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Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly important as a mean for quality assurance. Feasible estimates of recovery can be achieved through the application of Jacobson plots, which is a simple demonstration of the outcome of each case, recommended for clinical use. We applied this approach with PROMs collected regarding group psychotherapy in a mental health service (MHS) setting. We hypothesized a recovery rate of above 50% of all cases, expecting a lower recovery rate amongst patients with severe depression. We made a secondary sub-sample analysis of data from patients with unipolar depression (N = 171) within a pragmatic, non-inferiority, randomized controlled clinical trial comparing two cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) group interventions. The treatment consisted of 14 2-hours weekly group CBT sessions. We collected depression PROMs with the Becks Depression Inventory-II and functional levels PROMs with the Work and Social Adjustment Scale at baseline, end-of-treatment, and at a 6-months follow-up. At follow-up, 35% (N = 43/123) of cases with moderate or severe depression (BDI > 19) at baseline reached scores below the cut-off for moderate depression. Recovery rates in severe cases were significantly lower (26.5 vs 52.5%; p = 0.0004). We observed severe functional impairment in 36% of the patients at baseline (52/144) and observed no changes or worsening in scores at a 6-months follow-up in 44% of the patients (64/144). We achieved satisfactory remission rates for patients with moderate depression. Patients with severe depression and patients with functional impairment reached recovery rates below the standard of comparable MHSs. Improved MHSs for these patients are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy was the first Western country to be seriously affected by COVID-19, and the first to implement drastic measures, which successfully curtailed the first wave of the epidemic. To understand which containment measures altered disease dynamics, we estimated change points in COVID-19 dynamics from official Italian data. We found an excellent correlation between nationwide lockdown and the epidemic peak in late March 2020. Surprisingly, we found a change point in mid-April, which did not correspond to national measures, but may be explained by regional interventions. Change points in regional COVID-19 dynamics correlated well with local distribution of free face masks and regional orders requiring their mandatory use. Regions with no specific interventions showed no change point during April. Our findings of the observed correlation between face mask use and disease dynamics lend further support to the importance of face masks in addition to lockdowns and other restrictions for the control of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction to this issue of this journal that offers new and solid ethnographic research from a diverse range of geographic settings.

The article examines the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch preliminary investigations into the alleged deportation of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity by Myanmar's military leaders during army ‘clearance operations' in Northern Rakhine State. Topics discussed include the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA); and Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on the United Nation's Security Council.

Based on fieldwork in Ulaanbaatar, this article explores the spatio-temporal properties of debt relations in urban Mongolia. During socialism, relations of debt were mostly restricted to closed circuits of friends, whose exchange of objects and favours often stretched over a long time. With the transition to capitalism in the 1990s, both the number of debt obligations and the size of loans expanded dramatically, without being subject to similar curtailment or other formalization. The result is that ‘no one pays back what they owe’, as people complain. Departing from the seemingly peculiar fact that people nonetheless keep on lending others money – including debtors they hardly know or with a bad reputation – I argue that debt has acquired a gift-like nature in Ulaanbaatar, and show how the temporality of such ‘generalized debt’ is inseparable from the neo-liberal deregulation of residential spaces in this and other postsocialist cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies of the impacts of the EU on modern policies and polities evade investigation of the most detailed level of Europeanisation, that is, gradual legal changes. This seems odd as it is exactly these small gears turning that constitute perhaps the most real and concrete of all types of Europeanisation. This paper looks at a range of cash benefits in Denmark. Applying a novel framework of silent versus loud Europeanisation, it investigates how legal changes since 1972 came into being by digging into both the legal details and the preparatory and parliamentary work. The conclusion is that Denmark – often mentioned as an archetype universalist welfare state at odds with the European logics of free movement and non-discrimination – has indeed altered the very nature of its most universalist cash benefits, but these changes have been very gradual and have often not even been recognised as Europeanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photodegradation of carbendazim, diuron and terbutryn was investigated at controlled laboratory conditions under UV light and under natural sunlight. Demineralized water and two different waters from stormwater retention ponds were used. An observed decline in biocide concentration was related to the accumulated light energy during the degradation time. Diuron and terbutryn were degradable under UV light following 1storder degradation kinetics, while no significant decrease of carbendazim was observed throughout the duration of experiments. Photodegradation of diuron and terbutryn was slightly faster in demineralized water compared with pond water. The outdoors experiments showed limited degradation of the compounds for the duration of the test (8–17 days). The results emphasize the importance of water type, the wavelength and energy of the light when investigating pollutant’s photo fate. Also, this study indicates that photodegradation is not a major process contributing to the removal of carbendazim, diuron and terbutryn in stormwater retention ponds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The so-called Schengen compensatory measures such as the Schengen Information System (SIS) or the European Dactylographic System (Eurodac) have been the centre of much attention. However, the research on these security measures has focused almost solely on their effect on liberty, human rights, and the like. Not much attention has been given to the actual effectiveness of the security remedies taken in the European Union (EU) to compensate for the abolition of border controls, despite effectiveness being an obvious source of legitimacy in the realm of security. This article takes a first step in the direction of correcting this neglect and develops the foundations for an analytical framework focusing on effectiveness and legitimacy. The framework is illustrated through a minor analysis of the legal and institutional set-up of SIS and Eurodac as examples pointing to sources of ineffectiveness in the very set-up of the databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The interpretation of semi-quantitative methods has always been difficult, because the different kitmanufacturers use varying concentration values and there is a considerable overlap between kit-defined concentrations within the same kit (Kit: 'Ready-to-use' measuring system specific for each manufacturer's product). Material: More than 2000 private practitioners and laboratories participated in three external quality control surveys on urine-glucose performed with a total of six control materials with known concentrations. Method: The ordinal scale model for evaluation of dichotomous methods based on rankit transformation of fractions of positive results (Petersen et al. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 2008;68:298-311) has been extended and modified to handle semi-quantitative data. Here, the percentages of results larger than the kit-concentration is calculated for each control sample and applied as a dichotomous method. Thereafter, these percentages are separated into all the defined kit-concentrations. Results: A total of eight kits had more than 50 measurements on at least four control materials which made them eligible for the calculations of logarithmic mean and standard deviation and thereby geometric mean and coefficient of variation for each of the kit-concentrations of each kit. Based on these parameters, the true concentration for selected percentages of each kit-concentration could be estimated. Moreover, the percentages of the different kit-concentrations could be calculated for each known true concentration. Conclusions: The present model is a powerful tool for improved characterization of semi-quantitative kits, which makes it possible to evaluate and validate kits and to optimize external quality control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nearly 60-year-long fight by Burma's ethnic minorities for autonomy and ethnic rights lies at the root of the country's broader political and humanitarian crisis. Yet, in the outside world, this issue is often subsumed under the better-known struggle for democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. The present article seeks to redress this imbalance by directing attention to the numerous groups representing ethnic minority interests, the grievances and aspirations that motivate their struggle, and their own strategies for peace. It argues that in Burma's deeply divided society peace and democracy are two distinct challenges, even if in the long term they must go together, and it calls for the international community to help the country's ethnic groups prepare for future peace negotiations and overcome the debilitating legacy of war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, meiosis normally takes place in diploid zygotes resulting from conjugation of haploid cells. In the present study, we report that the expression of a constitutively activated version of the pheromone-responsive mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAP3K) Byr2 can induce ectopic meiosis directly in haploid cells. We find that the Ste11 transcription factor becomes constitutively expressed in these cells and that the expression of pheromone-responsive genes no longer depends on nitrogen starvation. Epistasis analysis revealed that these conditions bypassed the requirement for the meiotic activator Mei3. Since Mei3 is normally needed for inactivation of the meiosis-repressing protein kinase Pat1, this finding suggests that the strong Byr2 signal causes inactivation of Pat1 by an alternative mechanism. Consistent with this possibility, we found that haploid meiosis was dramatically reduced when Ste11 was mutated to mimic phosphorylation by Pat1. The mutation of two putative MAPK sites in Ste11 also dramatically reduced the level of haploid meiosis, suggesting that Ste11 is a direct target of Spk1. Supporting this, we show that Spk1 can interact physically with Ste11 and also phosphorylate the transcription factor in vitro. Finally, we demonstrate that ste11 is required for pheromone-induced G1 arrest. Interestingly, when we mutated Ste11 in the sites for Pat1 and Spk1 phosphorylation simultaneously, the cells could still arrest in G1 in response to pheromone, suggesting the existence of yet a third bifurcation of the signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parameters that influence the precipitation of the β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) inclusion complexes of the antimycotics miconazole and econazole were investigated. The mechanistic reason for the superior antimycotic activity of the miconazole inclusion complex was studied. The toxicity of the complex was estimated. The temperature, the buffer strength, and the effect of the addition of hydrotropic agents on the CD solubility diagrams for the antimycotics were estimated. The miconazole and the CD dissolution rate for the complex was measured. The hemolytic activity of the miconazole inclusion complex, the physical mixture, miconazole, and the nitrate salt were compared. The toxicity on TR146 oral cell layers was measured. Lowering the temperature meant that both complexes precipitated at lower CD concentrations. Addition of hydrotropic agents and variation of the buffer strength affected the solubility diagrams. The dissolution medium was supersaturated with miconazole. The supersaturation was not disclosed by the traditional method to analyze for drug supersaturation. The miconazole complex was more toxic to erythrocytes than the physical mixture. On the other hand, the toxic effects of the two products on the TR146 cell layers were similar. Lowering the temperature eased the isolation of genuine CD inclusion complexes of miconazole and econazole. The miconazole supersaturation is likely to be the reason for the superior antimycotic activity of the complex. The complex and the physical mixture had about the same toxicity on TR146 cell layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]