Proposal for a National Blueprint Framework to Monitor Progress on Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals in Europe.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) underpinned by 169 targets presents national governments with huge challenges for implementation. We developed a proposal for a National Blueprint Framework (NBF) with 24 water-related indicators, centered on SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all), each with a specific target. We applied the NBF to 28 EU Member States (EU-28) and conclude that: (1) The current SDG 6 indicators are useful for monitoring progress toward water-related targets but their usefulness can be improved by focusing more on their practical implementation.

The impact of the posterior parietal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices on the optimization of long-term versus immediate value.

fMRI research suggests that both the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) help individuals select better long-term monetary gains during intertemporal choice. Previous neuromodulation research has demonstrated that disruption of the DLPFC interferes with this ability. However, it is unclear whether the PPC performs a similarly important function during intertemporal choice, and whether the functions performed by either region impact choices involving losses.

The Balloon Analog Insurance Task (BAIT): a behavioral measure of protective risk management.

Prior methods used to assess individual differences related to risk have not focused on an important component of risk management: how willing individuals are to pay for or take actions to insure what they already have. It is not clear whether this type of protective risk management taps into the same individual differences as does risk taking propensity measured by existing risk taking tasks. We developed a novel task to assess protective risk management, the Balloon Analog Insurance Task (BAIT), which is modeled after the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART).

Perceptual organization and visual search processes during target detection task performance in schizophrenia, as revealed by fMRI.

Background: Past studies of perceptual organization in schizophrenia have demonstrated impairments binding fragmented stimulus components into unified representations. ERP and fMRI data indicate that even under conditions of adequate behavioral task performance, significant and meaningful changes in cortical and subcortical activation are present. Here, we examined, using fMRI, activation differences on a visual task wherein feature grouping was a precursor to the formation of distinct groups in the service of target location and identification.

Increased fusiform area activation in schizophrenia during processing of spatial frequency-degraded faces, as revealed by fMRI.

Background: People with schizophrenia demonstrate perceptual organization impairments, and these are thought to contribute to their face processing difficulties.

Method: We examined the neural substrates of emotionally neutral face processing in schizophrenia by investigating neural activity under three stimulus conditions: faces characterized by the full spectrum of spatial frequencies, faces with low spatial frequency information removed [high spatial frequency (HSF) condition], and faces with high spatial frequency information removed [low spatial frequency (LSF) condition]. Face perception in the HSF condition is more reliant on local feature processing whereas perception in the LSF condition requires greater reliance on global form processing.

An fMRI examination of visual integration in schizophrenia.

Behavioral and electrophysiological studies of schizophrenia have consistently demonstrated impairments in the integration of visual features into unified perceptual representations. Specific brain regions involved in this dysfunction, however, remain to be clarified. This study used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to examine the relative involvement of visual cortex areas (involved in form perception) and parietal and frontal regions (involved in attention), in the visual integration impairment in schizophrenia.

Chronic stress and associated coping strategies among volunteer EMS personnel.

Objective: This study assessed the chronic (everyday) stress experiences and coping strategies among volunteer Emergency Medical Services personnel.

Methods: An anonymous, self-report survey using standardized measures of burnout (the Maslach Burnout Inventory) and coping (the Coping Mechanisms Checklist) was completed by a convenience sample of volunteer Emergency Medical Services personnel serving one of six participating ambulance companies in Suffolk County, New York.

Results: Survey responders included 139 of 175 volunteers who were recruited to participate (response rate = 79%).

Perceptual organization in first episode schizophrenia and ultra-high-risk states.

Deficits in perceptual organization have been consistently reported in schizophrenia, as has an association between these deficits, disorganized symptoms, and poorer premorbid functioning and prognosis, suggesting that they may be an index of illness severity or progression. It is unclear, however, whether the impairment is present at, or before the first psychotic episode. This study examined perceptual organization in young people considered to be at high-risk for schizophrenia, defined by the "close-in" strategy [Yung, A.

Evaluation of a rule base for decision making in general practice.

Background: Decision making in general practice relies heavily on judgmental expertise. It should be possible to codify this expertise into rules and principles.

Aim: A study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness, of rules from a rule base designed to improve students' and trainees' management decisions relating to patients seen in general practice.

The psychiatric discharge summary: a tool for management and audit.

The aims of this study were to review the information needs of general practitioners in relation to the discharge of mentally ill patients; to design a discharge summary that would meet these needs and evaluate its use by junior hospital staff; and to assess the usefulness of this summary for audit. The information needs of general practitioners were identified from a review of the literature and from discussions with local general practitioners. A prototype discharge summary was designed and reviewed by a panel of general practitioners, regional advisors and course organizers from the south east Thames region.

Audit in general practice by a receptionist: a feasibility study.

Objective: To examine whether audit can be done cost effectively by a practice's receptionist.

Design: The practice set goals for various aspects of care, and forms were devised for the receptionist to collect, analyse, and present data to assess whether these goals had been achieved in the previous year.

Setting: Six doctor practice in south London looking after 11,500 patients.

Pilot study of records of shared care for people with mental illnesses.

Objective: To develop and evaluate a record of shared care to be held by the patient designed to increase the effectiveness of long term care of patients with severe mental illness.

Design: Questionnaires completed by medical staff, community psychiatric nurse, and patients to evaluate the shared care record.

Setting: General practices, a psychiatric outpatient clinic, and a mental health resource centre in south east London.

An algorithmic method for management of mental health problems in developing countries.

A new problem-oriented cross-cultural method has been developed to identify the appropriate management of mental health problems in primary-care settings. It is designed to be used by multipurpose health workers in out-patient clinics in many developing countries. Presenting mental health problems in many cultural settings can be placed into one or more of eight behaviourally determined categories.

Moneymed: a game to develop management skills in general practice.

A game has been developed to train people in the financial and administrative skills needed for effective general practice management. These skills cover a wide range of legal, economic, administrative and personnel problems encountered in general practice. Thirty-four trainees and six trainers showed a highly significant improvement in knowledge and problem-solving skills after playing the game.

A problem-oriented approach to management of mental illness in developing countries.

A new problem-orientated method has been developed to identify the appropriate management of mental illnesses in cross-cultural primary care settings. It is designed to be used by intermediate level health workers in outpatient clinics in many different developing countries. The research undertaken to develop and evaluate this new method is described, and its implications for improving the quality of mental health care are discussed.