Feral Donkey Distribution and Ecological Impacts in a Hyper-Arid Region.

The feral donkey ( L.) is an invasive species in Saudi Arabia and can cause severe damage to natural and cultural heritage. Over the last 30 years, feral donkeys have become a serious problem, as their abundance and geographic distribution has increased drastically.

Opportunities and challenges for 2D heterostructures in battery applications: a computational perspective.

With an increasing demand for large-scale energy storage systems, there is a need for novel electrode materials to store energy in batteries efficiently. 2D materials are promising as electrode materials for battery applications. Despite their excellent properties, none of the available single-phase 2D materials offers a combination of properties required for maximizing energy density, power density, and cycle life.

Pharmacology of novel small-molecule tubulin inhibitors in glioblastoma cells with enhanced EGFR signalling.

We recently reported that CMPD1, originally developed as an inhibitor of MK2 activation, primarily inhibits tubulin polymerisation and induces apoptosis in glioblastoma cells. In the present study we provide detailed pharmacological investigation of CMPD1 analogues with improved molecular properties. We determined their anti-cancer efficacy in glioblastoma cells with enhanced EGFR signalling, as deregulated EGFR often leads to chemoresistance.

Child maltreatment and adult psychopathology in an Irish context.

One-hundred-ninety-nine adult mental health service users were interviewed with a protocol that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Axis I and II DSM-IV disorders, the Global Assessment of Functioning scale, the SCORE family assessment measure, the Camberwell Assessment of Need Short Appraisal Schedule, and the Readiness for Psychotherapy Index. Compared to a U.S.

The association of cold weather and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the island of Ireland between 1984 and 2007.

Background: This study aimed to assess the relationship between cold temperature and daily mortality in the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI), and to explore any differences in the population responses between the two jurisdictions.

Methods: A time-stratified case-crossover approach was used to examine this relationship in two adult national populations, between 1984 and 2007. Daily mortality risk was examined in association with exposure to daily maximum temperatures on the same day and up to 6 weeks preceding death, during the winter (December-February) and an extended cold period (October-March), using distributed lag models.

Prospective relationship of duration of untreated psychosis to psychopathology and functional outcome over 12 years.

Background: The duration of untreated psychosis is well recognised as an independent predictor of symptomatic and functional outcome in the short term and has facilitated the development of worldwide early intervention programmes. However, the extent and mechanisms by which it might influence prognosis beyond a decade remain poorly understood.

Methods: The authors examined the relationship between duration of untreated psychosis and outcome 12years after a first episode of psychosis and assessed whether its relationship with function is affected by symptoms in a prospective, 12-year follow-up of an epidemiologically-based inception cohort.

Prevalence and clinical correlates of depression in the acute phase of first episode schizophrenia.

Background: Reported rates of depression in schizophrenia vary considerably.

Objective: To measure the prevalence of depression in a first episode sample of people with schizophrenia.

Methods: All referrals with a first episode of schizophrenia diagnosed using SCID interviews were assessed pre-discharge and again six months later.

Nonadherence to medication four years after a first episode of psychosis and associated risk factors.

Objectives: This study examined concurrent associations and predictors at first indication of nonadherence to antipsychotic medication four years after a first episode of psychosis.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 171 patients in urban Ireland with a first episode of psychosis was followed up four years after inception (follow-up primary analysis, N=84; secondary analysis, N=104).

Results: At the four-year follow-up 76% were adherent and 24% were not.

Schizophrenia and the city: A review of literature and prospective study of psychosis and urbanicity in Ireland.

Urbanicity has been repeatedly associated with increased incidence of schizophrenia. This article (a) presents results of a prospective study of urbanicity and schizophrenia in Ireland and (b) reviews the literature relating to urbanicity and schizophrenia. We prospectively compared incidence of schizophrenia and other psychoses in urban and rural catchment areas (over 4years and 7years, respectively) using face-to-face, DSM-III-R diagnostic interviews.

Lifetime history of substance misuse in first-episode psychosis: prevalence and its influence on psychopathology and onset of psychotic symptoms.

Introduction: Substance misuse (SM) (drug/alcohol dependence or abuse) in psychotic illness is an increasingly recognized problem. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and examine the influence of SM on age at onset of psychosis and psychopathology among patients with first-episode psychosis.

Method: One hundred seventy-one consecutive patients with first-episode psychosis were assessed.

Employment status amongst those with psychosis at first presentation.

Introduction: Employment is generally beneficial to health and quality of life. Despite many advances in the treatment of psychosis there are continuing reports of high levels of unemployment. In most studies of first episode psychosis (FEP) only rudimentary rates of employment are provided.

Beyond the critical period: longitudinal study of 8-year outcome in first-episode non-affective psychosis.

Background: The critical period hypothesis proposes that deterioration occurs aggressively during the early years of psychosis, with relative stability subsequently. Thus, interventions that shorten the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) and arrest early deterioration may have long-term benefits.

Aims: To test the critical period hypothesis by determining whether outcome in non-affective psychosis stabilises beyond the critical period and whether DUP correlates with 8-year outcome; to determine whether duration of untreated illness (DUI) has any independent effect on outcome.

Phylogeography of Tibetan snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus) in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Data from eight microsatellite loci were used to infer the evolutionary and past demographic processes in 97 Tibetan snowcocks sampled from eight different geographical locations on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Analysis of the microsatellite DNA markers indicated that Tibetan snowcock on the plateau were geographically structured, and that phylogenetic analyses identified three phylogroups, namely those from Xunhua, the Qilian Mountains and all others. The use of Bayesian Clustering and Population Assignment analyses of the microsatellite genotypes revealed clear differentiation among the eight sampled groups of Tibetan snowcock, indicating strong isolation of these sub-populations.

Ireland's long-stay charge refunds: mental capacity and dilemmas in a psychiatric institution.

Objective: All patients who resided in state provided long-stay care in Ireland were required to pay the state for that care until 2006. In 2001 the Irish Ombudsman and Information Commissioner had highlighted the issue of the entitlement of people with medical cards to provision of free long-stay care. The Health Repayment scheme was subsequently set up in 2006 to facilitate the repayment of long-stay charges wrongly paid by patients.

Is the duration of untreated psychosis temporally stable?

Although there is some evidence that duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is geographically stable, few have examined whether the phenomenon is temporally stable. We examined DUP in two cohorts within two discrete time periods (1995-1999 and 2003-2005) spanning a decade in the same geographically defined community psychiatric service with no early intervention programme. Patients were diagnosed by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID) and we determined the DUP using the Beiser Scale.

Is violence at presentation by patients with first-episode psychosis associated with duration of untreated psychosis?

Introduction: Violence in first episode psychosis poses significant challenges for mental health staff and patients' families. Violence has been shown to be related to psychopathology. Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has been shown to influence psychopathology at presentation in first-episode psychosis, but little is known about the direct relationship between violence at presentation and DUP.

Determinants of duration of untreated psychosis in an Irish catchment area sample.

Objective: To examine the variables that influence of duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) prior to presentation in persons with a first episode of psychosis.

Method: Prospective examination of consecutive first presentations with DSM-IV psychosis attending a community based psychiatric service.

Results: One hundred and seventy-one patients had an average duration of untreated psychosis of 18 months and a median of five months.

Untreated illness and outcome of psychosis.

Background: There has been controversy as to whether early intervention in psychosis can improve the outcome of the disorder.

Aims: To establish if there is an association between duration of untreated psychosis and the 4-year outcome of persons with a first episode of psychosis.

Method: Prospective naturalistic follow-up study of the outcome of consecutive first presentations with DSM-IV psychosis attending a community-based psychiatric service.

The assessment of need in patients presenting to psychiatrists in the general hospital.

Objective: The evaluation of psychosocial need is an important part of the assessment of any patient who presents to a psychiatrist. The Camberwell Assessment of Need (CAN) instrument was developed for the systematic assessment of need in people with severe and enduring mental illness. Variations of the CAN have been developed for forensic, elderly and learning disability populations.

Diagnostic specificity and predictors of neurological soft signs in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other psychoses over the first 4 years of illness.

Background: Neurological soft signs (NSS) are well described among patients with schizophrenia, the neurology of other psychoses is relatively unexplored and few comparative studies have prospectively examined these signs in first-episode patients.

Methods: We assessed neurological functioning in 242 patients presenting with a first episode of psychosis (in accordance with DSM-IV diagnosis) using the Condensed Neurological Examination (CNE). We sought to determine whether NSS were specific to patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other forms of psychosis.

Diagnostic stability four years after a first episode of psychosis.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the stability of a diagnosis of psychosis four years after the first-episode diagnosis.

Methods: The study was a prospective four-year follow-up study (1995 to 1999) of 147 patients with schizophrenia, affective disorder, and other psychoses who presented with a first episode of psychosis in an epidemiologic catchment area in Ireland. All diagnoses were made on the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.

Systematic comparison of subjective and objective measures of quality of life at 4-year follow-up subsequent to a first episode of psychosis.

There is enduring debate about the validity of subjective measures of quality of life derived from people with psychiatric disorders and particularly from those with psychosis. We evaluated patients with established psychosis 4 years after their first episode. We compared subjective and objective measures of quality of life and evaluated the influence of insight on the individual's interpretation of their quality of life.

Incidence and clinical correlates of aggression and violence at presentation in patients with first episode psychosis.

This study aimed to identify the incidence and clinical correlates of aggression and violence in first episode psychosis. We prospectively recruited subjects with a first episode of DSM-psychosis presenting from a geographically defined catchment area to a secondary referral psychiatric service over a four-year period (n = 157). We used the Modified Overt Aggression Scale to retrospectively assess aggression (a hostile or destructive mental attitude, including verbal aggression, physical aggression and/or violence) and violence (the exercise of physical force), blind to diagnosis.