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Background: Psychosis is often associated with loneliness, the absence of a confidant and a perceived lack of social support. In addition, the social isolation and solitude experienced can aggravate internalised stigma, depressive symptoms and/or suicidal tendencies, and worsen the course of the disorder., Aim: This study explores the experiences and perceptions of persons with psychosis concerning how their interpersonal relationships have evolved from the earliest symptoms of the disorder to its subsequent clinical stabilisation., Method: A qualitative content analysis was performed of the findings from five focus groups and six in-depth interviews (36 participants)., Results: In the prodrome and initial symptoms stage, five themes were coded: social withdrawal, loss of friends, loss of personal skills, communication difficulties and breakdown of life project. During the recovery phase, four themes were coded: family support, partner support, loneliness and the desire for more close relationships. Finally, during the clinical stabilisation phase, three themes were coded: the recovery of interpersonal relationships, including with peers; reconstruction of the life project and increased interpersonal sensitivity., Conclusions: These findings highlight the impact that psychosis can have on social life and show that recovery is also related to the development of maeningful interpersonal relationships.

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Patients do not always receive enough information about their diagnosis and their perceived participation in decision-making about their treatment is low. Some participants reported feeling very uncertain when the physician invited them to choose between these options. Others users expressed their satisfaction with the trend away from paternalistic attitudes in the health system. There is a trend towards pharmacological prescription as a first approximation. This contrasts with the recommendations of scientific organizations based on evidence and cost-effectiveness studies on the offer of psychological interventions as the first option. The user groups pointed out that active coping, based on exposure to anxiety-generating situations, made a significant contribution to alleviating their anxiety disorders. However, some of those interviewed rejected this type of intervention. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Users diagnosed with anxiety disorders miss more information about the disorder and participation in its treatment. Opposite positions coexist in terms of participation in the choice of treatment. Pharmacological treatment is most commonly the first option offered. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: This study is an example in itself of the involvement of users in the healthcare process, and therefore placing them at the centre of attention, as reflected in healthcare policies and clinical practice guidelines. It promotes the identification of needs that users diagnosed of anxiety disorders may have, with the aim of putting in place, from healthcare professionals and health services, the necessary supports adapted to these. Mental health nurses are well-positioned to offer support and guidance during the process of involvement and shared decision-making., Abstract: INTRODUCTION: An essential aspect of mental health treatment and recovery is the degree of involvement by health service users in the process., Aim/question: Explore the values, demands and preferences of persons diagnosed with anxiety disorders, their participation in the treatment provided, and the response of the health system in this regard., Methods: A qualitative study was conducted, with 51 participants. Nine focus groups and four in-depth interviews took place., Results: Three broad categories were identified: (1) diagnosis; (2) treatment options offered and shared decision-making; and (3) coping with the disorder. Sometimes patients do not receive enough information to cover their needs. A trend towards drug prescription as a first approach was observed, while active coping based on exposure to anxiogenic situations was indicated as the most effective option., Conclusion: Shared decision-making is a necessary aspect of treatment, and the therapeutic process should be adapted to match the service user's preferences, values and needs., Implications for the Practice: This research identifies the needs of patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders and promotes, therefore, from healthcare professionals and services, the provision of measures to meet these needs., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Evidence shows that caring for a family member with a psychotic disorder generates a significant emotional impact and repercussions on social functioning. However, this caregiving experience can be influenced by cultural factors. The aim of this study is to explore the experience and perception of a group of family caregivers of patients with psychotic disorders of different durations regarding the emotional and social functioning repercussions of caregiving on them in Andalusia. Three focus groups (28 participants) were conducted. Data were subject to a thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: 1) Emotional invasion; 2) Disruption in the caregiver's life project; and 3) Changes in the family system. Participants reported experiencing sadness, fear, overwhelm, hopelessness, and uncertainty. Caregivers' accounts reflected an interruption of their daily tasks, as well as the need to reformulate plans or goals outside the family life that require long-term commitment, such as professional development or even their residence. The narratives indicated an impact on all roles within the family system, particularly for the mother. The results are consistent with existing research. Healthcare professionals and programs should take into account the costs associated with caregiving in order to minimize them, given the impact it has on both the patient's and the caregivers' health., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest During the preparation of this work the authors ChatGPT in order to help to traduce. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted intervention to implement an adapted guideline for the management of depression in primary health care., Methods: A hybrid trial was carried out to determine the effect of a multicomponent provider-centred intervention to improve the detection and diagnosis of depression in primary care, as part of the guideline implementation process, and to collect information about barriers and facilitators in a real-world context. Before the multicomponent intervention, a descriptive cross-sectional study was performed to assess the population prevalence of depression in the participating health centres and to detect possible differences. Subsequently, a quasi-experimental two-phase study was carried out with a concurrent control group to assess the impact of the multicomponent intervention on the main outcomes (detection of depression, evaluation of its severity and the use of structured methods to support the diagnosis)., Results: Nine-hundred seventy-four patients took part in the first phase. According to their clinical records, the prevalence of depression ranged from 7.2% to 7.9%, and there were no significant differences between the health centres scheduled to receive the intervention and those in the control group. In the experimental phase, 797 randomly selected participants received the multicomponent intervention. Adjusted multivariable analysis performed before the implementation revealed no significant differences in depression between the experimental and control groups. However, after the intervention, modest but significant differences were observed, which persisted at 1 year after the intervention., Conclusions: A multicomponent intervention for the implementation of a clinical guideline for the management of depression in primary care produced improvements in the identification of depression and in the degree of severity recorded.

The mental health recovery model is based on shared decision making, in which patients' preferences and perceptions of the care received are taken into account. However, persons with psychosis usually have very few opportunities to participate in this process. The present study explores the experiences and perceptions of a group of patients with psychosis-in some cases longstanding, in others more recently diagnosed-concerning their participation in the decisions taken about the approach to their condition and about the attention received from healthcare professionals and services. For this purpose, we performed a qualitative analysis of the outcomes derived from five focus groups and six in-depth interviews (36 participants). Two major themes, with five sub-themes, were identified: shared decision-making (drug-centred approach, negotiation process, and lack of information) and the care environment and styles of clinical practice as determinants (aggressive versus person-centred environments, and styles of professional practice). The main conclusions drawn are that users want to participate more in decision making, they want to be offered a range of psychosocial options from the outset and that their treatment should be based on accessibility, humanity and respect. These findings are in line with the guidelines for clinical practice and should be taken into account in the design of care programmes and the organisation of services for persons with psychosis.

Background: To evaluate the impact of a nurse navigation program on treatment adherence and resolution of hepatitis C infection in patients with severe mental disorder., Methods: An open, randomized, controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment. The intervention group will engage in a nurse navigation program designed by mental health nurses. The program involves active screening for patients with severe mental disorder. The patients and caregivers included in the program will receive information, training, support and guidance throughout the treatment and recovery process, which involves different healthcare professionals and units. The control group will receive the standard of care, which includes follow-up by a family physician, referral to the hepatologist, serological testing, new referral to the hepatologist, onset of treatment, and follow-up. Multidisciplinary care will be provided along a coordinated and seamless clinical pathway led by a nurse navigator. The primary endpoints are total recovery (hepatitis C cure) and treatment adherence. Occurrence of symptoms of schizophrenia and health-related quality of life will be also recorded. Follow-up of patients will be performed three and six months after the administration of antiviral treatment. The study was authorised by the Ethics Committee of Malaga in December 2021. Funding was approved in March 2021., Discussion: If this intervention is proven to be effective in improving treatment access and adherence, it will represent a step forward in addressing a chronic health issue that is 16 times more prevalent in the population with severe mental disease. Finally, this intervention may lead to the detection of undertreated HCV infection in this population of patients., Trial Registration: This protocol has been registered in ClinicalTrials.gov with identifier code NCT04891445 on May 18, 2021., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Trauma-related symptoms are often experienced after a first psychotic episode., Objective: In this study, we conduct a qualitative analysis of referred traumatic experiences of outpatients diagnosed with psychotic disorders., Method: Focus groups were formed and in-depth interviews conducted with 30 participants, focusing on their experience with the disorder and the health care received. Given the frequency with which trauma and psychosis have been associated in the scientific literature, the nature of this relation is addressed as a secondary objective, via a qualitative analysis., Results: Analysis revealed two main themes in the patients' discourse. On many occasions, traumatic experiences were related to the development of the disorder. Although most participants referred to traumatic experiences during childhood, episodes during adult life were also reported, which may have triggered the disorder. The second theme was that of the interlocking relationship between the psychotic experience and certain coercive practices undergone during the provision of health care for psychosis, and the traumatic effects thus generated., Conclusions: The participants considered both themes to be highly important. Accordingly, these issues should be carefully assessed and managed in order to provide appropriate person-centred care., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Introduction: The aim of this study is to analyse different ways of participation during the development of a clinical guideline to improve the early detection of psychosis and to deploy a comprehensive treatment plan to improve prognosis and social integration., Materials and Method: The clinical guideline was developed using the ADAPTE method with the participation of 40 authors and 80 external reviewers. The process was divided into three major phases: set up, adaptation and finalization. During adaptation and completion, a total of 44 patients and 18 family caregivers were involved., Results and Conclusions: The different roles assumed by the patients and their family caregivers were described, depending on the panel in which they participated, with diverse grades of complexity: a user as author, integration of the results of qualitative research with the participation of local users and family caregivers, 13 users as individual external reviewers and the participation of users and caregiver organizations in the external review. In the guideline, contributions from patients during the qualitative research were included in an innovative way, placing them just behind the recommendations. On the other hand, the results of the family caregivers' study were included in a specific area of uncertainty. Further, the expressed point of view was considered as the collective demands of users and family caregivers' organizations in the cost-benefit analysis made by the organizing committee. There were diverse ways to conduct direct patient participation during the guideline development, ensuring that their individual experiences contributed significantly to the final version., (© 2021 The Authors. Health Expectations published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Depression is one of the most common disorders in psychiatric and primary care settings, and is associated with disability, loss in quality of life, and economic costs. Internet-based psychological interventions have been shown to be effective in depression treatment but present problems with a low degree of adherence. The main aim of this study is to analyze the adherence predictors in three low-intensity interventions programs applied by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for depression. A multi-center, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted with 164 participants with depression, who were allocated to: Healthy Lifestyle Program, Positive Affect Promotion Program or Mindfulness Program. Sociodemographic characteristics, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Visual Analog Scale, Short Form Health Survey, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire, Pemberton Happiness Index and Treatment Expectancy Questionnaire were used to study adherence. Results showed that positive affect resulted in a predictor variable for Healthy Lifestyle Program and Positive Affect Promotion Program. Perceived health was also a negative adherence predictor for the Positive Affect Promotion Program. Our findings demonstrate that there are differences in clinical variables between treatment completers and non-completers and we provide adherence predictors in two intervention groups. Although new additional predictors have been examined, further research is essential in order to improve tailored interventions and increase adherence treatment.

Objective: The aim was to develop a clinical guideline for managing generalised anxiety disorder in Primary Health Care and Mental Health, using guideline adaptation methods., Design: A clinical guideline was developed, following the methods of the ADAPTE group, and implemented in a Primary Health Care District and in Mental Health Services in Spain., Setting: Regional University Hospital of Málaga and District of Primary Health Care Málaga-Guadalhorce (Spain)., Participants: The participants were family physicians, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists. The phases of the process included definition of clinical scenarios, literature search and guidelines appraisal, elaboration of recommendations, conducting focus groups with users diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, linking the testimonials of users with recommendations, external review and implementation by multifaceted interventions., Results: The final release included 49 Recommendations, of which 47 are from the 2011 NICE guidance for GAD and 2 of the 2011 NICE guideline for common mental disorder. Finally, seven recommendations needed to be adapted to the Spanish health care context, and three recommendations were excluded., Conclusions: A guideline aimed to improve the quality and effectiveness of the care provided to people with generalised anxiety disorder has been released. The use of adaptation methods has simplified the use of resources and time. This guideline and the process designed for its implementation constitute a suitable collection of resources for the improvement on detection and treatment of GAD in primary health care. Adaptation methods play a key role in the knowledge translation continuum., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press in association with the International Society for Quality in Health Care. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Primary care is a major access point for the initial treatment of depression, but the management of these patients is far from optimal. The lack of time in primary care is one of the major difficulties for the delivery of evidence-based psychotherapy. During the last decade, research has focused on the development of brief psychotherapy and cost-effective internet-based interventions mostly based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Very little research has focused on alternative methods of treatment for depression using CBT. Thus, there is a need for research into other therapeutic approaches., Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of 3 low-intensity, internet-based psychological interventions (healthy lifestyle psychoeducational program [HLP], focused program on positive affect promotion [PAPP], and brief intervention based on mindfulness [MP]) compared with a control condition (improved treatment as usual [iTAU])., Methods: A multicenter, 4-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted between March 2015 and March 2016, with a follow-up of 12 months. In total, 221 adults with mild or moderate major depression were recruited in primary care settings from 3 Spanish regions. Patients were randomly distributed to iTAU (n=57), HLP (n=54), PAPP (n=56), and MP (n=54). All patients received iTAU from their general practitioners. The main outcome was the Spanish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) from pretreatment (time 1) to posttreatment (time 2) and up to 6 (time 3) and 12 (time 4) months' follow-up. Secondary outcomes included the visual analog scale of the EuroQol, the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI). We conducted regression models to estimate outcome differences along study stages., Results: A moderate decrease was detected in PHQ-9 scores from HLP (β=-3.05; P=.01) and MP (β=-3.00; P=.01) compared with iTAU at posttreatment. There were significant differences between all intervention groups and iTAU in physical SF-12 scores at 6 months after treatment. Regarding well-being, MP and PAPP reported better PHI results than iTAU at 6 months post treatment. PAPP intervention significantly decreased PANAS negative affect scores compared with iTAU 12 months after treatment., Conclusions: The low-intensity, internet-based psychological interventions (HLP and MP) for the treatment of depression in primary care are more effective than iTAU at posttreatment. Moreover, all low-intensity psychological interventions are also effective in improving medium- and long-term quality of life. PAPP is effective for improving health-related quality of life, negative affect, and well-being in patients with depression. Nevertheless, it is important to examine possible reasons that could be implicated for PAPP not being effective in reducing depressive symptomatology; in addition, more research is still needed to assess the cost-effectiveness analysis of these interventions., Trial Registration: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN82388279; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN82388279., International Registered Report Identifier (irrid): RR2-10.1186/s12888-015-0475-0., (©Margalida Gili, Adoración Castro, Azucena García-Palacios, Javier Garcia-Campayo, Fermin Mayoral-Cleries, Cristina Botella, Miquel Roca, Alberto Barceló-Soler, María M. Hurtado, MªTeresa Navarro, Amelia Villena, M Ángeles Pérez-Ara, Pau Riera-Serra, Rosa Mª Baños. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 05.06.2020.)

To understand the experience and perceptions of people diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, along the whole process and their role through the decision-making process for their treatment. A qualitative study through focus groups composed of people diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder was carried out. Content analysis was carried out to explore the most representative issues. Five thematic categories were identified: onset of the disorder, symptoms and course; daily life with the disorder; coping with the disorder; demand of healthcare for anxiety, and treatment options and decision-making. Most of the patients reported physical symptoms of anxiety. The majority of participants perceived little social support from their environment and occupational interferences. Coping seems to differ among participant that have recovered or not recovered. The involvement of users with generalized anxiety disorder was scarce, and pharmacological treatment was always the first option offered. There is scarce orientation to elicit preferences and values of patients across the process of care for people with generalized anxiety disorder. The consequence is a biased predisposition of the healthcare system to provide pharmacological treatment as the first option and ignore the perspective of patients on how to cope with their illness., (© 2020 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.)

It is known that electrical stimulation of the external lateral parabrachial nucleus (NLPBe) can sustain concurrent taste and place learning. Place preferences can be learned through different procedures. Previous studies demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the PBNLe can generate aversive and preference place learning using concurrent procedures. In the concurrent procedure, the animals can move freely in the maze, and intracranial electrical stimulation is associated with their voluntary stay in one of the two maze compartments. However, the rewarding properties of most stimuli, whether natural or drugs of abuse, have usually been investigated using the sequential procedure, in which animals are confined while receiving the unconditioned stimulus and then undergo a choice test without stimulation in a later phase. This study examined whether this stimulation can sustain place preference learning in sequential tasks. Results demonstrated that place preferences can also be induced by the electrical stimulation of the NLBe using sequential procedures. These findings suggest that the NLPBe may form part of a brain reward axis that shares certain characteristics with those observed in the processing of natural rewarding agents and especially of drugs of abuse., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) has included comorbidity between depression and a chronic disease among the 10 leading global health priorities. Although there is a high prevalence of multimorbidity, health care systems are mainly designed for the management of individual diseases. Given the difficulty in delivering face-to-face psychological treatments, alternative models of treatment delivery have been proposed, emphasizing the role of technologies such as the Internet. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy in Primary Care (PC) of a blended low-intensity psychological intervention applied using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for the treatment of multimorbidity in PC (depression and type 2 diabetes/low back pain) by means of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Our main hypothesis is that improved usual care combined with psychological therapy applied using ICTs will be more efficacious for improvement in the symptomatology of multimorbidity, compared to a group with only improved treatment as usual six months after the end of treatment., Methods: A protocol has been designed combining a face-to-face intervention with a supporting online programme that will be tested by an RCT conducted in three different regions (Andalusia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands). The RCT will evaluate three hundred participants diagnosed with depression and type 2 diabetes/low back pain. Four highly experienced research groups specializing in clinical psychology are involved in this trial, and there will be ample possibilities for translation and transfer to usual clinical practice., Discussion: This clinical trial will lead to improvement in financial sustainability, maximizing the use of resources and responding to principles of efficiency and effectiveness. Furthermore, based on the evaluation of the feasibility of implementing this intervention in primary care facilities, we expect to be able to suggest the intervention for incorporation into public policy. In conclusion, positive results of this study could have a significant impact on one of the most important health-related problems, multimorbidity., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03426709 . Registered retrospectively on 08 February 2018.

Research on conflict adaptation suggests that complex networks are involved in the detection and resolution of conflicts. These networks are believed to be different depending on whether the conflict occurs in emotional or non-emotional contexts. In addition, the adaptation to both types of conflict also seems to have different neural bases. The main aim of the present study was to compare conflict adaptation in two clinical groups - patients with schizophrenia (SZ) and patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) - and a healthy control group during emotional and non-emotional versions of a facial Stroop task. We considered that the neural impairment and neuropsychological profile of these populations would be interesting to examine the above-mentioned mechanisms. Results showed that the performance was worse with incongruent compared to congruent stimuli in both task contexts. The Stroop effect was more marked in both clinical groups and greater in the SZ group. By contrast, the Gratton effect was clearly present in the SZ group, but was inverted in the BPD group mainly in the emotional task. Specifically, participants with BDP had a higher error rate in the current incongruent trial when the previous trial was incongruent in the emotional task. These results suggest that SZ and BDP groups have different patterns of conflict adaptation. Results are discussed according to the clinical characteristics and neural systems affected in each of these psychopathological disorders., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The number of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) to help in making clinical decisions is increasing. However, there is currently a lack of CPG for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder that take into account the requirements and expectations of the patients., Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine whether recommendations of the NICE guideline, "Obsessive-compulsive disorder: core interventions in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder" agrees with the needs and preferences of patients diagnosed with OCD in the mental health service., Material and Method: Two focal groups were formed with a total of 12 participants. They were asked about the impact of the disorder in their lives, their experiences with the mental health services, their satisfaction with treatments, and about their psychological resources. Preferences and needs were compared with the recommendations of the guidelines, and to facilitate their analysis, they were classified into four topics: information, accessibility, treatments, and therapeutic relationship., Results: The results showed a high agreement between recommendations and patients preferences, particularly as regards high-intensity psychological interventions. Some discrepancies included the lack of prior low-intensity psychological interventions in mental health service, and the difficulty of rapid access the professionals., Conclusions: There is significant concordance between recommendations and patients preferences and demands, which are only partially responded to by the health services., (Copyright © 2017 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Electrical stimulation of the parabrachial complex and related insular cortex induces concurrent conditioned place preference (CPP) in a naloxone-dependent manner. Furthermore, repeated rewarding activation of these regions generates tolerance, i.e., a reduction of the reinforcing effect. This study examined the effects of contingent and non-contingent stimulation in a CPP task. In the former modality, the animals can voluntarily select areas of the maze and thereby determine whether or not they receive stimulation. In the non-contingent procedure, the animals passively receive the administration of the rewarding electrical current while confined in the preferred place. Tolerance to the rewarding stimulation was observed in the non-contingent procedure, in which the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus (LPBe) was stimulated in a behaviorally passive task, but not in the contingent procedure. In contrast, no tolerance was observed in the group receiving rewarding stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus after either contingent or non-contingent brain activation. These findings are discussed in terms of the rewarding effects induced after contingent or non-contingent administration of electrical or chemical rewarding agents., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder in primary health care, and the evidence shows that there is suboptimal management by primary care practitioners, perhaps owing to difficulties in decision making. Because clinical guidelines can improve decision making and management, a clinical guideline to manage depression in primary health care was developed in adherence to the ADAPTE method and was implemented in the Málaga Primary Health Care District in Spain. This column reports on the guideline development process, which produced a set of resources to improve the quality of primary health care-based depression care in Spain.

The description and delimitation of species in an evolutionary framework is essential for understanding patterns of biodiversity and distribution, and in the assessment of conservation strategies for natural resources. This study seeks to clarify the evolutionary history and genetic variation within and between closely related octocoral species that are fundamental to benthic marine ecosystems for harbouring a high diversity of associated fauna. For our study system, we focused on members of the Gorgoniidae family in the Eastern Pacific, particularly of the Ecuadorian littoral, a less studied marine ecosystem. According to our results, the diagnosis of the genus Pacifigorgia is here amended to include species previously considered in the genus Leptogorgia. The genera Leptogorgia and Eugorgia are included within a single clade, and neither are recovered as monophyletic. In this case, according to the priority rule of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), our proposal is to include the species considered in these two genera in Leptogorgia. In addition, we found evidence of interesting speciation patterns: morphological differentiation with no apparent genetic differentiation (in Pacifigorgia), and inconsistencies between mitochondrial and nuclear data that suggest a hybridisation phenomenon (in Leptogorgia). In the first case, recent radiation, ancient hybridisation, sympatric speciation, and in the second, reticulate evolution may have contributed to the evolutionary history of the studied taxa. Therefore, incongruences observed between morphological and molecular evidences in these octocorals, and in corals in general, may reveal the types of events/patterns that have influenced their evolution., (Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The parabrachial complex has been related to the processing of both rewarding and aversive signals. This pontine area is activated after the gastrointestinal administration of rewarding nutrients, in taste aversion learning, and in response to the reinforcing and aversive effects of some drugs of abuse. Electrical stimulation of this region can induce, in different animals, preference or aversion behaviors towards a place in a rectangular three-chamber maze task. This study examined the effect of tiapride, a D2/D3 receptor antagonist, on the aversive or rewarding effects induced by electrical stimulation of the external lateral parabrachial subnucleus (NLPBe). As previously observed, administration of tiapride interrupted the aversive effect induced by NLPBe electrical stimulation. However, in contrast to the effects of dopamine antagonists on other rewarding systems, tiapride did not impair the place preference induced by NLPBe stimulation, an activation effect that is subject to tolerance. Tiapride administration also appeared to have no effect on the horizontal motor activity (crossings) of the electrically stimulated animals. We discuss the specific relevance of parabrachial reward with respect to other reinforcing brain components or systems, especially in relation to the preference effect of drugs of abuse, such as opiates, after dopamine antagonist administration.

This research explored the relationship between executive functions (working memory and reasoning subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Trail Making and Stroop tests, fluency and planning tasks, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) and emotional intelligence measured by the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test in patients with schizophrenia or borderline personality disorder compared to a control group. As expected, both clinical groups performed worse than the control group in executive functions and emotional intelligence, although the impairment was greater in the borderline personality disorder group. Executive functions significantly correlated with social functioning. Results are discussed in relation to the brain circuits that mediate executive functions and emotional intelligence and the findings obtained with other models of social cognition., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The parabrachial complex is known to participate in various rewarding and aversive processes, including those related to the learning of taste or place discrimination and the motivational effects of drugs of abuse, such as morphine. This study shows that electrical stimulation of the external lateral parabrachial (LPBe) subnucleus induces consistent place avoidance or place preference in three-compartment rectangular mazes. Administration of naloxone, an opiate antagonist, blocks both motivational effects induced by the intracranial electrical stimulation. Subsequent re-administration of the electrical stimulation was found to recover its aversive but not its rewarding effects after vehicle administration. These results are discussed in relation to different natural and artificial agents involved in the induction of avoidance and preference motivational processes, especially with regard to the opioid system., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Emerging fungal diseases are threatening ecosystems and have increased in recent decades. In corals, the prevalence and consequences of these infections have also increased in frequency and severity. Coral reefs are affected by an emerging fungal disease named aspergillosis, caused by Aspergillus sydowii. This disease and its pathogen have been reported along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Colombia. Despite this, an important number of coral reefs worldwide have not been investigated for the presence of this pathogen. In this work, we carried out the surveillance of the main coral reef of the Ecuadorian Pacific with a focus on the two most abundant and cosmopolitan species of this ecosystem, Leptogorgia sp. and Leptogorgia obscura. We collected 59 isolates and obtained the corresponding sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacers (ITS) of the ribosomal DNA. These were phylogenetically analyzed using MrBayes, which indicated the presence of two isolates of the coral reef pathogen A. sydowii, as well as 16 additional species that are potentially pathogenic to corals. Although the analyzed gorgonian specimens appeared healthy, the presence of these pathogens, especially of A. sydowii, alert us to the potential risk to the health and future survival of the Pacific Ecuadorian coral ecosystem under the current scenario of increasing threats and stressors to coral reefs, such as habitat alterations by humans and global climate change., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The parabrachial complex has been related to various rewarding behavioral processes. As previously shown, electrical stimulation of the lateral parabrachial external (LPBe) subnucleus induces opiate-dependent concurrent place preference. In this study, two groups of animals (and their respective controls) were subjected to sessions of rewarding brain stimulation daily or on alternate days. The rats stimulated every other day maintained a consistent preference for the place associated with the brain stimulation. However, as also found in the Insular Cortex, there was a progressive decay in the initial place preference of animals receiving daily stimulation. These data suggest that the rewarding effects induced by electrical stimulation of LPBe subnucleus may be subject to tolerance. These findings are discussed with respect to other anatomical areas showing reward decay and to the reinforcing effects induced by various electrical and chemical rewarding agents., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The insular cortex (IC) has been related to various reinforcing behavioral processes. This study examined the effect of electrical stimulation of the posterior agranular IC on concurrent place preferences. Two groups of animals and their respective controls underwent rewarding brain stimulation every day or on alternate days. While the rats stimulated every other day maintained their preference for the place associated with brain stimulation, those stimulated every day evidenced a reduction in their place preference, suggesting tolerance to the stimulation's rewarding effect. A 15% increase in the current intensity produced a recovery of the preferences of the daily-stimulated rats but had no effect on those stimulated on alternate days. These results are discussed in terms of the rewarding effects induced by different electrical and chemical rewarding agents., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The parabrachial complex has been related to various rewarding or aversive behavioral processes, including taste aversion learning and conditioned place aversion. This study examined the effect of tiapride, an antagonist of D2/D3 dopaminergic receptors, on place aversion induced by electrical stimulation of the external lateral parabrachial (LPBe) nucleus. Results obtained show that brain-stimulated animals avoid the area of the maze associated with electrical stimulation but show no such behavioral rejection when they receive an injection of 30 mg/kg tiapride. Furthermore, tiapride did not appear to affect the horizontal motor activity (crossing) of the animals. These results are discussed in the context of the different natural and artificial modalities used to induce aversive behavior and their relationship with dopamine systems.

Silver impregnation with silver-protein compounds is widely used for staining tissue sections and cell cultures. Some authors report that the results obtained with these methods have not always been reproducible because the reagent's composition varies according to the manufacturer. To avoid this problem in the method described in this paper, a silver proteinate, produced in our own laboratory is used. Although our method is based on Bodian's, the modifications we have made allows its use for both free-living cells (protozoa) and cells grown in culture (nerve cells). The significant modifications are 1) different fixation, 2) postfixation with Cajal's formol-bromide, 3) changes in the duration of the impregnation steps technique and 4) elimination of metallic copper. The method reported here enables us to use silver proteinate whenever we require it and to control the composition of the silver proteinate. This technique can be used for cells cultured in either plastic or glass.