Boost Camp’, a universal school-based transdiagnostic prevention program targeting adolescent emotion regulation; evaluating the effectiveness by a clustered RCT : a protocol paper

Abstract Background The transition from childhood into adolescence can be considered as a critical developmental period. Moreover, adolescence is associated with a decreased use of adaptive emotion regulation strategies and an increased use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies increasing the risk of emotional problems. Targeting emotion regulation is therefore seen as an innovative prevention approach. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Boost camp, an innovative school-based prevention program targeting ER, on adolescents’ emotion regulation skills and emotional wellbeing. Also secondary outcomes and possible moderators will be included. Methods The aim is to reach 300 adolescents (16 class groups, 6 schools) in their first year of high school. A clustered Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) with two conditions, intervention (n = 150) and control (n = 150), will be set up. Adolescents in the intervention condition will receive 14 lessons over the course of 2 days, followed by Booster sessions, and will be compared with adolescents in a non-intervention control group. The outcomes will be measured by self-report questionnaires at baseline, immediately after Boost camp, and at three and 6 months follow-up. Discussion Data-collection is planned to be completed in May 2018. Data-analyses will be finished the end of 2018. The presented paper describes the Boost camp program and the clustered RCT design to evaluate its effectiveness. It is expected that Boost camp will have beneficial effects. If found effective, Boost camp will have the potential to increase adolescent’s ER and well-being, and reduce the risk to become adults in need. The trials is registered on the 13th of June 2017 in ISRCTN registry [ISRCTN68235634]

Prevalence and predictors of potential drug-drug interactions

Objectives. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) among outpatients of city region Novi Sad, Serbia, and to investigate predictors of potential DDIs. Methods. Cross-sectional prescription database study was conducted. In the analysis were randomly included 10% outpatients with polypharmacy (n=4467), who visited Health Center over 1-month period (November 1-30, 2011). All drug combinations with potential for clinical significant DDIs were identified, according to Drug Interaction Facts by David S Tatro. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine patient and drug therapy characteristics as predictors of potential DDIs. Results. The prevalence of clinical significant potential DDIs was 33.31%. Odds of exposure were the highest among those aged 65 years or older (odds ratio (OR)=5.204; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.694-10.052, p<0.001), those with ≥ 4 diagnosed diseases (OR=4.451; 95% CI 3.349-5.914, p<0.001), and those who used ≥ 5 drugs (OR= 5.735; 95% CI 4.876-6.747, p<0.001). Chronic diseases as well as their therapy also presented predictors of DDIs. Conclusion. Approximately one-third of outpatients living in Novi Sad were exposed to potential DDIs. Based on the present results could be defined recommendations for the management potential clinical significant DDIs. © 2014 Versita and Springer-Verlag

Trail and teritorial communication in social insects

The social properties of insect colonies are sometimes described in seemingly contradictory terms. As pinnacles of biological complexity they are superorganisms and their emergent, colony-level characteristics are often referred to in terms of their elaborate and sophisticated nature. Yet the mechanisms that mediate social interactions and group phenomena, after empirical or theoretical analysis, are simple and parsimonious. This complexity-mediated-by-simplicity paradigm provides a heuristic approach to the analysis of the basic behavioral characteristics of the individual members of an insect society and the regulatory mechanisms of cooperative response, which are the fundamental elements from which colony level behavior is derived. Inevitably, the dissection and reconstruction of insect social organization involves semiochemicals, because the principal sensory modality of integration, social coordination, and assembly of colony-level patternsis olfaction