autonomy.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
The aim is to describe the experience of treatment with Paliperidone Palmitate long acting injection (PP) in patients with psychotic active clinic, whether diagnoses with schizophrenia or in patients with the first episode psychosis, as well as to reflect the improvement in the control of the symptoms that the patients can improve increasing the dose.
Methods
We have done a descriptive study of 34 patients hospitalized in psychiatry between January and July 2015 for psychotic active clinic who started treatment with PP or the previous dose was increased.
Results
91.2% of patients admitted for acute exacerbation of their usual pathology and 8.8% for a first episode psychosis. In the CGI scale, all the patients admitted scored as severe or markedly ill; going mostly mildly ill at discharge. For 55.9% of patients, the treatment was changed to PP, 29.4% of the dose was increased PP and 14.7% antipsychotic treatment was started with PP. Among patients change treatment, the main reason was non-adherence (47.4%). 70.6% of our patients were discharged with PP as only antipsychotic and 29.4% which was discharged with another antipsychotic, the most frequent association was of PP with Quetiapine (80%).
Conclusions
PP is a highly effective medicament in the treatment of the schizophrenia that improves the adherence to the treatment, so in our experience and we consider it a medicament to be considered in the early stages of the disease. According to our experience and there are patients who can benefit from better control of symptoms adjusting the dose individually.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Hyperthyroidism may lead to high anxiety status, emotional lability, irritability, overactivity, exaggerated sensitivity to noise, and fluctuating mood, insomnia and hyporexia. in extreme cases, they may appear delusions and hallucinations as psychiatric symptoms.
Case report
we report the case of a 53-year-old female who was diagnosed of hyperthyroidism and generalized anxiety disorder. The patient went to emergency department because of high levels of anxiety, with heart palpitations, trembling, shortness of breath and nausea. She was presenting auditory hallucinations and delusions as psychiatric symptoms. an urgent thyroid profile was made and it was observed the next results: TSH < 0.005; T4:4; T3:21. Due to a severe thyroid malfunction, the patient was admitted and treated with antithyroid agent, improving the psychiatric and somatic symptoms.
Discussion
in this case, a patient diagnosed of hyperthyroidism and generalized anxiety disorder presented very severe psychiatric symptoms, with hallucinations and delusions. These symptoms may be produced by primary psychiatric disorders, but is very important to look for thyroid alterations, because if they are the cause, the acute treatment of thyroid malfunction is the correct management of the patient.
Conclusions
Hyperthyroidism is very common in general population, being infradiagnosed most of times. in patient with anxiety or other psychiatric symptoms, it is very important to make a thyroid function tests before the diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. in extreme cases, hyperthyroidism status may lead to severe psychiatric and somatic complications.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
El registro arqueológico de cazadores-recolectores localizado en ambientes de altura ha sido ampliamente debatido en la literatura mundial. Las discusiones se han centrado en su funcionalidad, cronología, complementariedad con ambientes bajos y significado en los procesos de poblamiento de distintas regiones. Los Andes meridionales cuentan con un amplio espacio cordillerano dentro del cual se emplazan una serie de sitios arqueológicos localizados a aproximadamente 3.000 m snm. Las duras condiciones climáticas de estos ambientes, así como la presencia de estructuras habitacionales, despertó el interés de los investigadores en relación con su funcionalidad, tiempo de permanencia y manejo de los recursos locales. En este trabajo se presenta la información zooarqueológica de cuatro sitios de altura localizados en un sector de los Andes meridionales, en el sur de la provincia de Mendoza, Argentina: El Indígeno, Los Peuquenes, Laguna del Diamante S-4 y Risco de los Indios. El material arqueofaunístico analizado es evaluado a la luz de las características ambientales, los costos de transporte y la funcionalidad de estas locaciones en relación con los circuitos de explotación anual. Los resultados muestran un uso de taxones restringido, con un fuerte énfasis en el guanaco, y un escaso transporte de fauna desde y hacia pisos ecológicos localizados a menor altitud. Todo esto sugiere el uso de los sitios de manera residencial y no como lugares de obtención de presas para su procesamiento y traslado hacia localizaciones más bajas.
The present research was aimed to study the degradation of 2-Chlorophenol through the use of bismuth molybdate (γ-Bi2MoO6) structures supported on graphene oxide (GO) which is intended to control the recombination of charge carriers. γ-Bi2MoO6/GO systems were doped with nitrogen via chemical reaction, to reduce their energy gap, improving their photocatalytic activity. Structural and physicochemical characterization of the resulting catalysts were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and UV-Vis. The obtained compounds show good photo catalytic performance when using visible energy to degrade 2-Chlorophenol, obtaining 80% of degradation in 65 min.
Various jurisdictions have legalized cannabis for medical purposes. As with all psychoactive medications, medical cannabis carries a risk of diversion and accidental ingestion. These risks may be particularly high among long-term medical cannabis patients as safety practices may become less salient to patients once the treatment becomes part of everyday life. The current study examines whether patients who have used medical cannabis for longer periods differ from those who have used for shorter periods in terms of sociodemographic background and other key aspects of medical cannabis use. Furthermore, the study examines the relationship between length of medical cannabis treatment and risk factors related to storage and diversion. Finally, the study examines the extent to which oncologists provide information to their patients about safe storage and disposal.
Methods
One hundred twenty-one medical cannabis oncology patients were interviewed face-to-face and 55 oncologists participated in a survey about safe storage and disposal practices related to medical cannabis.
Results
Length of medical cannabis treatment was related to administration by smoking and using higher monthly dosages. In terms of risk for unsafe storage and diversion, length of medical cannabis was positively associated with using cannabis outside the home and having been asked to give away medical cannabis. Physicians did not report providing information to patients regarding safe storage and disposal practices in a regular manner.
Significance of results
Results suggest that there is an ongoing risk of unsafe storage and diversion over the course of medical cannabis treatment. Oncologists may need to give more consistent and continued training in safe storage and disposal practices, especially among long-term medical cannabis patients.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a multifactorial syndrome with significant interactions between genetic and environmental factors. This study specifically investigates the association between family history of alcohol problems (FHAP) and family history of depression (FHD), and how these relate to different clusters of depressive symptoms.
Methods:
Correlations between FHAP and FHD and different clusters of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were studied. We sampled 333 employees from a general hospital who had been receiving a psychiatric consultation between 2005 and 2012. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models were conducted to explore these correlations.
Results:
There was a significant positive correlation between FHAP and BDI affective score. This result remained significant even after the adjustment for other variables considered as important factors for MDD, such as gender, age, marital status, education, ethnic group and FHD. More specifically, FHAP was correlated with dissatisfaction and episodes of crying among the affective symptoms. FHAP showed no statistical difference in any of the other clusters score or in the BDI total score. Moreover, as expected, we found a correlation between FHD and BDI total score and Somatic and Cognitive clusters.
Conclusion:
FHAP should be routinely investigated in individuals presenting with depressive symptoms. This is especially important in cases presenting with dissatisfaction and episodes of crying in patients who do not endorse criteria for MDD. Due to study limitations, the findings require replication by neurobiological, epidemiological and clinical studies.
The present work describes a simple method to produce zinc oxide nanoparticles supported in nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide, ZnO/N-rGO. The rGO structures were nitrogen-doped using hydrazine as nitrogen source (N-rGO) with the purpose of enhancing the rGO capability to promote the electrons transport along their surface. Thus, ZnO/N-rGO catalytic systems were tested as photocatalyst to degrade methylene blue and lignin molecules under ultraviolet (UV) and visible (Vis) light irradiation. N-doping of rGO was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Photocatalytic degradation studies confirm better performance of the ZnO/N-rGO in comparison to ZnO. The percentage of lignin degradation for the ZnO/N-rGO compound under UV was 59%, while using visible energy it was achieved 46%, in a time of 70 min.
Although mild to moderate major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the main reasons for consulting a general practitioner (GP), there is still no international consensus on the most appropriate therapeutic approach.
Methods:
The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of watchful waiting (WW) compared with the use of antidepressants (ADs) for the treatment of mild to moderate depressive symptoms in 263 primary care (PC) usual-practice patients in a 12-month pragmatic non-randomised controlled trial. Both longitudinal and per-protocol analyses were performed, through a multilevel longitudinal analysis and a sensitivity analysis.
Results:
We observed a statistically significant time x treatment interaction in the severity of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9) and disability (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, WHODAS) in favour of the AD group at 6 months but not at 12 months. The effect size of this difference was small. No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in severity of anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI) or health-related quality-of-life (EuroQol-5D, EQ-5D). Sensitivity analysis and per-protocol analysis showed no differences between the two groups in any of the evaluated scales.
Conclusions:
Superiority of either treatment (WW and AD) was not demonstrated in patients treated for depression in PC after one year of follow-up.
The main objective of our study was to describe the epidemiological and microbiological features of an oligoclonal hospital-wide outbreak caused by OXA-48-producing Enterobacteriaceae (OXA-48-PE). OXA-48 is a carbapenemase belonging to Ambler class D beta-lactamases, identified frequently in the Mediterranean and Southern European countries, and associated with several Enterobacteriaceae species. An outbreak of OXA-48-PE with a complex epidemic pattern was detected in January 2011. Initial control measures included contact precautions and the reinforcement of infection control practices, but despite all efforts made, the epidemiological situation hardly changed and new measures were implemented during 2013. An observational retrospective study was performed to describe the main features of the outbreak and to analyse the cumulative incidence (CI) trends. Eight hundred and 16 patients colonised or infected by OXA-48-PE were identified during the 2-year period (January 2013–December 2014), female 46%, mean age (s.d.), 71.6 (15.2). The samples isolated in the incident cases were rectal swabs (80%), urine samples (10.7%), blood samples (2.8%) and other clinical samples (6.6%). The most frequent OXA-48-PE was Klebsiella pneumoniae. Eleven different clones were identified, but K. pneumoniae sequence types 11 and 405 were predominant: ST11 (64.2%) and ST405 (29.3%). OXA-48-PE CI trend suffered a statistically significant change in August 2013, which continued the following months. Though we could not eradicate the outbreak, we observed a statistically significant drop in CI after an intervention for OXA-48-PE control, based on patient cohort, active surveillance, electronic alerts and reinforcement of infection control measures in a tertiary hospital.
In this work we have conducted a study on the radiative and spectroscopic properties of the radiative precursor and the post-shock region from experiments with radiative shocks in xenon performed at the Orion laser facility. The study is based on post-processing of radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of the experiment. In particular, we have analyzed the thermodynamic regime of the plasma, the charge state distributions, the monochromatic opacities and emissivities, and the specific intensities for plasma conditions of both regions. The study of the intensities is a useful tool to estimate ranges of electron temperatures present in the xenon plasma in these experiments and the analysis performed of the microscopic properties commented above helps to better understand the intensity spectra. Finally, a theoretical analysis of the possibility of the onset of isobaric thermal instabilities in the post-shock has been made, concluding that the instabilities obtained in the radiative-hydrodynamic simulations could be thermal ones due to strong radiative cooling.
In this report, the authors prepared an opinion poll regarding the most important people, events, technologies, concepts, discoveries, and therapies in paediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery. The results were presented in continuous slide show format at the 2017 Seventh World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology & Cardiac Surgery (WCPCCS 2017), Barcelona, Spain. The presentation (under international copyright) is made available herein for educational purposes.
Palivizumab is the standard immunoprophylaxis against serious disease due to respiratory syncytial virus infection. Current evidence-based prophylaxis guidelines may not address certain children with CHD within specific high-risk groups or clinical/management settings.
Methods
An international steering committee of clinicians with expertise in paediatric heart disease identified key questions concerning palivizumab administration; in collaboration with an additional international expert faculty, evidence-based recommendations were formulated using a quasi-Delphi consensus methodology.
Results
Palivizumab prophylaxis was recommended for children with the following conditions: <2 years with unoperated haemodynamically significant CHD, who are cyanotic, who have pulmonary hypertension, or symptomatic airway abnormalities; <1 year with cardiomyopathies requiring treatment; in the 1st year of life with surgically operated CHD with haemodynamically significant residual problems or aged 1–2 years up to 6 months postoperatively; and on heart transplant waiting lists or in their 1st year after heart transplant. Unanimous consensus was not reached for use of immunoprophylaxis in children with asymptomatic CHD and other co-morbid factors such as arrhythmias, Down syndrome, or immunodeficiency, or during a nosocomial outbreak. Challenges to effective immunoprophylaxis included the following: multidisciplinary variations in identifying candidates with CHD and prophylaxis compliance; limited awareness of severe disease risks/burden; and limited knowledge of respiratory syncytial virus seasonal patterns in subtropical/tropical regions.
Conclusion
Evidence-based immunoprophylaxis recommendations were formulated for subgroups of children with CHD, but more data are needed to guide use in tropical/subtropical countries and in children with certain co-morbidities.