Focusing with colorectal cancer patients: a pilot study of a brief online group intervention.

Introduction: Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy has had a long history and influence on the field of psychotherapy. By "clearing a space" and "focusing," individuals can enhance their emotional awareness and improve their ability to self-regulate. These tasks are particularly relevant in the context of Psycho-Oncology, although the research on their potential benefits for cancer patients is limited.

The dynamics of the midgut microbiome in during digestion reveal putative symbionts.

Blood-feeding is crucial for the reproductive cycle of the mosquito , as well as for the transmission of arboviruses to hosts. It is postulated that blood meals may influence the mosquito microbiome but shifts in microbial diversity and function during digestion remain elusive. We used whole-genome shotgun metagenomics to monitor the midgut microbiome in 60 individual females of throughout digestion, after 12, 24, and 48 h following blood or sugar meals.

Wearables for Monitoring and Postural Feedback in the Work Context: A Scoping Review.

Wearables offer a promising solution for simultaneous posture monitoring and/or corrective feedback. The main objective was to identify, synthesise, and characterise the wearables used in the workplace to monitor and postural feedback to workers. The PRISMA-ScR guidelines were followed.

Optimization of Inhalation Technique Knowledge in the Pharmacies of Matosinhos Municipality, Portugal: An Intervention Project.

Introduction: The therapeutic approach to the most common respiratory diseases, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), involves the use of inhalation devices. Its use is essential, but incorrect use is frequent, and learning and reviewing the technique is necessary for the adequate management of these diseases.

Objective: This study aims to increase the knowledge of health professionals from pharmacies in the municipality of Matosinhos, Portugal, about the correct inhalation technique.

Optimizing Contraceptive Prescription in Smoking Women: A Quality Improvement Study.

Introduction Family planning is fundamental in primary care (PC), and informed counseling helps to guide contraceptive choices. Combined hormonal contraceptives (CHC) pose cardiovascular risks, particularly when combined with smoking. According to the World Health Organization, the recommended global clinical decision is to refrain from employing CHC in female smokers aged 35 or older.

Validation of the client satisfaction questionnaire: a pilot psychometric analysis in Portuguese routine practice.

Treatment satisfaction has been found to have good therapeu- tic results in psychotherapy, and the 18-item version of the client satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ-18) is one of the most widely used measures to evaluate it. This study sought to carry out a pilot analysis of the psychometric's properties and factorial structure, as well as validate the CSQ-18's applicability to the Portuguese population within the context of routine clinical practice. It also sought to explore the association that treatment satisfaction has with general symptoms, therapeutic alliance, and expectations at an early stage of psychotherapy.

Validation of the Brazilian version of the Hinting Task and Facial Emotion Recognition Test (FERT-100) in patients with schizophrenia.

Unlabelled: Social cognition is an especially relevant domain in schizophrenia due to its association with functional impairment. However, we still do not have studies that have validated instruments with internationally established psychometric qualities for the Brazilian population.

Objectives: This study aimed to present psychometric qualities and contribute to the validation of the Brazilian version of the Hinting Task and Facial Emotion Recognition Test (FERT-100).

Online consultations in mental healthcare: Modelling determinants of use and experience based on an international survey study at the onset of the pandemic.

Introduction: While online consultations have shown promise to be a means for the effective delivery of high-quality mental healthcare and the first implementations of these digital therapeutic contacts go back nearly two decades, uptake has remained limited over the years. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered this relative standstill and created a unique turning point, with a massive amount of both professionals and clients having first hands-on experiences with technology in mental healthcare.

Objective: The current study aimed to document the uptake of online consultations and explore if specific characteristics of mental health professionals across and beyond Europe could predict this.

Adiponectin and Stnfr2 peripheral levels are associated with cardiovascular risk in patients with schizophrenia.

Objectives: To investigate the association between cytokine peripheral levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with schizophrenia and controls.

Methods: A sample of 40 patients and 40 control subjects participated in the study. Psychiatric diagnosis was established following structured clinical assessment.

Emotional processing during the therapy for complicated grief.

Objective: Prior research, mainly conducted on depression, observed that clients' improved capability to process their emotions predicted better therapeutic outcomes. The current comparative study aimed to investigate whether emotional processing was related to therapeutic change in complicated grief.

Method: We analyzed two contrasting cases (good or poor outcome) treated with grief constructivist therapy.

Online consultations in mental healthcare during the COVID-19 outbreak: An international survey study on professionals' motivations and perceived barriers.

Introduction: While the general uptake of e-mental health interventions remained low over the past years, physical distancing and lockdown measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic created a need and demand for online consultations in only a matter of weeks.

Objective: This study investigates the uptake of online consultations provided by mental health professionals during lockdown measures in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the participating countries, with a specific focus on professionals' motivations and perceived barriers regarding online consultations.

Methods: An online survey on the use of online consultations was set up in March 2020.

Diploidy within a Haploid Genus of Entomopathogenic Fungi.

Fungi in the genus Metarhizium are soil-borne plant-root endophytes and rhizosphere colonizers, but also potent insect pathogens with highly variable host ranges. These ascomycete fungi are predominantly asexually reproducing and ancestrally haploid, but two independent origins of persistent diploidy within the Coleoptera-infecting Metarhizium majus species complex are known and has been attributed to incomplete chromosomal segregation following meiosis during the sexual cycle. There is also evidence for infrequent sexual cycles in the locust-specific pathogenic fungus Metarhizium acridum (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), which is an important entomopathogenic biocontrol agent used for the control of grasshoppers in agricultural systems as an alternative to chemical control.

Cannabinoid receptor gene polymorphisms and cognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia and controls.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that genetic variations of cannabinoid receptors contribute to the pathophysiology of cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Methods: In this genetic association case-control study, cannabinoid receptor polymorphisms CNR1 rs12720071 and CNR2 rs2229579 were tested for association with neurocognitive performance in 69 patients with schizophrenia and 45 healthy controls. Neurocognition was assessed by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS).

Portuguese validation of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire in routine practice.

This study aimed to validate and explore the psychometric properties of the credibility/expectancy questionnaire (CEQ) for the Portuguese population in the context of routine practice. The sample includes 87 clients from a university psychotherapy clinic. All clients completed self-report measures to assess credibility and expectation (CEQ), as well as measures of general mental health, depressive symptoms and therapeutic alliance in session 1 and session 2.

Childhood trauma is associated with onset of symptoms, functioning and cognition in patients with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Childhood trauma (CT) is known to be a vulnerability factor for schizophrenia, but the specific impacts of different trauma subtypes on the prognosis of these patients remains unclear.

Objective: To assess the relationships between the occurrence of overall CT and its subtypes with factors with known prognostic impact on schizophrenia, such as age at onset of symptoms, global functioning, and cognitive impairment in a sample of Brazilian patients.

Methods: One hundred and five stable patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-5 criteria were evaluated using the Independent Living Skills Survey (ILSS; self-report global functioning), Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS; subjective cognitive impairment), and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire scales (CTQ; perceived overall CT, emotional neglect, physical neglect, physical abuse, and emotional and sexual abuse).

Fluctuation in the assimilation of problematic experiences: A comparison of two contrasting cases of Emotion Focused Therapy.

The assimilation model suggests that therapeutic change occurs through a gradual assimilation of problematic experiences. Previous case studies have suggested that both good- and poor-outcome cases exhibit a fluctuating pattern of assimilation progress, characterized by advances and setbacks. Our study examined more closely how this fluctuating pattern is related to symptom change across therapy.

Investigating potential associations between neurocognition/social cognition and oxidative stress in schizophrenia.

Introduction: Deficits in neurocognition and social cognition play a critical role in the functional impairment of patients with schizophrenia. Increased oxidative stress has been evidenced in schizophrenia. Increased oxidative stress can affect neuronal function and lead to impairments in neurocognitive functions (especially working memory) and social cognition.

FGF21 and Chronic Kidney Disease.

The global nephrology community recognizes the increasing burden of kidney disease and its poor health outcomes in the general population. Given this, strategies to establish early diagnosis, improve understanding of the natural course and develop novel therapeutic interventions to slow progression and reduce complications are encouraged. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a member of the endocrine FGF subfamily, has emerged as a master homeostasis regulator of local and systemic lipid, glucose and energy metabolism.

Increased Glycated Hemoglobin Levels in Patients With Infection Are Associated With the Grading of Chronic Gastritis.

Background: Recent studies have found an association between infection and prediabetes. Whether or host factors are involved in the disturbance of glycated hemoglobin needs further investigation. The aim of this study was to determine the association of glycated hemoglobin levels with endoscopic diagnosis and the inflammatory response in infection.

Flexibility between immersion and distancing: A dynamic pattern with effect on depressive symptoms.

Recent studies on immersion (first-person perspective) and distancing (third-person perspective) in psychotherapy have shown the potential of both perspectives in the treatment of depression. High levels of change were associated with transitions between immersion and distancing, suggesting that a dynamic pattern between them may result in a more adaptive view of reality. This study aimed to assess if higher flexibility between these perspectives, during clientś reflection on negative experiences in the intermediate phase, is associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms at the end of treatment.

What is the effect of emotional processing on depression? A longitudinal study.

Emotional processing is an empirically established predictor of pre-post therapy improvement in depression. However, its relationship to symptom alleviation over time requires clarification. To clarify the contribution of emotional processing to gradual symptom improvement, we explored both (1) the effect of emotional processing on pre-post therapy changes in depressive symptoms (final outcome) and (2) its association with the intensity of clinical symptoms across sessions (session-by-session outcome).

The association of cognitive performance and IL-6 levels in schizophrenia is influenced by age and antipsychotic treatment.

Recent findings suggest that cognitive impairment can be associated with inflammation and immune changes in schizophrenia. We aimed to study possible associations between cytokine levels and cognitive performance in a sample of patients with schizophrenia. Cognition was assessed with the brief assessment of cognition in schizophrenia in 63 clinically stable outpatients with schizophrenia.

Characterization of neurological soft signs in a Brazilian sample of stable patients with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Neurological soft signs (NSS) have been considered one of the target features and a potential endophenotype for schizophrenia. The present study aimed to characterize NSS in a sample of patients with chronic schizophrenia and to compare them with healthy control individuals.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the presence of NSS in a sample of stable patients (n = 24) diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV criteria, recruited at the Schizophrenia Outpatient Clinic of Instituto Raul Soares, Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil.