Practice Parameter for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Research in etiology, neurobiology, genetics, clinical correlates, and evidence-based treatments in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder indicate a need for the revision of the Practice Parameters for the Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder first published a decade ago. The present article highlights the clinical assessment and reviews and summarizes the evidence base for treatment. Based on this evidence, specific recommendations are provided for assessment, cognitive behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy, combined treatment, and other interventions

Symmetry, winding number and topological charge of vortex solitons in discrete-symmetry media

We determine the functional behavior near the discrete rotational symmetry axis of discrete vortices of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. We show that these solutions present a central phase singularity whose charge is restricted by symmetry arguments. Consequently, we demonstrate that the existence of high-charged discrete vortices is related to the presence of other off-axis phase singularities, whose positions and charges are also restricted by symmetry arguments. To illustrate our theoretical results, we offer two numerical examples of high-charged discrete vortices in photonic crystal fibers showing hexagonal discrete rotational invariance.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Heavy Dark Matter Through the Higgs Portal

Motivated by Higgs Portal and Hidden Valley models, heavy particle dark matter that communicates with the supersymmetric Standard Model via pure Higgs sector interactions is considered. We show that a thermal relic abundance consistent with the measured density of dark matter is possible for masses up to \sim 30\tev. For dark matter masses above \sim 1\tev, non-perturbative Sommerfeld corrections to the annihilation rate are large, and have the potential to greatly affect indirect detection signals. For large dark matter masses, the Higgs-dark-matter-sector couplings are large and we show how such models may be given a UV completion within the context of so-called "Fat-Higgs" models. Higgs Portal dark matter provides an example of an attractive alternative to conventional MSSM neutralino dark matter that may evade discovery at the LHC, while still being within the reach of current and upcoming indirect detection experiments.Comment: LaTex, 21 pages, 9 figures. Discussion improved, comments and references adde

Sustaining mental health and wellbeing programmes in schools: recommendations from an online roundtable

Despite recent investments in school-based mental health and wellbeing promotion in England, the sustainability of mental health interventions remains a substantial challenge. This article brings together potential solutions to sustaining interventions in schools, drawing on insights from an online roundtable discussion held in July 2022. Facilitated by researchers and informed by recent research on barriers and facilitators to sustaining school-based mental health interventions, 16 participants came together to discuss challenges and solutions. Participants included school staff, policy makers, educational psychologists, researchers and mental health intervention developers. The discussion explored the need for accountability at all levels (e.g., from school leaders to policy makers and Ofsted) and the potential value of engaging schools more consistently with academic evidence. Participants also discussed the importance of creating a healthy and sustainable ecosystem for interventions (underscoring the significance of staff wellbeing, adequate resourcing, and longer-term funding commitments), and moving beyond separate, isolated interventions. The findings offer a range of recommendations for school decision makers, mental health researchers, intervention developers, and those working in the wider system around schools

Zinc carnosine works with bovine colostrum in truncating heavy exercise–induced increase in gut permeability in healthy volunteers

Background: Heavy exercise causes gut symptoms and, in extreme cases, heat stroke that is due to the increased intestinal permeability of luminal toxins. Objective: We examined whether zinc carnosine (ZnC), a health-food product taken alone or in combination with bovine colostrum (a natural source of growth factors), would moderate such effects. Design: Eight volunteers completed a 4-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover protocol (14 d of placebo, ZnC, colostrum, or ZnC plus colostrum) before undertaking standardized exercise 2 and 14 d after the start of treatment. Changes in epithelial resistance, apoptosis signaling molecules, and tight junction (TJ) protein phosphorylation in response to a 2°C rise in body temperature were determined with the use of Caco-2 and HT29 intestinal cells. Results: Body temperature increased 2°C, and gut permeability (5-h urinary lactulose:rhamnose ratios) increased 3-fold after exercise (from 0.32 ± 0.016 baseline to 1.0 ± 0.017 at 14 d; P < 0.01). ZnC or colostrum truncated the rise by 70% after 14 d of treatment. The combination treatment gave an additional benefit, and truncated exercise induced increase at 2 d (30% reduction; P < 0.01). A 2°C temperature rise in in vitro studies caused the doubling of apoptosis and reduced epithelial resistance 3–4-fold. ZnC or colostrum truncated these effects (35–50%) with the greatest response seen with the combination treatment (all P < 0.01). Mechanisms of action included increasing heat shock protein 70 and truncating temperature-induced changes in B cell leukemia/lymphoma-2 associated X protein ? and B cell lymphoma 2. ZnC also increased total occludin and reduced phosphorylated tyrosine claudin, phosphorylated tyrosine occludin, and phosphorylated serine occludin, thereby enhancing the TJ formation and stabilization. Conclusion: ZnC, taken alone or with colostrum, increased epithelial resistance and the TJ structure and may have value for athletes and in the prevention of heat stroke in military personnel. This trial was registered at www.isrctn.com as ISRCTN51159138

A natural orbital method for the electron momentum distribution in matter

A variational method for many electron system is applied to momentum distribution calculations. The method uses a generating two-electron geminal and the amplitudes of the occupancies of one particle natural orbitals as variational parameters. It introduces correlation effects beyond the free fermion nodal structure.Comment: 3 pages, Latex, revised paper with new reference

Schizophrenia-like psychosis and aceruloplasminemia

Schizophrenia-like illnesses occur in a variety of medical and neurological conditions but to date have not been described in association with aceruloplasminemia. Aceruloplasminemia is an autosomal recessive disorder of iron metabolism which leads to iron deposition in the basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum and hippocampus and which usually presents in middle age with extrapyramidal symptoms and dementia. We describe a 21-year-old woman on treatment for aceruloplasminemia who presented with schizophrenia-like psychosis and declining function in the absence of neurological signs. Neuropsychological testing showed significant dominant hemisphere deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral iron deposition in the cerebellar dentate nuclei and thalami, frontal atrophy, and periventricular white matter hyperintensities. Functional imaging suggested global hypoperfusion. The clinical, cognitive and imaging findings were not typical for either aceruloplasminemia or schizophrenia alone and the possible relationship between the two disorders is discussed with particular reference to implications for our understanding of schizophrenia

The on-shell self-energy of the uniform electron gas in its weak-correlation limit

The ring-diagram partial summation (or RPA) for the ground-state energy of the uniform electron gas (with the density parameter $r_s$) in its weak-correlation limit $r_s\to 0$ is revisited. It is studied, which treatment of the self-energy $\Sigma(k,\omega)$ is in agreement with the Hugenholtz-van Hove (Luttinger-Ward) theorem $\mu-\mu_0= \Sigma(k_{\rm F},\mu)$ and which is not. The correlation part of the lhs h as the RPA asymptotics $a\ln r_s +a'+O(r_s)$ [in atomic units]. The use of renormalized RPA diagrams for the rhs yields the similar expression $a\ln r_s+a''+O(r_s)$ with the sum rule $a'= a''$ resulting from three sum rules for the components of $a'$ and $a''$. This includes in the second order of exchange the sum rule $\mu_{2{\rm x}}=\Sigma_{2{\rm x}}$ [P. Ziesche, Ann. Phys. (Leipzig), 2006].Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

The effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on in vivo immunity following prolonged exercise:A randomised controlled trial

Background?Bovine colostrum (COL) has been advocated as a nutritional countermeasure to exercise-induced immune dysfunction but there is a lack of research with clinically relevant in vivo measures.? AimTo investigate the effects of COL supplementation on in vivo immunity following prolonged exercise using experimental contact hypersensitivity (CHS) with the novel antigen Diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP). MethodsIn a double-blind design, 31 men were randomly assigned to COL (20 g/day) or placebo (PLA) for 58 days. Participants ran for 2 h at 60% maximal aerobic capacity on day 28 and received a primary DPCP exposure (sensitisation) 20 min after. On day 56, participants received a low dose-series DPCP challenge to elicit recall of in vivo immune-specific memory (quantified by skinfold thickness 24 h and 48 h later). Analysis of the dose response curves allowed determination of the minimum dose required to elicit a positive response (i.e. sensitivity). ResultsThere was no difference in summed skinfold thickness responses between COL and PLA (p > 0.05). However, sensitivity of in vivo immune responsiveness was greater with COL at 24 h (p < 0.001) and 48 h (p < 0.05) with doses ~2-fold greater required to elicit a positive response in PLA.? ConclusionsCOL blunts the prolonged exercise-induced decrease in clinically relevant in vivo immune responsiveness to a novel antigen, which may be a mechanism for reduced illness reports observed in previous studies. These findings also suggest that CHS sensitivity is highly relevant to host defence and in vivo protection against infection.publishersversionPeer reviewe