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.
The Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) Recognition Discrimination (RD) index has emerged as an embedded performance validity test (PVT). However, there do not appear to be any studies that have examined its utility in Spanish-speaking samples. This pilot study examined the classification accuracy of the BVMT-R RD for detecting performance invalidity in a Spanish-speaking forensic sample.
Participants and Methods:
This cross-sectional study utilized a sample of 89 Spanish speakers that were administered the BVMT-R during an outpatient neuropsychological evaluation. Out of the 89 Spanish speakers, 43 were subjects in litigation, 32 were neurological patients evaluated for clinical purposes, and 14 were healthy controls. The sample was 67% male/33% female, 53% South American, 33% Caribbean (Dominican, Puerto Rican, Cuban), 10% Central American, 3% North American (Mexican), and 1% Spanish, with a mean age of 44.2 years (SD = 14.2; range = 20-78) and mean education of 11 years (SD = 3.7; range = 0-20). Test administration for each patient was completed in Spanish by a fluent, Spanish-speaking examiner. In total, 64/89 (72%) were classified as valid and 25/89 (28%) as invalid based on performance across the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), at least one additional PVT (Rey-15 item memory test; Rey Dot Counting Test; Reliable Digit Span; WHO-AVLT recognition trial) and objective diagnostic criteria identifying invalid performance. Analyses included three univariate analyses of variance (ANOVA), with the groups (healthy vs neurological vs litigation) as independent variables and performance on BVMT-RD as the dependent variable.
Results:
Statistically significant differences among the groups were found F(2,86)=8.32, p < .001). Post-hoc analysis (Scheffe test) showed the mean of the litigation group to be significantly lower than the means of the other two groups (healthy and neurological), which showed no difference between them. An ANOVA with validity groups as the fixed factor and BVMT-R RD index as the dependent variable was significant F(1,85)= 21.02, p <.001). Results of a ROC curve analysis yielded statistically significant AUC (.794). The optimal cut-score was BVMT-R RD < 5 (48% sensitivity/88% specificity).
Conclusions:
Results of the BVMT-R RD index in this Spanish-speaking population differed by subgroup, with worse performance seen in individuals involved in litigation, compared to those who were not (healthy and neurological). Notably, the BVMT-R RD index significantly differentiated validity groups, maintaining adequate sensitivity and good specificity. Overall, results demonstrate promise for BVMT-RD as a PVT for Spanish-speaking populations.
This retrospective study compared base rates of failure on a series of standalone and embedded performance validity tests (PVTs) in a sample of Spanish-speaking forensic litigants and explored the impact of demographic factors on PVT performance.
Participants and Methods:
62 Spanish-speaking participants involved in litigation (primarily for work-related mTBI) underwent outpatient neuropsychological evaluation. Country of origin spanned South American (56.5%), Caribbean (22.5%), Central American (16.1%), North American (3.2%), and Spanish (1.6%) regions. Of this sample, 56 completed the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), 45 completed the Rey Fifteen Item Test (RFIT), and 49 completed the Dot Counting Test (DCT). Embedded validity measures, Reliable Digit Span (RDS) and the WHO-Auditory Verbal Learning Test (WHO-AVLT) were completed by 32 and 48 participants, respectively.
Results:
Effects of age (M=42.4, SD=11.72) and region of origin did not significantly impact overall performance on any measure. Mean scores across all standalone PVTs were below cutoffs, which have been previously suggested for use with Spanish-speaking populations (TOMM <40, RFIT total <21, DCT e-score >18). Overall base rates of failure were as follows: 52.5% TOMM (T1 M= 37.5, SD=10.7; T2 M=35.1, SD=10.6), 64.9% RFIT (M=17.8, SD=7.8) 57.6% DCT (M=18.3, SD=8.8), 51.1% RDS (M=6.1, SD=1.6), 29.4% WHO-AVLT (M=10.7, SD=3.9. Years of education (M=9.98, 3.96) was significantly correlated with RFIT total score (r(43) = .48, p<.01) and DCT e-score (r(47) = -.34, p<.05. When stratified by level of education (0-6, 7-11, and 12+), a large discrepancy in base rate of failure was observed on the RFIT, with failures in 92% of participants with less than six years of education, as compared to 52% and 59% failure in those with 7-11 and 12+ years, respectively. Variability in base rates of DCT failure across levels of education, although less extreme than on the RFIT, again demonstrated higher rates of failure in participants with less than six years of education (0-6: 71%, 7-11: 54%, 12+: 52%).
Conclusions:
These findings add to the existing literature surrounding measurement of suboptimal effort in Spanish-speaking populations. Base rates of PVT failure on both standalone and embedded measures were generally much higher than those reported in prior studies of forensic or compensation-seeking groups, including some with Spanish speaking participants. These high rates of failure are likely attributable, at least in part, to sample characteristics, due to the high proportion of individuals engaged in litigation associated with workplace injuries on construction sites at the study location. Such findings illustrate the importance of a thorough effort assessment for this population. Finally, results demonstrating reduced specificity of the RFIT in Spanish-speaking participants with less than six years of education, suggesting caution is warranted for its use in neuropsychological evaluations with such individuals.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a complex disorder with a significant public health burden. Depression remission is often associated with weight gain, a major risk factor for metabolic syndrome (MetS). The primary objective of our study was to assess prospectively the impact of response to antidepressant treatment on developing MetS in a sample of MDD patients with a current major depressive episode (MDE) and who are newly initiating their treatment.
Methods
In the 6-month prospective METADAP cohort, non-overweight patients, body mass index <25 kg/m2, with MDD and a current MDE were assessed for treatment response after 3 months of treatment, and incidence of MetS after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Outcome variables were MetS, number of MetS criteria, and each MetS criterion (high waist circumference, high blood pressure, high triglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterolemia, and high fasting plasma glucose).
Results
In total, 98/169 patients (58%) responded to treatment after 3 months. A total of 2.7% (1/38) developed MetS out of which 12.7% (10/79) (p value < 0.001) had responded to treatment after 3 months. The fixed-effect regression models showed that those who responded to treatment after 3 months of follow-up had an 8.6 times higher odds of developing MetS (odds ratio = 8.58, 95% confidence interval 3.89–18.93, p value < 0.001).
Conclusion
Compared to non-responders, non-overweight patients who responded to treatment after 3 months of antidepressant treatment had a significantly higher risk of developing MetS during the 6 months of treatment. Psychiatrists and nurses should closely monitor the metabolic profile of their patients, especially those who respond to treatment.
We describe the incidence of suicidality (2007–2017) in people with depression treated by secondary mental healthcare services at South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (n = 26 412). We estimated yearly incidence of ‘suicidal ideation’ and ‘high risk of suicide’ from structured and free-text fields of the Clinical Record Interactive Search system. The incidence of suicidal ideation increased from 0.6 (2007) to 1 cases (2017) per 1000 population. The incidence of high risk of suicide, based on risk forms, varied between 0.06 and 0.50 cases per 1000 adult population (2008–2017). Electronic health records provide the opportunity to examine suicidality on a large scale, but the impact of service-related changes in the use of structured risk assessment should be considered.
The tryptophan pathway along with its two branches of metabolism to serotonin and kynurenine seems to be affected in major depression. In depressed patients, peripheral levels of tryptophan, serotonin, kynurenine and their metabolite remain unclear.
Objectives
Therefore, peripheral tryptophan and metabolites of serotonin and kynurenine were investigated extensively in 173 patients suffering from a current major depressive episode (MDE) and compared to 214 healthy controls (HC).
Methods
Fasting plasma levels of 11 peripheral metabolites were quantified: tryptophan, serotonin pathway (serotonin, its precursor 5-hydroxy-tryptophan and its metabolite the 5-hydroxy-indole acetic acid), and kynurenine pathway (kynurenine and six of its metabolites including anthranilic acid, kynurenic acid, nicotinamide, picolinic acid, xanthurenic acid and 3-hydroxy-anthranilic acid).
Results
60 (34.7%) patients were antidepressant drug free. Tryptophan levels did not differ between MDE patients and HC. Serotonin and its precursor (5-hydroxy-tryptophan) levels were lower in MDE patients than HC. Whereas, its metabolite (5-hydroxy-indole acetic acid) levels were within the standard range. Kynurenine and four of its metabolites (kynurenic acid, nicotinamide, picolinic acid and xanthurenic acid) were lower in MDE patients.
Conclusions
This study uses the largest ever sample of MDE patients, with an extensive assessment of peripheral tryptophan metabolism in plasma. These findings provide new insights into the peripheral signature of MDE. The reasons for these changes should be further investigated. These results might suggest a better stratification of patients and different therapeutic strategies therapeutic strategies.
Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity, an enzyme potentially involved in the major depressive episodes (MDE), could be indirectly measured by the L-Citrulline/L-Arginine ratio (L-Cit/L-Arg). The aim of this study was: (1) to compare the NOS activity of patients with a MDE to that of healthy controls (HC); (2) to assess its change after antidepressant treatment.
Methods
A total of 460 patients with a current MDE in a context of major depressive disorder (MDD) were compared to 895 HC for NOS activity (L-Cit/L-Arg plasma ratio). L-Arg and L-Cit plasma levels were measured using a MS-based liquid chromatography method. Depressed patients were assessed at baseline, and after 3 and 6 months of antidepressant treatment for depression severity and clinical response.
Results
Depressed patients had a lower NOS activity than HC at baseline [0.31 ± 0.09 v. 0.38 ± 0.12; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.084 to −0.062, p < 0.0001]. Lower NOS activity at baseline predicted a higher response rate [odds ratio (OR) = 29.20; 95% CI 1.58–536.37; p = 0.023]. NOS activity in depressed patients increased significantly up to 0.34 ± 0.08 after antidepressant treatment (Est = 0.0034; 95% CI 0.0002–0.0067; p = 0.03).
Conclusions
Depressed patients have a decreased NOS activity that improves after antidepressant treatment and predicts drug response. NOS activity may be a promising biomarker for MDE in a context of MDD.
Suicide is the second most frequent cause of death among the youth and its rates among adolescents have recently risen. Up to 30% of adolescents who attempt suicide will try it again within a year. Our objective is to analyze how previous attempts and diagnosed psychiatric disorder behave as markers of risk of reattempts and their statistical interaction. We include every underage patient treated by an emergency room psychiatrist after a suicide attempt in a General Hospital between years 2010 and 2015. Patients free of relapse after 1000 days are censored. We obtain Kaplan–Meier estimates for the risk of a new attempt as a time-dependant variable, dividing them by the presence of previous suicide attempts, diagnosed psychiatric disorder or both at a time, checking the differences by using log-rank tests. Then, we perform Cox proportional risk models including both variables and a factor of their interaction and adjust them by sex and age in a non-automatically driven multivariate analysis, thus obtaining HR estimates. We present 150 cases (118 female; mean[SD] age in years: 15.8 [1.6]). Overall, 22.6% of them relapse during follow-up time. Multivariate models show interaction of previous attempts and diagnosed psychiatric disorder is associated with relapse with an HR of 1.27 × 108 (95% CI: 5.51 × 107 – 2.9 × 108). Interaction of both factors is an outstanding risk marker of relapse after an attempted suicide and should thus be given clinical importance in tertiary prevention.
Disclosure of interest
The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.
OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: By combining clinical knowledge of hoarding disorder (HD) with qualitative methods from cultural anthropology, we hope to build a patient-centered approach that will allow us to better understand the clinician perspectives on patient motivations and explanatory models of individuals with HD, and improve treatment outcomes. We describe the ways that these methodologies are productively merged in this project as a result of TL1 collaboration, and present a preliminary picture of methodological and theoretical issues uncovered as part of this processes. We further describe the analytical methods used for this project, and explore issues raised through the combination of psychological and anthropological data and insights. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This study represents an attempt to combine the qualitative methodologies of cultural anthropology with the clinical knowledge of psychology and psychiatry in order to better understand gaps between provider and patient beliefs and knowledge about hoarding disorder. This study will present preliminary methodological issues arising from interviews with hoarding experts. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: This study will discuss preliminary issues including shared language, strengths and limitations of both disciplines, and factors for consideration when combining these disparate methodologies. It will close with recommendations for consideration when moving forward with similar collaborations. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This project seeks to unite psychological and social factors that may contribute to the lived experience of individuals with HD in order to better understand the way that HD is manifested. It also unites disparate methodologies to provide us with a more holistic and complete picture of the experience of HD. While HD has been studied within psychiatry, it has never been assessed using the qualitative methods of anthropology. These methods provide the possibility of expanding knowledge about the ways that this disorder is experienced by individuals and their families, and potentially impacted by shared beliefs and cultures. Furthermore, qualitative data of this nature provides a patient perspective on the experience of HD as a psychiatric illness. This patient perspective can be used to better inform treatment, improve patient outcomes, and to allow providers and researchers to gain a fuller understanding of this complex population.
It is known that tungsten oxide may be reacted with selenium sources to form WSe2 but literature reports include processing steps that involve high temperatures, reducing atmospheres, and/or oxidative pre-treatments of tungsten oxide. In this work, we report a non-vacuum process for the fabrication of compositionally high quality WSe2 thin films via the selenization of tungsten oxide under milder conditions. Tungsten source materials were various hydrated WO3 and WO2.9 compounds that were prepared using chemical solution techniques. Resulting films were selenized using a two-stage heating profile (250 °C for 15 minutes and 550 °C for 30 minutes) under a static argon atmosphere. Effects of the starting tungsten oxide phase on WSe2 formation after single and double selenization cycles were investigated using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). After two selenization cycles, hydrated WO3 was converted to (002)-oriented WSe2 that exhibits well-resolved peaks for E12g and A1g phonon modes. Only a single selenization cycle was required to convert amorphous WO2.9 to WSe2. All selenizations in this work were achieved in non-reducing atmospheres and at lower temperatures and shorter times than any non-laser-assisted processes reported for WO3-to-WSe2 conversions.
This study was aimed to investigate associations between birth weight and multiple adiposity indicators in youth, and to examine potential mediating effects by biological maturation. This was a school-based study involving 981 Brazilian adolescents aged between 10 and 17 years. Birth weight was reported retrospectively by mothers. Maturation was estimated by age of peak height velocity. Adiposity indicators included body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and percent body fat estimated from triceps and subscapular skinfolds. Multilevel mediation analyses were performed using the Sobel test, adjusted for chronological age, gestational age, cardiorespiratory fitness and socio-economic status. Except for body fat in girls, biological maturation partly or fully mediated (P<0.05) positive relationships between birth weight with all other obesity indicators in both sexes with their respective values of indirect effects with 95% confidence intervals: BMI [boys: 0.44 (0.06–0.82); girls: 0.38 (0.13–0.64)], waist circumference [boys: 1.14 (0.22–2.05); girls: 0.87 (0.26–1.48)] and body fat [boys: 0.60 (0.13–1.07)]. To conclude, birth weight is associated with elevated obesity risk in adolescence and biological maturation seems to at least partly mediate this relationship.
In 1984, R. Edward Freeman published his landmark book, Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, a work that set the agenda for what we now call stakeholder theory. In the intervening years, the literature on stakeholder theory has become vast and diverse. This book examines this body of research and assesses its relevance for our understanding of modern business. Beginning with a discussion of the origins and development of stakeholder theory, it shows how this corpus of theory has influenced a variety of different fields, including strategic management, finance, accounting, management, marketing, law, health care, public policy, and environment. It also features in-depth discussions of two important areas that stakeholder theory has helped to shape and define: business ethics and corporate social responsibility. The book concludes by arguing that we should re-frame capitalism in the terms of stakeholder theory so that we come to see business as creating value for stakeholders.
The study of the evolution of organic matter subjected to space conditions, and more specifically to Solar photons in the vacuum ultraviolet range (120–200 nm) has been undertaken in low-Earth orbit since the 1990s, and implemented on various space platforms. This paper describes a photochemistry experiment called AMINO, conducted during 22 months between 2009 and 2011 on the EXPOSE-R ESA facility, outside the International Space Station. Samples with relevance to astrobiology (connected to comets, carbonaceous meteorites and micrometeorites, the atmosphere of Titan and RNA world hypothesis) have been selected and exposed to space environment. They have been analysed after return to the Earth. This paper is not discussing the results of the experiment, but rather gives a general overview of the project, the details of the hardware used, its configuration and recent developments to enable long-duration exposure of gaseous samples in tight closed cells enabling for the first time to derive quantitative results from gaseous phase samples exposed in space.
During the past decade, parasites have been considered important components of their ecosystems since they can modify food-web structures and functioning. One constraint to the inclusion of parasites in food-web models is the scarcity of available information on their feeding habits and host–parasite relationships. The stable isotope approach is suggested as a useful methodology to determine the trophic position and feeding habits of parasites. However, the isotopic approach is limited by the lack of information on the isotopic discrimination (ID) values of parasites, which is pivotal to avoiding the biased interpretation of isotopic results. In the present study we aimed to provide the first ID values of δ15N and δ13C between the gyrocotylidean tapeworm Gyrocotyle urna and its definitive host, the holocephalan Chimaera monstrosa. We also test the effect of host body size (body length and body mass) and sex of the host on the ID values. Finally, we illustrate how the trophic relationships of the fish host C. monstrosa and the tapeworm G. urna could vary relative to ID values. Similar to other studies with parasites, the ID values of the parasite–host system were negative for both isotopic values of N (Δδ15N = − 3.33 ± 0.63‰) and C (Δδ13C = − 1.32 ± 0.65‰), independent of the sex and size of the host. By comparing the specific ID obtained here with ID from other studies, we illustrate the importance of using specific ID in parasite–host systems to avoid potential errors in the interpretation of the results when surrogate values from similar systems or organisms are used.
A statesman's responsibility to act morally while remaining politically fastidious is a primary difficulty in international relations. Theories that provide definitive guidance for political morality are often viewed with suspicion and considered unrealistic. Coll, in opposition to this dismissive approach, sees in the Christian worldview three core values that can be used to discern moral political actions: the importance of history, the ubiquity of tragedy, and practical wisdom. Coll explicates the Christian tradition that informs each of these values and considers their pertinence in international relations today. He goes on to extract some general prescriptions for foreign policy, showing that these core values speak to military action, immigration, foreign aid, and the environment.
Never before in its history has the United States enjoyed such a favorable strategic environment as it does today. There are few deadly enemies anywhere in sight. The U.S. military budget surpasses that of China, Russia, and the five Western European powers combined, and U.S. military capabilities are well ahead of those of any ally or potential adversary. America's booming economy and domestic social arrangements—with crime and unemployment down to the levels of thirty years ago—are a puzzle to those who, as recently as a decade ago, were predicting inexorable American decline. Such a surfeit of U.S. power and prestige, and the apparent absence of any significant obstacles to it, have prompted many to argue that this is a unique historic opportunity for the United States to fulfill the Wilsonian dream of remaking the world in America's image. Among conservatives, the argument has been made most forcefully by William Kristol and Robert Kagan of the Project for the New American Century; among liberals, by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Tony Smith, whose essay follows.