Biogeographical Modeling of Alien Worlds.

In this article, we partially quantify the biological potential of an exoplanet. We employ a variety of biogeographical analyses, placing biological evolution in the context of the geological evolution of the planet as a whole. Terrestrial (as in Earthly) biodiversity is tightly constrained in terms of species richness by its environment.

A Systematic Review of Interventions that Promote Frequent HIV Testing.

As of 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HIV testing guidelines recommend that those at increased risk for HIV are tested two to four times per year. Evidence-based interventions that promote frequent and repeated testing remain sparse. We conducted a systematic review to: (1) identify frequent testing interventions; and (2) determine which were successful in increasing frequent testing rates.

Telomere length and early trauma in schizophrenia.

Background: Childhood trauma is emerging as a risk factor for schizophrenia, but its mechanism with respect to etiology is unknown. One possible pathway is through leucocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening, a measure of cellular aging associated with trauma. This study examined early trauma and LTL shortening in schizophrenia and considered sex effects.

Differences in Seizure Expression Between Magnetic Seizure Therapy and Electroconvulsive Shock.

Objective: Evidence suggests that magnetic seizure therapy (MST) results in fewer side effects than electroconvulsive treatment, both in humans treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as well as in the animal preclinical model that uses electroconvulsive shock (ECS). Evidence suggests that MST results in fewer cognitive side effects than ECT. Although MST offers enhanced control over seizure induction and spread, little is known about how MST and ECT seizures differ.

Developmental trajectory of mismatch negativity and visual event-related potentials in healthy controls: Implications for neurodevelopmental vs. neurodegenerative models of schizophrenia.

Sensory processing deficits are core features of schizophrenia, reflected in impaired generation of event-related potential (ERP) measures such as auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) and visual P1. To understand the potential time course of development of deficits in schizophrenia, we obtained MMN to unattended duration, intensity and frequency deviants, and visual P1 to attended LSF stimuli, in 43 healthy individuals ages 6 to 25years (mean 17), and compared results to data from 30 adult schizophrenia patients (mean age 38). We analyzed "time-domain" measures of amplitude and latency, and event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP, "time-frequency") to evaluate underlying neurophysiological mechanisms.

Comparing three methods of computerised cognitive training for older adults with subclinical cognitive decline.

Cognitive rehabilitation for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer's disease is readily available to the geriatric population. Initial evidence suggests that techniques incorporating motivational strategies to enhance treatment engagement may provide more benefit than computerised training alone. Seventy four adults with subclinical cognitive decline were randomly assigned to computerised cognitive training (CCT), Cognitive Vitality Training (CVT), or an Active Control Group (ACG), and underwent neuropsychological evaluations at baseline and four-month follow-up.

Stigma related to labels and symptoms in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis.

Background: Despite advances that the psychosis "clinical high-risk" (CHR) identification offers, risk of stigma exists. Awareness of and agreement with stereotypes has not yet been evaluated in CHR individuals. Furthermore, the relative stigma associated with symptoms, as opposed to the label of risk, is not known, which is critical because CHR identification may reduce symptom-related stigma.

Therapeutic Alliance With Depressed Adolescents: Predictor or Outcome? Disentangling Temporal Confounds to Understand Early Improvement.

Psychotherapy research reveals consistent associations between therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes in the youth literature; however, past research frequently suffered measurement issues that obscured temporal relationships between alliance and symptomatology by measuring variables later in therapy, thereby precluding examination of important early changes. The current study aimed to explore the directions of effect between alliance and outcome early in therapy with adolescents by examining associations between first- and fourth-session therapeutic alliance and symptomatology. Thirty-four adolescents (∼63% female, 38% ethnic/racial minority) participated in a school-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescents with depression.

Pathways Associating Childhood Trauma to the Neurobiology of Schizophrenia.

While researchers have for decades considered the role of social factors, endocrinology, neural function, hippocampal integrity, and cognition in the development of schizophrenia, there has been a relative paucity of studies considering the participation of the stress cascade in the interplay of these elements. As described in this review, stressful exposures and stress sensitivity may plausibly be argued to play a role in the etiology, neurobiology, and course of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Notably, research conducted over the last decade has made it increasingly clear that childhood traumatic experiences represent a prominent risk factor for the development of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.

Symptom trajectories and psychosis onset in a clinical high-risk cohort: the relevance of subthreshold thought disorder.

Background: Prior studies have implicated baseline positive and negative symptoms as predictors of psychosis onset among individuals at clinical high risk (CHR), but none have evaluated latent trajectories of symptoms over time. This study evaluated the dynamic evolution of symptoms leading to psychosis onset in a CHR cohort.

Method: 100 CHR participants were assessed quarterly for up to 2.

Smell identification in individuals at clinical high risk for schizophrenia.

Smell identification deficits exist in schizophrenia, and may be associated with its negative symptoms. Less is known about smell identification and its clinical correlates in individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. We examined smell identification, symptoms and IQ in 71 clinical high-risk (CHR) subjects and 36 healthy controls.

A case report of cognitive behavioural therapy for social anxiety in an ultra-high risk patient.

Aim: Psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may have efficacy in young people at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Case reports can illuminate the obstacles and challenges, and potential trajectory of symptom changes, observed with this treatment.

Methods: This is a detailed case report of a young adult at UHR for psychosis who received manualized CBT for accompanying social anxiety.

Consciousness, crosstalk, and the mereological fallacy: an evolutionary perspective.

The cross-sectional decontextualization afflicting contemporary neuroscience - attributing to 'the brain' what is the province of the whole organism - is mirrored by an evolutionary decontextualization exceptionalizing consciousness. The living state is characterized by cognitive processes at all scales and levels of organization. Many can be associated with dual information sources that 'speak' a 'language' of behavior-in-context.

HPA axis function and symptoms in adolescents at clinical high risk for schizophrenia.

Background: Stress sensitivity and HPA axis activity may be relevant to the development and expression of psychotic disorders. Cortisol secretion has been associated with positive symptoms both in patients with psychotic disorders and in young people at clinical risk for psychosis. Herein, we aimed to replicate these findings, to determine which positive symptoms may be associated with cortisol levels, and to explore any associations with affective symptoms and impaired stress tolerance.

The relationship of social function to depressive and negative symptoms in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Background: Social dysfunction is a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia which commonly precedes the onset of psychosis. It is unclear if social symptoms in clinical high-risk patients reflect depressive symptoms or are a manifestation of negative symptoms.

Method: We compared social function scores on the Social Adjustment Scale-Self Report between 56 young people (aged 13-27 years) at clinical high risk for psychosis and 22 healthy controls.

The psychosis risk syndrome and its proposed inclusion in the DSM-V: a risk-benefit analysis.

The inclusion of a psychosis risk syndrome has been proposed for the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The appropriateness of inclusion of this new risk syndrome in the DSM depends on a careful analysis of both anticipated benefits and risks. Purported benefits include early recognition and case identification, and the hypothetical benefit of preventive intervention of psychotic disorders, for which there is as yet no clear evidence base.

Childhood onset diagnoses in a case series of teens at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Unlabelled: REASONS: Schizophrenia is typically an adult neurodevelopmental disorder that has its antecedents in childhood and adolescence. Little is known about disorders "usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood and adolescence" (e.g.

Obvious and not-so-obvious strategies to disseminate research.

The findings of health disparities research will have to be disseminated to a broad public in order to influence health outcomes. Some strategies for dissemination are obvious, and these generally work for ideas that are within the mainstream of current paradigms. However, ideas that challenge existing theories and assumptions may require different, and not-so-obvious, strategies.

Eating disorder and depressive symptoms in urban high school girls from different ethnic backgrounds.

This study examined ethnic group differences in the rates of eating disorder symptoms (EDS) and depressive disorder symptoms (DDS) with respect to ethnic identity, relative body weight, and abnormal eating behaviors among adolescent girls. A district-wide sample of high school girls (N = 1445) from different ethnic backgrounds was surveyed. EDS were assessed with the Eating Attitudes Test-26, abnormal eating behaviors with the Eating Behaviors Survey, and DDS with the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire.

Current perspectives on smoking cessation among substance abusers.

The prevalence of nicotine dependence among alcohol or other substance abusers is extremely high, and surveys have revealed that many patients in drug or alcohol treatment programs are interested in smoking cessation. However, smoking cessation has not been a traditional focus in clinical interventions for this population. Recent evidence from clinical trials among individuals abusing alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or opioids have shown the following: 1) smokers with a past but not current history of alcohol dependence have a similar rate of success compared with non-alcoholic smokers; 2) tobacco abstinence does not increase alcohol relapse; 3) continued smoking adversely affects treatment for marijuana dependence; 4) patterns of cocaine and nicotine use are interrelated; 5) smoking cessation rates among opioid-dependent individuals are several times lower than in the general US population.

Links between the social and physical environments.

This article proposes a model for understanding the links between children's health and the social and physical environment. School is the principal setting explored as a way of illustrating the issues. Three case examples of school-related problems are presented and actions that pediatricians and others may take are outlined.