Psychology

I don't want to cut short any discussion on my last couple involuntary treatment posts, but I wanted to let people know we've got a new Shrink Rap News column up over on Clinical Psychiatry News. My titles over there tend to run on the wordy side, but it's called "RAND Report Signals Threat to Patient Privacy." It's about a recently published think tank report discussing the state of the art of current digital surveillance sources, how they can be analyzed and interpreted and potential applications in national security systems. It's relevant to Shrink Rap because one of the sources they mention----quite transiently and in passing, but it's there----is medical information. And once a person is identified through this Big Data analysis, the report suggests they could be arrested, put under surveillance or taken in for interrogation. Whoa, there's one application of an EMR I never anticipated! To my knowledge none of this is happening yet, but five years ago I never expected we'd ever hear about anything like PRISM. Go over and read. Meanwhile, over on KevinMD today there's a similar post by T. J. Derham entitled "How Edward Snowden and PRISM affect health care social media" in which he encourages doctors to still be involved in social media and health care IT systems in spite of PRISM. I'm not sure I'm totally sold on the argument. I want Roy to think about this and put up a Shrink Rap News post pro- or con. Read the KevinMD post here. I'm going to have to invent new Blogger labels for posts like this now. What should they be? #nsa? #blackchopper? #dontquestionmebro?----- Listen to our latest podcast at mythreeshrinks.com or subscribe to our rss feed. Email us at mythreeshrinks at gmail dot com Our book is out now.

You’ve done the test. You’ve done the test again. You’ve done the test for a third time and thrown up. Yep, you’re 16 and pregnant. You didn’t plan it. You thought you’d taken precautions but you’re pregnant. Oh boy, now what? For some teenagers this may be a happy moment, yet for others it can seem like the world is about to end. The future you thought was unfolding before you comes screeching to a halt. A multitude of emotions will compete for attention and then you realize there’s one thing you’re going to need to do. A cold blanket of dread envelops you. The words stick in your throat and you want to throw up again. “How am I going to tell my parents?” For many teenage girls, this seems like an insurmountable obstacle, but sure as night follows day, this is something most will have to face. (This also goes for teenage fathers.) Guilt and shame can be the primary unhealthy emotions felt at this time, driven by irrational beliefs such as, “I shouldn’t be pregnant, and because I am, I’ve done something really wrong and I’m no good” (guilt) or “I can’t have my parents think badly of me. I must have their approval because if they think badly of me it means I’m worthless” (shame). These emotions can then trigger a secondary emotion of anxiety based on thoughts such as, “If they do think badly of me, I couldn’t stand it;” “What if they do reject me, and I won’t be able to cope;” This is the end of the world.” The combination of these thoughts and feelings are potentially paralyzing to a young person and it can make the process of talking to parents so difficult that often parents aren’t told until it becomes too obvious to hide the pregnancy anymore. This procrastination can cause complications to how each side communicates and the potential choices ahead of you. I’m assuming many things about the relationship you have with your parents. You may be closer to one than the other, but if you do want to tell them you are pregnant, here a few things to consider. The longer you put off telling them, the harder it will become for all of you. Remember, the clock is ticking and pregnancy doesn’t stop because you’re scared. If you don’t have a great communicative relationship with your parents, it can sometimes help to first confide in others you’re closer to, like a friend, sister, aunt or grandparent. This not only gives you some practice in telling people, but it’s also important not to go through this alone. The simplest route is always the best but choose a time when you know that you’ll have time to talk about it. Don’t say it in passing and rush off, and don’t say it in anger during an argument. Don’t beat around the bush. Be clear, calm and straightforward, “Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant.” It’s common for parents to be angry and disappointed when hearing your news. That’s OK. Allow them their feelings. In the shock of the moment things can be said that you might find hurtful. Don’t take it personally. Even parents can react badly. Words like “abortion” and “adoption” might come up. This might be what you are also thinking, but it’s better to wait until everyone is calmer before talking about all the choices ahead of you. Some parents might try to pressure you to do something you don’t want to do. But remember, you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. If in doubt, talk to an objective third party, such as your school counselor. If possible, talk to your parents with your partner. This not only gives you an ally, but it shows a level of maturity from both of you. Finally, it’s your body and you will have to live with all your choices and consequences for the rest of your life, so think carefully about what is right for you. In a time like this you might be surprised at how well your parents take your news, and how much they care about you. On the other hand, not all parents will be supportive. If you find yourself in a bad place after telling your parents, don’t think you have to do this o

Recent research reveals that the diagnosis rate for eating issues in the United Kingdom are 37.2% in adolescents....

by Bixia Gao, Luxia Zhang, Haiyan Wang, the China National Survey of Chronic Kidney Disease Working Group Background Previous studies indicated that lifestyle-related cardiovascular risk factors tend to be clustered in certain individuals. However, population-based studies, especially from developing countries with substantial economic heterogeneity, are extremely limited. Our study provides updated data on the clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, as well as the impact of lifestyle on those factors in China. Methods A representative sample of adult population in China was obtained using a multistage, stratified sampling method. We investigated the clustering of four cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (defined as two or more of the following: hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and overweight) and their association with unhealthy lifestyles (habitual drinking, physical inactivity, chronic use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and a low modified Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score). Results Among the 46,683 participants enrolled in this study, only 31.1% were free of any pre-defined CVD risk factor. A total of 20,292 subjects had clustering of CVD risk factors, and 83.5% of them were younger than 65 years old. The adjusted prevalence of CVD risk factor clustering was 36.2%, and the prevalence was higher among males than among females (37.9% vs. 34.5%). Habitual drinking, physical inactivity, and chronic use of NSAIDs were positively associated with the clustering of CVD risk factors, with ORs of 1.60 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40 to1.85), 1.20 (95%CI 1.11 to 1.30) and 2.17 (95%CI 1.84 to 2.55), respectively. The modified DASH score was inversely associated with the clustering of CVD risk factors, with an OR of 0.73 (95%CI 0.67 to 0.78) for those with modified DASH scores in the top tertile. The lifestyle risk factors were more prominent among participants with low socioeconomic status. Conclusion Clustering of CVD risk factors was common in China. Lifestyle modification might be an effective strategy to control CVD risk factors.

by Antoine Stevens, Marco Nocita, Gergely Tóth, Luca Montanarella, Bas van Wesemael Soil organic carbon is a key soil property related to soil fertility, aggregate stability and the exchange of CO2 with the atmosphere. Existing soil maps and inventories can rarely be used to monitor the state and evolution in soil organic carbon content due to their poor spatial resolution, lack of consistency and high updating costs. Visible and Near Infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy is an alternative method to provide cheap and high-density soil data. However, there are still some uncertainties on its capacity to produce reliable predictions for areas characterized by large soil diversity. Using a large-scale EU soil survey of about 20,000 samples and covering 23 countries, we assessed the performance of reflectance spectroscopy for the prediction of soil organic carbon content. The best calibrations achieved a root mean square error ranging from 4 to 15 g C kg?1 for mineral soils and a root mean square error of 50 g C kg?1 for organic soil materials. Model errors are shown to be related to the levels of soil organic carbon and variations in other soil properties such as sand and clay content. Although errors are ?5 times larger than the reproducibility error of the laboratory method, reflectance spectroscopy provides unbiased predictions of the soil organic carbon content. Such estimates could be used for assessing the mean soil organic carbon content of large geographical entities or countries. This study is a first step towards providing uniform continental-scale spectroscopic estimations of soil organic carbon, meeting an increasing demand for information on the state of the soil that can be used in biogeochemical models and the monitoring of soil degradation.

by Xiaotong Wang, Li Li, Yabing Zhu, Yishuai Du, Xiaorui Song, Yuanxin Chen, Ronglian Huang, Huayong Que, Xiaodong Fang, Guofan Zhang Mollusk shell is one kind of potential biomaterial, but its vague mineralization mechanism hinders its further application. Mollusk shell matrix proteins are important functional components that are embedded in the shell, which play important roles in shell formation. The proteome of the oyster shell had been determined based on the oyster genome sequence by our group and gives the chance for further deep study in this area. The classical model of shell formation posits that the shell proteins are mantle-secreted. But, in this study, we further analyzed the shell proteome data in combination with organ transcriptome data and we found that the shell proteins may be produced by multiple organs though the mantle is still the most important organ for shell formation. To identify the transport pathways of these shell proteins not in classical model of shell formation, we conducted a shell damage experiment and we determined the shell-related gene set to identify the possible transport pathways from multiple organs to the shell formation front. We also found that there may exist a remodeling mechanism in the process of shell formation. Based on these results along with some published results, we proposed a new immature model, which will help us think about the mechanism of shell formation in a different way.

by Roberta Vitali, Francesca Palone, Salvatore Cucchiara, Anna Negroni, Leonardo Cavone, Manuela Costanzo, Marina Aloi, Anna Dilillo, Laura Stronati Background High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is a DNA-binding protein that is released from injured cells during inflammation. Advances in targeting HMGB1 represent a major challenge to improve the treatment of acute/chronic inflammation. Aim This study is aimed at verifying whether the inhibition of HMGB1 through dipotassium glycyrrhizate (DPG) is a good strategy to reduce intestinal inflammation. Methods Human colon adenocarcinoma cell line, HT29, human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma, Caco2, and murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, were cultured to investigate the effect of DPG on the secretion of HMGB1. Acute colitis was induced in C57BL/6 mice through administration of 3% dextran sodium sulphate (DSS); a combined treatment with DSS and 3 or 8 mg/kg/day DPG was used to investigate the effects of DPG on intestinal inflammation. Animals were euthanized at seventh day and colonic samples underwent molecular and histological analyses. Results DPG significantly reduces in vitro the release of HMGB1 in the extracellular matrix as well as expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6, by inhibiting HMGB1. Moreover, DPG significantly decreases the severity of DSS-induced colitis in mice. Murine colonic samples show decreased mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and IL-6, as well as HMGB1 receptors, RAGE and TLR4. Finally, HMGB1, abundantly present in the feces of mice with DSS-induced colitis, is strongly reduced by DPG. Conclusions HMGB1 is an early pro-inflammatory cytokine and an active protagonist of mucosal gut inflammation. DPG exerts inhibitory effects against HMGB1 activity, significantly reducing intestinal inflammation. Thus, we reason that DPG could represent an innovative tool for the management of human intestinal inflammation.

by Pingfang Li, Li Chen, Yanhong Zhou, Xiaojian Xia, Kai Shi, Zhixiang Chen, Jingquan Yu Brassinosteroids (BRs), a group of naturally occurring plant steroidal compounds, are essential for plant growth, development and stress tolerance. Recent studies showed that BRs could induce systemic tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses; however, the molecular mechanisms by which BRs signals lead to responses in the whole plant are largely unknown. In this study, 24-epibrassinosteroid (EBR)-induced systemic tolerance in Cucumis sativus L. cv. Jinyan No. 4 was analyzed through the assessment of symptoms of photooxidative stress by chlorophyll fluorescence imaging pulse amplitude modulation. Expression of defense/stress related genes were induced in both treated local leaves and untreated systemic leaves by local EBR application. With the suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) library using cDNA from the phloem sap of EBR-treated plants as the tester and distilled water (DW)-treated plants as the driver, 14 transcripts out of 260 clones were identified. Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) validated the specific up-regulation of these transcripts. Of the differentially expressed transcripts with known functions, transcripts for the selected four cDNAs, which encode an auxin-responsive protein (IAA14), a putative ankyrin-repeat protein, an F-box protein (PP2), and a major latex, pathogenesis-related (MLP)-like protein, were induced in local leaves, systemic leaves and roots after foliar application of EBR onto mature leaves. Our results demonstrated that EBR-induced systemic tolerance is accompanied with increased transcript of genes in the defense response in other organs. The potential role of phloem mRNAs as signaling components in mediating BR-regulated systemic resistance is discussed.

by Minghao Dong, Ling Zhao, Kai Yuan, Fang Zeng, Jinbo Sun, Jixin Liu, Dahua Yu, Karen M. von Deneen, Fanrong Liang, Wei Qin, Jie Tian Background The research on brain plasticity has fascinated researchers for decades. Use/training serves as an instrumental factor to influence brain neuroplasticity. Parallel to acquisition of behavioral expertise, extensive use/training is concomitant with substantial changes of cortical structure. Acupuncturists, serving as a model par excellence to study tactile-motor and emotional regulation plasticity, receive intensive training in national medical schools following standardized training protocol. Moreover, their behavioral expertise is corroborated during long-term clinical practice. Although our previous study reported functional plastic brain changes in the acupuncturists, whether or not structural plastic changes occurred in acupuncturists is yet elusive. Methodology/Principal Findings Cohorts of acupuncturists (N?=?22) and non-acupuncturists (N?=?22) were recruited. Behavioral tests were delivered to assess the acupuncturists’ behavioral expertise. The results confirmed acupuncturists’ tactile-motor skills and emotion regulation proficiency compared to non-acupuncturists. Using the voxel-based morphometry technique, we revealed larger grey matter volumes in acupuncturists in the hand representation of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI), the right lobule V/VI and the bilateral ventral anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex. Grey matter volumes of the SI and Lobule V/VI positively correlated with the duration of acupuncture practice. Conclusions To our best knowledge, this study provides first evidence for the anatomical alterations in acupuncturists, which would possibly be the neural correlates underlying acupuncturists’ exceptional skills. On one hand, we suggest our findings may have ramifications for tactile-motor rehabilitation. On the other hand, our results in emotion regulation domain may serve as a target for our future studies, from which we can understand how modulations of aversive emotions elicited by empathic pain develop in the context of expertise. Future longitudinal study is necessary to establish the presence and direction of a causal link between practice/use and brain anatomy.

by Erwan Gueguen, Eric Durand, Xiang Y. Zhang, Quentin d’Amalric, Laure Journet, Eric Cascales The Type VI secretion system (T6SS) is a macromolecular complex widespread in Gram-negative bacteria. Although several T6SS are required for virulence towards host models, most are necessary to eliminate competitor bacteria. Other functions, such as resistance to amoeba predation, biofilm formation or adaptation to environmental conditions have also been reported. This multitude of functions is reflected by the large repertoire of regulatory mechanisms shown to control T6SS expression, production or activation. Here, we demonstrate that one T6SS gene cluster encoded within the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis genome, T6SS-4, is regulated by OmpR, the response regulator of the two-component system EnvZ-OmpR. We first identified OmpR in a transposon mutagenesis screen. OmpR does not control the expression of the four other Y. pseudotuberculosis T6SS gene clusters and of an isolated vgrG gene, and responds to osmotic stresses to bind to and activate the T6SS-4 promoter. Finally, we show that T6SS-4 promotes Y. pseudotuberculosis survival in high osmolarity conditions and resistance to deoxycholate.