Differences in duration of untreated psychosis for racial and ethnic minority groups with first-episode psychosis: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Ethnic minority groups with early psychosis may have longer treatment delays, potentially leading to poorer outcomes. We updated a previous systematic review of the literature on racial and ethnic differences in duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) among people with first-episode psychosis. RESULTS: Six of 17 studies described significant differences across aggregated racial groups; however, the pooled estimates did not show differences across groups. Additional data from this update allowed for disaggregated analyses, finding that Black-African groups have a shorter DUP, whereas Black-Caribbean groups have longer DUP, relative to White groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of in-depth research on disaggregated ethnic groups to inform targeted early intervention strategies for minority populations

Testing the Potential of Using Fungi to Convert Human Waste into Protein

We report on the results of a pilot experiment designed to test the potential of filamentous fungi (mold) to reduce solid waste (feces) while converting it into a consumable, high protein food product. Feces represent an untapped resource. Filamentous fungi are natural decomposers with the ability to use this resource. Many filamentous fungi are safe to eat. We examined growth in order to determine the conditions which maximized the rate of conversion of solid waste into fungal biomass. For this pilot, we compared the effect of different lengths of incubation, different methods of aeration, and different available surface area. The initial study resulted in rates of conversion as high as 75% (3.75g of mold produced from 5g of solid waste). Fungal growth also appeared to reduce odor. Although initially proposed as a mechanism to deal with waste and food storage issues on long-term space missions, this project holds the potential to benefit waste processing in diverse situations including large livestock confinement operations and sewage treatment facilities. This work was supported by a grant from the Indiana Space Grant Consortium (INSGC)

Poincare Semigroup Symmetry as an Emergent Property of Unstable Systems

The notion that elementary systems correspond to irreducible representations of the Poincare group is the starting point for this paper, which then goes on to discuss how a semigroup for the time evolution of unstable states and resonances could emerge from the underlying Poincare symmetry. Important tools in this analysis are the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for the Poincare group.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Ethnic variations in duration of untreated psychosis: report from the CRIS-FEP study

Objectives:  There is inconsistent evidence on the influence of ethnicity on duration of untreated psychosis (DUP). We investigated ethnic differences in DUP in a large epidemiological dataset of first episode psychosis patients in an inner city area of south London, UK. Methods:  We analysed data on 558 first episode psychosis patients at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, between 2010 and 2012. We performed multivariable logistic regression to estimate the odds of a short DUP (≤ 6 months) by ethnic group, controlling for confounders. Results:  There was no evidence that ethnicity is associated with duration of untreated psychosis. However, we found evidence that a short DUP was strongly associated with age, living circumstances, and pathways to care variables (involuntary admission, out of office hour contact, accident and emergency referral, criminal justice agency referral and family involvement in help-seeking). Conversely, a long DUP was associated with report of social isolation, living alone, being single and General Practitioner referral. Conclusion:  Our findings suggest that indicators of social isolation were associated with long DUP. Our data also show that pathways into care characteristics play significant role in DUP. Thus, the challenge of tackling the issue of timely access to EI under the new Access and Waiting Time standard for psychosis requires a multilevel approach, including joint working with communities, public awareness of psychosis, less restrictive referral pathways and adequate resourcing of early intervention for psychosis services. These will go a long way in addressing patients’ needs rather than be determined by service structures

Polymeric self-assembled mono- and multilayers and their use in photolithography

A self-assembled multilayer and in particular polymeric self-assembled multilayer can be effectively produced from two or more self-assembled monolayers on a substrate where each of the self-assembled monolayers is produced for a block containing a first functional group and a second functional group where the second functional group is reacted with the first functional group. The production of polymerizable, self-assembled mono- and multi-layers from, e.g., blocks containing at least two acetylene groups and/or polymerizable end groups, is also provided. The polymerized mono- or multilayer can be employed in a variety of applications including photolithography.U

Polymeric self-assembled mono- and multilayers and their use in photolithography

A self-assembled multilayer and in particular polymeric self-assembled multilayer can be effectively produced from two or more self-assembled monolayers on a substrate where each of the self-assembled monolayers is produced for a block containing a first functional group and a second functional group where the second functional group is reacted with the first functional group. The production of polymerizable, self-assembled mono- and multi-layers from, e.g., blocks containing at least two acetylene groups and/or polymerizable end groups, is also provided. The polymerized mono- or multilayer can be employed in a variety of applications including photolithography.U

Chemical speciation of heavy metals in solid waste materials (sewage sludge, mining wastes, dredged materials, polluted sediments) by sequential extraction

Sequential extraction techniques are used to determine the chemical associations of heavy metals with specific solid phases, whereby the potential availability of toxic compounds in waste materials for biological uptake and possible remobilization effects into the aqueous phase may be estimated

Chemical speciation of heavy metals in solid waste materials (sewage sludge, mining wastes, dredged materials, polluted sediments) by sequential extraction

Sequential extraction techniques are used to determine the chemical associations of heavy metals with specific solid phases, whereby the potential availability of toxic compounds in waste materials for biological uptake and possible remobilization effects into the aqueous phase may be estimated