Identification of mental illness in police cells: a comparison of police processes, the brief jail mental health screen and the jail screening assessment tool

The study investigated current police practices employed to identify those with a mental illness in police custody, and to evaluate the predictive utility of the Brief Jail Mental Health Screen (BJMHS) and the Jail Screening Assessment Tool (JSAT). One hundred and fifty detainees were recruited from two police stations in Melbourne, Australia. Measures included the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR, BJMHS and JSAT. Axis-I disorders were compared with police decisions regarding identification of mental illness based on their usual practices. Participants were classified as requiring referral for further mental health evaluation according to the screening tools. Results indicated that current police practices produced high false negatives, with many of those experiencing mental illness not identified. There was no significant difference in performance between BJMHS (AUC =0.722) and JSAT (AUC =0.779) in identifying those with a serious mental illness (p=0.109). However, JSAT performed significantly better at identifying any Axis-I disorder, excluding substance use disorders, as compared with BJMHS (AUC =0.815, vs AUC =0.729; p=0.018). Given the high prevalence of mental illness among detainees, there is a pressing need to introduce standardised screening tools for mental illness in police custody. This can assist the police in managing detainees appropriately and securing mental health services as required.

Does screening high school students for psychological distress, deliberate self-harm, or suicidal ideation cause distress--and is it acceptable? An Australian-based study

Programs designed to detect students at risk of depression and suicidality have shown success (Shaffer et al., 2004). The current study sought to examine whether or not such a program was acceptable to participants and whether or not it caused distress. Participants were boys aged 14 to 16. Participants were assessed using an on-line questionnaire; acceptability was measured via postal questionnaire. Of 272 participants, 31 (11.4%) were considered at-risk; 13 required ongoing support, 8 of whom had not previously sought help. Overall screening did not appear to cause significant undue distress, although some differences were evident between at-risk and not at-risk students. All participants found the program acceptable. When conducted carefully, early detection programs can be an effective and acceptable method of identifying at-risk adolescents.

FTIR microspectroscopy for rapid screening and monitoring of polyunsaturated fatty acid production in commercially valuable marine yeasts and protists

The increase in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) consumption has prompted research into alternative resources other than fish oil. In this study, a new approach based on focal-plane-array Fourier transform infrared (FPA-FTIR) microspectroscopy and multivariate data analysis was developed for the characterisation of some marine microorganisms. Cell and lipid compositions in lipid-rich marine yeasts collected from the Australian coast were characterised in comparison to a commercially available PUFA-producing marine fungoid protist, thraustochytrid. Multivariate classification methods provided good discriminative accuracy evidenced from (i) separation of the yeasts from thraustochytrids and distinct spectral clusters among the yeasts that conformed well to their biological identities, and (ii) correct classification of yeasts from a totally independent set using cross-validation testing. The findings further indicated additional capability of the developed FPA-FTIR methodology, when combined with partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis, for rapid monitoring of lipid production in one of the yeasts during the growth period, which was achieved at a high accuracy compared to the results obtained from the traditional lipid analysis based on gas chromatography. The developed FTIR-based approach when coupled to programmable withdrawal devices and a cytocentrifugation module would have strong potential as a novel online monitoring technology suited for bioprocessing applications and large-scale production.

In vitro and in situ screening systems for morphological and phytochemical analysis of Withania somnifera germplasms

We report, for the first time for Withania somnifera, the use of a modified in vitro system for morphological and phytochemical screening of true to type plants as compared with those grown in a conventional in situ system. Eleven germplasms of cultivated W. somnifera from different regions of India were collected to examine chemotypic variation in withaferin A (WA). Methods were developed to optimize WA extraction. The maximum concentration of WA was extracted from manually ground leaf and root material to which 60 % methanol was added followed by sonication in a water bath sonicator. Variation in WA concentration in whole plants was observed amongst the different germplasms. In the in vitro system, the concentration of WA ranged between 0.27 and 7.64 mg/g dry weight (DW) and in the in situ system, the range in concentration was between 8.06 and 36.31 mg/g DW. The highest amount of WA found in leaves was 7.37 and 41.42 mg/g DW in the in vitro and the in situ systems respectively. In roots, the highest WA concentration was 0.27 mg/g DW in the in vitro and 0.60 mg/g DW in the in situ system. There are distinct advantages in using the in vitro grown plants rather than those grown in the in situ system including the simplicity of design, efficient use of space and nutrition and a system which is soil and contaminant free. The proposed in vitro system is therefore ideal for utilization in molecular, enzymatic and biochemical studies.

Use of the Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions (STOPP) and the Screening Tool to Alert doctors to the Right Treatment (START) in hospitalised older people

To determine the prevalence and nature of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs) in patients aged 65 years and over.

Dielectric screening in atomically thin boron nitride nanosheets

Two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal boron nitride (BN) nanosheets are excellent dielectric substrate for graphene, molybdenum disulfide, and many other 2D nanomaterial-based electronic and photonic devices. To optimize the performance of these 2D devices, it is essential to understand the dielectric screening properties of BN nanosheets as a function of the thickness. Here, electric force microscopy along with theoretical calculations based on both state-of-the-art first-principles calculations with van der Waals interactions under consideration, and nonlinear Thomas-Fermi theory models are used to investigate the dielectric screening in high-quality BN nanosheets of different thicknesses. It is found that atomically thin BN nanosheets are less effective in electric field screening, but the screening capability of BN shows a relatively weak dependence on the layer thickness.

Effect of self-collection of HPV DNA offered by community health workers at home visits on uptake of screening for cervical cancer (the EMA study): a population-based cluster-randomised trial

Control of cervical cancer in developing countries has been hampered by a failure to achieve high screening uptake. HPV DNA self-collection could increase screening coverage, but implementation of this technology is difficult in countries of middle and low income. We investigated whether offering HPV DNA self-collection during routine home visits by community health workers could increase cervical screening.