Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees

First psychotic episode on the fifth decade? Differential diagnosis of psychotic symptoms, about a case

The postictal psychosis is a psychotic disorder that begins shortly after a crisis. Most often it affects patients with partial epilepsy and especially those with temporal lobe epilepsy. The postictal psychosis according to several publications can occur in up to 25% of patients with epilepsy. The psychotic disorder usually occurs within 24–48 hours after, be transient, with good response to treatment with antipsychotics and complete remission of psychotic symptoms. This case is for a woman of 58 years diagnosed with structural epilepsy after brain abscess left temporal intervened in childhood. The patient is being followed by neurology for complex partial seizures with secondary generalization in anti-epileptic treatment. The patient has previous studies of EEG, video EEG and brain MRI, evidence involvement of temporal lobe and hippocampus. The patient is brought to the emergency room after episode of sensory aphasia, unconsciousness and tonic-clonic limb movements, decreasing with diazepam. The patient, during the stay under observation, has auditory hallucinations, that generate anxiety must initiate being him quetiapina and clonazepam orally, yielding partially psychotic disorder, acute intracranial lesions are discarded and the patient is admitted by neurology. The evolution of psychotic disorder with antipsychotic down in a few weeks remaining asymptomatic. Epileptic psychosis is more common in refractory epilepsy. In all cases, you should make a joint approach between psychiatry and neurology, usually they have good response to antipsychotics.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.</jats:sec

Sociodemographic variables and efficacy study in psychotic patients after 12 months of outpatient treatment with paliperidone palmitate (PP)

IntroductionPsychotic disorders are serious mental illnesses that compromise the quality of life of patients. It is important to know the characteristics of the affected population, seek to improve the adhesion and functionality.ObjectivesTo describe the sociodemographic characteristics of patients treated with Palmitato Paliperidona (PP). Analyze the efficacy variables, adherence to treatment.MethodsCross-sectional study of 15 patients in outpatient follow-up after 12 months of treatment with PP. Sociodemographic characteristics are collected, mean dose of PP, through a mirror study. Scales to measure the functionality, clinical status and attitude towards medication apply: Scale of personal and social functioning (PSP), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI-SI) and attitudes toward Inventory Medication (DAI).ResultsThe sample consists of 15 patients (54% male). 81% are single; 77% live alone and 94% not working. The mean dose of PP is 147 mg/month. DAI shows a good attitude to the treatment (80%). The PSP shows that 22% of patients have serious difficulties in its development. The CGI-SI shows that 67% are moderately sick and the BPRS that 33% of patients have a serious disorder.ConclusionsThe demographic profile of patients after 12 months of treatment with PP coincides with male, unmarried, unemployed, living alone. Most have good adherence. The variables measured by the CGI-SI, BPRS and PSP, displayed moderately ill patients with severe difficulties or marked on their autonomy.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.</jats:sec

Paliperidone Palmitate in Psychogeriatric Patients and New Criteria Stopp-start

The treatment of psychosis in the elderly should ensure effectiveness and avoid side effects from combination therapy. Long acting antipsychotic as paliperidone palmitate facilitates this work. Furthermore, STOPP-START criteria, first published in 2008 (in Spanish in 2009), are being adopted as reference criteria throughout Europe. The Spanish version of the new 2014 edition is also recently published [1]. A descriptive study of a total of 53 institutionalized patients in psychogeriatric residence (&gt; 60 to 97 years) with psychotic disorder diagnosis and treatment with various neuroleptics is done. In total, 26.4% of the sample admitted to treatment with three different antipsychotics, and 47.1% with combination of two antipsychotics. Only 26.4% worked with antipsychotic monotherapy. In these patients, treatment with paliperidone palmitate starts or sets the previous dose. A CGI scale is applied after six months of treatment. Antipsychotic monotherapy in 66.66% of patients on neuroleptic combination therapy was achieved, so that 75% of the sample currently maintains monotherapy with paliperidone palmitate. The paliperidone palmitate has shown effectiveness in the symptomatic control and reducing the risk of inapropiate prescribing in older patients with psicosis. The paliperidone palmitate allows antipsychotic monotherapy in the psychogeriatric patient with severe mental illness polymedicated as the STOPP-START criteria recommends.Reference not available.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.</jats:sec

Paliperidone palmitate log-acting injection in patients with psychotic active clinic: start, change or increase of dose

The aim is to describe the experience of treatment with Paliperidone Palmitate long acting injection (PP) in patients with psychotic active clinic, whether diagnoses with schizophrenia or in patients with the first episode psychosis, as well as to reflect the improvement in the control of the symptoms that the patients can improve increasing the dose.MethodsWe have done a descriptive study of 34 patients hospitalized in psychiatry between January and July 2015 for psychotic active clinic who started treatment with PP or the previous dose was increased.Results91.2% of patients admitted for acute exacerbation of their usual pathology and 8.8% for a first episode psychosis. In the CGI scale, all the patients admitted scored as severe or markedly ill; going mostly mildly ill at discharge. For 55.9% of patients, the treatment was changed to PP, 29.4% of the dose was increased PP and 14.7% antipsychotic treatment was started with PP. Among patients change treatment, the main reason was non-adherence (47.4%). 70.6% of our patients were discharged with PP as only antipsychotic and 29.4% which was discharged with another antipsychotic, the most frequent association was of PP with Quetiapine (80%).ConclusionsPP is a highly effective medicament in the treatment of the schizophrenia that improves the adherence to the treatment, so in our experience and we consider it a medicament to be considered in the early stages of the disease. According to our experience and there are patients who can benefit from better control of symptoms adjusting the dose individually.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.</jats:sec