Towards Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management in Intensive Pear Cultivation: A Case Study from Belgium.

Recently, the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) was further extended into Integrated Pest and Pollinator Management (IPPM). Implementation of IPPM strategies entails the combination of actions for pest and pollinator management providing complementary or synergistic benefits for yield and/or quality of the harvest. The aim of this study was to examine IPPM elements (i.

Test-retest reliability and clinical correlates of the Eurofit test battery in people with alcohol use disorders.

People with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are at an increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Physical fitness is a predictor of CVD and premature mortality. Currently, no existing measures of physical fitness used in the general population have been tested for validity and reliability in this vulnerable population.

Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder: a comparison of two targets and long-term follow-up.

We previously found that electrical stimulation in the anterior limb of the internal capsule/bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (IC/BST) alleviates depressive symptoms in severe treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Here we tested the hypothesis that electrical stimulation in either IC/BST or in the inferior thalamic peduncle (ITP) effectively reduces depressive symptoms in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (TRD). In a double-blind crossover design, the effects of electrical stimulation at both targets were compared in TRD patients.

Thyroid hormones and learning-associated neuroplasticity.

Thyroid hormones (THs) are crucial for brain development and maturation in all vertebrates. Especially during pre- and perinatal development, disruption of TH signaling leads to a multitude of neurological deficits. Many animal models provided insight in the role of THs in brain development, but specific data on how they affect the brain's ability to learn and adapt depending on environmental stimuli are rather limited.

Rechargeable Stimulators in Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Prospective Interventional Cohort Study.

Background: From 1999 onwards, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been proposed as an alternative to capsulotomy in refractory cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although rechargeable implantable pulse generators (rIPGs) have been used extensively in DBS for movement disorders, there are no reports on rIPGs in patients with a psychiatric DBS indication, and even possible objections to their use.

Objective: We aim to evaluate rIPGs in OCD in terms of effectiveness, applicability, safety, and need for IPG replacement.

A dynamic, sex-specific expression pattern of genes regulating thyroid hormone action in the developing zebra finch song control system.

The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song control system consists of several series of interconnected brain nuclei that undergo marked changes during ontogeny and sexual development, making it an excellent model to study developmental neuroplasticity. Despite the demonstrated influence of hormones such as sex steroids on this phenomenon, thyroid hormones (THs) - an important factor in neural development and maturation - have not been studied in this regard. We used in situ hybridization to compare the expression of TH transporters, deiodinases and receptors between both sexes during all phases of song development in male zebra finch.

Long-term electrical stimulation of bed nucleus of stria terminalis for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

We previously reported that bilateral electrical stimulation in the anterior limb of the internal capsule/bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (IC/BST) effectively reduces symptoms in severe treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Here we used a linear mixed model to investigate the evolution of symptomatic and functional status of our patients (n=24) and examined if baseline variables could predict this evolution. Data were collected during routine, clinical psychiatric visits.

Electrical stimulation in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis alleviates severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

In 1998, we proposed deep brain stimulation as a last-resort treatment option for patients suffering from severe, treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, 24 OCD patients were included in a long-term follow-up study to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation in the anterior limbs of the internal capsule (ALIC) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). We find that electrical stimulation in the ALIC/BST area is safe and significantly decreases obsessions, compulsions, and associated anxiety and depressive symptoms, and improves global functioning in a blinded crossover trial (n=17), after 4 years (n=18), and at last follow-up (up to 171 months, n=24).