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We examined changes in mood and personality characteristics in a sample of cocaine-dependent women being treated in a therapeutic community (TC). Forty-six women completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) on admission and 12 months after discharge from the TC. On admission, the group was characterized by clinically significant scores on the BDI, HAM-A, and the MCMI-II Avoidant, Dependent, Antisocial, Passive-aggressive, Self-defeating, and Borderline scales. On follow-up, significant improvement in functioning was suggested by decreases in scale scores on the BDI, HAM-A, and MCMI-II Avoidant, Dependent, Self-Defeating, and Borderline Scales, but not for the MCMI-II Antisocial and Passive-Aggressive scales. These results suggest substantial positive effects of TC treatment on personality characteristics and functioning, but also indicate that TC treatment may not habilitate all critical personality deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Collaborative computing has attracted great interest in the possibility of joining the efforts of researchers worldwide. Its relevance has further increased during the pandemic crisis since it allows for the strengthening of scientific collaborations while avoiding physical interactions. Thus, the E4C consortium presents the MEDIATE initiative which invited researchers to contribute via their virtual screening simulations that will be combined with AI-based consensus approaches to provide robust and method-independent predictions. The best compounds will be tested, and the biological results will be shared with the scientific community., Areas Covered: In this paper, the MEDIATE initiative is described. This shares compounds' libraries and protein structures prepared to perform standardized virtual screenings. Preliminary analyses are also reported which provide encouraging results emphasizing the MEDIATE initiative's capacity to identify active compounds., Expert Opinion: Structure-based virtual screening is well-suited for collaborative projects provided that the participating researchers work on the same input file. Until now, such a strategy was rarely pursued and most initiatives in the field were organized as challenges. The MEDIATE platform is focused on SARS-CoV-2 targets but can be seen as a prototype which can be utilized to perform collaborative virtual screening campaigns in any therapeutic field by sharing the appropriate input files.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Background: Knowledge translation is attracting different professional, educational and institutional strategies mainly focused on how new knowledge should be tailored and transferred at bedside. Less attention is dedicated to the antecedent of knowledge translation, which is the availability of the knowledge itself. Knowledge diffusion is a process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels among members of a social system over time. Publishing in peer review journals is recognised as the main method for knowledge diffusion: nevertheless publication efficiency has received little attention to date., Objectives: Describing publication efficiency via nursing journals as the time occurring between data collection and manuscript publication was the main aim of the study. The secondary aim was to discover the differences, if any, in publication efficiency within manuscripts reporting results from different study designs., Design: A retrospective study design was adopted in 2010., Methods: The 2009 Impact Factor List of Nursing Journals published by the ISI web of Knowledge in 2010 was obtained. The first top ten IF Nursing Journals available as a full text and for which the overall ISI 5-Year Impact Factor was also available, was eligible. The articles published on paper by the selected journals, from 1st January to 31st December 2009, were then included. Commentaries, editorials and book reviews were excluded. For each article included, the following were evaluated: (a) the time occurring between each step of publication, from data collection to article submission, acceptance and publication online and on paper; and (b) the differences in the publication efficiency within articles reporting different study designs., Results: 1152 articles were included. From the end of data collection to manuscript publication online/on paper it takes an average of 981 days [CI95% 929-1032] (2.5-3 years). Meta-analysis and systematic reviews have demonstrated the fastest process, requiring an average 1.3 years and 1.9 years respectively. Case-control, cohort and quasi-experimental studies have required more time to enjoy publication in nursing journals, 4 years, 3.5 years and 3.2 years respectively., Conclusions: The production time of an article from its data collection involves significant processes and skills. However, the time may also be lengthened by factors not related to the processes of research, such as the time available to researchers. The scientific world needs to reflect on publication efficiency because lateness can potentially have a negative impact on patients and on further research. In the future, the same emphasis given to the evaluation of knowledge translation effectiveness should be given also to the complex process of knowledge diffusion, discovering facilitators and barriers., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: The clinical presentation of hereditary hemochromatosis has changed markedly in recent years. The aim of this study was to analyze a large series of consecutive Italian patients with hemochromatosis diagnosed between 1976 and 2007 to determine whether the genetic background and the presence of acquired risk factors influenced the severity of iron overload and the natural history of the disease. A cohort of 452 Italian patients with iron overload-338 HFE-related (C282Y homozygotes or compound C82Y/H63D heterozygotes) and 114 non-HFE-related-were followed prospectively for a median of 112 months. Alcohol intake, smoking habits, and iron removed to depletion were similar in patients with and without HFE-related iron overload. Hepatitis B virus (4% and 9%; P = 0.04) and hepatitis C virus (6% and 19%; P = 0.002) infections were more frequent in patients with non-HFE-related iron overload. Seventy-three percent of patients with HFE and 61% of patients with non-HFE-related disease had no acquired risk factor. Cirrhosis was significantly more frequent in non-HFE patients independent of the presence of acquired risk factors (P = 0.02). Sex, alcohol intake, prevalence of smoking, hepatitis C virus infection, glucose, lipids, iron-related parameters, and prevalence of C282Y/H63D differed significantly over the years. At enrollment, cirrhosis was present in 145 cases and was significantly more frequent in the first decade (80%, 47%, and 13%; P = 0.001). Survival did not differ across the decades in cirrhotic patients; hepatocellular carcinoma occurred similarly in HFE and non-HFE patients., Conclusion: Patients with HFE and non-HFE-related iron overload have comparable iron overload and similar clinical history. Patients who were diagnosed during the last 10 years and were not identified as cirrhotic at enrollment have less severe disease and lower prevalence of acquired risk factors, independent of genetic background.

Aim: To re-evaluate the diagnostic criteria of insulin resistance hepatic iron overload based on clinical, biochemical and histopathological findings., Methods: We studied 81 patients with hepatic iron overload not explained by known genetic and acquired causes. The metabolic syndrome (MS) was defined according to ATPIII criteria. Iron overload was assessed by liver biopsy. Liver histology was evaluated by Ishak's score and iron accumulation by Deugnier's score; steatosis was diagnosed when present in >or=5% of hepatocytes., Results: According to transferrin saturation levels, we observed significant differences in the amount of hepatic iron overload and iron distribution, as well as the number of metabolic abnormalities. Using Receiving Operating Curve analysis, we found that the presence of two components of the MS differentiated two groups with a statistically significant different hepatic iron overload (P<0.0001). Patients with >or=2 metabolic alterations and steatosis had lower amount of hepatic iron, lower transferrin saturation and higher sinusoidal iron than patients with <2 MS components and absence of steatosis., Conclusion: In our patients, the presence of >or2 alterations of the MS and hepatic steatosis was associated with a moderate form of iron overload with a prevalent sinusoidal distribution and a normal transferrin saturation, suggesting the existence of a peculiar pathogenetic mechanism of iron accumulation. These patients may have the typical dysmetabolic iron overload syndrome. By contrast, patients with transferrin saturation>or=60% had more severe iron overload, few or no metabolic abnormalities and a hemochromatosis-like pattern of iron overload.