Phenomenology of manic episodes according to the presence or absence of depressive features as defined in DSM-5: Results from the IMPACT self-reported online survey

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Concurrent tracking of strain and noise bursts at ferroelastic phase fronts

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Possible new ways in the pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder and comorbid alcoholism.

Possible new ways in the pharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder and comorbid alcoholism. Azorin JM, Bowden CL, Garay RP, Perugi G, Vieta E, Young AH. Source Department of Psychiatry, CHU Sainte Marguerite, Marseilles, France. Abstract About half of all bipolar patients have an alcohol abuse problem at some point of their lifetime. However, only one randomized, controlled trial of pharmacotherapy (valproate) in this patient population was published as of 2006. Therefore, we reviewed clinical trials in this indication of the last four years (using mood stabilizers, atypical antipsychotics, and other drugs). Priority was given to randomized trials, comparing drugs with placebo or active comparator. Published studies were found through systematic database search (PubMed, Scirus, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Science Direct). In these last four years, the only randomized, clinically relevant study in bipolar patients with comorbid alcoholism is that of Brown and colleagues (2008) showing that quetiapine therapy decreased depressive symptoms in the early weeks of use, without modifying alcohol use. Several other open-label trials have been generally positive and support the efficacy and tolerability of agents from different classes in this patient population. Valproate efficacy to reduce excessive alcohol consumption in bipolar patients was confirmed and new controlled studies revealed its therapeutic benefit to prevent relapse in newly abstinent alcoholics and to improve alcohol hallucinosis. Topiramate deserves to be investigated in bipolar patients with comorbid alcoholism since this compound effectively improves physical health and quality of life of alcohol-dependent individuals. In conclusion, randomized, controlled research is still needed to provide guidelines for possible use of valproate and other agents in patients with a dual diagnosis of bipolar disorder and substance abuse or dependence

Focal vs. fecal: Seasonal variation in the diet of wild vervet monkeys from observational and DNA metabarcoding data

Assessing the diet of wild animals reveals valuable information about their ecology and trophic relationships that may help elucidate dynamic interactions in ecosystems and forecast responses to environmental changes. Advances in molecular biology provide valuable research tools in this field. However, comparative empirical research is still required to highlight strengths and potential biases of different approaches. Therefore, this study compares environmental DNA and observational methods for the same study population and sampling duration. We employed DNA metabarcoding assays targeting plant and arthropod diet items in 823 fecal samples collected over 12 months in a wild population of an omnivorous primate, the vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus). DNA metabarcoding data were subsequently compared to direct observations. We observed the same seasonal patterns of plant consumption with both methods; however, DNA metabarcoding showed considerably greater taxonomic coverage and resolution compared to observations, mostly due to the construction of a local plant DNA database. We found a strong effect of season on variation in plant consumption largely shaped by the dry and wet seasons. The seasonal effect on arthropod consumption was weaker, but feeding on arthropods was more frequent in spring and summer, showing overall that vervets adapt their diet according to available resources. The DNA metabarcoding assay outperformed also direct observations of arthropod consumption in both taxonomic coverage and resolution. Combining traditional techniques and DNA metabarcoding data can therefore not only provide enhanced assessments of complex diets and trophic interactions to the benefit of wildlife conservationists and managers but also opens new perspectives for behavioral ecologists studying whether diet variation in social species is induced by environmental differences or might reflect selective foraging behaviors

Disorder induced critical phenomena in magnetically glassy Cu-Al-Mn alloys

Measurements of magnetic hysteresis loops in Cu-Al-Mn alloys of different Mn content at low temperatures are presented. The loops are smooth and continuous above a certain temperature, but exhibit a magnetization discontinuity below that temperature. Scaling analysis suggest that this system displays a disorder induced phase transition line. Measurements allow to determine the critical exponents $\beta=0.03\pm 0.01$ and $\beta \delta = 0.4 \pm 0.1$ in agreement with those reported recently [Berger et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 4176 (2000)]Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Upotreba koncentrata dušika iz krumpira u proizvodnji α-amilaze s pomoću plijesni Aspergillus oryzae

The influence of various nitrogen sources and media supplements on α-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) formation by Aspergillus oryzae ATCC 1011 was investigated in shake flask experiments and batch fermentations. Both inorganic and organic nitrogen-containing supplements have been applied, while corn starch and ammonium sulphate were used as the major source of carbon and nitrogen, respectively. Shake flask experiments revealed that potato nitrogen concentrate (PNC) is almost equivalent to corn steep liquor (CSL) in supporting amylase formation. A pretreatment step consisting of clarification of the turbid material did not show any significant effect. The replacement of the inorganic nitrogen source by sodium nitrate led to lower enzyme yields. Other complex supplements may reduce the enzyme level formed, e.g. casein hydrolysate, or increase the amylase titre slightly, e.g. yeast extract or malt extract. Cultivations in instrumented bench top reactors on media supplemented with PNC led to higher cell growth rates and yields of α-amylase in comparison with the medium without any supplement. Replacement of PNC by CSL revealed a slightly increased enzyme level, which is in the range of 9–17 % after 100 h of cultivation. Only minor differences were revealed in the growth kinetics and enzyme formation when PNC was used as the sole nitrogen source, replacing a mixture of soybean meal, yeast extract, malt extract and casein hydrolysate in bioreactor cultivations with lactose as the carbon source. However, metabolic differences as seen from the course of dissolved oxygen tension (DOT), α-amino nitrogen concentration and the amount of acid needed to maintain a constant pH were observed.Istražen je utjecaj različitih izvora dušika i dodataka podlozi na proizvodnju α-amilaze (EC 3.2.1.1) s pomoću plijesni Aspergillus oryzae ATCC 1011 u pokusu na tresilici i šaržnim uzgojem. Primijenjeni su anorganski i organski dušikovi spojevi, a kao glavni izvori ugljika i dušika korišteni su kukuruzni škrob i amonijev sulfat. Pokusima na tresilici dokazano je da je utjecaj koncentrata dušika iz krumpira (potato nitrogen concentrate – PNC) na proizvodnju amilaze skoro jednak onom ekstrakta kukuruza (corn steep liquor – CSL). Pročišćavanjem zamućenog materijala prije obrade nije se postigao značajan učinak. Zamjenom anorganskog izvora dušika natrijevim nitratom dobiveni su manji prinosi enzima. Dodatkom drugih kompleksnih spojeva, kao što je hidrolizat kazeina, smanjio se prinos enzima, a dodatkom ekstrakta kvasca ili slada neznatno se povećao titar amilaze. Veći rast stanica i bolji prinos α-amilaze postignut je uzgojem na podlozi obogaćenoj s PNC u reaktoru na postolju nego bez tih dodataka. Zamjenom PNC sa CSL postignuto je povećanje prinosa enzima za 9-17 % nakon 100 sati uzgoja. Upotreba PNC kao jedinog izvora dušika, uz zamjenu sojine kaše, ekstrakta kvasca i slada te hidrolizata kazeina laktozom kao izvorom ugljika, dovela je do neznatnih razlika u kinetici rasta i formiranju enzima u bioreaktoru. Međutim, uočene su metaboličke razlike u zasićenosti otopljenim kisikom (dissolved oxygen tension – DOT), koncentraciji α-amino dušika i količini kiseline potrebne za održavanje konstantnog pH

Patient and physician perspectives of a smartphone application for depression: a qualitative study

Background: Despite an increasing number of smartphone apps, such therapeutic tools have not yet consistently demonstrated their efficacy and many suffer from low retention rates. To ensure the development of efficient apps associated with high adherence, we aimed to identify, through a user-centred design approach, patient and physician expectations of a hypothetical app dedicated to depression. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with physicians (psychiatrists and general practitioners) and patients who had experienced a major depressive episode during the last 12 months using the focus group method. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis to define codes, categories and emergent themes. Results: A total of 26 physicians and 24 patients were included in the study. The focus groups showed balanced sex and age distributions. Most participants owned a smartphone (83.3% of patients, 96.1% of physicians) and were app users (79.2% of patients and 96.1% of physicians). The qualitative content analysis revealed 3 main themes: content, operating characteristics and barriers to the use of the app. Expected content included the data collected by the app, aiming to provide information about the patient, data provided by the app, gathering psychoeducation elements, therapeutic tools and functionalities to help with the management of daily life and features expected for this tool. The "operating characteristics" theme gathered aims considered for the app, its potential target users, considered modalities of use and considerations around its accessibility and security of use. Finally, barriers to the use of the app included concerns about potential app users, its accessibility, safety, side-effects, utility and functioning. All themes and categories were the same for patients and physicians. Conclusions: Physician and patient expectations of a hypothetical smartphone app dedicated to depression are high and confirmed the important role it could play in depression care. The key points expected by the users for such a tool are an easy and intuitive use and a personalised content. They are also waiting for an app that gives information about depression, offers a self-monitoring functionality and helps them in case of emergency