Stronger than your voices:A cognitive behavioral therapy for youth suffering from auditory verbal hallucinations

Objective: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are a common feature in youth and mostly transient. Nevertheless, while present, AVH can cause considerable distress. Children and adolescents seeking help for distressing AVH represent a heterogeneous group in terms of underlying factors, yet they consistently suffer from their AVH. Until now, a youth-specific psychotherapeutic intervention for AVH was lacking. Experts in the field of treating AVH in both adults and youngsters collaborated with service users to develop the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) "Stronger Than Your Voices" (STYV). We investigated feasibility and clinical outcomes of the STYV therapy. Methods: Patients were derived from children and adolescents seeking help for AVH at the UMC Utrecht outpatient clinic with an indication for STYV therapy. Therapists preferably originated from referring health care facilities and were required to have sufficient general knowledge and experience with CBT. They received a short individual training to apply STYV. After, patients and their therapists could participate this naturalistic pilot study, assessing feasibility, tolerability, and clinical change when applying the STYV therapy. Results: Six participants (10-16 years old), all suffering from comorbid psychopathology, provided pre and post measures, all completing STYV therapy without experiencing an aggravation of symptoms. AVH total impact decreased 40% with Cohen's d within-group effect size (1.28) also suggesting clinically meaningful change. Therapists were positive about STYV therapy and manual. Conclusion: The STYV therapy is feasible for youth with distressing AVH. First results indicate that STYV may be clinically effective. A trial to further test effectiveness in a larger sample is needed

Increasing foraging times with appetitive and consummatory foraging enrichment in grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Foraging enrichment is considered one of the most effective ways to enhance expression of species-typical behaviours and prevent the development of abnormal (repetitive) behaviours in captive animals. However, foraging enrichments for parrots have thus far not been able to approximate natural foraging time budgets nor completely eliminate abnormal behaviours such as feather damaging behaviour. This might be related to the design of currently available foraging enrichments, which generally stimulate a subset of foraging activities rather than foraging behaviour in its entirity. We therefore designed a two-component foraging enrichment that addressed both the appetitive and consummatory phases of foraging. To evaluate whether foraging times would approximate those in the wild (4–8 h/day), we studied the effect of the separate and combined components on foraging behaviour in 12 healthy grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) using a balanced cross-over design. Parrots were provided food by means of the appetitive (APP), consummatory (CONS), and combined (APP+CONS) component(s) of the foraging enrichment, and in a food trough that served as a control (CTRL; no enrichment) for 30 days per test condition. The time spent on foraging was evaluated on days 2, 14 and 30 in all four test conditions using continuous focal sampling. Each of the single components (APP or CONS) increased daily foraging times from 2 to 3 h per day (CTRL: 121 ± 16 min/24 h, APP: 176 ± 31 min/24 h, CONS: 194 ± 26 min/24 h), while the combined enrichment doubled daily foraging times (APP+CONS: 234 ± 42 min/24 h), thereby approaching natural foraging time budgets. Foraging times remained steady over the 30 days, indicating no habituation or change in use of the enrichments throughout this period. These results demonstrate the importance of providing both appetitive and consummatory activities to generate effective foraging opportunities for parrots. Such a bottom-up approach could be beneficial for other (parrot) species as well

Impaired lymph node stromal cell function during the earliest phases of rheumatoid arthritis.

BACKGROUND: Systemic autoimmunity can be present years before clinical onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Adaptive immunity is initiated in lymphoid tissue where lymph node stromal cells (LNSCs) regulate immune responses through their intimate connection with leucocytes. We postulate that malfunctioning of LNSCs creates a microenvironment in which normal immune responses are not properly controlled, possibly leading to autoimmune disease. In this study we established an experimental model for studying the functional capacities of human LNSCs during RA development. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with RA, 23 individuals positive for autoantibodies but without clinical disease (RA risk group) and 14 seronegative healthy control subjects underwent ultrasound-guided inguinal lymph node (LN) biopsy. Human LNSCs were isolated and expanded in vitro for functional analyses. In analogous co-cultures consisting of LNSCs and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, αCD3/αCD28-induced T-cell proliferation was measured using carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester dilution. RESULTS: Fibroblast-like cells expanded from the LN biopsy comprised of fibroblastic reticular cells (gp38+CD31-) and double-negative (gp38-CD31-) cells. Cultured LNSCs stably expressed characteristic adhesion molecules and cytokines. Basal expression of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) was lower in LNSCs from RA risk individuals than in those from healthy control subjects. Key LN chemokines C-C motif chemokine ligand (CCL19), CCL21 and CXCL13 were induced in LNSCs upon stimulation with tumour necrosis factor-α and lymphotoxin α1β2, but to a lesser extent in LNSCs from patients with RA. The effect of human LNSCs on T-cell proliferation was ratio-dependent and altered in RA LNSCs. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we developed an experimental model to facilitate research on the role of LNSCs during the earliest phases of RA. Using this innovative model, we show, for the first time to our knowledge, that the LN stromal environment is changed during the earliest phases of RA, probably contributing to deregulated immune responses early in disease pathogenesis

Molecular mechanisms of vaspin action: from adipose tissue to skin and bone, from blood vessels to the brain

Visceral adipose tissue derived serine protease inhibitor (vaspin) or SERPINA12 according to the serpin nomenclature was identified together with other genes and gene products that  were specifically expressed or overexpressed in the intra abdominal or visceral adipose tissue  (AT) of the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty rat. These rats spontaneously develop visceral  obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia and ‐glycemia, as well as hypertension and thus represent a well suited animal model of obesity and related metabolic disorders such as type  2 diabetes.  The follow-up study reporting the cloning, expression and functional characterization of  vaspin suggested the great and promising potential of this molecule to counteract obesity induced insulin resistance and inflammation and has since initiated over 300 publications, clinical and experimental, that have contributed to uncover the multifaceted functions and molecular mechanisms of vaspin action not only in the adipose, but in many different cells, tissues and organs. This review will give an update on mechanistic and structural aspects of vaspin with a focus on its serpin function, the physiology and regulation of vaspin expression, and will summarize the latest on vaspin function in various tissues such as the different adipose tissue depots as well as the vasculature, skin, bone and the brain

Constitutive behavior of as-cast magnesium alloy Mg-Al3-Zn1 in the semi-solid state

The first reported tensile semi-solid stress/strain data for as-cast magnesium alloy Mg Al3 Zn1 are provided. The results show that the maximum tensile stress at the solidus temperature (460 degrees C) was 13 MPa. Furthermore, this alloy has no ductility above 540 degrees C. and cannot sustain tensile stresses above 560 degrees C. Based on these tests, an equation relating the maximum tensile stress with temperature was derived. The microstructure of the tested specimens was also examined to link the tensile properties to fraction Solid and microstructure. (c) 2008 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved