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Selected AbstractsPsychoeducational intervention for caregivers of Indian patients with schizophrenia: a randomised-controlled trialACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 6 2009P. Kulhara Objective:, There are hardly any randomised-controlled trials of structured family interventions for schizophrenia from India. This study attempted to evaluate the impact of a structured psychoeducational intervention for schizophrenia, compared with standard out-patient treatment, on various patient- and caregiver-related parameters. Method:, Seventy-six patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia and their caregivers were randomly allocated to receive either a structured psychoeducational intervention (n = 38) consisting of monthly sessions for 9 months or ,routine' out-patient care (n = 38) for the same duration. Psychopathology was assessed on monthly basis. Disability levels, caregiver-burden, caregiver-coping, caregiver-support and caregiver-satisfaction were evaluated at baseline and upon completion. Results:, Structured psychoeducational intervention was significantly better than routine out-patient care on several indices including psychopathology, disability, caregiver-support and caregiver-satisfaction. The psychoeducational intervention package used was simple, feasible and not costly. Conclusion:, Structured psychoeducational intervention is a viable option for treatment of schizophrenia even in developing countries like India. [source] A comparative analysis of the diving behaviour of birds and mammalsFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2006L. G. HALSEY Summary 1We use a large interspecific data set on diving variables for birds and mammals, and statistical techniques to control for the effects of phylogenetic non-independence, to assess evolutionary associations among different elements of diving behaviour across a broad and diverse range of diving species. Our aim is to assess whether the diving ability of homeothermic vertebrates is influenced by factors other than the physiology of the species. 2Body mass is related to dive duration even when dive depth is controlled for and thus for a given dive depth, larger species dive for longer. This implies that larger species have a greater capacity for diving than is expressed in their dive depth. Larger animals that dive shallowly, probably for ecological reasons such as water depth, make use of the physiological advantage that their size confers by diving for longer. 3Dive duration correlates with dive depth more strongly than with body mass. This confirms that some animals are poor divers for their body mass, either because of a lower physiological capacity or because their behaviour limits their diving. 4Surface duration relates not only to dive duration but also to dive depth, as well as to both independently. This indicates a relationship between dive depth and surface duration controlling for dive duration, which suggests that deeper dives are energetically more expensive than shallow dives of the same duration. 5Taxonomic class does not improve any of the dive variable models in the present study. There is thus an unsuspected consistency in the broad responses of different groups to the effects on diving of the environment, which are therefore general features of diving evolution. [source] Long-term treadmill exposure protects against age-related neurodegenerative change in the rat hippocampusHIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 10 2009Rachel M. O'Callaghan Abstract The potential of exercise or environmental enrichment to prevent or reverse age-related cognitive decline in rats has been widely investigated. The data suggest that the efficacy of these interventions as neuroprotectants may depend upon the duration and nature of the protocols and age of onset. Investigations of the mechanisms underlying these neuroprotective strategies indicate a potential role for the neurotrophin family of proteins, including nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In this study, we have assessed the effects of 8 months of forced exercise, begun in middle-age, on the expression of long-term potentiation (LTP) and on spatial learning in the Morris water maze in aged Wistar rats. We also assessed these measures in a cage control group and in a group of rats exposed to the stationary treadmill for the same duration as the exercised rats. Our data confirm an age-related decline in expression of LTP and in spatial learning concomitant with decreased expression of NGF and BDNF mRNA in dentate gyrus (DG). The age-related impairments in both plasticity and growth factor expression were prevented in the long-term exercised group and, surprisingly, the treadmill control group. Given the extensive handling that the treadmill control group received and their regular exposure to an environment outside the home cage, this group can be considered to have experienced environmentally enriched conditions when compared with the cage control group. Significant correlations were observed between both learning and LTP and the expression of NGF and BDNF mRNA in the dentate gyrus. We conclude that decreased expression of NGF and BDNF in the dentate gyrus of aged rats is associated with impaired LTP and spatial learning. We suggest that the reversal of these age-related impairments by enrichment and exercise may be linked with prevention of the age-related decline in expression of these growth factors and, furthermore, that enrichment is as efficacious as exercise in preventing this age-related decline. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Plasma serotonin response to carbohydrate-rich food in chronic schizophrenic patients: clozapine versus classic antipsychotic agentsHUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 5 2001Yaffa Vered Abstract Researchers have reported a stimulatory effect of carbohydrate-rich intake on platelet-poor plasma (PPP) serotonin (5-HT) levels in healthy human subjects. Dietary manipulation may serve as a safer and less invasive means than pharmacologic challenge to provoke serotonergic responsivity in studies of schizophrenia. In the present study, we used the carbohydrate-rich meal test as an indicator of 5-HT activity in 12 patients with chronic schizophrenia maintained for at least 6 months on clozapine. PPP 5-HT levels were measured at baseline and at 1, 2 and 3,h after administration of the test. Findings were compared with those in schizophrenic patients treated with classic antipsychotic agents for the same duration. The maximal PPP 5-HT response was reached 120 min after meal administration in the clozapine-treated group and 60 min after in the classic antipsychotic-treated group (P<0.05 vs baseline for both). The 5-HT level (as percentage of baseline) at 60 min was significantly lower in the clozapine-treated group (P<0.02), as were individual PPP 5-HT peak values (P<0.05). The individual time to reach the peak response was similar in the two groups. Our results indicate that in patients with chronic schizophrenia 5-HT responsivity to the natural challenge of carbohydrate-rich meals is lower in those treated with clozapine than in those given classic antipsychotic agents. Values in both groups were lower than those in an appropriate historical comparative group of healthy subjects. We suggest that both clozapine and classic antipsychotic agents suppress serotonergic system sensitivity, but to a different degree. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Prevention of Postmenopausal Bone Loss by a Low-Magnitude, High-Frequency Mechanical Stimuli: A Clinical Trial Assessing Compliance, Efficacy, and Safety,JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2004Clinton Rubin Abstract A 1-year prospective, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial of 70 postmenopausal women demonstrated that brief periods (<20 minutes) of a low-level (0.2g, 30 Hz) vibration applied during quiet standing can effectively inhibit bone loss in the spine and femur, with efficacy increasing significantly with greater compliance, particularly in those subjects with lower body mass. Introduction: Indicative of the anabolic potential of mechanical stimuli, animal models have demonstrated that short periods (<30 minutes) of low-magnitude vibration (<0.3g), applied at a relatively high frequency (20,90 Hz), will increase the number and width of trabeculae, as well as enhance stiffness and strength of cancellous bone. Here, a 1-year prospective, randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled clinical trial in 70 women, 3,8 years past the menopause, examined the ability of such high-frequency, low-magnitude mechanical signals to inhibit bone loss in the human. Materials and Methods: Each day, one-half of the subjects were exposed to short-duration (two 10-minute treatments/day), low-magnitude (2.0 m/s2 peak to peak), 30-Hz vertical accelerations (vibration), whereas the other half stood for the same duration on placebo devices. DXA was used to measure BMD at the spine, hip, and distal radius at baseline, and 3, 6, and 12 months. Fifty-six women completed the 1-year treatment. Results and Conclusions: The detection threshold of the study design failed to show any changes in bone density using an intention-to-treat analysis for either the placebo or treatment group. Regression analysis on the a priori study group demonstrated a significant effect of compliance on efficacy of the intervention, particularly at the lumbar spine (p = 0.004). Posthoc testing was used to assist in identifying various subgroups that may have benefited from this treatment modality. Evaluating those in the highest quartile of compliance (86% compliant), placebo subjects lost 2.13% in the femoral neck over 1 year, whereas treatment was associated with a gain of 0.04%, reflecting a 2.17% relative benefit of treatment (p = 0.06). In the spine, the 1.6% decrease observed over 1 year in the placebo group was reduced to a 0.10% loss in the active group, indicating a 1.5% relative benefit of treatment (p = 0.09). Considering the interdependence of weight, the spine of lighter women (<65 kg), who were in the highest quartile of compliance, exhibited a relative benefit of active treatment of 3.35% greater BMD over 1 year (p = 0.009); for the mean compliance group, a 2.73% relative benefit in BMD was found (p = 0.02). These preliminary results indicate the potential for a noninvasive, mechanically mediated intervention for osteoporosis. This non-pharmacologic approach represents a physiologically based means of inhibiting the decline in BMD that follows menopause, perhaps most effectively in the spine of lighter women who are in the greatest need of intervention. [source] An acute pain service improves postoperative pain management for children undergoing selective dorsal rhizotomyPEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA, Issue 12 2009CHANTAL FRIGON MSC MD Summary Background:, A continuous epidural infusion of morphine is the pain treatment modality for children undergoing selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) in our institution. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of having an organized acute pain service (APS) on postoperative pain management of these children. Methods:, We conducted a retrospective cohort study using anesthetic records and the APS database to compare the postoperative pain management of children undergoing SDR before and after the introduction of the APS at the Montreal Children's Hospital in April 2001. Ninety-two consecutive children who had their surgery between January 1997 and July 2006 were included. We collected data regarding postoperative pain, opioid-induced side effects, complications (sedation, desaturations < 92%), and hospital length of stay. Results:, Pain scores were documented more frequently after the implementation of the APS (61% vs 48.5%). Sedation scores were documented only after the implementation of the APS. Postoperative desaturation was significantly more frequent in the pre-APS group compared to the APS group (45.5% vs 6.8%, P < 0.001). Despite the fact that the epidural catheter was in place for the same duration for both groups [median of 3 days (3,3 25,75%ile)], the duration of hospitalization was 1 day shorter in the APS group compared to the pre-APS group [median of 5 (5,5 25,75%ile) vs 6 (5,6 25,75%ile) days, P < 0.001]. Conclusions:, Although we recognize that it is possible that there were changes in care not related specifically to the introduction of a dedicated APS that occurred in our institution that resulted in improvements in general postoperative care and in length of stay, our study did show that having an organized APS allowed to significantly decrease the incidence of postoperative oxygen desaturation and to decrease the hospital length of stay by 1 day. [source] Maize Yields as Affected by Short- and Long-Term Improved Fallows: A Comparative Analysis in the Asian Humid TropicsJOURNAL OF AGRONOMY AND CROP SCIENCE, Issue 6 2005R. Schelbert Abstract Improved short- or long-term fallows are considered suitable low external input technologies for maintaining productivity and sustainability of tropical smallholder upland cropping units, although comparisons on the benefits of this technology are not widely reported. A field study evaluated the impact of improved short (6 months) and long-term fallow (18 months) using Crotalaria juncea and Tithonia diversifolia, in relation to a natural fallow of the same durations, on the productivity of maize (Zea mays), the most important upland cereal in tropical Asia, over a minor season. The use of improved fallows, especially Tithonia, increased maize yields over the Crotalaria or natural fallow. While the overall yields of maize after a long fallow were greater, the beneficial impact of the green manures was significantly higher in the short fallows. The causal factors for this trend, including biomass production of the improved fallows and possible impact on soils, along with the greater benefits of short-term fallows for increasing maize yields in the tropics due to lower requirements of unproductive time are presented. [source] | |||||||||||||