Risk and protective factors for release in outpatients with schizophrenia

eposterWe aim to determine risk and protective factors influencing relapse incidence in outpatient with schizophrenia. A longitudinal, observational study was done with outpatients with schizophrenia (F20) or schizoaffective disorder (F25)(DMS-IV and ICD-10), without hospitalization during the previous 6 months. The patients were consecutively included into the study to received oral (O-A) or long-acting injectable (depot-A) antipsychotics. Clinical stage evolution, compliance, efficacy and safety assessments (including PANSS, CGI-SSI, hospitalization rates, and adverse events) were recorded before and after 6 and 12 months of treatment. Results: 60 outpatients (aged 34.5±8.9, male 73%), 75% schizophrenia and 25% schizoaffective disorder diagnosis, 68.3% fewer than 15 years of schizophrenia evolution, 76.7% fewer than 5 times previous hospitalizations were treated with O-A (41.7%) or depot-A (58.3%) antipsychotics for at least one year. Depot-A treated patients showed a significant higher compliance compared to O-A patients during the all following time, lower PANSS (total, positive and negative) scores and CGI-SSI score (p<0.01), and a delayed relapse incidence and re-hospitalization to more than 1 year in the 48% of patients (relapse % depot/% oral) after 6 months 22.9%/52.0%, and after 12 months 48.6%/4.0%. Conclusion: There were protective factors which delayed relapse incidence in schizophrenia: Use of sustained-release preparations, family support. There were risk factors for occurrence of relapse in schizophrenia: cocaine, heroin and alcohol consumption, absence of family support, greater severity of patients assessed through CGI-SI, male sex, age older than 25 years and long-term evolution of the disorder.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Avatars and Cartoons reduce anxiety in pediatric inpatients

Avatars and Cartoons reduce anxiety in pediatric inpatients I Bellido1, MV Bellido2, A Gomez-Luque3. 1University of Malaga, Pharmacology and Clinical Therapeutics, Spain, 2Regional University Hospital, Malaga, Surgery Service, Spain, 3Virgen de la Victoria University Hospital, Malaga, Anaesthesia Service, Spain Background and aim: Pain induces fear, stress and anxiety in young children. Avatars and cartoons explaining analgesic and sedative drugs administration routes may reduce children’s anxiety in young children. We quantify the possible antianxiety effect of avatars and cartoons explaining analgesic and sedative drug’s administration routes to inpatients children. Methods: A prospective, aleatorized, controlled study (blinded for the analyser) in inpatients children (< 6 years old) was done. Clinical stage, diagnostic, surgery, anaesthesia and all treatment procedures were recorded. Anxiety (STAIC test) was recorded before and 5 h and 24 h after drugs administration. A 15 minutes movie with avatars and cartoons explaining how the analgesic and sedative drugs were going to be administered was use in 120 children (movie group) and was compared to other group that could not see the movie (control group n=120). Results: Children, N=240, aged 3-6 years, 4.5±1 years old, 55% male, treated in emergency 50%, surgery (31.3%) and intensities care unit (18.8%) were enrolled. The drugs routes administration were oral (25%), intramuscular (29.6%), intravenous (39.6%), inhalatory (3.8%), others (2.1%). Children saw part or the full movie an average of 5.2±2.1 times. At 24 h of follow-up anxiety was higher in control than in movie group (8.5±3 vs. 4.3±1.6, p<0.05, Student t test). Children of the control group wept, complained, and called their parents during more time than movie group. Conclusion: The use of avatars and cartoons to explain analgesics and sedative drugs routes administration to inpatients young children reduced children’s anxiety.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Propofol induce higher amnesic effect than sevoflurane and isoflurane anaesthesia in the rat

Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Trends in phytoplankton species abundance in shelf waters of the Galician upwelling (NW Spain).

Phytoplankton is a sentinel of ecosystem change in marine ecosystems. Composed by many species with different life-history strategies, it rapidly responds to environment changes. An analysis of time-series of the abundance of 54 phytoplankton taxa in Galicia (NW Spain) between 1989 and 2008 to determine the main trends in relation to climate and upwelling showed that most of their variability was stochastic, as seasonality and long term trends accounted for a minor fraction of the series. All trends were non linear, and taxa clustered in 4 groups according to the trend pattern but there was no defined pattern for diatoms, dinoflagellates or flagellates. No clear trend was shown by 23 taxa, 14 taxa decreased and 4 taxa increased during the early 1990s, while only 13 taxa showed a general increase through the series. In contrast, series of local environmental conditions (temperature, stratification, nutrients) and climate-related variables (atmospheric pressure indices, upwelling winds) showed a high fraction of their variability in deterministic seasonality and trends. As a result, each taxa showed independent responses to environmental and climate variablity, measured by generalized additive models. Most taxa showed a positive relationship with nutrient concentrations but only a few showed a direct relationship with stratification and upwelling. Climate variables only had measurable effects on some taxa but no common response emerged. Because its adaptation to frequent disturbances, phytoplankton communities in upwelling ecosystems appear less sensitive to changes in regional climate than communities characterised by short and well defined productive periods.IEO RADIALE

Hybrid Nanoparticles as a Novel Tool for Regulating Psychosine-Induced Neuroinflammation and Demyelination In Vitro and Ex vivo

Polymeric nanoparticles are being extensively investigated as an approach for brain delivery of drugs, especially for their controlled release and targeting capacity. Nose-to-brain administration of nanoparticles, bypassing the blood brain barrier, offers a promising strategy to deliver drugs to the central nervous system. Here, we investigated the potential of hybrid nanoparticles as a therapeutic approach for demyelinating diseases, more specifically for Krabbe’s disease. This rare leukodystrophy is characterized by the lack of enzyme galactosylceramidase, leading to the accumulation of toxic psychosine in glial cells causing neuroinflammation, extensive demyelination and death. We present evidence that lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles prevent damage associated with psychosine by sequestering the neurotoxic sphingolipid via physicochemical hydrophobic interactions. We showed how nanoparticles prevented the cytotoxicity caused by psychosine in cultured human astrocytes in vitro, and how the nanoparticle size and PDI augmented while the electrostatic charges of the surface decreased, suggesting a direct interaction between psychosine and the nanoparticles. Moreover, we studied the effects of nanoparticles ex vivo using mouse cerebellar organotypic cultures, observing that nanoparticles prevented the demyelination and axonal damage caused by psychosine, as well as a moderate prevention of the astrocytic death. Taken together, these results suggest that lecithin-chitosan nanoparticles are a potential novel delivery system for drugs for certain demyelinating conditions such as Krabbe’s disease, due to their dual effect: not only are they an efficient platform for drug delivery, but they exert a protective effect themselves in tampering the levels of psychosine accumulation

A symmetry classification for a class of (2+1)-nonlinear wave equation

In this paper, a symmetry classification of a $(2+1)$-nonlinear wave equation $u_{tt}-f(u)(u_{xx}+u_{yy})=0$ where $f(u)$ is a smooth function on $u$, using Lie group method, is given. The basic infinitesimal method for calculating symmetry groups is presented, and used to determine the general symmetry group of this $(2+1)$-nonlinear wave equation

Emerging energy sources' social acceptability: Evidence from marine-based energy projects

Any decrease in global warming and its effects can only occur with a substantial reduction in anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In this context, renewable energy sources, particularly emerging sources, may play a central role in accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources. Emerging energy sources are renewable and have the potential to reduce global warming emissions; however, they are in the early development stages. These technologies include enhanced geothermal processes, artificial photosynthesis, and marine energy. In this study, we assess the main attributes that determine the social acceptance of renewable marine energy projects, highlighting individual preferences and heterogeneity for these projects. The results show that energy generation, ecological impact, job creation, co-ownership, and distributional justice are statistically significant attributes that support projects. However, individual preferences are highly heterogeneous. The existence of distinct classes (two in this case) with different preferences for marine energy attributes indicates that the one-size-fits-all approach may be inappropriate. Instead, policymakers and energy producers should tailor their proposals to meet the needs of both groups, considering their preferences and concerns

Scale-dependent natural variation in larval nutritional reserves in a marine invertebrate:implications for recruitment and cross-ecosystem coupling

In species with complex life cycles, laboratory studies have shown that variations in the traits of settling larvae can affect post-settlement survival and influence recruitment and benthic− pelagic coupling. However, we still know little about the magnitude and spatial scale of natural trait variation. We studied spatial variation in body size and nutritional reserves (carbon, nitrogen and lipids) of settled cyprids of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides along the coast of West Scotland. We quantified variation among regions (north vs. south: range ~700 km), locations (~50 km), shores (~10 km) and within shores (~10 m). We also evaluated trait responses to gradients in chlorophyll and shore openness and compared swimming vs. settled cyprids in order to infer the likely influence of costs of substratum search on trait variation. Variability between regions was large, with higher trait values (e.g. carbon cyprid−1: 35 to 50% higher) in the north. Most traits correlated negatively with pelagic chlorophyll a (a proxy for larval/juvenile food availability); this counter-gradient pattern suggests an adaptive role of increased reserves, buffering benthic juveniles from low food availability during the critical early post-settlement period. Body size and nitrogen content correlated positively with shore openness; lower than expected carbon content suggest increased costs of substratum search on open shorelines. Higher nitrogen content but lower percent carbon was found in settled vs. swimming larvae, suggesting costs of sub - stratum search at the time of settlement. Overall, we uncovered the spatial scales at which trait variation, shaped by pelagic processes, can affect post-metamorphic survival, recruitment and benthic−pelagic coupling

On Soliton-type Solutions of Equations Associated with N-component Systems

The algebraic geometric approach to $N$-component systems of nonlinear integrable PDE's is used to obtain and analyze explicit solutions of the coupled KdV and Dym equations. Detailed analysis of soliton fission, kink to anti-kink transitions and multi-peaked soliton solutions is carried out. Transformations are used to connect these solutions to several other equations that model physical phenomena in fluid dynamics and nonlinear optics.Comment: 43 pages, 16 figure