899 research outputs found
DeBrazza’s Monkeys (Cercopithecus neglectus) in a Mixed-Taxa Zoo Exhibit: Effects on the Behavior of a Breeding Group of DeBrazza’s Monkeys After the Birth of an Infant
Get PDFHistorically, zoos rarely feature mixed taxa exhibits including multiple primate species; the Minnesota Zoo opened such a unique four-species exhibit featuring Rock hyraxes, Red River hogs, Colobus monkeys, and DeBrazza’s monkeys in May, 2010. Because of potential problems associated with territoriality and aggression, primates in mixed-taxa exhibits are generally non-breeding. However, the DeBrazza’s monkeys at the MN Zoo are a breeding pair with a juvenile offspring. The intent of this study was to design an ethogram with the purpose of calculating the effects of a mixed taxa exhibit on the behavior of this breeding group, and to compare their behavior before and after the birth of an infant. Pre-birth behavioral observations established activity budgets for the DeBrazza’s with the adult male spending 71% of his time resting and 14% of his time in food related activities. The adult female spent 85% of her time resting and only 4% in food related activities, and the juvenile spent 25% of her time resting and 35% of her time in food related activities. Post birth, the adult male spent 68% of his time resting, and 16% of his time with food, the adult female spent 85% of her time carrying the infant, and the juvenile spent 34% of her time resting and 28% of her time with food. Each animal also spent different amounts of time near the other animals. Significant differences in amount of time that the adult female and the juvenile spent near each other were found, as well as differences in the amount of time the adult male spent near the Colobus. These differences and the animals’ activity budgets illustrate how these species interact in this zoo exhibit as well as identify areas for future research with these populations
Change in prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in the two years following trauma:a meta-analytic study
Get PDFBackground: Understanding the course of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the factors that impact this is essential to inform decisions about when and for whom screening and intervention are likely to be beneficial. Objective: To provide meta-analytic evidence of the course of recovery from PTSD in the first year following trauma, and the factors that influence that recovery. Method: We conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies of adult PTSD prevalence which included at least two assessments within the first 12 months following trauma exposure, examining prevalence statistics through to 2 years post-trauma. We examined trauma intentionality (intentional or non-intentional), PTSD assessment method (clinician or self-report), sample sex distribution, and age as moderators of PTSD prevalence over time. Results: We identified 78 eligible studies including 16,484 participants. Pooled prevalence statistics indicated that over a quarter of individuals presented with PTSD at 1 month post-trauma, with this proportion reducing by a third between 1 and 3 months. Beyond 3 months, any prevalence changes were detected over longer intervals and were small in magnitude. Intentional trauma, younger age, and female sex were associated with higher PTSD prevalence at 1 month. In addition, higher proportions of females, intentional trauma exposure, and higher baseline PTSD prevalence were each associated with larger reductions in prevalence over time. Conclusions: Recovery from PTSD following acute trauma exposure primarily occurs in the first 3 months post-trauma. Screening measures and intervention approaches offered at 3 months may better target persistent symptoms than those conducted prior to this point. HIGHLIGHTS: PTSD rates in the immediate aftermath of trauma exposure decline from 27% at 1 month to 18% at 3 months post-trauma, showing significant spontaneous recovery.Problems appear to stabilize after 3 months.Screening/intervention for PTSD at 3 months post-trauma is indicated
Automated virtual reality cognitive therapy versus virtual reality mental relaxation therapy for the treatment of persistent persecutory delusions in patients with psychosis (THRIVE): a parallel-group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial in England with mediation analyses
Get PDFBackground:
Persecutory delusions are a major psychiatric problem that often do not respond sufficiently to standard pharmacological or psychological treatments. We developed a new brief automated virtual reality (VR) cognitive treatment that has the potential to be used easily in clinical services. We aimed to compare VR cognitive therapy with an alternative VR therapy (mental relaxation), with an emphasis on understanding potential mechanisms of action.
Methods:
THRIVE was a parallel-group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial across four UK National Health Service trusts in England. Participants were included if they were aged 16 years or older, had a persistent (at least 3 months) persecutory delusion held with at least 50% conviction, reported feeling threatened when outside with other people, and had a primary diagnosis from the referring clinical team of a non-affective psychotic disorder. We randomly assigned (1:1) patients to either THRIVE VR cognitive therapy or VR mental relaxation, using a permuted blocks algorithm with randomly varying block size, stratified by severity of delusion. Usual care continued for all participants. Each VR therapy was provided in four sessions over approximately 4 weeks, supported by an assistant psychologist or clinical psychologist. Trial assessors were masked to group allocation. Outcomes were assessed at 0, 2 (therapy mid-point), 4 (primary endpoint, end of treatment), 8, 16, and 24 weeks. The primary outcome was persecutory delusion conviction, assessed by the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale (PSYRATS; rated 0–100%). Outcome analyses were done in the intention-to-treat population. We assessed the treatment credibility and expectancy of the interventions and the two mechanisms (defence behaviours and safety beliefs) that the cognitive intervention was designed to target. This trial is prospectively registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN12497310.
Findings:
From Sept 21, 2018, to May 13, 2021 (with a pause due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions from March 16, 2020, to Sept 14, 2020), we recruited 80 participants with persistent persecutory delusions (49 [61%] men, 31 [39%] women, with a mean age of 40 years [SD 13, range 18–73], 64 [80%] White, six [8%] Black, one [1%] Indian, three [4%] Pakistani, and six [8%] other race or ethnicity). We randomly assigned 39 (49%) participants assigned to VR cognitive therapy and 41 (51%) participants to VR mental relaxation. 33 (85%) participants who were assigned to VR cognitive therapy attended all four sessions, and 35 (85%) participants assigned to VR mental relaxation attended all four sessions. We found no significant differences between the two VR interventions in participant ratings of treatment credibility (adjusted mean difference –1·55 [95% CI –3·68 to 0·58]; p=0·15) and outcome expectancy (–0·91 [–3·42 to 1·61]; p=0·47). 77 (96%) participants provided follow-up data at the primary timepoint. Compared with VR mental relaxation, VR cognitive therapy did not lead to a greater improvement in persecutory delusions (adjusted mean difference –2·16 [–12·77 to 8·44]; p=0·69). Compared with VR mental relaxation, VR cognitive therapy did not lead to a greater reduction in use of defence behaviours (adjusted mean difference –0·71 [–4·21 to 2·79]; p=0·69) or a greater increase in belief in safety (–5·89 [–16·83 to 5·05]; p=0·29). There were 17 serious adverse events unrelated to the trial (ten events in seven participants in the VR cognitive therapy group and seven events in five participants in the VR mental relaxation group).
Interpretation:
The two VR interventions performed similarly, despite the fact that they had been designed to affect different mechanisms. Both interventions had high uptake rates and were associated with large improvements in persecutory delusions but it cannot be determined that the treatments accounted for the change. Immersive technologies hold promise for the treatment of severe mental health problems. However, their use will likely benefit from experimental research on the application of different therapeutic techniques and the effects on a range of potential mechanisms of action.The trial was funded by the Medical Research Council Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme (MR/P02629X/1). It was also supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (BRC-1215-2000). DF is an NIHR Senior Investigator. DMC is an Emeritus NIHR Senior Investigator. This paper presents independent research funded by the NIHR. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the Department of Health and Social Care. FW is funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Doctoral Fellowship (102176/B/13/Z). MS is supported by the European Research Council Grant MoTIVE (742989).Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 23 autors/es: Department of Experimental Psychology (Prof D Freeman DClinPsy, R Lister DClinPsy, F Waite DClinPsych, S Lambe DClinPsy, A Beckley MA, E Bold BSc, L Jenner BA, R Diamond DClinPsych, M Kirkham DClinPsych, E Twivy DClinPsych, C Causier MSc, L Carr BSc, S Saidel MSc, A Rovira PhD, Prof D M Clark DPhil, L Rosebrock PhD), Oxford Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (U Galal MSc, L-M Yu PhD), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK (Prof D Freeman, F Waite, S Lambe, R Diamond, A Rovira, Prof D M Clark, L Rosebrock); Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley, UK (R Lister); Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Kettering, UK (R Day BSc, A Ivins DClinPsych, R Nah DClinPsy); Event Lab, Faculty of Psychology Spain (A Beacco PhD, Prof M Slater DSc), Institute of Neurosciences (Prof M Slater), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain (A Beacco); Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK (R Nah)Postprint (published version
Mechanism of differential Zika and dengue virus neutralization by a public antibody lineage targeting the DIII lateral ridge
Get PDFWe previously generated a panel of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Zika virus (ZIKV) and identified one, ZIKV-116, that shares germline usage with mAbs identified in multiple donors. Here we show that ZIKV-116 interferes with ZIKV infection at a post-cellular attachment step by blocking viral fusion with host membranes. ZIKV-116 recognizes the lateral ridge of envelope protein domain III, with one critical residue varying between the Asian and African strains responsible for differential binding affinity and neutralization potency (E393D). ZIKV-116 also binds to and cross-neutralizes some dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV1) strains, with genotype-dependent inhibition explained by variation in a domain II residue (R204K) that potentially modulates exposure of the distally located, partially cryptic epitope. The V-J reverted germline configuration of ZIKV-116 preferentially binds to and neutralizes an Asian ZIKV strain, suggesting that this epitope may optimally induce related B cell clonotypes. Overall, these studies provide a structural and molecular mechanism for a cross-reactive mAb that uniquely neutralizes ZIKV and DENV1
Affinity-restricted memory B cells dominate recall responses to heterologous flaviviruses
Get PDFMemory B cells (MBCs) can respond to heterologous antigens either by molding new specificities through secondary germinal centers (GCs) or selecting pre-existing clones without further affinity maturation. To distinguish these mechanisms in flavivirus infections and immunizations, we studied recall responses to envelope protein domain III (DIII). Conditional deletion of activation induced cytidine deaminase (AID) between heterologous challenges of West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, Zika, and Dengue viruses did not affect recall responses. DIII-specific MBCs were contained mostly within the plasma cell-biased CD80(+) subset and few GCs arose following heterologous boosters, demonstrating that recall responses are confined by pre-existing clonal diversity. Measurement of monoclonal antibody binding affinity to DIII proteins, timed AID deletion, single cell RNA-sequencing, and lineage tracing experiments point to selection of relatively low affinity MBCs as a mechanism to promote diversity. Engineering immunogens to avoid this MBC diversity may facilitate flavivirus type-specific vaccines with minimized potential for infection enhancement
New insights into the impact of neuro-inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.
Get PDFRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is considered to be, in many respects, an archetypal autoimmune disease that causes activation of pro-inflammatory pathways resulting in joint and systemic inflammation. RA remains a major clinical problem with the development of several new therapies targeted at cytokine inhibition in recent years. In RA, biologic therapies targeted at inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) have been shown to reduce joint inflammation, limit erosive change, reduce disability and improve quality of life. The cytokine TNFα has a central role in systemic RA inflammation and has also been shown to have pro-inflammatory effects in the brain. Emerging data suggests there is an important bidirectional communication between the brain and immune system in inflammatory conditions like RA. Recent work has shown how TNF inhibitor therapy in people with RA is protective for Alzheimer's disease. Functional MRI studies to measure brain activation in people with RA to stimulus by finger joint compression, have also shown that those who responded to TNF inhibition showed a significantly greater activation volume in thalamic, limbic, and associative areas of the brain than non-responders. Infections are the main risk of therapies with biologic drugs and infections have been shown to be related to disease flares in RA. Recent basic science data has also emerged suggesting that bacterial components including lipopolysaccharide induce pain by directly activating sensory neurons that modulate inflammation, a previously unsuspected role for the nervous system in host-pathogen interactions. In this review, we discuss the current evidence for neuro-inflammation as an important factor that impacts on disease persistence and pain in RA
Isolation of a potently neutralizing and protective human monoclonal antibody targeting yellow fever virus
Get PDFYellow fever virus (YFV) causes sporadic outbreaks of infection in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. While live-attenuated yellow fever virus vaccines based on three substrains of 17D are considered some of the most effective vaccines in use, problems with production and distribution have created large populations of unvaccinated, vulnerable individuals in areas of endemicity. To date, specific antiviral therapeutics have not been licensed for human use against YFV or any other related flavivirus. Recent advances in monoclonal antibody (mAb) technology have allowed the identification of numerous candidate therapeutics targeting highly pathogenic viruses, including many flaviviruses. Here, we sought to identify a highly neutralizing antibody targeting the YFV envelope (E) protein as a therapeutic candidate. We used human B cell hybridoma technology to isolate mAbs from circulating memory B cells from human YFV vaccine recipients. These antibodies bound to recombinant YFV E protein and recognized at least five major antigenic sites on E. Two mAbs (designated YFV-136 and YFV-121) recognized a shared antigenic site and neutralized the YFV-17D vaccine strai
Introduction : media and illiberal democracy in Central and Eastern Europe
Get PDFThis introductory overview opens the series of articles included in the issue entitled Media and Illiberal Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, and sets the scene for the debate on the relationship between illiberal trends in politics and media landscapes in the region. Drawing on existing scholarship, it traces the roots and the evolution of illiberalism, focusing the discussion within the confines of particularities of media landscapes. Through the introduction of articles addressing manifestations of illiberalism in media landscapes, it argues that “illiberal turn” in Central and Eastern Europe is part of a global political shift, rather than a regional one
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