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The mechanics of extreme intensity events in the buffer and logarithmic layers of a turbulent channel at $Re_\tau =2000$ is investigated. The 99.9th percentile of the most intense events in the dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy is analysed by means of conditional space–time proper orthogonal decomposition. The computed spatio-temporal modes are coherent in space and over the considered time frame, and optimally capture the energy of the ensemble. The most energetic mode with transverse symmetric structure describes a turbulent burst event. The underlying mechanism is a varicose instability which generates localized extrema in the dissipation and production of turbulent kinetic energy and drives the formation of a hairpin vortex. The most energetic anti-symmetric mode is related to a sinuous-type instability that is situated in the shear layer between two very-large-scale streaks. Statistical results show the energy in the symmetric mode to exceed that in the anti-symmetric mode by a near constant factor for the considered wall distances. Both mechanisms occur throughout the range of wall distances in an effectively self-similar manner that is consistent with the attached-eddy hypothesis. By analogy with transitional flows, the results suggest that the events are induced by an exponential growth mechanism.
Purpose of this study was to assess subjective well-being in schizophrenia inpatients and to find variables predictive for response and remission of subjective well-being.
Method
The subjective well-being under neuroleptic treatment scale (SWN-K) was used in 232 schizophrenia patients within a naturalistic multicenter trial. Early response was defined as a SWN-K total score improvement of 20% and by at least 10 points within the first 2 treatment weeks, response as an improvement in SWN-K total score of at least 20% and by at least 10 points from admission to discharge and remission in subjective well-being as a total score of more or equal to 80 points at discharge. Logistic regression and CART analyses were used to determine valid predictors of subjective well-being outcome.
Results
Twenty-nine percent of the patients were detected to be SWN-K early responders, 40% fulfilled criteria for response in subjective well-being and 66% fulfilled criteria for remission concerning subjective well-being. Among the investigated predictors, SWN-K early improvement and the educational status were significantly associated with SWN-K response. The SWN-K total score at baseline showed a significant negative predictive value for response. Baseline SWN-K total score, PANSS global subscore, and side effects as well as the educational status were found to be significantly predictive for remission.
Conclusions
Depressive symptoms should be radically treated and side effects closely monitored to improve the patient's subjective well-being. The important influence of subjective well-being on overall treatment outcome could be underlined.
Frowning expresses negative emotions like anger, fear, and sadness. According to the facial feedback hypothesis, suppression of frowning will also diminish the corresponding negative emotions. Hence, mood improvement has been observed in patients who underwent treatment of glabellar frown lines with botulinum neurotoxin. This observation suggests the possibility that the intervention may be employed for the management of psychiatric disorders associated with negative emotions. Preliminary data from an open case series indicate that the intervention might improve the symptoms of depression.
Aims & objectives
To test whether an onabotulinumtoxinA injection into the glabellar region is benefical as an adjunctive treatment of major depression within a clinical trial.
Methods
We used a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study design (n = 30; ClinicalTrials.gov, number, NCT00934687).
Results
We show that a single onabotulinumtoxinA treatment shortly leads to a strong and sustained improvement in partly chronic major depression that did not respond sufficiently to previous treatment. As for the primary end-point, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D17) six weeks after treatment compared to baseline, scores of onabotulinumtoxinA recipients showed 37.9% (8.34 points) more improvement than those of placebo-treated participants (F = 12.30, p = 0.002, η2 = 0.31, d = 1.28).
Conclusion
Our findings support the concept that the facial musculature not only expresses, but also regulates, mood states. As it stands, treatment of glabellar frown lines with botulinum neurotoxin can be considered for depressed patients with the objective of inducing mood-lifting effects.
Psychiatric comorbidity is an important aspect of neurological disorders. It affects about 30-50% of neurologic patients but is frequently underrecognized.
Objectives
Our objective was to determine the prevalence and severity of the symptoms of mental disorders in neurologic in-patients.
Methods
Between May and September 2014, all neurologic in-patients of a university neurologic center were asked to complete two self report questionnaires for assessing symptoms of mental disorders, namely the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), which allow to assess a range of nine different psychiatric domains. We performed a multivariate covariance analysis in order to relate the type and frequency of symptoms of mental disorders with the neurological discharge diagnosis, while age, gender, and duration of in-patient treatment served as putative covariates.
Results
Of all responders (n = 157), 51% stated to have suffered from psychological distress within the past seven days, and 43% indicated depressive symptoms (21% mild, 17% moderate, 5% severe). The mean global severity index GSI (M = 0.64, SD = 0.52) exceeded the 1 SD range of healthy persons but was lower than that of psychiatric in-patients known from the literature. Furthermore, our subanalysis revealed different patterns of symptoms of mental disorders between neurologic patients with degenerative, vascular, demyelinating or epileptic disoders.
Conclusion
Psychometric measurement is useful to characterize the burden of the symptoms of mental disorders and will be used to further develop the psychiatric liaison services.
Mental trauma may precede persistent changes in a person's mental health in the form of psychosis and dissociation. Presently, there are no subtypes to the diagnosis of PTSD. A psychotic subtype of PTSD has been proposed, and studies show that these patients differ as well in symptoms as biologically from patients with non-psychotic PTSD. Dissociation and psychosis are generally viewed as different phenomena. Where dissociation is understood as a disintegration of the mind, psychosis is viewed as a neurodegenerative disorder on a mainly biological/genetic basis. The delineation of psychotic and dissociative symptoms is not clear however.
Objectives
Our objective is to clarify, whether psychologists and psychiatrists describe trauma-related changes of consciousness (TCC) differently as dissociative or psychotic. Furthermore, we wish to compare scientific journals, and look for differences in how psychiatrists’ and psychologists’ make use of the terms dissociation and psychosis in relation to TCC.
Aims
We aim to investigate whether TCC are interpreted differently among psychiatrists and psychologists.
Methods
This study is a systematic critical review of the literature. The databases PubMed, Embase and PsychInfo will be used. Articles involving PTSD with TCC will be included. Studies will be classified as viewing TCC's as either psychotic or dissociative, based on the terms the authors use to describe the observed phenomena.
Results
The results will be presented at the EPA in March 2016 in Madrid.
Conclusion
The study will reveal differences in how psychiatrists and psychologists classify TCC's in PTSD.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
Background: Hereditary transthyretin-mediated (hATTR) amyloidosis is a multi-systemic, heterogenous, life-threatening disease. Patisiran resulted in significant improvement in neuropathy and QoL at 18-months compared to placebo, and was generally well-tolerated in the Phase 3 APOLLO study. Methods: Multi-center, OLE study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term patisiran dosing for ≤ 5 years in hATTR amyloidosis patients with polyneuropathy who have completed the APOLLO study (NCT02510261). Endpoints include safety, tolerability and long-term efficacy of patisiran. Measures of clinical benefit are the same endpoints used in APOLLO including changes in mNIS+7 composite neuropathy impairment score and QoL (Norfolk QoL-DN) Results: As of December 2017, 184 of 186 (99%) patients who completed APOLLO and 25 patients from the Ph 2 OLE study enrolled in the Global OLE study. Baseline data for 211(APOLLO/placebo, n=49; APOLLO/patisiran, n=137 and patisiran Ph 2 OLE, n=25) patients included: median age 61 years (26-84); 74% males; 46% V30M. Interim safety data and 12-month efficacy results will be presented. Conclusions: The global OLE study includes a diverse population of hATTR amyloidosis patients. Interim data will include the long-term safety and maintenance of effect in patients continuing on patisiran, as well as the impact of treatment with patisiran on patients previously treated with placebo.
We present a conditional space–time proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) formulation that is tailored to the eduction of the average, rare or intermittent events from an ensemble of realizations of a fluid process. By construction, the resulting spatio-temporal modes are coherent in space and over a predefined finite time horizon, and optimally capture the variance, or energy of the ensemble. For the example of intermittent acoustic radiation from a turbulent jet, we introduce a conditional expectation operator that focuses on the loudest events, as measured by a pressure probe in the far field and contained in the tail of the pressure signal’s probability distribution. Applied to high-fidelity simulation data, the method identifies a statistically significant ‘prototype’, or average acoustic burst event that is tracked over time. Most notably, the burst event can be traced back to its precursor, which opens up the possibility of prediction of an imminent burst. We furthermore investigate the mechanism underlying the prototypical burst event using linear stability theory and find that its structure and evolution are accurately predicted by optimal transient growth theory. The jet-noise problem demonstrates that the conditional space–time POD formulation applies even for systems with probability distributions that are not heavy-tailed, i.e. for systems in which events overlap and occur in rapid succession.
Laser-based compact MeV X-ray sources are useful for a variety of applications such as radiography and active interrogation of nuclear materials. MeV X rays are typically generated by impinging the intense laser onto ~mm-thick high-Z foil. Here, we have characterized such a MeV X-ray source from 120 TW (80 J, 650 fs) laser interaction with a 1 mm-thick tantalum foil. Our measurements show X-ray temperature of 2.5 MeV, flux of 3 × 1012 photons/sr/shot, beam divergence of ~0.1 sr, conversion efficiency of ~1%, that is, ~1 J of MeV X rays out of 80 J incident laser, and source size of 80 m. Our measurement also shows that MeV X-ray yield and temperature is largely insensitive to nanosecond laser contrasts up to 10−5. Also, preliminary measurements of similar MeV X-ray source using a double-foil scheme, where the laser-driven hot electrons from a thin foil undergoing relativistic transparency impinging onto a second high-Z converter foil separated by 50–400 m, show MeV X-ray yield more than an order of magnitude lower compared with the single-foil results.
The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal has generated follow-up observations by over 50 facilities world-wide, ushering in the new era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper, we present follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart SSS17a/DLT17ck (IAU label AT2017gfo) by 14 Australian telescopes and partner observatories as part of Australian-based and Australian-led research programs. We report early- to late-time multi-wavelength observations, including optical imaging and spectroscopy, mid-infrared imaging, radio imaging, and searches for fast radio bursts. Our optical spectra reveal that the transient source emission cooled from approximately 6 400 K to 2 100 K over a 7-d period and produced no significant optical emission lines. The spectral profiles, cooling rate, and photometric light curves are consistent with the expected outburst and subsequent processes of a binary neutron star merger. Star formation in the host galaxy probably ceased at least a Gyr ago, although there is evidence for a galaxy merger. Binary pulsars with short (100 Myr) decay times are therefore unlikely progenitors, but pulsars like PSR B1534+12 with its 2.7 Gyr coalescence time could produce such a merger. The displacement (~2.2 kpc) of the binary star system from the centre of the main galaxy is not unusual for stars in the host galaxy or stars originating in the merging galaxy, and therefore any constraints on the kick velocity imparted to the progenitor are poor.
We sought to comprehensively assess the prevalence and outcomes of complications associated with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) in children. Secondarily, prevalence of methicillin resistance and outcomes of complications from methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) vs. methicillin-susceptible S. aureus SAB were assessed. This is a single-center cross-sectional study of 376 patients ⩽18 years old with SAB in 1990–2014. Overall, 197 (52%) patients experienced complications, the most common being osteomyelitis (33%), skin and soft tissue infection (31%), and pneumonia (25%). Patients with complications were older (median 3 vs. 0·7 years, P = 0·05) and more had community-associated SAB (66% vs. 34%, P = 0·001). Fewer patients with complications had a SAB-related emergency department or hospital readmission (10% vs. 19%, P = 0·014). Prevalence of methicillin resistance increased from 1990–1999 to 2000–2009, but decreased in 2010–2014. Complicated MRSA bacteremia resulted in more intensive care unit admissions (66% vs. 47%, P = 0·03) and led to increased likelihood of having ⩾2 foci (58% vs. 26%, P < 0·001). From multivariate analysis, community-associated SAB increased risk and concurrent infections decreased risk of complications (odds ratio (OR) 1·82 (1·1–3·02), P = 0·021) and (OR 0·58 (0·34–0·97), P = 0·038), respectively. In conclusion, children with SAB should be carefully evaluated for complications. Methicillin resistance remains associated with poor outcomes but have decreased in overall prevalence.
There is a lack of evidence pointing to the efficacy of any specific psychotherapy for adults with anorexia nervosa (AN). The aim of this study was to compare three psychological treatments for AN: Specialist Supportive Clinical Management, Maudsley Model Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults and Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Method
A multi-centre randomised controlled trial was conducted with outcomes assessed at pre-, mid- and post-treatment, and 6- and 12-month follow-up by researchers blind to treatment allocation. All analyses were intention-to-treat. One hundred and twenty individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for AN were recruited from outpatient treatment settings in three Australian cities and offered 25–40 sessions over a 10-month period. Primary outcomes were body mass index (BMI) and eating disorder psychopathology. Secondary outcomes included depression, anxiety, stress and psychosocial impairment.
Results
Treatment was completed by 60% of participants and 52.5% of the total sample completed 12-month follow-up. Completion rates did not differ between treatments. There were no significant differences between treatments on continuous outcomes; all resulted in clinically significant improvements in BMI, eating disorder psychopathology, general psychopathology and psychosocial impairment that were maintained over follow-up. There were no significant differences between treatments with regard to the achievement of a healthy weight (mean = 50%) or remission (mean = 28.3%) at 12-month follow-up.
Conclusion
The findings add to the evidence base for these three psychological treatments for adults with AN, but the results underscore the need for continued efforts to improve outpatient treatments for this disorder.
Universal screening for postpartum depression is recommended in many countries. Knowledge of whether the disclosure of depressive symptoms in the postpartum period differs across cultures could improve detection and provide new insights into the pathogenesis. Moreover, it is a necessary step to evaluate the universal use of screening instruments in research and clinical practice. In the current study we sought to assess whether the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the most widely used screening tool for postpartum depression, measures the same underlying construct across cultural groups in a large international dataset.
Method
Ordinal regression and measurement invariance were used to explore the association between culture, operationalized as education, ethnicity/race and continent, and endorsement of depressive symptoms using the EPDS on 8209 new mothers from Europe and the USA.
Results
Education, but not ethnicity/race, influenced the reporting of postpartum depression [difference between robust comparative fit indexes (∆*CFI) < 0.01]. The structure of EPDS responses significantly differed between Europe and the USA (∆*CFI > 0.01), but not between European countries (∆*CFI < 0.01).
Conclusions
Investigators and clinicians should be aware of the potential differences in expression of phenotype of postpartum depression that women of different educational backgrounds may manifest. The increasing cultural heterogeneity of societies together with the tendency towards globalization requires a culturally sensitive approach to patients, research and policies, that takes into account, beyond rhetoric, the context of a person's experiences and the context in which the research is conducted.
A new generation of solar instruments provides improved spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution, thus facilitating a better understanding of dynamic processes on the Sun. High-resolution observations often reveal multiple-component spectral line profiles, e.g., in the near-infrared He i 10830 Å triplet, which provides information about the chromospheric velocity and magnetic fine structure. We observed an emerging flux region, including two small pores and an arch filament system, on 2015 April 17 with the ‘very fast spectroscopic mode’ of the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) situated at the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope at Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife, Spain. We discuss this method of obtaining fast (one per minute) spectral scans of the solar surface and its potential to follow dynamic processes on the Sun. We demonstrate the performance of the ‘very fast spectroscopic mode’ by tracking chromospheric high-velocity features in the arch filament system.
Increasingly, archaeological research in Amazonia is revealing complex precolonial occupation in areas around riverine confluences. In 2014, the first site-based archaeological investigations were undertaken in Gurupá, Pará, Brazil, a municipality that spans the region of the Xingu-Amazon confluence. The Portuguese controlled access to Amazonia from 1623 onward through a network of settlements organized around Gurupá. Results from extensive excavations of terra preta sites, landscape archaeology, and analysis of ceramic evidence suggest that this was also a precolonial crossroads. Carrazedo, once a booming historical town (Arapijó), sits atop a significantly larger terra preta site. Excavations in historical and precolonial sectors of Carrazedo found well-preserved remains, including a precolonial house terrace complex. The extent of terra preta and earthworks at Carrazedo indicate that the precolonial occupation was more intensive than the colonial-historical period occupation. Regional survey revealed colonial-historical period sites consistently overlying expansive precolonial sites, the density and extent of which suggest a major precolonial center at the Xingu-Amazon confluence. Overall, ecological and landscape modifications appear to have been more intense in the precolonial past than during later periods. Short- and long-distance settlement networks also differed during the two periods. This as-of-yet understudied region promises to shed new light on deep-time human-environment interactions and spatial organization in the humid tropics of Amazonia.
Waterborne illness related to the consumption of contaminated or inadequately treated water is a global public health concern. Although the magnitude of drinking water-related illnesses in developed countries is lower than that observed in developing regions of the world, drinking water is still responsible for a proportion of all cases of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI) in Canada. The estimated burden of endemic AGI in Canada is 20·5 million cases annually – this estimate accounts for under-reporting and under-diagnosis. About 4 million of these cases are domestically acquired and foodborne, yet the proportion of waterborne cases is unknown. There is evidence that individuals served by private systems and small community systems may be more at risk of waterborne illness than those served by municipal drinking water systems in Canada. However, little is known regarding the contribution of these systems to the overall drinking water-related AGI burden in Canada. Private water supplies serve an estimated 12% of the Canadian population, or ~4·1 million people. An estimated 1·4 million (4·1%) people in Canada are served by small groundwater (2·6%) and surface water (1·5%) supplies. The objective of this research is to estimate the number of AGI cases attributable to water consumption from these supplies in Canada using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) approach. This provides a framework for others to develop burden of waterborne illness estimates for small water supplies. A multi-pathogen QMRA of Giardia, Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, E. coli O157 and norovirus, chosen as index waterborne pathogens, for various source water and treatment combinations was performed. It is estimated that 103 230 AGI cases per year are due to the presence of these five pathogens in drinking water from private and small community water systems in Canada. In addition to providing a mechanism to assess the potential burden of AGI attributed to small systems and private well water in Canada, this research supports the use of QMRA as an effective source attribution tool when there is a lack of randomized controlled trial data to evaluate the public health risk of an exposure source. QMRA is also a powerful tool for identifying existing knowledge gaps on the national scale to inform future surveillance and research efforts.
Knowledge on the ecology of humpback whales in the eastern North Atlantic is lacking by comparison with most other ocean basins. Humpback whales were historically over-exploited in the region and are still found in low relative abundances. This, coupled with their large range makes them difficult to study. With the aim of informing more effective conservation measures in Ireland, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group began recording sightings and images suitable for photo-identification of humpback whales from Irish waters in 1999. Validated records submitted by members of the public and data from dedicated surveys were analysed to form a longitudinal study of individually recognizable humpback whales. The distribution, relative abundance and seasonality of humpback whale sighting records are presented, revealing discrete important areas for humpback whales in Irish coastal waters. An annual easterly movement of humpback whales along the southern coast of Ireland is documented, mirroring that of their preferred prey: herring and sprat. Photo-identification images were compared with others collected throughout the North Atlantic (N = 8016), resulting in matches of two individuals between Ireland and Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands but no matches to known breeding grounds (Cape Verde and West Indies). This study demonstrates that combining public records with dedicated survey data is an effective approach to studying low-density, threatened migratory species over temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to conservation and management.