We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Cannabis use and familial vulnerability to psychosis have been associated with social cognition deficits. This study examined the potential relationship between cannabis use and cognitive biases underlying social cognition and functioning in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP), their siblings, and controls.
Methods
We analyzed a sample of 543 participants with FEP, 203 siblings, and 1168 controls from the EU-GEI study using a correlational design. We used logistic regression analyses to examine the influence of clinical group, lifetime cannabis use frequency, and potency of cannabis use on cognitive biases, accounting for demographic and cognitive variables.
Results
FEP patients showed increased odds of facial recognition processing (FRP) deficits (OR = 1.642, CI 1.123–2.402) relative to controls but not of speech illusions (SI) or jumping to conclusions (JTC) bias, with no statistically significant differences relative to siblings. Daily and occasional lifetime cannabis use were associated with decreased odds of SI (OR = 0.605, CI 0.368–0.997 and OR = 0.646, CI 0.457–0.913 respectively) and JTC bias (OR = 0.625, CI 0.422–0.925 and OR = 0.602, CI 0.460–0.787 respectively) compared with lifetime abstinence, but not with FRP deficits, in the whole sample. Within the cannabis user group, low-potency cannabis use was associated with increased odds of SI (OR = 1.829, CI 1.297–2.578, FRP deficits (OR = 1.393, CI 1.031–1.882, and JTC (OR = 1.661, CI 1.271–2.171) relative to high-potency cannabis use, with comparable effects in the three clinical groups.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest increased odds of cognitive biases in FEP patients who have never used cannabis and in low-potency users. Future studies should elucidate this association and its potential implications.
tardive dysphoria is a relatively new term used to describe the phenomenon of clinical worsening of depression after long-term antidepressant use. Most of the theories proposed to explain this talk about antidepressants tachyphylaxis that implies the loss of efficacy with its prolonged use, or even a pro-depressant effect of antidepressants when used for long periods of time.
Objectives
to explore the concept of tardive dysphoria, potential causes and clinical implications, by making a literature review on the topic. Moreover we pretend to understand the challenges in its diagnosis and treatment.
Methods
bibliographical search in PubMed database, using the key-words “long-term antidepressant”, “tardive dysphoria” and “antidepressant tachyphylaxis”, limited to works published in the last twenty years.
Results
from our search resulted 53 articles, 26 were chosen for further analysis.
Conclusions
the concept of tardive dysphoria is controversial, namely doubt persists if it constitutes a clinical entity by itself caused by long-term antidepressant use or if it simply relates to cases of treatment-resistant depression. We conclude that it is necessary further investigation in this area given the significant implications on clinical practice specifically in the psychopharmacological treatment with antidepressants, which is very common in psychiatric and general practices, with antidepressants being used to treat many mental health conditions.
fibromyalgia is a modern disease, with growing investigation concerning its etiology and treatment. It has become a very prevalent diagnosis and total remission of symptoms is the exception which is dramatic considering the socio-occupational impact of this highly debilitating disease.
Objectives
to review the updates in the pathophysiology and treatment of fibromyalgia, especially when it is refractory to treatment. The authors also intend to better understand where fibromyalgia belongs, is it in psychiatry as a functional disorder or in rheumatology as an auto-immune disease?
Methods
bibliographical search in PubMed database, using the key-words “fibromyalgia” and “psychiatry”, limited to works published in the last 10 years.
Results
from our search resulted 158 articles, from reading of abstracts 30 were chosen for further reading.
Conclusions
concerning the etiology of this disease, on the one hand psychological factors cannot be neglected since there are several studies finding a positive correlation between stressors like history of physical abuse and fibromyalgia in adulthood, on the other hand investigation and meta-analysis have found that the immune-inflammatory response system might be altered with dysregulation of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines and cell-mediated immunity. Regarding treatment, symptom relief is often unsatisfactory with classical treatment and so adjunct treatment such as electrical neuromodulation and aerobic exercise might, respectively, be effective in reducing pain and depressive symptoms, thereby improving quality of life, and in improving fatigue and in a lesser degree sleep.
Given that child and adolescent mental health has been affected by several factors in recent years, such as the distance between home and specialized centers that provide psychological care to children, the lack of care resources, or the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, online psychological treatments are becoming increasingly common among the child and adolescent population, although it is necessary to develop this type of treatment for children at psychosocial risk, since these have been developed mostly for the general population. To this aim, the Online Emotional Self-Regulation Improvement program (Mejora de la Auto-regulación para Menores, Online MAM@) was developed.
Objectives
To assess the acceptability of the Online Emotional Self-Regulation Improvement program, by the adolescent.
Methods
The intervention program was applied to a total of n = 32 children (n = 17 girls) between 11 and 15 years of age. The program consists of 7 target emotions to be worked on, and the acceptance, usability, usefulness, enjoyment of each module and barriers to use by the children were assessed with an adaptation of the Venkatesh and Davis scale. These measures were taken post-test, once the intervention module was completed. The program was applied online for five weeks by the children, and their regular therapists contacted them to provide them with weekly access codes and reminders in case they were not completing the modules.
Results
It was observed that the best rated module was the anger module, the most useful module was the sadness module, the module considered to have the highest usability was the fear module, and the most enjoyed module was the sadness module, although all the modules had very high scores above the average and no significant differences were found in the rating of the modules between sexes. As for the most common barriers to use among the children, problems were found with the completion of the intervention, since they often forgot to access the web, and these did not apply what they had learned outside the intervention program.
Conclusions
The Online Emotional Self-Regulation Improvement program is the first program developed in Spanish language for adolescents at psychosocial risk, and may represent a breakthrough to consolidate these programs in the national scene and bring the therapeutic possibilities for adolescents to the same level as in other parts of the world. Focusing on future versions of the program, it would be advisable to reduce its length and incorporate activities outside the treatment program to guarantee a generalization of what is learned in the intervention program in everyday life situations.
In recent years, a global debate has emerged regarding the protection of Internet users from exposure to harmful content. Content moderation is defined as the organized practice of filtering user-generated content posted on internet, social networks, and media to determine the appropriateness of the content for a site, locality, or jurisdiction. The growing volume of this content along with the psychological impact of this activity have promoted the application of automated approaches based on artificial intelligence and machine-learning. However, the changing characteristics of content, as well as the cultural differences that influence its appropriateness, mean that human moderation of Internet content currently continues to exist. Psychological effects of this activity such as symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) could represent an example of secondary trauma.
Objectives
Our aim is to describe a clinical case of post-traumatic stress disorder presenting with specific traumatic exposure idiosyncrasy that could lead to a better consequence characterization of a recent social phenomena such as internet content moderation.
Methods
We expose the clinical case of a woman with emotional distress who was reffered to our outpatient psychiatric unit in Barcelona in 2022 after five years working as an internet content moderator.
Results
We describe the case of a 35-year-old woman without relevant medical, toxicologic or psychiatric record that presents to our out-patient psychiatric clinic with post-traumatic stress disorder after five years of working as an internet content moderator and being exposed to visual traumatic content such as sexual assault and paedophilia. The clinical presentation consisted with one year of recurrent daily panic attacks, intrusive images about the traumatic exposure, intrusive thoughts, insomnia, vivid nightmares, avoidance of exposure to her son, distrust of the environment and intense fear for her son security. The disorder interfered in her capacity to work. The patient received psychological treatment and ISRS (Sertraline) was prescribed, however only partial response was reached with persistence of the majority of symptoms.
Conclusions
The presented case suggests a temporal and symptom content relationship between the described work exposure and the appearance of emotional distress in a patient without PTSD history. Although previous evidence of secondary trauma in people exposed to indirect traumatic experiences has been reported, for example in healthcare professionals, the exposure to alien trauma through digital exposure as a workactivity is yet to be specifically examined. It is necessary to expand knowledge on the clinical expression of this phenomenon due to the observed recurrence of anxious and depressive symptomatology related to repeated exposure to traumatic content.
The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia Autism Severity Scale (PAUSS) scale can be derived from the Positive and Negative Schizophrenia Syndrome Scale, enabling an assessment of psychotic and autistic dimensions with a single tool.
Objectives
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of autistic traits and the diagnostic, developmental, clinical, and functional correlates of this phenotype in a sample of early-onset psychosis (onset before age 18 years; EOP).
Methods
Prospective observational 2 year- follow-up study in a sample of young people with a first-episode of EOP. Demographic, perinatal, developmental, cognitive, clinical, and functional data were collected. PAUSS total scores and socio-communication and repetitive behaviors subscores were calculated. We used the proposed cut-off points for adult populations to define prevalence of autistic traits (PAUSS≥30). Subgroups of patients with and without autistic traits were identified based on the total PAUSS terciles. We used the Cronbach’s alpha test to assess the PAUSS internal consistency. Linear mixed models were performed to compare changes in PAUSS during follow-up between diagnostic subgroups [i.e., non-affective psychosis (including schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder), affective psychosis (including bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder and major depressive disorder with psychotic features), and other psychosis (including brief psychotic disorder and psychosis not otherwise specified)]. Developmental, clinical, and functional variables were compared between subgroups with and without autistic traits with logistic regression analysis.
Results
248 patients with PIT were included (age 15.69 ± 1.86 years, 38.65% female). The prevalence of autistic traits in EOP was 7.04%, with significantly higher prevalence in the group of patients with non-affective psychosis (15.20%) than in other diagnostic groups. PAUSS scores significantly decreased over time, with no significant differences in the trajectories of the total PAUSS and its subscores among the three diagnostic subgroups during the 2-year follow-up. The PAUSS showed good internal consistency at all visits (Cronbach’s alpha > 0,88). Patients with autistic traits presented longer duration of untreated psychosis, longer duration of the first inpatient admission, poorer social adjustment in childhood, poorer functionality, greater clinical severity, and poorer response to treatment during follow-up than patients without autistic traits.
Conclusions
The PAUSS is an easy-to-apply tool that can be useful to differentiate psychosis subgroups with worse prognosis.
Disclosure of Interest
J. Suárez Campayo: None Declared, L. Pina-Camacho: None Declared, J. Merchán-Naranjo: None Declared, C. Ordas: None Declared, V. Cavone: None Declared, R. Panadero: None Declared, G. Sugranyes: None Declared, I. Baeza: None Declared, J. Castro-Fornieles: None Declared, E. de la Serna: None Declared, C. Arango Consultant of: Acadia, Angelini, Gedeon Richter, Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Minerva, Otsuka, Roche, Sage, Servier, Shire, Schering Plough, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion and Takeda, C. Diaz Caneja Grant / Research support from: Exeltis and Angelini
A review of the literature shows how female sex is a crucial factor in the development of ED, being the proportion of women and men 10 to 1 regardless of the location of the sample (Duncan, Ziobrowski & Nicol, 2017) and different clinical subtypes (AN, BN) (Swanson et al., 2011). However, male population has always been less studied, some works find that only 1% of the articles published in AN is aimed at the study of males (Galusca, 2012).
Nowadays it is accepted that the etiopathogenesis of these disorders is multifactorial and in addition to female gender other risk factors have been identified, such as neurobiological alterations, psychological predictors, personality traits, low self-esteem, extreme perfectionism or thinness values focused on body and figure. On the other hand, certain impulsive behaviours such as self-harm, substance use, physical activity or diets are factors that may be confused as predisposing or as symptoms of the pathology itself (Connan et al., 2003, Treasure, Stein and Maguire, 2015).
Recently, Kinasz, Accurso, Kass and Le Grange (2016) have compared the clinical characteristics that differentiate men (59) from women (560) in a sample of children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years-old, finding that males presented an earlier start of the ED and not appreciating differences in the duration of the disease, income, episodes of purgue and psychiatric comorbidity of anxiety, behaviour disorders or impulsivity.
Objectives
The aim of this study was to evaluate gender differences in clinical characteristics, levels of depression, previous obsessiveness and personality dimensions in eating disorders (ED) compared with controls.
Methods
A total of 80 participants was divided into 4 groups, 20 men and 20 women with ED and 20 men and 20 women without ED (healthy control), matched by age and socioeconomic status. The design of the study was case-control, and data was collected through clinical interview and a battery of cuestionaires.
Results
Men with ED only differ in vigorous physical activity (measured by IPAQ) from controls and women with pathology. Regarding personality traits, men and women with ED do not differ among them, although they do differ in novelty search and harm avoidance respect to their controls.
Conclusions
Behaviors such as physical activity in males frame a slightly different way of reducing their discomfort, however, clinical implication indicates that the treatment may be similar according to gender.
Tobacco is a highly prevalent substance of abuse in patients with psychosis. Previous studies have reported an association between tobacco use and schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between tobacco use and first-episode psychosis (FEP), age at onset of psychosis, and specific diagnosis of psychosis.
Methods
The sample consisted of 1105 FEP patients and 1355 controls from the European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene–Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study. We assessed substance use with the Tobacco and Alcohol Questionnaire and performed a series of regression analyses using case-control status, age of onset of psychosis, and diagnosis as outcomes and tobacco use and frequency of tobacco use as predictors. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, alcohol, and cannabis use.
Results
After controlling for cannabis use, FEP patients were 2.6 times more likely to use tobacco [p ⩽ 0.001; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.6; 95% confidence interval (CI) [2.1–3.2]] and 1.7 times more likely to smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day (p = 0.003; AOR 1.7; 95% CI [1.2–2.4]) than controls. Tobacco use was associated with an earlier age at psychosis onset (β = −2.3; p ⩽ 0.001; 95% CI [−3.7 to −0.9]) and was 1.3 times more frequent in FEP patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia than in other diagnoses of psychosis (AOR 1.3; 95% CI [1.0–1.8]); however, these results were no longer significant after controlling for cannabis use.
Conclusions
Tobacco and heavy-tobacco use are associated with increased odds of FEP. These findings further support the relevance of tobacco prevention in young populations.
Much of the research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been conducted in high-income countries (HICs). However, PTSD and AUD commonly co-occur (PTSD + AUD) are both associated with high global burden of disease, and disproportionately impact those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This narrative review attempts to synthesize the research on prevalence, impact, etiological models, and treatment of PTSD + AUD drawing from research conducted in HICs and discussing the research that has been conducted to date in LMICs. The review also discusses overall limitations in the field, including a lack of research on PTSD + AUD outside of HICs, issues with measurement of key constructs, and limitations in sampling strategies across comorbidity studies. Future directions are discussed, including a need for rigorous research studies conducted in LMICs that focus on both etiological mechanisms and on treatment approaches.
Disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) are heterogeneous at the clinical and the biological level. Therefore, the aims were to dissect the heterogeneous neurodevelopmental deviations of the affective brain circuitry and provide an integration of these differences across modalities.
Methods
We combined two novel approaches. First, normative modeling to map deviations from the typical age-related pattern at the level of the individual of (i) activity during emotion matching and (ii) of anatomical images derived from DBD cases (n = 77) and controls (n = 52) aged 8–18 years from the EU-funded Aggressotype and MATRICS consortia. Second, linked independent component analysis to integrate subject-specific deviations from both modalities.
Results
While cases exhibited on average a higher activity than would be expected for their age during face processing in regions such as the amygdala when compared to controls these positive deviations were widespread at the individual level. A multimodal integration of all functional and anatomical deviations explained 23% of the variance in the clinical DBD phenotype. Most notably, the top marker, encompassing the default mode network (DMN) and subcortical regions such as the amygdala and the striatum, was related to aggression across the whole sample.
Conclusions
Overall increased age-related deviations in the amygdala in DBD suggest a maturational delay, which has to be further validated in future studies. Further, the integration of individual deviation patterns from multiple imaging modalities allowed to dissect some of the heterogeneity of DBD and identified the DMN, the striatum and the amygdala as neural signatures that were associated with aggression.
Oncologic patients with schizophrenia have a higher mortality, which could be explained by a delayed diagnosis and a poor quality of the oncologic treatment (1). Some of the potential reasons are related with patient’s psychopathology, stigma, and barriers in access to medical care. An structured support during the oncologic treatment has been proposed to solve the difficulties that patients with schizophrenia can experience when handling with an oncologic process. (2).
Objectives
To illustrate two approaches for cancer accompaniment in patients with schizophrenia.
Methods
We present two case-report and literature research of the topic.
Results
Case A. A 49 y.o. woman diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder. In the last years she had difficulties to manage her selfcare, so her mental health providers linked her to an individualized community nurse, who later played a crucial role in helping the patient during the diagnosis and treatment of a breast cancer. Case B. A 37 y.o. man diagnosed with schizophrenia, who was very integrated in a peer-support organization. After being diagnosed with a Lymphoma, he continued participating in all the group activities (theatre, collaborative radio, painting) until his decease. Sharing the process with other patients not only improved his quality of life but also helped the group to manage the grief.
Conclusions
- Individualized support with a mental health nurse could enhance the communication between the oncologist and mental health providers, improve the symptoms management, and allow psychological support. - Peer-support can prevent social isolation, improve the quality of life and the management of the oncologic treatment.
During their career and sometimes during their training psychiatrists have to deal with the suicide of patients and have also to help other colleagues and families to cope with the situation. Suicide postvention should be integrated in psychiatric training and better implemented in both psychiatric and community contexts.
Objectives
To discuss the concept of suicide postvention in Psychiatry. To discuss the importance of addressing suicide postvention in psychiatric settings including during specialized training of Psychiatry residents.
Methods
MEDLINE and PubMed databases searches for peer-reviewed studies, published in the last ten years, using combinations of the key-words suicide postvention and psychiatry. Selection of the relevant studies according to the study aims.
Results
The literature search retrieved a total of 44 papers. All the articles that didn´t refer to the studied topic were excluded. Relevant articles discussing suicide postvention were selected, comprising a total of 22 articles. The reviewed papers discuss different contexts and strategies of suicide postvention that will be explored and critically discussed.
Conclusions
Addressing the topic of suicide postvention and implementing support programs and training in this field is crucial to psychiatry trainees, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals that integrate multidisciplinary teams, patients and their families and also to the community as a whole. Future research in this field can help to improve suicide postvention across different settings.
Using data from a nationally generalisable birth cohort, we aimed to: (i) describe the cohort’s adherence to national evidence-based dietary guidelines using an Infant Feeding Index (IFI) and (ii) assess the IFI’s convergent construct validity, by exploring associations with antenatal maternal socio-demographic and health behaviours and with child overweight/obesity and central adiposity at age 54 months. Data were from the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort (n 6343). The IFI scores ranged from zero to twelve points, with twelve representing full adherence to the guidelines. Overweight/obesity was defined by BMI-for-age (based on the WHO Growth Standards). Central adiposity was defined as waist-to-height ratio > 90th percentile. Associations were tested using multiple linear regression and Poisson regression with robust variance (risk ratios, 95 % CI). Mean IFI score was 8·2 (sd 2·1). Maternal characteristics explained 29·1 % of variation in the IFI score. Maternal age, education and smoking had the strongest independent relationships with IFI scores. Compared with children in the highest IFI tertile, girls in the lowest and middle tertiles were more likely to be overweight/obese (1·46, 1·03, 2·06 and 1·56, 1·09, 2·23, respectively) and boys in the lowest tertile were more likely to have central adiposity (1·53, 1·02, 2·30) at age 54 months. Most infants fell short of meeting national Infant Feeding Guidelines. The associations between IFI score and maternal characteristics, and children’s overweight/obesity/central adiposity, were in the expected directions and confirm the IFI’s convergent construct validity.
The objective of this study was to analyse the dynamics of spatial dispersion of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Brazil by correlating them to socioeconomic indicators. This is an ecological study of COVID-19 cases and deaths between 26 February and 31 July 2020. All Brazilian counties were used as units of analysis. The incidence, mortality, Bayesian incidence and mortality rates, global and local Moran indices were calculated. A geographic weighted regression analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between incidence and mortality due to COVID-19 and socioeconomic indicators (independent variables). There were confirmed 2 662 485 cases of COVID-19 reported in Brazil from February to July 2020 with higher rates of incidence in the north and northeast. The Moran global index of incidence rate (0.50, P = 0.01) and mortality (0.45 with P = 0.01) indicate a positive spatial autocorrelation with high standards in the north, northeast and in the largest urban centres between cities in the southeast region. In the same period, there were 92 475 deaths from COVID-19, with higher mortality rates in the northern states of Brazil, mainly Amazonas, Pará and Amapá. The results show that there is a geospatial correlation of COVID-19 in large urban centres and regions with the lowest human development index in the country. In the geographic weighted regression, it was possible to identify that the percentage of people living in residences with density higher than 2 per dormitory, the municipality human development index (MHDI) and the social vulnerability index were the indicators that most contributed to explaining incidence, social development index and the municipality human development index contributed the most to the mortality model. We hope that the findings will contribute to reorienting public health responses to combat COVID-19 in Brazil, the new epicentre of the disease in South America, as well as in other countries that have similar epidemiological and health characteristics to those in Brazil.
We present interferometric continuum and molecular line emission maps obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of OH231.8+4.2, a well studied bipolar nebula around an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star that is key to understand the remarkable changes in nebular morphology and kinematics during the short transition from the AGB to the Planetary Nebula (PN) phase. The excellent angular resolution of our maps (∼20 mas ∼30 AU) allows us to scrutinize the central nebular regions of OH231.8+4.2, which hold the clues to understanding how this iconic object assembled its complex nebular architecture. We report, for the first time in this object and others of its kind (i.e. pre-PNe with massive bipolar outflows), the discovery of a rotating circumbinary disk of radius ∼30 AU traced by NaCl, KCl, and H2O emission lines. The disk lies at the base of a young bipolar wind with signs of rotation as well. A compact spatially resolved dust disk is found perpendicular to the bipolar outflow. We also identify a point-like continuum source, which likely represents the central Mira star enshrouded by a ∼3 R* shell or disk of hot (∼1400 K) freshly formed dust. The point source is slightly off-centre from the disk centroid, enabling us for the first time to place constraints to the orbital separation of the central binary system.
In São Paulo, Brazil, the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (CoViD-19) was confirmed on 26 February, the first death due to CoViD-19 was registered on 16 March, and on 24 March, São Paulo implemented the isolation of persons in non-essential activities. A mathematical model was formulated based on non-linear ordinary differential equations considering young (60 years old or less) and elder (60 years old or more) subpopulations, aiming to describe the introduction and dissemination of the new coronavirus in São Paulo. This deterministic model used the data collected from São Paulo to estimate the model parameters, obtaining R0 = 6.8 for the basic reproduction number. The model also allowed to estimate that 50% of the population of São Paulo was in isolation, which permitted to describe the current epidemiological status. The goal of isolation implemented in São Paulo to control the rapid increase of the new coronavirus epidemic was partially succeeded, concluding that if isolation of at least 80% of the population had been implemented, the collapse in the health care system could be avoided. Nevertheless, the isolated persons must be released one day. Based on this model, we studied the potential epidemiological scenarios of release by varying the proportions of the release of young and elder persons. We also evaluated three different strategies of release: All isolated persons are released simultaneously, two and three releases divided in equal proportions. The better scenarios occurred when young persons are released, but maintaining elder persons isolated for a while. When compared with the epidemic without isolation, all strategies of release did not attain the goal of reducing substantially the number of hospitalisations due to severe CoViD-19. Hence, we concluded that the best decision must be postponing the beginning of the release.
Darwin's frogs Rhinoderma darwinii and Rhinoderma rufum are the only known species of amphibians in which males brood their offspring in their vocal sacs. We propose these frogs as flagship species for the conservation of the Austral temperate forests of Chile and Argentina. This recommendation forms part of the vision of the Binational Conservation Strategy for Darwin's Frogs, which was launched in 2018. The strategy is a conservation initiative led by the IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group, which in 2017 convened 30 governmental, non-profit and private organizations from Chile, Argentina and elsewhere. Darwin's frogs are iconic examples of the global amphibian conservation crisis: R. rufum is categorized as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) on the IUCN Red List, and R. darwinii as Endangered. Here we articulate the conservation planning process that led to the development of the conservation strategy for these species and present its main findings and recommendations. Using an evidence-based approach, the Binational Conservation Strategy for Darwin's Frogs contains a comprehensive status review of Rhinoderma spp., including critical threat analyses, and proposes 39 prioritized conservation actions. Its goal is that by 2028, key information gaps on Rhinoderma spp. will be filled, the main threats to these species will be reduced, and financial, legal and societal support will have been achieved. The strategy is a multi-disciplinary, transnational endeavour aimed at ensuring the long-term viability of these unique frogs and their particular habitat.