Trends in Self-Harm in Kuala Lumpur, 2005-2011.

Acts of self-harm are not routinely tracked in Malaysia. The present study investigates the prevalence of self-harm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over a 7-year period. The aims were to: (a) assess the prevalence of self-harm; (b) examine any changes over a period of 7 years, and (c) identify correlates of methods of self-harm. Data were extracted from the hospital records of Kuala Lumpur Hospital to review trends in self-harm between 2005 and 2011. There were 918 episodes of self-harm across the 7-year period, with a significant peak in 2007-2009. The average rate of self-harm (7.7 per 100,000 population per year) was similar or lower than the rate of suicide (6-8 or 8-13 per 100,000) suggesting that genuine cases of self-harm are often attributed to other causes. Nevertheless, over-representation of young people, women and Indians suggest areas in which resources to prevent self-harm might usefully be targeted. Estimating rates of self-harm are fraught with problems and further research is needed to understand the economic and cultural barriers around seeking treatment for self-harm, reporting self-harm and classifying self-harm

Virtual Texture Generated using Elastomeric Conductive Block Copolymer in Wireless Multimodal Haptic Glove.

Haptic devices are in general more adept at mimicking the bulk properties of materials than they are at mimicking the surface properties. This paper describes a haptic glove capable of producing sensations reminiscent of three types of near-surface properties: hardness, temperature, and roughness. To accomplish this mixed mode of stimulation, three types of haptic actuators were combined: vibrotactile motors, thermoelectric devices, and electrotactile electrodes made from a stretchable conductive polymer synthesized in our laboratory. This polymer consisted of a stretchable polyanion which served as a scaffold for the polymerization of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT). The scaffold was synthesized using controlled radical polymerization to afford material of low dispersity, relatively high conductivity (0.1 S cm-1), and low impedance relative to metals. The glove was equipped with flex sensors to make it possible to control a robotic hand and a hand in virtual reality (VR). In psychophysical experiments, human participants were able to discern combinations of electrotactile, vibrotactile, and thermal stimulation in VR. Participants trained to associate these sensations with roughness, hardness, and temperature had an overall accuracy of 98%, while untrained participants had an accuracy of 85%. Sensations could similarly be conveyed using a robotic hand equipped with sensors for pressure and temperature

Predicting hopelessness: the interaction between optimism/pessimism and specific future expectancies

Improving our understanding of hopelessness is central to suicide prevention. This is the first study to investigate whether generalized expectancies for the future (optimism/pessimism) and specific future-oriented cognitions (future thinking) interact to predict hopelessness and dysphoria. To this end, participants completed measures of future thinking, optimism/pessimism and affect at Time 1 and measures of affect and stress at Time 2, 10-12 weeks later. Results indicated that changes in hopelessness but not dysphoria were predicted by the interaction between positive future thinking (but not negative future thinking), optimism/pessimism and stress beyond initial levels of hopelessness and dysphoria. Additional moderating analyses are also reported. These findings point to the fruits of integrating personality and cognitive processes, to better understand hopelessness

Theory of Planned Behaviour and Parasuicide: An Exploratory Study

Recent evidence suggests that parasuicide (deliberate self-harm) should be considered in terms of ‘normal’ rather than ‘abnormal’ behaviour. This study aimed to address this assertion by applying a social cognition model, for the first time, to parasuicidal behaviour. An extended theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model was tested on 55 individuals drawn from hospital and non-hospital populations. Thirty-eight percent of the sample (n=21) reported a history of deliberate self-harm. Findings supported the utility of the TPB: attitudes, subjective norm, self-efficacy, moral norm and anticipated affect discriminated significantly between those with and without a history of parasuicide. The extended TPB explained more than 50% of the variance associated with intentions to deliberately self-harm. These findings have considerable theoretical and practical implications for intervention. Future research should investigate the utility of the TPB employed within a prospective framework

Maternal antibiotic administration during a critical developmental window has enduring neurobehavioural effects in offspring mice

Rates of perinatal maternal antibiotic use have increased in recent years linked to prophylactic antibiotic use following Caesarean section delivery. This antibiotic use is necessary and beneficial in the short-term; however, long-term consequences on brain and behaviour have not been studied in detail. Here, we endeavoured to determine whether maternal administration of antibiotics during a critical window of development in early life has lasting effects on brain and behaviour in offspring mice. To this end we studied two different antibiotic preparations (single administration of Phenoxymethylpenicillin at 31 mg/kg/day; and a cocktail consisting of, ampicillin 1 mg/mL; vancomycin 0.5 mg/mL; metronidazole 1 mg/mL; ciprofloxacin 0.2 mg/mL and imipenem 0.25 mg/mL). It was observed that early life exposure to maternal antibiotics led to persistent alterations in anxiety, sociability and cognitive behaviours. These effects in general were greater in animals treated with the broad-spectrum antibiotic cocktail compared to a single antibiotic with the exception of deficits in social recognition which were more robustly observed in Penicillin V exposed animals. Given the prevalence of maternal antibiotic use, our findings have potentially significant translational relevance, particularly considering the implications on infant health during this critical period and into later life

A systematic review of the relationship between rumination and suicidality

Rumination has been persistently implicated in the etiology of hopelessness and depression: proximal predictors of suicidality. As a result, research has started to examine the role of rumination in suicidality. This systematic review aims to: (i) provide a concise synopsis of the current progress in examining the relationship between rumination and suicidality; and (ii) highlight areas for future research. To this end, a search of the international literature was conducted using the three main psychological and medical databases (Psych Info [1887-October 2007], Medline [1966-October 2007] and Web of Knowledge [1981-October 2007]). Eleven studies were identified providing evidence, with one exception, of a relationship between rumination and suicidality. This systematic review has highlighted a considerable dearth of studies, specifically of case-control and prospective, clinical studies, in the worldwide literature. Key areas for future research are discussed

Resilience to chronic stress is associated with specific neurobiological, neuroendocrine and immune responses

Research into the molecular basis of stress resilience is a novel strategy to identify potential therapeutic strategies to treat stress-induced psychopathologies such as anxiety and depression. Stress resilience is a phenomenon which is not solely driven by effects within the central nervous system (CNS) but involves multiple systems, central and peripheral, which interact with and influence each other. Accordingly, we used the chronic social defeat stress paradigm and investigated specific CNS, endocrine and immune responses to identify signatures of stress-resilience and stress susceptibility in mice. Our results showed that mice behaviourally susceptible to stress (indexed by a reduction in social interaction behaviour) had higher plasma corticosterone levels and adrenal hypertrophy. An increase in inflammatory circulating monocytes was another hallmark of stress susceptibility. Furthermore, prefrontal cortex mRNA expression of corticotrophin-releasing factor (Crf) was increased in susceptible mice relative to resilient mice. We also report differences in hippocampal synaptic plasticity between resilient and susceptible mice. Ongoing studies will interpret the functional relevance of these signatures which could potentially inform the development of novel psychotherapeutic strategies

Pollinator monitoring more than pays for itself

1. Resilient pollination services depend on sufficient abundance of pollinating insects over time. Currently, however, most knowledge about the status and trends of pollinators is based on changes in pollinator species richness and distribution only. 2. Systematic, long‐term monitoring of pollinators is urgently needed to provide baseline information on their status, to identify the drivers of declines and to inform suitable response measures. 3. Power analysis was used to determine the number of sites required to detect a 30% change in pollinator populations over 10 years. We then evaluated the full economic costs of implementing four national monitoring schemes in the UK: (a) professional pollinator monitoring, (b) professional pollination service monitoring, (c) volunteer collected pan traps and (d) volunteer focal floral observations. These costs were compared to (a) the costs of implementing separate, expert‐designed research and monitoring networks and (b) the economic benefits of pollination services threatened by pollinator loss. 4. Estimated scheme costs ranged from £6,159/year for a 75‐site volunteer focal flower observation scheme to £2.7 M/year for an 800‐site professional pollination service monitoring network. The estimated research costs saved using the site network as research infrastructure range from £1.46–4.17 M/year. The economic value of UK crop yield lost following a 30% decline in pollinators was estimated at ~£188 M/year. 5. Synthesis and applications. We evaluated the full costs of running pollinator monitoring schemes against the economic benefits to research and society they provide. The annual costs of monitoring are <0.02% of the economic value of pollination services that would be lost after a 30% decline in pollination services. Furthermore, by providing high‐quality scientific data, monitoring schemes would save at least £1.5 on data collection per £1 spent. Our findings demonstrate that long‐term systematic monitoring can be a cost‐effective tool for both answering key research questions and setting action points for policymakers. Careful consideration must be given to scheme design, the logistics of national‐scale implementation and resulting data quality when selecting the most appropriate combination of surveyors, methods and site networks to deliver a successful scheme

Rapid assessment of insect pollination services to inform decision-making.

Pollinator declines have prompted efforts to assess how land-use change affects insect pollinators and pollination services in agricultural landscapes. Yet many tools to measure insect pollination services require substantial landscape-scale data and technical expertise. In expert workshops, 3 straightforward methods (desk-based method, field survey, and empirical manipulation with exclusion experiments) for rapid insect pollination assessment at site scale were developed to provide an adaptable framework that is accessible to nonspecialist with limited resources. These methods were designed for TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-Based Assessment) and allow comparative assessment of pollination services at a site of conservation interest and in its most plausible alternative state (e.g., converted to agricultural land). We applied the methods at a nature reserve in the United Kingdom to estimate the value of insect pollination services provided by the reserve. The economic value of pollination services provided by the reserve ranged from US$6163 to US$11,546/year. The conversion of the reserve to arable land would provide no insect pollination services and a net annual benefit from insect-pollinated crop production of approximately $1542/year (US$24∙ha-1 ∙year-1 ). The methods had wide applicability and were readily adapted to different insect-pollinated crops: rape (Brassica napus) and beans (Vicia faba) crops. All methods were rapidly employed under a low budget. The relatively less robust methods that required fewer resources yielded higher estimates of annual insect pollination benefit