Compulsory admission procedures of patients with mental disorders vary between countries in Europe. The Ethics Committee of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) launched a survey on involuntary admission procedures of patients with mental disorders in 40 countries to gather information from all National Psychiatric Associations that are members of the EPA to develop recommendations for improving involuntary admission processes and promote voluntary care.

The survey focused on legislation of involuntary admissions and key actors involved in the admission procedure as well as most common reasons for involuntary admissions.

We analyzed the survey categorical data in themes, which highlight that both medical and legal actors are involved in involuntary admission procedures.

We conclude that legal reasons for compulsory admission should be reworded in order to remove stigmatization of the patient, that raising awareness about involuntary admission procedures and patient rights with both patients and family advocacy groups is paramount, that communication about procedures should be widely available in lay-language for the general population, and that training sessions and guidance should be available for legal and medical practitioners. Finally, people working in the field need to be constantly aware about the ethical challenges surrounding compulsory admissions.

The DS was identified using the SDS. The MMP-9, BDNF, and COMT gene polymorphisms were genotyped. DNA methylation of the human endogeneous retrovirus type K (HERV-K) sequences was determined. Smell identification test was performed using the Sniffin’ Sticks test. For the assessment of executive function we used the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Trail Making Test, Verbal Fluency Test Phonemic, Stroop Color Word Test and Go/No Go task.

There was no association between the examined functional gene polymorphisms, methylation levels and DS. Similarly, there was no relationship between overall odor identification abilities and the deficit/non-deficit dichotomy. The results tended to indicate specific problems in the identification of few odors in DS. DS, compared with the non-deficit group, obtained lower scores in the WCST and TMT and exhibited greater interference within concept formation and non-verbal cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, in patients with the first schizophrenia-like episode, the number of circulating Lin (-)/CD45 (-)/CD34 (+) very small embryionic like stem cells (VSELs) and the S1P plasma level were the best predictors of risk and are proposed as novel markers for the first “schizophrenic” episode of psychosis.

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Two major processes underlie human decision-making: experiential (intuitive) and rational (conscious) thinking. The predominant thinking process used by working paramedics and student paramedics to make clinical decisions is unknown.

A survey was administered to ground ambulance paramedics and to primary care paramedic students. The survey included demographic questions and the Rational Experiential Inventory-40, a validated psychometric tool involving 40 questions. Twenty questions evaluated each thinking style: 10 assessed preference and 10 assessed ability to use that style. Responses were provided on a five-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating higher affinity for the style in question. Analysis included both descriptive statistics and t tests to evaluate differences in thinking style.

The response rate was 88.4% (1172/1326). Paramedics (n=904) had a median age of 36 years (IQR 29–42) and most were male (69.5%) and primary or advanced care paramedics (PCP=55.5%; ACP=32.5%). Paramedic students (n=268) had a median age of 23 years (IQR 21–26), most were male (63.1%) and had completed high school (31.7%) or an undergraduate degree (25.4%) prior to paramedic training. Both groups scored their ability to use and favourability toward rational thinking significantly higher than experiential thinking. The mean score for rational thinking was 3.86/5 among paramedics and 3.97/5 among paramedic students (p<0.001). The mean score for experiential thinking was 3.41/5 among paramedics and 3.35/5 among paramedic students (p=0.06).

Working paramedics and student paramedics prefer and perceive that they have the ability to use rational over experiential thinking. This information adds to our current knowledge on paramedic decision-making and is potentially important for developing continuing education and clinical support tools.

Apart from its role as an inhibitory neurotransmitter, γ-aminobutyric acid is also thought to regulate various stages of cell proliferation and differentiation in the brain and periphery. The present study aimed to assess the levels of γ-aminobutyric acid and its biochemical precursor glutamic acid (glutamate) in benign parotid tumours and in unstimulated parotid saliva.

Unstimulated parotid saliva was collected bilaterally, using the swab method, in 20 patients with unilateral pleomorphic adenoma or Warthin's tumour. Samples of tumour and adjacent salivary tissue were collected during tumour resection.

Concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid and glutamate, but not aspartate, were significantly higher in the tumour tissue than in the non-tumour tissue. There was no significant difference in salivary concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate or aspartate, comparing the involved and non-involved side.

The present results provide preliminary evidence that γ-aminobutyric acid may be involved in the growth of benign parotid tumours.