On Mothers with Schizophrenia: Assessment of Early Infant Caregiving Capacity & the Contribution of Cognitive Deficits

An Australian national research priority is a healthy start to life, requiring a good-enough nurturing environment in infancy. Mothers with schizophrenia are a group who struggle to provide this early foundation, with up to 50% of their infants removed from their care. There are major limitations to our service provision and the state of our knowledge regarding the impact of schizophrenia upon early parenting. Regarding service provision, there is currently no instrument to validly assess the parenting of mothers with schizophrenia. Treatment approaches and decisions regarding custody are presently guided by parenting assessments that are not appropriate nor specific to this cohort. Regarding the state of our knowledge, it is still not known what it is about schizophrenia that interferes with the ability to parent. The current literature demonstrates that symptomatology and psychosocial variables do not adequately explain the extent of dysfunction that is seen in this parenting group. In an attempt to address the above limitations, the following study aimed to develop and validate a measure of infant parenting that is appropriate for use in schizophrenia. The second aim of the study was to compare the infant caregiving of mothers with schizophrenia to that of clinical and healthy postpartum controls. It was hypothesised that schizophrenia-associated cognitive deficits would account for a significant proportion of the difficulty experienced by mothers with schizophrenia. Fifty one postpartum mothers participated in the study. The sample comprised a schizophrenia group (n=13), a clinical control group (mothers with a mood disorder; n=13), and a healthy control group (n=25). The psychometric properties of the Infant Caregiving Assessment Scales (INCAS) were examined using a 12-month prospective longitudinal design. A cross-sectional design was concurrently used to determine the extent to which schizophrenia-associated cognitive deficits affect the capacity to care for a new infant, relative to symptoms and psychosocial variables. Early findings suggest that the INCAS is reliable and valid for use in the postpartum schizophrenia population. Compared to the clinical and healthy control groups, mothers with schizophrenia exhibited specific impairments to their infant caregiving in the dimensions of empathy, adaptability, protection and provision. A significant relationship between caregiving capacity and schizophrenia-associated cognitive deficits was found in the study at hand. Through regression analyses, it was shown that the total neurocognition and processing speed variables were significant predictors of caregiving capacity (as measured by the INCAS). When clinical and psychosocial variables were included in the model however, these relationships were no longer significant. These findings suggest that there is not a direct relationship between neurocognition and infant caregiving, or alternatively, that the relationship is only slight. Regarding social cognitions, facial affect recognition and attributional style retained significance as predictors of infant caregiving capacity when other variables were added to the model. Using path analyses, it was clarified that although the neurocognitive deficits did not directly impair the maternal role functioning of women with schizophrenia, they impaired it indirectly through their negative impact upon social cognition. A major limitation was the very small sample size. Within the context of only 51 participants, the findings should be viewed as preliminary. Further studies that replicate these findings in larger samples are required. This important and innovative research project has introduced an evidence-based caregiving assessment for mothers with schizophrenia. The INCAS has the potential to help this group provide a healthy start to life to their infants by assisting in the careful examination and identification of problems early in the caregiving relationship. While still only in the early stages of validating this scale, the INCAS has helped to provide an early indication of the caregiving dimensions affected by schizophrenia, together with the cognitive aspects of the illness that may be responsible for this specific area of functional impairment. With the feasibility of this research established in the current thesis, the way is paved for future research to go forth

A global analysis of management capacity and ecological outcomes in terrestrial protected areas

Protecting important sites is a key strategy for halting the loss of biodiversity. However, our understanding of the relationship between management inputs and biodiversity outcomes in protected areas (PAs) remains weak. Here, we examine biodiversity outcomes using species population trends in PAs derived from the Living Planet Database in relation to management data derived from the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool (METT) database for 217 population time-series from 73 PAs. We found a positive relationship between our METT-based scores for Capacity and Resources and changes in vertebrate abundance, consistent with the hypothesis that PAs require adequate resourcing to halt biodiversity loss. Additionally, PA age was negatively correlated with trends for the mammal subsets and PA size negatively correlated with population trends in the global subset. Our study highlights the paucity of appropriate data for rigorous testing of the role of management in maintaining species populations across multiple sites, and describes ways to improve our understanding of PA performance

Greening of grey infrastructure should not be used as a Trojan horse to facilitate coastal development

Climate change and coastal urbanization are driving the replacement of natural habitats with artificial structures and reclaimed land globally. These novel habitats are often poor surrogates for natural habitats. The application of integrated greening of grey infrastructure (IGGI) to artificial shorelines demonstrates how multifunctional structures can provide biodiversity benefits whilst simultaneously serving their primary engineering function. IGGI is being embraced globally, despite many knowledge gaps and limitations. It is a management tool to compensate anthropogenic impacts as part of the Mitigation Hierarchy. There is considerable scope for misuse and ‘greenwashing’ however, by making new developments appear more acceptable, thus facilitating the regulatory process. We encourage researchers to exercise caution when reporting on small-scale experimental trials. We advocate that greater attention is paid to when experiments ‘fail’ or yield unintended outcomes. We advise revisiting, repeating and expanding on experiments to test responses over broader spatio-temporal scales to improve the evidence base. Synthesis and applications. Where societal and economic demand makes development inevitable, particular attention should be paid to avoiding, minimizing and rehabilitating environmental impacts. Integrated greening of grey infrastructure (IGGI) should be implemented as partial compensation for environmental damage. Mutual benefits for both humans and nature can be achieved when IGGI is implemented retrospectively in previously developed or degraded environments. We caution, however, that any promise of net biodiversity gain from new developments should be scrutinized and any local ecological benefits set in the context of the wider environmental impacts. A ‘greened’ development will always impinge on natural systems, a reality that is much less recognized in the sea than on land.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas

Protected areas (PAs) represent a cornerstone of efforts to safeguard biodiversity, and if effective should reduce threats to biodiversity. We present the most comprehensive assessment of threats to terrestrial PAs, based on in situ data from 1,961 PAs across 149 countries, assessed by PA managers and local stakeholders. Unsustainable hunting was the most commonly reported threat and occurred in 61% of all PAs, followed by disturbance from recreational activities occurring in 55%, and natural system modifications from fire or its suppression in 49%. The number of reported threats was lower in PAs with greater remoteness, higher control of corruption, and lower human development scores. The main reported threats in developing countries were linked to overexploitation for resource extraction, while negative impacts from recreational activities dominated in developed countries. Our results show that many of the most serious threats to PAs are difficult to monitor with remote sensing, and highlight the importance of in situ threat data to inform the implementation of more effective biodiversity conservation in the global protected area estate

Changes in protected area management effectiveness over time: A global analysis

Protected area coverage has reached over 15% of the global land area. However, the quality of management of the vast majority of reserves remains unknown, and many are suspected to be “paper parks”. Moreover, the degree to which management can be enhanced through targeted conservation projects remains broadly speculative. Proven links between improved reserve management and the delivery of conservation outcomes are even more elusive. In this paper we present results on how management effectiveness scores change in protected areas receiving conservation investment, using a globally expanded database of protected area management effectiveness, focusing on the “management effectiveness tracking tool” (METT). Of 1934 protected areas with METT data, 722 sites have at least two assessments. Mean METT scores increased in 69.5% of sites while 25.1% experienced decreases and 5.4% experienced no change over project periods (median 4 years). Low initial METT scores and longer implementation time were both found to positively correlate with larger increases in management effectiveness. Performance metrics related to planning and context as well as monitoring and enforcement systems increased the most while protected area outcomes showed least improvement. Using a general linear mixed model we tested the correlation between change in METT scores and matrices of 1) landscape and protected area properties (i.e. topography and size), 2) human threats (i.e. road and human population density), and 3) socio-economics (i.e. infant mortality rate). Protected areas under greater threat and larger protected areas showed greatest improvements in METT. Our results suggest that when funding and resources are targeted at protected areas under greater threat they have a greater impact, potentially including slowing the loss of biodiversity

Changes in protected area management effectiveness over time: a global analysis

Protected area coverage has reached over 15% of the global land area. However, the quality of management of the vast majority of reserves remains unknown, and many are suspected to be 'paper parks'. Moreover, the degree to which management can be enhanced through targeted conservation projects remains broadly speculative. Proven links between improved reserve management and the delivery of conservation outcomes are even more elusive. In this paper we present results on how management effectiveness scores change in protected areas receiving conservation investment, using a globally expanded database of protected area management effectiveness, focusing on the 'management effectiveness tracking tool' (METT). Of 1934 protected areas with METT data, 722 sites have at least two assessments. Mean METT scores increased in 69.5% of sites while 25.1% experienced decreases and 5.4% experienced no change over project periods (median 4 years). Low initial METT scores and longer implementation time were both found to positively correlate with larger increases in management effectiveness. Performance metrics related to planning and context as well as monitoring and enforcement systems increased the most while protected area outcomes showed least improvement. Using a general linear mixed model we tested the correlation between change in METT scores and matrices of 1) landscape and protected area properties (i.e. topography and size), 2) human threats (i.e. road and human population density), and 3) soda-economics (i.e. infant mortality rate). Protected areas under greater threat and larger protected areas showed greatest improvements in METT. Out results suggest that when funding and resources are targeted at protected areas under greater threat they have a greater impact, potentially including slowing the loss of biodiversity

A potential role for stress-induced microbial alterations in IgA-associated irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea

Stress is a known trigger for flares of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); however, this process is not well understood. Here, we find that restraint stress in mice leads to signs of diarrhea, fecal dysbiosis, and a barrier defect via the opening of goblet-cell associated passages. Notably, stress increases host immunity to gut bacteria as assessed by immunoglobulin A (IgA)-bound gut bacteria. Stress-induced microbial changes are necessary and sufficient to elicit these effects. Moreover, similar to mice, many diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) patients from two cohorts display increased antibacterial immunity as assessed by IgA-bound fecal bacteria. This antibacterial IgA response in IBS-D correlates with somatic symptom severity and was distinct from healthy controls or IBD patients. These findings suggest that stress may play an important role in patients with IgA-associated IBS-D by disrupting the intestinal microbial community that alters gastrointestinal function and host immunity to commensal bacteria

Le nebulose delle origini. A proposito dei miti di fondazione monastici

la ricerca si propone di analizzare le dinamiche storiche che hanno portato nei secoli VIII-XI alla costruzione di una memoria delle origini dei monasteri medievali di San Vincenzo al Volturno (Molise) e Farfa (Lazio), individuando dei miti fondanti i nuclei comuni delle cronache storiografich