Applied pharmacogenetics to predict response to treatment of first psychotic episode: study protocol.

The application of personalized medicine in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) requires tools for classifying patients according to their response to treatment, considering both treatment efficacy and toxicity. However, several limitations have hindered its translation into clinical practice. Here, we describe the rationale, aims and methodology of (the FarmaPRED-PEP project), which aims to develop and validate predictive algorithms to classify FEP patients according to their response to antipsychotics, thereby allowing the most appropriate treatment strategy to be selected.

Fish and tips: Historical and projected changes in commercial fish species' habitat suitability in the Southern Hemisphere.

Global warming has significantly altered fish distribution patterns in the ocean, shifting towards higher latitudes and deeper waters. This is particularly relevant in high-latitude marine ecosystems, where climate-driven environmental changes are occurring at higher rates than the global average. Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are increasingly being used for predicting distributional shifts in habitat suitability for marine species as a response to climate change.

Assessing mercury contamination in Southern Hemisphere marine ecosystems: The role of penguins as effective bioindicators.

Mercury (Hg) is a global pollutant known for its significant bioaccumulation and biomagnification capabilities, posing a particular threat to marine environments. Seabirds have been recognized as effective bioindicators of marine pollution, and, among them, penguins present a unique opportunity to serve as a single taxonomic group (Sphenisciformes) for monitoring Hg across distinct marine ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review of Hg concentrations, and performed a meta-analysis that took into account the various sources of uncertainty associated with Hg contamination in penguins.

Retrospective analysis of the pelagic ecosystem of the Western Mediterranean Sea: Drivers, changes and effects.

In the Western Mediterranean Sea, forage fishes have changed in abundance, body condition, growth, reproduction, and distribution in the last decades. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain these changes, including increase in fishing mortality; changes in environmental conditions affecting species fitness, and planktonic productivity and quality; recovery of top predators; and increase in competitors. We investigated the main drivers and changes of the pelagic ecosystem and their effects using an ecosystem-based modelling approach.

Accuracy of estimating self and other body size among adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa.

This study aimed to analyze body size estimates of others by patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and to identify any differences with the perception of their own body size. Adolescent females (age, 13-17 years) were enrolled into AN ( = 30) and control( = 23) groups. The Subjective Body Dimensions Apparatus (SBDA) was used to evaluate body size estimates for oneself (self-estimation) and others (other-estimation).

Peptide-Grafted Nontoxic Cyclodextrins and Nanoparticles against Bacteriophage Infections.

One of the biggest threats for bacteria-based bioreactors in the biotechnology industry is infections caused by bacterial viruses called bacteriophages. More than 70% of companies admitted to encountering this problem. Despite phage infections being such a dangerous and widespread risk, to date, there are no effective methods to avoid them.

Personality disorder traits, obsessive ideation and perfectionism 20 years after adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa: a recovered study.

Purpose: The many studies examining the relationship between anorexia nervosa (AN) and personality abnormalities have observed high comorbidity. However, no definitive studies to date have established whether there is a causal connection or whether it is a complication. The current study aimed to explore the nature of the relationship between personality disorder (PD) traits, obsessionality and perfectionism, using a study design that allows the testing of some comorbidity models.

Formation of a stable biradical triplet state cation versus a closed shell singlet state cation by oxidation of adducts of 3,6-dimethoxycarbazole and polychlorotriphenylmethyl radicals.

We report an experimental and theoretical study of two stable radical adducts of the triphenylmethyl series, 1 and 2, whose composition and molecular structure are distinguished by the content and position of chlorine atoms in phenyls. The electrochemical study through cyclic voltammetry of these open layer species shows the existence of two reversible processes, related to reduction and oxidation, to stable charged species. The chemical oxidation of both radical adducts gives rise to stable cations, whose fundamental state has a biradical triplet electronic structure or a closed shell singlet character, depending on the electronic conjugation between the donor and acceptor electron moieties.

Long-term outcome and psychiatric comorbidity of adolescent-onset anorexia nervosa.

Objective: To assess the outcome of adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) about 20 years after first treatment.

Methods: Sixty-two women diagnosed with AN during adolescence were invited to participate. Of these 62 patients, 38 agreed to participate and were assessed with a battery of questionnaires and interviews.

An in vivo confocal microscopy study of corneal changes in pseudoexfoliation syndrome.

Purpose: To evaluate, through the in vivo confocal microscopy, the pathological changes of each corneal layer in eyes affected by pseudoexfoliation syndrome.

Methods: We studied 40 eyes of 40 patients with diagnosis of unilateral senile cataract associated with pseudoexfoliation syndrome and 40 eyes of 40 control subjects with senile cataract without pseudoexfoliation syndrome. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including best corrected visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, corneal sensitivity measurement using a Cochet-Bonnet nylon thread esthesiometer, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (Visante OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Germany); in vivo confocal microscopy of corneal sections (endothelium, stroma, sub-basal nerve plexus, and superficial and basal epithelium) was performed with the ConfoScan 4.

Environmental Reservoirs of Nosocomial Infection: Imputation Methods for Linking Clinical and Environmental Microbiological Data to Understand Infection Transmission.

The transmission of hospital-acquired Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a serious and growing concern in hospitals worldwide. Previous research of CRE found that traditional patient-to-patient transmission of the bacteria does not fully account for all cases of transmission. Recent efforts to further understand modes of transmission found identical genomes of CRE in patient sinks as was found in cultures collected from patients, indicating that environmental reservoirs could be playing a larger role in transmission than was first realized.

Stable All-Organic Radicals with Ambipolar Charge Transport.

A series of neutral long-lived purely organic radicals based on the stable [4-(N-carbazolyl)-2,6-dichlorophenyl]bis(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl radical adduct (Cbz-TTM) is reported herein. All compounds exhibit ambipolar charge-transport properties under ambient conditions owing to their radical character. High electron and hole mobilities up to 10 and 10  cm  V  s , respectively, were achieved.

The Effect of Convolvulus arvensis Dried Extract as a Potential Antioxidant in Food Models.

In this study, the antioxidant activity of the Convolvulus arvensis Linn (CA) ethanol extract has been evaluated by different ways. The antioxidant activity of the extract assessed by 2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical cation, the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was 1.62 mmol Trolox equivalents (TE)/g DW, 1.

Copper(ii) complexes of macrocyclic and open-chain pseudopeptidic ligands: synthesis, characterization and interaction with dicarboxylates.

Mono- and dinuclear Cu(ii) complexes were prepared with pseudopeptidic open chain and macrocyclic ligands, respectively. They were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, EPR, HRMS and X-ray diffraction. The Cu(ii) cation is coordinated by two amines and two deprotonated amides, in a slightly distorted square planar coordination geometry.

FAmily-Led RehabiliTaTion aftEr Stroke in INDia: the ATTEND pilot study.

Background: The aim of this pilot study was to determine the feasibility of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial in India of a family-led, trained caregiver-delivered, home-based rehabilitation intervention vs. routine care.

Methods: A prospective, randomized (within seven-days of hospital admission), blinded outcome assessor, controlled trial of structured home-based rehabilitation delivered by trained and protocol-guided family caregivers (intervention) vs.

Radical scavenging of white tea and its flavonoid constituents by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.

White tea (WT) presents high levels of catechins, which are known to reduce oxidative stress. WT is the least processed tea, unfermented and prepared only from very young tea leaves. The subject of this paper is the use of the spin trap method and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy as the analytical tool to measure, for the first time, the radical scavenging activity of WT and its major catechin components, epicatechin (EC), epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC), and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), against the methoxy radical, using ferulic acid as antioxidant pattern.

[Screening and brief intervention in primary care: barriers against an early intervention for patients with alcohol misuse].

Study Goal: The effectiveness of screening and brief intervention (SBI) to reduce alcohol consumption has been shown by several studies in primary care. In spite of many attempts to establish SBI in routine care only a few patients are treated accordingly. Therefore in the study the General Practitioners' (GPs) assessment of barriers was investigated and tested for social desirability bias in order to determine barriers which are underestimated by GPs.

Charge transfer states in stable neutral and oxidized radical adducts from carbazole derivatives.

In this paper we report the spectral properties of the stable radical adducts 1(•)-3(•), which are formed by an electron donor moiety, the carbazole ring, and an electron acceptor moiety, the polychlorotriphenylmethyl radical. The molecular structure of radical adduct 1(•) in the crystalline state shows a torsion angle of approximately 90° between the phenyl and the carbazole rings due to steric interactions. They exhibit a charge transfer band in the visible range of the electronic spectrum.

Selective control of the radical-scavenging activity of poly(phenols) in aqueous media in terms of their electron-donor properties, using a stable organic radical as chemical sensor.

The tri-potassium salt of tris(2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-4-hydroxysulphonylphenyl)methyl radical, 3K(+) TSPTM(3-), is a good chemical sensor of the radical-scavenging activity of poly(phenols) in aqueous media. Its water solubility and its stability at all pH values facilitates the study of the influence of the pH of the medium on the activity of poly(phenols). The radical-scavenging activity of three flavonoids of the catechol and pyrogallol type and the activity of catechol, pyrogallol and methyl gallate at pH values 7 and 8 which are close to physiological pH value (7.

How many referrals to a pediatric orthopaedic hospital specialty clinic are primary care problems?

Purpose: Many primary care physicians believe that there are too few pediatric orthopaedic specialists available to meet their patients' needs. However, a recent survey by the Practice Management Committee of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America found that new referrals were often for cases that could have been managed by primary care practitioners. We wished to determine how many new referral cases seen by pediatric orthopaedic surgeons are in fact conditions that can be readily managed by a primary care physician should he/she chose to do so.

Punicalagin and catechins contain polyphenolic substructures that influence cell viability and can be monitored by radical chemosensors sensitive to electron transfer.

Plant polyphenols may be free radical scavengers or generators, depending on their nature and concentration. This dual effect, mediated by electron transfer reactions, may contribute to their influence on cell viability. This study used two stable radicals (tris(2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-4-nitrophenyl)methyl (TNPTM) and tris(2,4,6-trichloro-3,5-dinitrophenyl)methyl (HNTTM)) sensitive only to electron transfer reduction reactions to monitor the redox properties of polyphenols (punicalagin and catechins) that contain phenolic hydroxyls with different reducing capacities.

Preparation and characterization of persistent maltose-conjugated triphenylmethyl radicals.

The condensation reaction of D-maltose to free radicals of the series of tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM) and tris(perchlorophenyl)methyl (PTM) has been described for the first time. The new persistent radicals 1 and 2 are very stable and have been characterized by EPR. Their cyclic voltammograms show a quasi-reversible process in the cathode, being reduced to the corresponding anions, with redox potentials a little lower than those of TTM and PTM, respectively.

An EPR analysis of β-dimerization in α-blocked pyrroles in oxidant conditions.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis of neutral and acidic solutions of 2,5-dimethyl-1-phenylpyrrol (1) and meta-, para-, and ortho-bis(2,5-dimethylpyrrol-1-yl)benzenes (4-6) in the presence of Tl(III) trifluoroacetate as oxidant reveals the poor stability of their generated monomeric radical cations which dimerize through C(β)-C(β) bond formation. EPR spectra of the monomeric radical cations 4(•+) , 5(•+) , and 6(•+) coincide with that of 1(•+) , suggesting that the unpaired electron in these charged species is confined in one of the pyrrolic rings. The very twisted angles between pyrrolic and phenyl planes due to steric hindrance in the X-ray analysis of the molecular structure of 4 confirm the absence of extended conjugation in the π-system.

Stable radical cores: a key for bipolar charge transport in glass forming carbazole and indole derivatives.

Stable radical adducts of the TTM series bearing carbazolyl or indolyl fragments show bipolar transport properties with mobility values among the highest detected in glassy small molecules. Bipolarity is attributed to the radical character, while the heterocyclic ring confers the adducts the glassy morphological states and the non-dispersive regimes for charge transport.

Differential behavior of amino-imino constitutional isomers in nonlinear optical processes.

A detailed study of the "blocked" amino-imino tautomers derived from N-acridine-substituted 2-aminobenzothiazole--and their effect on the nonlinear optical response--is presented. The synthesis, characterization, and nonlinear optical properties of these frozen tautomers, namely, N-methyl-N-(2-nitroacridin-6-yl)-2-aminobenzothia-zole and 3-methyl-N-(7-nitroacridin-3-yl)-2-iminobenzothiazole, are reported. A theoretical model based on valence-bond theory is also proposed and used to analyze the effects of the nuclear configuration corresponding to each frozen tautomer structure.