History of offending behavior in first episode psychosis patients: A marker of specific clinical needs and a call for early detection strategies among young offenders

OBJECTIVES Previous literature suggests that early psychosis (EP) patients with a history of offending behavior (HOB) have specific clinical needs. The aims of this study were to assess: (1) the prevalence of HOB in a representative sample of EP; (2) the premorbid and baseline characteristics of patients with HOB, and (3) the potential differences in short-term outcome of such patients when compared to patients without HOB. METHODS The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) admitted 786 EP patients between 1998 and 2000. Data were collected from patients' files using a standardized questionnaire. Data of 647 patients could be analyzed. RESULTS HOB patients (29% of the sample) were more likely to be male with lower level of premorbid functioning and education, have used illicit substances and have attempted suicide. They presented with a more complex clinical picture and had poorer 18-month outcome. Most importantly, they had a significantly longer duration of untreated psychosis. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of the high prevalence and specific features of EP patients with HOB, our study confirms a need for additional research in this domain and for the development of specific treatment strategies. Most importantly, it suggests a need for the promotion of early detection strategies among the populations of young offenders, considering that some of them may be going through the early phases of a psychotic disorder and that reduction of treatment delay and provision of well adapted interventions may have a significant impact at numerous levels in such patients

Effects of forest management on bryophyte communities on deadwood

Epixylic bryophytes are important components of forest vegetation but are currently endangered by increment of wood harvest and intensive forest management. In this paper we present a study about the relationship between forest management, deadwood abundance, deadwood attributes and species richness of epixylic bryophytes on 30 plots comprising three forest types (managed coniferous, managed deciduous and unmanaged deciduous forests) in three regions in Germany. Additionally we analyzed the relations between deadwood attributes (wood species, decay, deadwood type, size) and bryophytes on deadwood items (n = 799) and calculated species interaction networks of wood species and bryophytes. Overall, species richness of epixylic bryophytes was positively related to deadwood abundance and diversity. The mean deadwood abundance was lowest in unmanaged forests (9.7 m³ ha^-1) compared with 15.0 m³ ha^-1 in managed deciduous and 25.1 m³ ha^-1 in managed coniferous forests. Accordingly, epixylic bryophyte species richness per plot increased from 7 species per 400 m 2 in unmanaged, 10 in managed deciduous and 16 in managed coniferous forests. The interaction network provided evidence of importance of tree-species diversity for bryophyte diversity and the relevance of particular wood species for rare bryophytes.

Generally, the results demonstrate a considerable lack of deadwood in all forest types, even in unmanaged forests. Species richness of epixylic bryophytes was strongly limited by available substrates within the observed deadwood abundance ranging up to only 60 m³ ha^-1. Altogether, this suggests a high demand to increase both abundance and diversity of deadwood in forests.

The origins and progress of genomics research on Tef (Eragrostis tef)

Tef, Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter, is the most important cereal in Ethiopia. Tef is cultivated by more than five million small-scale farmers annually and constitutes the staple food for more than half of the population of 80 million. The crop is preferred by both farmers and consumers due to its beneficial traits associated with its agronomy and utilization. The genetic and phenotypic diversity of tef in Ethiopia is a national treasure of potentially global importance. In order for this diversity to be effectively conserved and utilized, a better understanding at the genomic level is necessary. In the recent years, tef has become the subject of genomic research in Ethiopia and abroad. Genomic-assisted tef improvement holds tremendous potential for improving productivity, thereby benefiting the smallholder farmers who have cultivated and relied on the crop for thousands of years. It is hoped that such research endeavours will provide solutions to some of the age-old problems of tef's husbandry. In this review, we provide a brief description of the genesis and progress of tef genomic research to date, suggest ways to utilize the genomic tools developed so far, discuss the potential of genomics to enable sustainable conservation and use of tef genetic diversity and suggest opportunities for the future research.

Speciation in Freshwater Fishes

The extraordinary species richness of freshwater fishes has attracted much research on mechanisms and modes of speciation. We here review research on speciation in freshwater fishes in light of speciation theory, and place this in a context of broad-scale diversity patterns in freshwater fishes. We discuss several major repeated themes in freshwater fish speciation and the speciation mechanisms they are frequently associated with. These include transitions between marine and freshwater habitats, transitions between discrete freshwater habitats, and ecological transitions within habitats, as well as speciation without distinct niche shifts. Major research directions in the years to come include understanding the transition from extrinsic environment-dependent to intrinsic reproductive isolation and its influences on species persistence and understanding the extrinsic and intrinsic constraints to speciation and how these relate to broad-scale diversification patterns through time.

A regional climate palaeosimulation for Europe in the period 1500–1990 – Part 2: Shortcomings and strengths of models and reconstructions

This study compares gridded European seasonal series of surface air temperature (SAT) and precipitation (PRE) reconstructions with a regional climate simulation over the period 1500–1990. The area is analysed separately for nine subareas that represent the majority of the climate diversity in the European sector. In their spatial structure, an overall good agreement is found between the reconstructed and simulated climate features across Europe, supporting consistency in both products. Systematic biases between both data sets can be explained by a priori known deficiencies in the simulation. Simulations and reconstructions, however, largely differ in the temporal evolution of past climate for European subregions. In particular, the simulated anomalies during the Maunder and Dalton minima show stronger response to changes in the external forcings than recorded in the reconstructions. Although this disagreement is to some extent expected given the prominent role of internal variability in the evolution of regional temperature and precipitation, a certain degree of agreement is a priori expected in variables directly affected by external forcings. In this sense, the inability of the model to reproduce a warm period similar to that recorded for the winters during the first decades of the 18th century in the reconstructions is indicative of fundamental limitations in the simulation that preclude reproducing exceptionally anomalous conditions. Despite these limitations, the simulated climate is a physically consistent data set, which can be used as a benchmark to analyse the consistency and limitations of gridded reconstructions of different variables. A comparison of the leading modes of SAT and PRE variability indicates that reconstructions are too simplistic, especially for precipitation, which is associated with the linear statistical techniques used to generate the reconstructions. The analysis of the co-variability between sea level pressure (SLP) and SAT and PRE in the simulation yields a result which resembles the canonical co-variability recorded in the observations for the 20th century. However, the same analysis for reconstructions exhibits anomalously low correlations, which points towards a lack of dynamical consistency between independent reconstructions.

Factors Controlling Species Richness in Alpine Plant Communities: An Assessment of the Importance of Stress and Disturbance

This study explores whether the high variability of vascular plant diversity among alpine plant communities can be explained by stress and/or disturbance intensities. Species numbers of 14 alpine plant communities were sampled in the Swiss Alps. To quantify the intensity of 13 stress and 6 disturbance factors potentially controlling plant life in these communities, a survey was conducted by asking numerous specialists in alpine vegetation to assess the importance of the different factors for each community. The estimated values were combined in stress- and disturbance-indices which were compared with diversity according to the Intermediate Stress Hypothesis, the Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis, and the Dynamic Equilibrium Model, respectively. Each of these theories explained a part of the variability in the species richness, but only the Dynamic Equilibrium Model provided a complete and consistent explanation. The last model suggests that community species richness within the alpine life zone is generally controlled by stress intensity. Disturbance and competition seem to play a secondary role by fine-tuning diversity in specific communities. As diversity is primarily limited by stress, a moderation of temperature-related stress factors, as a result of global warming, may cause a shift of the equilibrium between stress, disturbance, and competition in alpine ecosystems.

School Environments and Behaviors of Students on the Autism Spectrum

This study explores the relationship between the different environments within a school and the stereotyped behaviors of students with autism. The study seeks to identify whether the behaviors of these students are similar or different in the different environments, testing the idea of environment as a stimulus for these behaviors. The study is a naturalistic observational study, and a change in prevalence of these stereotyped behaviors during the duration of the study is not a focus of this study.

Detecting the signature of natural selection with microsatellites

Natural selection is one of the major factors in the evolution of all organisms. Detecting the signature of natural selection has been a central theme in evolutionary genetics. With the availability of microsatellite data, it is of interest to study how natural selection can be detected with microsatellites. ^ The overall aim of this research is to detect signatures of natural selection with data on genetic variation at microsatellite loci. The null hypothesis to be tested is the neutral mutation theory of molecular evolution, which states that different alleles at a locus have equivalent effects on fitness. Currently used tests of this hypothesis based on data on genetic polymorphism in natural populations presume that mutations at the loci follow the infinite allele/site models (IAM, ISM), in the sense that at each site at most only one mutation event is recorded, and each mutation leads to an allele not seen before in the population. Microsatellite loci, which are abundant in the genome, do not obey these mutation models, since the new alleles at such loci can be created either by contraction or expansion of tandem repeat sizes of core motifs. Since the current genome map is mainly composed of microsatellite loci and this class of loci is still most commonly studied in the context of human genome diversity, this research explores how the current test procedures for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis should be modified to take into account a generalized model of forward-backward stepwise mutations. In addition, recent literature also suggested that past demographic history of populations, presence of population substructure, and varying rates of mutations across loci all have confounding effects for detecting signatures of natural selection. ^ The effects of the stepwise mutation model and other confounding factors on detecting signature of natural selection are the main results of the research. ^

Validation of an instrument for assessing the medicolegal death investigation system: A public health approach

Background. This study validated the content of an instrument designed to assess the performance of the medicolegal death investigation system. The instrument was modified from Version 2.0 of the Local Public Health System Performance Assessment Instrument (CDC) and is based on the 10 Essential Public Health Services. ^ Aims. The aims were to employ a cognitive testing process to interview a randomized sample of medicolegal death investigation office leaders, qualitatively describe the results, and revise the instrument accordingly. ^ Methods. A cognitive testing process was used to validate the survey instrument's content in terms of the how well participants could respond to and interpret the questions. Twelve randomly selected medicolegal death investigation chiefs (or equivalent) that represented the seven types of medicolegal death investigation systems and six different state mandates were interviewed by telephone. The respondents also were representative of the educational diversity within medicolegal death investigation leadership. Based on respondent comments, themes were identified that permitted improvement of the instrument toward collecting valid and reliable information when ultimately used in a field survey format. ^ Results. Responses were coded and classified, which permitted the identification of themes related to Comprehension/Interpretation, Retrieval, Estimate/Judgment, and Response. The majority of respondent comments related to Comprehension/Interpretation of the questions. Respondents identified 67 questions and 6 section explanations that merited rephrasing, adding, or deleting examples or words. In addition, five questions were added based on respondent comments. ^ Conclusion. The content of the instrument was validated by cognitive testing method design. The respondents agreed that the instrument would be a useful and relevant tool for assessing system performance. ^

A STUDY TO INVESTIGATE DIET DIVERSITY AS A NUTRITION ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

Nutrient intake and specific food item data from 24-hour dietary recalls were utilized to study the relationship between measures of diet diversity and dietary adequacy in a population of white females of child-bearing age and socioeconomic subgroups of that population. As the basis of the diet diversity measures, twelve food groups were constructed from the 24-hour recall data and the number of unique foods per food group counted and weighted according to specified weighting schemes. Utilizing these food groups, nine diet diversity indices were developed.^ Sensitivity/specificity analysis was used to determine the ability of varying levels of selected diet diversity indices to identify individuals above and below preselected intakes of different nutrients. The true prevalence proportions, sensitivity and specificity, false positive and false negative rates, and positive predictive values observed at the selected levels of diet diversity indices were investigated in relation to the objectives and resources of a variety of nutrition improvement programs. Diet diversity indices constructed from the total population data were evaluated as screening tools for respondent nutrient intakes in each of the socioeconomic subgroups as well.^ The results of the sensitivity/specificity analysis demonstrated that the false positive rate, the false negative rate, or both were too high at each diversity cut-off level to validate the widespread use of any of the diversity indices in the dietary assessment of the study population. Although diet diversity has been shown to be highly correlated with the intakes of a number of nutrients, the diet diversity indices constructed in this study did not adequately represent nutrient intakes in the diet as reported, in this study, intakes as reported in the 24-hour dietary recall. Specific cut-off levels of selected diversity indices might have limited application in some nutrition programs. The results were applicable to the sensitivity/specificity analyses in the socioeconomic subgroups as well as in the total population. ^

MEASURING THE EFFECT OF ILLNESS ON THE EXPECTED REMAINING SERVICE TIME FOR THE ACTIVE DUTY ARMY: A LIFE TABLE APPROACH

A life table methodology was developed which estimates the expected remaining Army service time and the expected remaining Army sick time by years of service for the United States Army population. A measure of illness impact was defined as the ratio of expected remaining Army sick time to the expected remaining Army service time. The variances of the resulting estimators were developed on the basis of current data. The theory of partial and complete competing risks was considered for each type of decrement (death, administrative separation, and medical separation) and for the causes of sick time.^ The methodology was applied to world-wide U.S. Army data for calendar year 1978. A total of 669,493 enlisted personnel and 97,704 officers were reported on active duty as of 30 September 1978. During calendar year 1978, the Army Medical Department reported 114,647 inpatient discharges and 1,767,146 sick days. Although the methodology is completely general with respect to the definition of sick time, only sick time associated with an inpatient episode was considered in this study.^ Since the temporal measure was years of Army service, an age-adjusting process was applied to the life tables for comparative purposes. Analyses were conducted by rank (enlisted and officer), race and sex, and were based on the ratio of expected remaining Army sick time to expected remaining Army service time. Seventeen major diagnostic groups, classified by the Eighth Revision, International Classification of Diseases, Adapted for Use In The United States, were ranked according to their cumulative (across years of service) contribution to expected remaining sick time.^ The study results indicated that enlisted personnel tend to have more expected hospital-associated sick time relative to their expected Army service time than officers. Non-white officers generally have more expected sick time relative to their expected Army service time than white officers. This racial differential was not supported within the enlisted population. Females tend to have more expected sick time relative to their expected Army service time than males. This tendency remained after diagnostic groups 580-629 (Genitourinary System) and 630-678 (Pregnancy and Childbirth) were removed. Problems associated with the circulatory system, digestive system and musculoskeletal system were among the three leading causes of cumulative sick time across years of service. ^

Practice and attitude differences in physician cigarette use: A study of prevalence, physicians' role, and smoking policy awareness in Dubai, UAE

The use of tobacco products ruins the health of millions of people around the world. On average, tobacco users die nearly seven years earlier than non-tobacco users. n1 Cigarette smoking is a particular concern in the developing countries of the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region where smoking prevalence is expected to increase. This is due to the tobacco industry's vigorous commercial and marketing activities. n3 Smoking prevalence among physicians is considered to be an effective indicator of a society's readiness to identify the smoking epidemic and its related health diseases. n4 There is a lack of detailed data on the smoking prevalence among healthcare professionals, particularly physicians, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This cross sectional study is the first to address smoking practices among physicians working at the Department of Health and Medical Services (DOHMS); in Dubai, UAE. ^ This study describes the cigarette smoking prevalence among DOHMS Physicians, physician attitudes towards tobacco use and tobacco bans; physician attitudes towards smoking cessation techniques (among smokers and non-smokers); and physician awareness of official anti-smoking policies. Data for the study was collected through the use of an adapted WHO standardized questionnaire, the Global Health Professionals Survey. The questionnaire was administered by the researcher to physicians (n=288) at their work place. Date was analyzed using the SPSS analytic software program. ^ Twelve percent of DOHMS physicians smoked cigarettes. Regardless of smoking status, the majority supported a tobacco ban in hospitals and public places, and a ban on tobacco advertising. There is a significant relationship between physician smoking status and discussing risks of tobacco use (p < 0.05). Non-smoking physicians reported spending more time with patients discussing hazards of smoking (p < 0.01). Non-smokers reported providing more counseling than their smoking colleagues. The majority of DOHMS physicians (63%) reported a lack of knowledge about 5As/ 5Rs. The majority of physicians also reported they are aware of hospital smoking policies that restrict smoking. Regardless of physician smoking status, DOHMS physicians are not very actively involved in smoking cessation activities. This cross sectional study is the first to address smoking programs, policies, and practices among physicians in Dubai, UAE. Findings support the need for increased physical smoking cessation training as well as the development of smoking cessation programs for tobacco control, and programs with a focus on physician participation in reducing tobacco and cigarette use among the general population.^

Microbiota and Microsatellite genotypes of Pacific oysters stemming from three oyster bed in the Northern Wadden Sea

Background: Studies of oyster microbiomes have revealed that a limited number of microbes, including pathogens, can dominate microbial communities in host tissues such as gills and gut. Much of the bacterial diversity however remains underexplored and unexplained, although environmental conditions and host genetics have been implicated. We used 454 next generation 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of individually tagged PCR reactions to explore the diversity of bacterial communities in gill tissue of the invasive Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas stemming from genetically differentiated beds under ambient outdoor conditions and after a multifaceted disturbance treatment imposing stress on the host. Results: While the gill associated microbial communities in oysters were dominated by few abundant taxa (i.e. Sphingomonas, Mycoplasma) the distribution of rare bacterial groups correlated to relatedness between the hosts under ambient conditions. Exposing the host to disturbance broke apart this relationship by removing rare phylotypes thereby reducing overall microbial diversity. Shifts in the microbiome composition in response to stress did not result in a net increase in genera known to contain potentially pathogenic strains. Conclusion: The decrease in microbial diversity and the disassociation between population genetic structure of the hosts and their associated microbiome suggest that disturbance (i.e. stress) may play a significant role for the assembly of the natural microbiome. Such community shifts may in turn also feed back on the course of disease and the occurrence of mass mortality events in oyster populations.