Predictors of favourable outcome in first-episode patients who refuse medication: results from the FEPOS study

There are suggestions that some first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients can have favourable outcome without antipsychotic medication. However, there is very limited data regarding patients' characteristics on which the decision to propose medication free treatment could be based. FEPOS is a fi le-based study of an epidemiological sample of 704 FEP patients treated at EPPIC, Melbourne, between 1998 and 2000. Among the 661 patients where data was available, 108 consistently refused medication during the entire duration of their treatment at EPPIC. In this paper we compared, within this sub-group, patients who had a favourable outcome with those who did not. Patients were aged between 15 and 29 years (M = 21.9, SD = 3.40) and the majority were male (70.4%, n = 76). Symptomatic remission data was available on 105 patients; of these patients 41.0% (n = 41) had achieved remission. Functional remission data was available on 100 patients; of these patients 33.0% (n = 33) had achieved functional remission. Combined remission was evident in 23.0% (n = 23) of patients. Three factors were associated with symptomatic remission: better premorbid functioning (based on GAF, OR = 1.07, p = 0.006), higher number of years of education (OR = 1.43, p = 0.020), and being employed or studying at service entry (OR = 2.59, p = 0.034). Three factors were associated with functional remission: shorter duration of prodrome (OR = 0.50, p = 0.043), severity of psychopathology (CGI-S, OR = 0.51, p = 0.024), and vocational status at service entry (OR = 4.29, p = 0.003). While various aspects of pre-morbid functioning seem to correlate with the possibility of a favourable outcome in FEP patients who refuse medication, various limitations need to be taken into account in this study.

Official Positions for FRAX® Bone Mineral Density and FRAX® simplification from Joint Official Positions Development Conference of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry and International Osteoporosis Foundation on FRAX®.

Tools to predict fracture risk are useful for selecting patients for pharmacological therapy in order to reduce fracture risk and redirect limited healthcare resources to those who are most likely to benefit. FRAX® is a World Health Organization fracture risk assessment algorithm for estimating the 10-year probability of hip fracture and major osteoporotic fracture. Effective application of FRAX® in clinical practice requires a thorough understanding of its limitations as well as its utility. For some patients, FRAX® may underestimate or overestimate fracture risk. In order to address some of the common issues encountered with the use of FRAX® for individual patients, the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD) and International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) assigned task forces to review the medical evidence and make recommendations for optimal use of FRAX® in clinical practice. Among the issues addressed were the use of bone mineral density (BMD) measurements at skeletal sites other than the femoral neck, the use of technologies other than dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, the use of FRAX® without BMD input, the use of FRAX® to monitor treatment, and the addition of the rate of bone loss as a clinical risk factor for FRAX®. The evidence and recommendations were presented to a panel of experts at the Joint ISCD-IOF FRAX® Position Development Conference, resulting in the development of Joint ISCD-IOF Official Positions addressing FRAX®-related issues.

Raman spectroscopy and microspectroscopy of reactive dyes on cotton fibres: analysis and detection limits

A collaborative study on Raman spectroscopy and microspectrophotometry (MSP) was carried out by members of the ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) European Fibres Group (EFG) on different dyed cotton fabrics. The detection limits of the two methods were tested on two cotton sets with a dye concentration ranging from 0.5 to 0.005% (w/w). This survey shows that it is possible to detect the presence of dye in fibres with concentrations below that detectable by the traditional methods of light microscopy and microspectrophotometry (MSP). The MSP detection limit for the dyes used in this study was found to be a concentration of 0.5% (w/w). At this concentration, the fibres appear colourless with light microscopy. Raman spectroscopy clearly shows a higher potential to detect concentrations of dyes as low as 0.05% for the yellow dye RY145 and 0.005% for the blue dye RB221. This detection limit was found to depend both on the chemical composition of the dye itself and on the analytical conditions, particularly the laser wavelength. Furthermore, analysis of binary mixtures of dyes showed that while the minor dye was detected at 1.5% (w/w) (30% of the total dye concentration) using microspectrophotometry, it was detected at a level as low as 0.05% (w/w) (10% of the total dye concentration) using Raman spectroscopy. This work also highlights the importance of a flexible Raman instrument equipped with several lasers at different wavelengths for the analysis of dyed fibres. The operator and the set up of the analytical conditions are also of prime importance in order to obtain high quality spectra. Changing the laser wavelength is important to detect different dyes in a mixture.

IX ASMOSIA International Conference Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone: Tarragona, 8-13th June 2009 (Book of abstracts)

Aquesta obra recull els resums de les comunicacions orals i pòsters que es van presentar durant el IX Congrés Internacional de l’Association for the Study of Marbles and Other Stones in Antiquity (ASMOSIA), organitzat per l’ICAC en el marc del programa de recerca HAR2008-04600/HIST, amb el suport del programa d’Ajuts ARCS 2008 (referència expedient IR036826) de la Generalitat de Catalunya i del Ministeri de Ciència i Innovació (Accions Complementàries HAR2008-03181-E/HIST), i celebrat a Tarragona entre el 8 i el 13 de juny del 2009.

The international multidisciplinary consensus conference on multimodality monitoring in neurocritical care: evidentiary tables : a statement for healthcare professionals from the neurocritical care society and the European society of intensive care medicine.

A variety of technologies have been developed to assist decision-making during the management of patients with acute brain injury who require intensive care. A large body of research has been generated describing these various technologies. The Neurocritical Care Society (NCS) in collaboration with the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the Society for Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and the Latin America Brain Injury Consortium (LABIC) organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference to perform a systematic review of the published literature to help develop evidence-based practice recommendations on bedside physiologic monitoring. This supplement contains a Consensus Summary Statement with recommendations and individual topic reviews on physiologic processes important in the care of acute brain injury. In this article we provide the evidentiary tables for select topics including systemic hemodynamics, intracranial pressure, brain and systemic oxygenation, EEG, brain metabolism, biomarkers, processes of care and monitoring in emerging economies to provide the clinician ready access to evidence that supports recommendations about neuromonitoring.

The international multidisciplinary consensus conference on multimodality monitoring in neurocritical care: a list of recommendations and additional conclusions : a statement for healthcare professionals from the neurocritical care society and the European society of intensive care medicine.

Careful patient monitoring using a variety of techniques including clinical and laboratory evaluation, bedside physiological monitoring with continuous or non-continuous techniques and imaging is fundamental to the care of patients who require neurocritical care. How best to perform and use bedside monitoring is still being elucidated. To create a basic platform for care and a foundation for further research the Neurocritical Care Society in collaboration with the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, the Society for Critical Care Medicine and the Latin America Brain Injury Consortium organized an international, multidisciplinary consensus conference to develop recommendations about physiologic bedside monitoring. This supplement contains a Consensus Summary Statement with recommendations and individual topic reviews as a background to the recommendations. In this article, we highlight the recommendations and provide additional conclusions as an aid to the reader and to facilitate bedside care.

Preface"11th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms"

The EGU Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms was established in 1999 within the framework of the Interdisciplinary Working Group on Natural Hazards (IWG-NH) of the former European Geophysical Society (EGS)- since 2002,European Geosciences Union (EGU). Since its advent, the Plinius Conference series has provided a crucial interdisciplinary forum for improving our understanding of hazardous storms over the Mediterranean basin that are capable of producing strong winds, heavy rains, explosive landslides, devastating flash floods and other related extremes ...

Local effects and global impact in neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration: The Xi"an International Neurotoxicology Conference

'Neurotoxicity and Neurodegeneration: Local Effect and Global Impact' was the theme of the Xi"an International Neurotoxicology Conference (XINC), held in Xi"an, June 2011. The Conference was a joint event of the 13th Biennial Meeting of the International Neurotoxicology Association (INA-13) and the 11th International Symposium on Neurobehavioral Methods and Effects in Occupational and Environmental Health (NEUREOH-11) of the Scientific Committee on Neurotoxicology and...

The Barcelona International Conference on Advances in Statistics (BAS 2012) : Abstracts of communications

Conferència Organitzada per l'Escola Politècnica Superior, Universitat de Vic en col·laboració amb Servei d'Estadística de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona i CosmoCaixa Barcelona. Celebrada del 18 al 22 de juny de 2012 a Barcelona

2nd ESMO Consensus Conference in Lung Cancer: locally advanced stage III non-small-cell lung cancer.

To complement the existing treatment guidelines for all tumour types, ESMO organises consensus conferences to focus on specific issues in each type of tumour. The 2nd ESMO Consensus Conference on Lung Cancer was held on 11-12 May 2013 in Lugano. A total of 35 experts met to address several questions on non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in each of four areas: pathology and molecular biomarkers, first-line/second and further lines of treatment in advanced disease, early-stage disease and locally advanced disease. For each question, recommendations were made including reference to the grade of recommendation and level of evidence. This consensus paper focuses on locally advanced disease.

Folkloristit Argentiinan pampalla : ISFNR Interim Conference "Folk Narrative and Society" Santa Rosa, Argentina 20.-22.9.2007

Ajankohtaista

Regional Science trends through the analysis of the main facts of the 51st ERSA Conference

The 51st ERSA Conference held in Barcelona in 2011 was one of the largest ever. By examining the characteristics of the conference, this paper identifies the main trends in Regional Science and draws on a broad array of sources of information: the delegates" demographic details, the conference program itself, a satisfaction survey conducted among delegates, a quality survey addressed to those chairing the sessions and, finally, a bibliometric database including each author signing a paper presented at the conference. We finally run a regression analysis from which we show that for ERSA delegates what matters most is quality, and this must be the direction that future conferences should move toward. Ultimately, ERSA conferences are comprehensive, all-embracing occasions, representing an ideal opportunity for regional scientists to present their work to each other and to network.