Employment Enhancing Integrative Graduate Education Model

There is a strong call to look for approaches to integrate business and engineering education across disciplines to provide a more coherent system for students with the job market. As graduates fail to find satisfying employment, the value of college education is questioned. The unemployment of the highly educated has economic, social and political ramifications. Worst is when the highly educated unemployed takes up lower status jobs, ever reducing the quality of the job market with future consequences. In this study, we concentrate on ways to enhance students’ competitiveness in the post-graduate environment by proposing a curriculum to yield viable business proposals. Our model is for business or engineering students willing to pursue a master’s degree without PhD. We go beyond the compartmentalization of the current educational system to increase employability, particularly self-employment. Rise in productivity is a side benefit since there is a strong correlation between productivity and welfare

The endocannabinoid system in mental disorders: Evidence from human brain studies

Mental disorders have a high prevalence compared with many other health conditions and are the leading cause of disability worldwide. Several studies performed in the last years support the involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the etiopathogenesis of different mental disorders. The present review will summarize the latest information on the role of the endocannabinoid system in psychiatric disorders, specifically depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. We will focus on the findings from human brain studies regarding alterations in endocannabinoid levels, cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoid metabolizing enzymes in patients suffering mental disorders. Studies carried out in humans have consistently demonstrated that the endocannabinoid system is fundamental for emotional homeostasis and cognitive function. Thus, deregulation of the different elements that are part of the endocannabinoid system may contribute to the pathophysiology of several mental disorders. However, the results reported are controversial. In this sense, different alterations in gene and/or protein expression of CB1 receptors have been shown depending on the technical approach used or the brain region studied. Despite the current discrepancies regarding cannabinoid receptors changes in depression and schizophrenia, present findings point to the endocannabinoid system as a pivotal neuromodulatory pathway relevant in the pathophysiology of mental disorders.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2015-67457-R, MINECO/FEDER), the Plan Estatal de I+D+i 2013-2016, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación, Spanish Ministry of Economy, FEDER (PI13/01529) and the Basque Government (IT616/13). I I-L is a recipient of a Predoctoral Fellowship from the Basque Government. E F-Z is a recipient of a Predoctoral Fellowship from the University of Cantabria. CM is a recipient of a Postdoctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2016, ID 747487)

Gebelik ve Laktasyon Döneminde Ruhsal Bozukluklar ve Tedavisi

Ruhsal hastalıklar kadınlarda sıklıkla 18-45 yaşları arasındaki reprodüktif dönemde ortaya çıkmaktadır. Dolayısıyla gebelik ve postpartum dönem pek çok kadın için anksiyete bozukluğu, depresyon, yeme bozukluğu ve psikoz gibi ruhsal hastalıklara yatkınlığın arttığı bir dönem olabilmektedir. Bu yazıda gebelik ve laktasyon döneminde ruhsal bozukluklar ve tedavi seçenekleri güncel tedavi kılavuzları ışığında gözden geçirilmiştir. Gebelikte psikofarmakolojik tedavinin yararları ve riskleri dikkate alınmalı, teratojenite ve laktasyon riski göz önünde bulundurulmalıdır.  Gebelik ve laktasyon döneminde en düşük etkin dozda ve mümkünse tek ilaç kullanılmalıdır ve fetüs/bebek yakından izlenmelidir.Anahtar kelimeler: Gebelik ve laktasyon, ruhsal bozukluklar, tedavi, ilaç kullanımı, teratojenit

Use of Modafinil in Psychiatric Disorders

Modafinil, is a psychostimulant drug with neurochemical and behavourial effects, distinct from those of amphetamine. It is used to treat patients with narcolepsy and other excessive sleepiness. Modafinil has dopaminergic, noradrenergic, histaminergic, glutamergic, serotonergic and GABAergic interactions. It is also shown that modafinil has neuroprotective effects via antioxidative mechanisms. Besides modafinil shows initial promise for a variety of off-label indications in psychiatry, including bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and schizophrenia . The aim of this article is to review the literature on clinical use of modafinil in psychiatric disorders. [Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry 2016; 8(1): 42-51

Increased mean platelet volume in patients with panic disorder

Mehmet Hanifi Kokacya,1 Umit Sertan Copoglu,1 Yüksel Kivrak,2 Mustafa Ari,1 Musa Sahpolat,1 Kemal Türker Ulutas3 1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, 2Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Kafkas University, Kars, 3Department of Biochemistry, Kadirli State Hospital, Osmaniye, Turkey Objective: The relationship between platelet activation and psychiatric disorders has been shown in previous work. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a measure of platelet size and a good indicator of platelet activity, which increases in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). It is known that anxiety is a considerable factor in the etiology of mortality in CVDs. The aim of the present study was to investigate any probable difference in the MPV of patients with panic disorder (PD).Methods: Sixty-one drug-free patients, aged 18–65 years and diagnosed with PD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, were included in the study, along with 63 healthy age- and sex-matched volunteers. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated and MPV measured for each subject.Results: The MPV was found to be higher in the PD group compared to the control group (P=0.004). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of platelet count or BMI.Conclusion: Alterations in platelet activity may be a reflection of abnormal 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) 1A receptor function in the central nervous system of subjects with a diagnosis of PD. These findings may elucidate the relationship between CVDs and PD. The findings of the present study suggest that MPV is increased in PD patients. Keywords: mean platelet volume, panic disorder, anxiet

Symptomatic Remission Determines Functional Improvement and Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

WOS: 000391572500008PubMed: 28360807Introduction: Schizophrenia is a chronic illness that negatively affects the quality of life and psychosocial functions. Defined criteria to assess remission in schizophrenia are considered to be useful in the longterm follow-up of patients and in discriminating diagnostic factors. This study investigated the quality of life and functionality in schizophrenia patients in symptomatic remission (R-Sch) and not in remission (NonR- Sch). Methods: Sociodemographic data were collected for 40 R-Sch and 40 Non-R-Sch patients, and the following scales were administered: the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) Scale; Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-Short Form, Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF-TR), Quality of Life Scale for Schizophrenia Patients (QLS), and Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF). Results: the total and all subscale scores of PANSS and the CGI-S score were significantly lower in the R-Sch group than in the NonR- Sch group, whereas the GAF scores and all subscales of QLS and WHOQOL-BREF-TR were significantly higher. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that improvement in symptoms in schizophrenia patients improves quality and functionality in all areas of life, suggesting that an improvement in symptoms is the most important determinant of functional recovery in the treatment of schizophrenia

Elevated nucleosome level and oxidative stress in schizophrenia patients

SAHIN, KAZIM/0000-0002-6459-1853; Dokuyucu, Recep/0000-0001-7881-8871WOS: 000364353400003PubMed: 26531868AIM: the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of oxidative stress on nucleosome levels and its relation with the clinical features in schizophrenia patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Thirty schizophrenia patients and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the 4th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). the control group consisted of 30 healthy subjects matched to the patients with regard to age and gender and who had no history of any psychiatric disorder. the severity of schizophrenia symptoms in the patients was evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S). Physical and neurological examinations were performed in each of the patients and controls. RESULTS: Nucleosome, total oxidant levels and OSI values were higher in schizophrenia patients than in controls (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the total antioxidant levels. There was a positive correlation between the nucleosome level and PANSS positive subscale (p = 0.028, r = 0.402). There was a positive correlation between TAS and age (p = 0.025, r = 0.289), PANSS total (p < 0.001, r = 0.604). There was a negative correlation between OSI and PANSS total (p = 0.019, r = 0.427), PANSS positive subscale (p = 0.043, r = 0.372). There was a negative correlation between TOS and PANS total (p = 0.028, r = 0.402). CONCLUSION: in this study we found a correlation between nucleosome level and PANSS positive subscale. To our knowledge, this is the first study that evaluates oxidative stress and nucleosomes released from apoptotic cells together (Tab. 2, Ref. 50)