Mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy for problematic alcohol use and disorders: an updated rapid review.

We updated systematic reviews for mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy for problematic alcohol use and disorders. We found growing evidence mindfulness was associated with reduced alcohol consumption and/or other therapeutic effects and was superior to other treatments under certain conditions. Mindfulness may be valuable for treating comorbidity and offer an alternative to traditional psychosocial interventions.

Parent Versus Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth Anxiety: Protocol for an Overview of Systematic Reviews Over Time.

Background: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has shown to be highly effective for treating youth anxiety; yet, there is ongoing debate as to whether involving parents improves outcomes. For example, parents who attend may learn CBT skills to help their child in an ongoing way; yet, they could also distract their child from treatment depending on how they interact. As evidence has accumulated, reviews and meta-analyses have attempted to examine the most effective treatment format.

Using a mobile health device to monitor physiological stress for serious mental illness: A qualitative analysis of patient and clinician-related acceptability.

Objective: There is growing interest in using mobile health (mHealth) devices to monitor physiological stress associated with mental deterioration. Research is currently examining whether physiological information returned to individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and their clinicians enhances early intervention. The aim of this study was to explore patient and clinician-related acceptability of an mHealth device to monitor stress for SMI.

Prevalence, risk correlates, and health comorbidities of insomnia in US military veterans: results from the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study.

Study Objectives: Veterans experience high levels of trauma, psychiatric, and medical conditions that may increase their risk for insomnia. To date, however, no known study has examined the prevalence, risk correlates, and comorbidities of insomnia in a nationally representative sample of veterans.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of 4,069 US military veterans completed a survey assessing insomnia severity; military, trauma, medical, and psychiatric histories; and health and psychosocial functioning.

Integrating a Mobile Health Device Into a Community Youth Mental Health Team to Manage Severe Mental Illness: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Symptoms of mental illness are often triggered by stress, and individuals with mental illness are sensitive to these effects. The development of mobile health (mHealth) devices allows continuous recording of biometrics associated with activity, sleep, and arousal. Deviations in these measures could indicate a stressed state requiring early intervention.

Aminothiazolones as potent, selective and cell active inhibitors of the PIM kinase family.

We have previously reported the discovery of a series of rhodanine-based inhibitors of the PIM family of serine/threonine kinases. Here we described the optimisation of those compounds to improve their physicochemical and ADME properties as well as reducing their off-targets activities against other kinases. Through molecular modeling and systematic structure activity relationship (SAR) studies, advanced molecules with high inhibitory potency, reduced off-target activity and minimal efflux were identified as new pan-PIM inhibitors.

Using a mobile health device to manage severe mental illness in the community: What is the potential and what are the challenges?

There has been a revolution in the use of mobile health devices for monitoring physical health. There is more recent interest in whether these devices can also be used for monitoring symptoms of mental illness. This paper considers how stress increases risk of mental deterioration and individuals with mental illness are sensitive to the effects of stress.

Cue Exposure Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorders: What Can Be Learned from Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders?

: Cue Exposure Therapy (CET) has shown efficacy for treating alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Exposure therapy is highly effective for treating anxiety. Both techniques involve repeated, controlled exposures to alcohol or fear-related stimuli.

Systematic Reviews of Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Alcohol Use Disorder: Should we be using Third Wave Therapies?

Aims: Third wave therapies have shown efficacy for treating emotional disorders and potential for treating substance use disorders. There is developing interest in whether they can more specifically be used for treating alcohol use disorders (AUDs). We were interested in whether third wave therapies have value alongside current evidence-based psychosocial treatments for AUDs.

Facial emotion recognition during pregnancy: Examining the effects of facial age and affect.

It is vital that new mothers quickly and accurately recognize their child's facial expressions. There is evidence that during pregnancy women develop enhanced processing of facial features associated with infancy and distress, as these cues signal vulnerability and are therefore biologically salient. In this study, 51 pregnant women at 17-36 weeks gestation watched neutral infant and adult faces gradually morph into either happy or sad expressions.

Latent typologies of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms in U.S. military veterans.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heterogeneous condition that can be characterized by unique typologies of symptoms. To date, no study has examined predominant PTSD typologies using DSM-5 criteria. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to identify typologies of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms in 158 U.

Executive Functioning Predicts Reflective Functioning in Mothers.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) describes a parent's capacity for considering both their own their child's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which can help parents to guide interactions with children. Given the cognitive demands of keeping infants in mind whilst caregiving, we examined the association between aspects of executive function (i.e.

Translating Evidence-Based Practice for Managing Comorbid Substance Use and Mental Illness Using a Multimodal Training Package.

Objective: Comorbid mental health and substance use problems are highly prevalent in substance use treatment settings and generally lead to poorer treatment outcomes. Pathways to Comorbidity Care (PCC) is a multimodal training program developed to encourage an integrated service approach to improve clinicians capacity to identify and manage comorbid substance use and mental health outcomes within public drug and alcohol treatment settings.

Methods: In this paper we describe the concepts underlying the PCC package and the use of implementation science to assess and overcome potential barriers, including clinicians preferences, knowledge about best practice, and professional culture.

Maternal Acceptance Moderates Fear Ratings and Avoidance Behavior in Children.

Avoidance is a hallmark feature of anxiety disorders, and avoidance-related impairment is often key to meeting diagnostic criteria. In children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, levels of avoidance vary considerably. Using a novel motion-tracking measure of avoidance behavior, we examined whether maternal acceptance, characterized by warm and accepting responses to child feelings and behaviors, moderates the association between fear of spiders and behavioral avoidance of spider stimuli in 103 clinically anxious children.

Correlates of Nonimprovement to Pharmacotherapy for Chronic, Antidepressant-Resistant, Military Service-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Insights From the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study No. 504.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic and often difficult-to-treat condition that is prevalent among military veterans. First-line pharmacotherapy for this population typically involves antidepressants; however, veterans who do not improve are sometimes prescribed antipsychotics such as risperidone. A 2011 randomized controlled trial of adjunctive risperidone versus placebo for veterans with chronic, antidepressant-resistant, military service-related PTSD revealed no difference between groups.

Thiazolidine derivatives as potent and selective inhibitors of the PIM kinase family.

The PIM family of serine/threonine kinases have become an attractive target for anti-cancer drug development, particularly for certain hematological malignancies. Here, we describe the discovery of a series of inhibitors of the PIM kinase family using a high throughput screening strategy. Through a combination of molecular modeling and optimization studies, the intrinsic potencies and molecular properties of this series of compounds was significantly improved.

Anxiety and neural responses to infant and adult faces during pregnancy.

Women are vulnerable to anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum. However, little is known about antenatal anxiety and neural processing of infant-relevant information. In this experiment, the N170, P300, and LPP (late positive potential) event-related potentials were measured from 43 pregnant women as they viewed infant and adult faces, which were either neutral or distressed in expression.

Mode of Proximal Tubule Damage: Differential Cause for the Release of TFF3?

Proximal tubular epithelial cells are particularly sensitive to damage. In search of a biomarker, this study evaluated the potential of different cell activation models (hypoxia/replenishment and protein overload) to lead to a release of trefoil factor 3 (TFF3). Surprisingly, we found disparity in the ability of the different stimuli to enhance the intracellular abundance of TFF3 and its release: while conditions of nutrient starvation and damage associated with replenishment lead to intracellular abundance of TFF3 in the absence of TFF3 release, stimulation with an excess amount of albumin did not yield accumulation of TFF3.

D-cycloserine enhances generalization of fear extinction in children.

Background: For exposure therapy to be successful, it is essential that fear extinction learning extends beyond the treatment setting. D-cycloserine (DCS) may facilitate treatment gains by increasing generalization of extinction learning, however, its effects have not been tested in children. We examined whether DCS enhanced generalization of fear extinction learning across different stimuli and contexts among children with specific phobias.

Properdin levels in human sepsis.

Properdin is a normal serum protein that increases the production of complement activation products by binding C3b integral to convertase complexes and amplifying their activity at the site of activation. Thereby, it not only can aid in the resolution of infection but also contribute to tissue damage. In human sepsis, circulating complement C3 concentrations are decreased, though C3 is described as a positive acute phase reactant.

Geodesic Monte Carlo on Embedded Manifolds.

Markov chain Monte Carlo methods explicitly defined on the manifold of probability distributions have recently been established. These methods are constructed from diffusions across the manifold and the solution of the equations describing geodesic flows in the Hamilton-Jacobi representation. This paper takes the differential geometric basis of Markov chain Monte Carlo further by considering methods to simulate from probability distributions that themselves are defined on a manifold, with common examples being classes of distributions describing directional statistics.

Septicaemia models using Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes: understanding the role of complement properdin.

Streptococcus pneumoniae and Listeria monocytogenes, pathogens which can cause severe infectious disease in human, were used to infect properdin-deficient and wildtype mice. The aim was to deduce a role for properdin, positive regulator of the alternative pathway of complement activation, by comparing and contrasting the immune response of the two genotypes in vivo. We show that properdin-deficient and wildtype mice mounted antipneumococcal serotype-specific IgM antibodies, which were protective.