Court-ordered forensic psychiatry treatment in prison: determinants of outcome and risk mitigation

BackgroundCourt-ordered forensic psychiatry treatments (COT) are specifically designed to reduce the risk of violence in mentally disordered offenders. Given their high costs and ethical issues, mental health professionals need admission criteria to be able to select those candidates with optimal benefit. This study analyses offender-related and treatment-related determinants of COT outcome and risk mitigation.MethodsThis two-year longitudinal study assessed the evolution of 117 adult offenders admitted to a specialized medium-security forensic psychiatry clinic. Treatment outcome included court-ordered discharge locations and the Historical Clinical Risk Management (HCR) score evolution. Treatment progress was assessed every six months across five time-points including measures of protective factors, work rehabilitation and security. Outcome determinants included psychiatric diagnosis and type of offence.ResultsDischarge locations are predicted by pre-treatment risk level. Lower HCR scores are associated with discharge into low-security psychiatry wards independently of the psychiatric diagnosis. Risk reduction follows diagnosis-specific and offense-related patterns and reveals that mentally disordered offenders with Cluster B personality disorders or those sentenced for drug crimes are significantly less prone to benefit from COT.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that criminological characteristics at baseline as well as diagnosis of personality disorders are the main determinants of treatment outcome in our care setting. Inmates with concomitant higher violence risk at baseline and presence of Cluster B personality disorders might benefit the least from court-ordered forensic inpatient psychiatric care in prison

Malarial Hemozoin Is a Nalp3 Inflammasome Activating Danger Signal

BACKGROUND: Characteristic symptoms of malaria include recurrent fever attacks and neurodegeneration, signs that are also found in patients with a hyperactive Nalp3 inflammasome. Plasmodium species produce a crystal called hemozoin that is generated by detoxification of heme after hemoglobin degradation in infected red blood cells. Thus, we hypothesized that hemozoin could activate the Nalp3 inflammasome, due to its particulate nature reminiscent of other inflammasome-activating agents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found that hemozoin acts as a proinflammatory danger signal that activates the Nalp3 inflammasome, causing the release of IL-1beta. Similar to other Nalp3-activating particles, hemozoin activity is blocked by inhibiting phagocytosis, K(+) efflux and NADPH oxidase. In vivo, intraperitoneal injection of hemozoin results in acute peritonitis, which is impaired in Nalp3-, caspase-1- and IL-1R-deficient mice. Likewise, the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria is dampened in Nalp3-deficient mice infected with Plasmodium berghei sporozoites, while parasitemia remains unchanged. SIGNIFICANCE/CONCLUSIONS: The potent pro-inflammatory effect of hemozoin through inflammasome activation may possibly be implicated in plasmodium-associated pathologies such as cerebral malaria

Malarial Hemozoin Is a Nalp3 Inflammasome Activating Danger Signal

BACKGROUND: Characteristic symptoms of malaria include recurrent fever attacks and neurodegeneration, signs that are also found in patients with a hyperactive Nalp3 inflammasome. Plasmodium species produce a crystal called hemozoin that is generated by detoxification of heme after hemoglobin degradation in infected red blood cells. Thus, we hypothesized that hemozoin could activate the Nalp3 inflammasome, due to its particulate nature reminiscent of other inflammasome-activating agents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found that hemozoin acts as a proinflammatory danger signal that activates the Nalp3 inflammasome, causing the release of IL-1beta. Similar to other Nalp3-activating particles, hemozoin activity is blocked by inhibiting phagocytosis, K(+) efflux and NADPH oxidase. In vivo, intraperitoneal injection of hemozoin results in acute peritonitis, which is impaired in Nalp3-, caspase-1- and IL-1R-deficient mice. Likewise, the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria is dampened in Nalp3-deficient mice infected with Plasmodium berghei sporozoites, while parasitemia remains unchanged. SIGNIFICANCE/CONCLUSIONS: The potent pro-inflammatory effect of hemozoin through inflammasome activation may possibly be implicated in plasmodium-associated pathologies such as cerebral malaria

O2 Level Controls Hematopoietic Circulating Progenitor Cells Differentiation into Endothelial or Smooth Muscle Cells

BACKGROUND:Recent studies showed that progenitor cells could differentiate into mature vascular cells. The main physiological factors implicated in cell differentiation are specific growth factors. We hypothesized that simply by varying the oxygen content, progenitor cells can be differentiated either in mature endothelial cells (ECs) or contractile smooth muscle cells (SMCs) while keeping exactly the same culture medium. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Mononuclear cells were isolated by density gradient were cultivated under hypoxic (5% O2) or normoxic (21% O2) environment. Differentiated cells characterization was performed by confocal microscopy examination and flow cytometry analyses. The phenotype stability over a longer time period was also performed. The morphological examination of the confluent obtained cells after several weeks (between 2 and 4 weeks) showed two distinct morphologies: cobblestone shape in normoxia and a spindle like shape in hypoxia. The cell characterization showed that cobblestone cells were positive to ECs markers while spindle like shape cells were positive to contractile SMCs markers. Moreover, after several further amplification (until 3(rd) passage) in hypoxic or normoxic conditions of the previously differentiated SMC, immunofluorescence studies showed that more than 80% cells continued to express SMCs markers whatever the cell environmental culture conditions with a higher contractile markers expression compared to control (aorta SMCs) signature of phenotype stability. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:We demonstrate in this paper that in vitro culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with specific angiogenic growth factors under hypoxic conditions leads to SMCs differentiation into a contractile phenotype, signature of their physiological state. Moreover after amplification, the differentiated SMC did not reverse and keep their contractile phenotype after the 3rd passage performed under hypoxic and normoxic conditions. These aspects are of the highest importance for tissue engineering strategies. These results highlight also the determinant role of the tissue environment in the differentiation process of vascular progenitor cells

Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry:Workshop Summary

This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more km-scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions

Terrestrial very-long-baseline atom interferometry: Workshop summary

This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more kilometer–scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions

Terrestrial very-long-baseline atom interferometry: Workshop summary

This document presents a summary of the 2023 Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop hosted by CERN. The workshop brought together experts from around the world to discuss the exciting developments in large-scale atom interferometer (AI) prototypes and their potential for detecting ultralight dark matter and gravitational waves. The primary objective of the workshop was to lay the groundwork for an international TVLBAI proto-collaboration. This collaboration aims to unite researchers from different institutions to strategize and secure funding for terrestrial large-scale AI projects. The ultimate goal is to create a roadmap detailing the design and technology choices for one or more kilometer--scale detectors, which will be operational in the mid-2030s. The key sections of this report present the physics case and technical challenges, together with a comprehensive overview of the discussions at the workshop together with the main conclusions

Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry : summary of the second workshop

This summary of the second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry (TVLBAI) Workshop provides a comprehensive overview of our meeting held in London in April 2024 (Second Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, Imperial College, April 2024), building on the initial discussions during the inaugural workshop held at CERN in March 2023 (First Terrestrial Very-Long-Baseline Atom Interferometry Workshop, CERN, March 2023). Like the summary of the first workshop (Abend et al. in AVS Quantum Sci. 6:024701, 2024), this document records a critical milestone for the international atom interferometry community. It documents our concerted efforts to evaluate progress, address emerging challenges, and refine strategic directions for future large-scale atom interferometry projects. Our commitment to collaboration is manifested by the integration of diverse expertise and the coordination of international resources, all aimed at advancing the frontiers of atom interferometry physics and technology, as set out in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by over 50 institutions (Memorandum of Understanding for the Terrestrial Very Long Baseline Atom Interferometer Study)

Autobiography

In this email exchange, Jean-Christophe Menu inveighs against the deterioration of comics autobiography into a formulaic ‘genre’. Fabrice Neaud maintains that the autobiographical enterprise is necessarily a dangerous undertaking in which a precarious subject comes into being, unlike the ‘proximate’ autobiography featuring a ready-made persona in search of peer approval. He employs a Darwinist evolutionary metaphor to demonstrate the colonisation of the ecological niche that houses comics autobiography by an ‘autobiography-lite’ better adapted to the market. He details the criticisms that have been made of his work (‘egotistical’, or formally over-conservative) and laments the tendency to equate artless scribbles with ‘sincerity’. Menu regrets that a distanced and selective portrayal of family life can be read as invasive of privacy, with devastating legal consequences.</jats:p

Autobiography

In this email exchange, Jean-Christophe Menu inveighs against the deterioration of comics autobiography into a formulaic ‘genre’. Fabrice Neaud maintains that the autobiographical enterprise is necessarily a dangerous undertaking in which a precarious subject comes into being, unlike the ‘proximate’ autobiography featuring a ready-made persona in search of peer approval. He employs a Darwinist evolutionary metaphor to demonstrate the colonisation of the ecological niche that houses comics autobiography by an ‘autobiography-lite’ better adapted to the market. He details the criticisms that have been made of his work (‘egotistical’, or formally over-conservative) and laments the tendency to equate artless scribbles with ‘sincerity’. Menu regrets that a distanced and selective portrayal of family life can be read as invasive of privacy, with devastating legal consequences.</jats:p