A decade-long study demonstrates that a population of invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) can be controlled by introducing sterilized males.

The release of sterilized insects to control pest populations has been used successfully during the past 6 decades, but application of the method in vertebrates has largely been overlooked or met with failure. Here, we demonstrate for the first time in fish, that a small population of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus; Class Agnatha), arguably one of the most impactful invasive fish in the world, can be controlled by the release of sterilized males. Specifically, the release of high numbers of sterile males (~ 1000's) into a geographically isolated population of adult sea lamprey resulted in the first multiyear delay in pesticide treatment since treatments began during 1966. Estimates of percent reduction in recruitment of age-1 sea lamprey due to sterile male release ranged from 7 to 99.9% with the precision of the estimate being low because of substantial year-to-year variability in larval density and distribution. Additional monitoring that accounts for recruitment variability in time and space would reduce uncertainty in the degree to which sterile male release reduces recruitment rates. The results are relevant to vertebrate pest control programs worldwide, especially as technical opportunities to sterilize vertebrates and manipulate sex ratios expand.

Leveraging Measurement-Based Care to Reduce Mental Health Treatment Disparities for Populations of Color.

Disparities in mental health treatment have consistently been documented for clients of color as compared to White clients. Most mental health care disparities literature focuses on access to care at the point of initial engagement to treatment, resulting in a dearth of viable solutions being explored to retain clients in care once they begin. Measurement-based care (MBC) is a person-centered practice that has been shown to improve the therapeutic relationship, make treatment more personalized, and empower the client to have an active role in their care. Problems with therapeutic alliance and treatment relevance are associated with early termination for communities of color in mental health services. However, MBC has not been explored as a clinical practice to address therapeutic alliance and continual engagement for people of color seeking mental health care. This Point of View describes several MBC features that may be able to impact current sources of disparity in mental health treatment quality and provides a rationale for each. Our hope is that the field of MBC and progress feedback will more explicitly consider the potential of MBC practices to promote equity and parity in mental health services of color and will start to explore these associations empirically. We also discuss whether MBC should be culturally adapted to optimize its relevance and effectiveness for communities of color and other groups experiencing marginalization. We propose that MBC has promise to promote equitable mental health service quality and outcomes for communities of color.

Can Measurement-Based Care Reduce Burnout in Mental Health Clinicians?

Burnout is a syndrome characterized by mental and emotional fatigue or exhaustion, depersonalization, and a lessened sense of personal accomplishment and efficacy. Burnout leads to negative consequences for mental health clinicians and for mental health care organizations. Measurement-based care (MBC) is a clinical process in which clinicians and clients use patient-generated data, also called treatment feedback, to collaboratively monitor mental health care and to inform goal-setting and treatment planning. We propose that MBC may improve the experience of care for both clients and clinicians, and ultimately protect against each of the three components of burnout. When combined with other organizational changes, adoption of MBC may support organizational level efforts to reduce burnout in mental health services.

Associations between neuroticism, subjective sleep quality, and depressive symptoms across the first year of college.

OBJECTIVE: Examine neuroticism's impact on the relationship between depressive symptoms and sleep quality during the college transition. PARTICIPANTS: First-year students (N = 302) from a southeastern university in the USA. METHODS: A longitudinal cross-lagged panel model assessed direct and indirect effects between self-reported sleep and depressed mood. RESULTS: Higher neuroticism was directly associated with both greater depressed mood and sleep quality. Poorer sleep quality was associated with depressive symptoms at baseline (ß = 0.250, [95% CI = 0.123,0.362]) and during spring semester (ß = 0.261, [95% CI = 0.126,0.383]). Baseline depressive symptoms predicted sleep quality during fall semester (ß = 0.140, [95% CI = 0.031, 0.247]), and fall semester sleep quality predicted spring semester depression symptoms (ß = 0.106, [95% CI = 0.007,0.201]). DISCUSSION: Neuroticism is an indicator of emotional distress and disrupted sleep upon college entry. Furthermore, there was evidence for both within time-point and prospective associations between sleep quality and depression symptoms albeit at different times throughout the first year of college.

Collect, Share, Act: A transtheoretical clinical model for doing measurement-based care in mental health treatment.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Psychological Services on Feb 27 2023 (see record 2023-49917-001). In the original article, changes were needed to correct the unintentional omission of noteworthy work in the area discussed and to improve clarity. In the fifth paragraph of the introductory section, the first two sentences have been edited. In addition, a full reference for Duncan and Reese (2015) was added to the reference list and text citations were added as needed throughout. All versions of this article have been corrected.] Regardless of discipline or setting, psychotherapists and other professionals working in the field of mental health care share one common goal: For the recipients of care to experience improvements that are meaningful to them. Measurement-based care (MBC) is a transtheoretical clinical process that uses patient-reported outcome measures to monitor treatment progress and to inform treatment planning and goal setting. Though ample evidence supports MBC as enhancing collaboration and improving outcomes, its practice is not the norm. One possible barrier to greater utilization of MBC in routine care is lack of consensus in the literature on what MBC is and how it should be practiced. In this article, we discuss this lack of consensus and detail the model for MBC developed by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) MBC in Mental Health Initiative. Though it is simple, the VHA Collect, Share, Act model is consistent with the best clinical evidence to date and can serve as a guide for clinicians, health care systems, researchers, and educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Characterizing fear of weight gain and sensitivity to weight gain in individuals seeking weight loss treatment.

PURPOSE: Weight concern, including fear of weight gain and sensitivity to weight gain, is indicative of disordered eating in individuals with underweight or healthy weight. It is unknown, however, whether or how these constructs present in individuals with excess weight, particularly among those with binge-eating disorder (BED). This study sought to characterize fear of weight gain and sensitivity to weight gain and examine their relationship with disordered eating and depression symptoms, in individuals seeking weight loss treatment, both with and without BED. METHODS: Adults seeking weight loss treatment in an urban primary care clinic (N = 131) completed the Eating Disorder Examination interview and Beck Depression Inventory. Height and weight were collected. RESULTS: Clinical levels of fear of weight gain and sensitivity to weight gain were present in this sample. Individuals with BED reported experiencing fear of weight gain (48.6%), significantly more than those without BED (20.9%); both groups reported similar and clinically elevated sensitivity to weight gain. Both constructs were related to greater levels of disordered eating and depression symptoms, at times based on BED status. Fear of weight gain was associated with overvaluation of weight and shape for those without BED only. Objective and subjective bulimic episodes were unrelated to fear of weight gain or sensitivity to weight gain, regardless of BED status. CONCLUSION: Fear of weight gain and sensitivity to weight gain were common in this sample and may be maladaptive, as evidenced by associations with elevated eating psychopathology. Future studies should examine these variables within larger samples and should employ longitudinal designs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level III: case-control analytic study.

Behavioral Responses of Sea Lamprey to Varying Application Rates of a Synthesized Pheromone in Diverse Trapping Scenarios.

Use of the first fish pheromone biopesticide, 3-keto petromyzonol sulfate (3kPZS) in sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) control requires an understanding of both how the amount 3kPZS applied to a trap relates to catch, and how that relationship varies among stream types. By conducting 3kPZS dose-response experiments over two years and across six varied trapping contexts, we conclude (1) that 3kPZS application is best standardized by how much is emitted from the trap instead of the fully mixed concentration achieved downstream, and (2) that 3kPZS is more effective in wide streams (>30 m). In wide streams, emission of 3kPZS at 50 mg hr.-1 from the trap increased capture rate by 10-15% as sea lamprey were 25-50% more likely to enter the trap after encounter. However, in narrow streams (< 15 m), 50 mg hr.-1 3kPZS generally reduced probabilities of upstream movement, trap encounter, and entrance. While 3kPZS significantly influenced upstream movement, encounter, and capture probabilities, these behaviors were also highly influenced by water temperature, stream width, sea lamprey length, and sex. This study highlights that a pheromone component in a stream environment does not ubiquitously increase trap catch in all contexts, but that where, how, and when the pheromone is applied has major impacts on whether it benefits or hinders trapping efforts.

Preliminary examination of metabolic syndrome response to motivational interviewing for weight loss as compared to an attentional control and usual care in primary care for individuals with and without binge-eating disorder.

Motivational interviewing (MI) treatment for weight loss is being studied in primary care. The effect of such interventions on metabolic syndrome or binge eating disorder (BED), both highly related to excess weight, has not been examined in primary care. This study conducted secondary analyses from a randomized controlled trial to test the impact of MI for weight loss in primary care on metabolic syndrome. 74 adult participants with overweight/obesity recruited through primary care were randomized to 12weeks of either MI, an attentional control, or usual care. Participants completed measurements for metabolic syndrome at pre- and post-treatment. There were no statistically significant differences in metabolic syndrome rates at pre-, X2(2)=0.16, p=0.921, or post-, X2(2)=0.852, p=0.653 treatment. The rates in metabolic syndrome, however, decreased for MI (10.2%) and attentional control (13.8%) participants, but not for usual care. At baseline, metabolic syndrome rates did not differ significantly between participants with BED or without BED across treatments. At post-treatment, participants with BED were significantly more likely to meet criteria for metabolic syndrome than participants without BED, X2(1)=5.145, p=0.023, phi=0.273. Across treatments, metabolic syndrome remitted for almost a quarter of participants without BED (23.1%) but for 0% of those with BED. These preliminary results are based on a small sample and should be interpreted with caution, but they are the first to suggest that relatively low intensity MI weight loss interventions in primary care may decrease metabolic syndrome rates but not for individuals with BED.

Evaluating harvest-based control of invasive fish with telemetry: performance of sea lamprey traps in the Great Lakes.

Physical removal (e.g., harvest via traps or nets) of mature individuals may be a cost-effective or socially acceptable alternative to chemical control strategies for invasive species, but requires knowledge of the spatial distribution of a population over time. We used acoustic telemetry to determine the current and possible future role of traps to control and assess invasive sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus, in the St. Marys River, the connecting channel between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Exploitation rates (i.e., fractions of an adult sea lamprey population removed by traps) at two upstream locations were compared among three years and two points of entry to the system. Telemetry receivers throughout the drainage allowed trap performance (exploitation rate) to be partitioned into two components: proportion of migrating sea lampreys that visited trap sites (availability) and proportion of available sea lampreys that were caught by traps (local trap efficiency). Estimated exploitation rates were well below those needed to provide population control in the absence of lampricides and were limited by availability and local trap efficiency. Local trap efficiency estimates for acoustic-tagged sea lampreys were lower than analogous estimates regularly obtained using traditional mark-recapture methods, suggesting that abundance had been previously underestimated. Results suggested major changes would be required to substantially increase catch, including improvements to existing traps, installation of new traps, or other modifications to attract and retain more sea lampreys. This case study also shows how bias associated with telemetry tags can be estimated and incorporated in models to improve inferences about parameters that are directly relevant to fishery management.

A portable trap with electric lead catches up to 75% of an invasive fish species.

A novel system combining a trap and pulsed direct current electricity was able to catch up to 75% of tagged invasive sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus in free-flowing streams. Non-target mortality was rare and impacts to non-target migration were minimal; likely because pulsed direct current only needed to be activated at night (7 hours of each day). The system was completely portable and the annual cost of the trapping system was low ($4,800 U.S. dollars). Use of the technology is poised to substantially advance integrated control of sea lamprey, which threaten a fishery valued at 7 billion U.S. dollars annually, and help restore sea lamprey populations in Europe where they are native, but imperiled. The system may be broadly applicable to controlling invasive fishes and restoring valued fishes worldwide, thus having far reaching effects on ecosystems and societies.

A direct-to-drive neural data acquisition system.

Driven by the increasing channel count of neural probes, there is much effort being directed to creating increasingly scalable electrophysiology data acquisition (DAQ) systems. However, all such systems still rely on personal computers for data storage, and thus are limited by the bandwidth and cost of the computers, especially as the scale of recording increases. Here we present a novel architecture in which a digital processor receives data from an analog-to-digital converter, and writes that data directly to hard drives, without the need for a personal computer to serve as an intermediary in the DAQ process. This minimalist architecture may support exceptionally high data throughput, without incurring costs to support unnecessary hardware and overhead associated with personal computers, thus facilitating scaling of electrophysiological recording in the future.

Medication Use and Metabolic Syndrome Among Overweight/Obese Patients With and Without Binge-Eating Disorder in a Primary Care Sample.

OBJECTIVE: To examine metabolic factors among overweight/obese individuals with binge-eating disorder (BED) and non-binge-eating overweight/obese (NBO) patients recruited from primary care and to examine and compare medication use by these groups. METHOD: Participants were 102 adults recruited for a weight loss study within primary care centers who were assessed for BED (28 [38%] met DSM-5 BED criteria). Participants completed a medication log, had physiologic measurements taken, and were evaluated for the presence of metabolic syndrome using 2 methods. Data were collected between February 2012 and October 2012. RESULTS: The BED group had a higher mean body mass index (BMI), a higher pulse, and a larger waist circumference than the NBO group. Of the sample, 65% reported current medication use (prescription and/or over-the-counter medications): 19.6% took 3 to 4 medications and 15.7% took ≥ 5 medications. Aside from vitamin and over-the-counter allergy pill use, there were no differences in medication use between BED and NBO patients. Full metabolic syndrome (≥ 3 criteria met) was present in 31.5% of the sample when using objective measurement alone, and 39.1% of the sample when defined by objective measurement and pharmacologic management. No significant differences were observed regardless of definition. CONCLUSIONS: Despite higher BMI, pulse, and waist circumference, the current sample of BED patients in primary care did not present with poorer metabolic health than NBO patients.

Reliability and practicality of measuring waist circumference to monitor cardiovascular risk among community mental health center patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of measuring waist circumference (WC) in obese individuals with severe psychiatric disabilities. Reliability of the measure and researchers' comfort were assessed. Thirty outpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited from an urban community mental health center and WC was measured using two methods by three different raters. Inter- and intra-rater reliability was calculated. Raters reported on their comfort with obtaining WC. There was good inter-rater reliability and an acceptable rate of error independent of measurement location. Overall, raters were not comfortable with the WC measurement process for multiple reasons and reported difficulty with the measurement process. Our findings suggest that non-medical staff can reliably and validly measure WC within a typical outpatient mental health treatment setting, but discomfort with the procedure and difficulty with the measurement process may interfere with this practice as part of usual care.

Unplanned extubation in the NICU.

Unplanned extubation (UE) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a significant patient safety and quality control issue. I describe the implementation of a quality improvement program using multifactorial prevention strategies, including staff education, identification of neonates at risk for UE, extubation and weaning, standardization of procedures, and comprehensive documentation. Additional research on quality improvement with strategies for neonates may prove beneficial in reducing UE rates in neonates.

Implications of weight-based stigma and self-bias on quality of life among individuals with schizophrenia.

Obesity has been associated with significant stigma and weight-related self-bias in community and clinical studies, but these issues have not been studied among individuals with schizophrenia. A consecutive series of 70 obese individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder underwent assessment for perceptions of weight-based stigmatization, self-directed weight bias, negative affect, medication compliance, and quality of life. The levels of weight-based stigmatization and self-bias were compared with levels reported for nonpsychiatric overweight/obese samples. Weight measures were unrelated to stigma, self-bias, affect, and quality of life. Weight-based stigmatization was lower than published levels for nonpsychiatric samples, whereas levels of weight-based self-bias did not differ. After controlling for negative affect, weight-based self-bias predicted an additional 11% of the variance in the quality of life measure. Individuals with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder reported weight-based self-bias to the same extent as nonpsychiatric samples despite reporting less weight stigma. Weight-based self-bias was associated with poorer quality of life after controlling for negative affect.

A potential case of peduncular hallucinosis treated successfully with olanzapine.

Visual hallucinations have a differential diagnosis, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric in nature. Described first by Lhermitte, peduncular hallucinosis is an uncommon etiology of visual hallucinations (VH). Typically, the offending lesion is vascular in origin and occurs at the level of the midbrain, thalamus, or rostral brainstem. Interestingly, the origin of the VH in our patient's case could have been either/both from an ischemic insult at the midbrain or compression of the brainstem due to aneurism. While evidence for treatment is scarce, we present a posited case of peduncular hallucinosis treated successfully with olanzapine.

Assessment of rates of overweight and obesity and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression in a sample of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.

OBJECTIVE: We examined rates of overweight and obesity in a sample of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans setting up routine care within 1 Veterans Affairs medical center and examined associations between weight and measures of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. METHODS: Retrospective chart reviews were conducted to collect data on weight and symptoms of PTSD and depression. RESULTS: Mean body mass index (=27 kg/m2, SD = 4.47) was within the overweight range. Veterans had rates of overweight that were higher than those of national samples of individuals in the same age group, but had lower rates of obesity. Measures of symptoms of PTSD and depression were not associated with weight. CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of individuals in this group of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans is overweight with rates consistent with the larger active duty population. Overweight was not associated with psychological distress. These data raise concerns for long-term problems with weight in this group of Veterans.

Association of prescription H1 antihistamine use with obesity: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The incidence of obesity in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. Previous research has shown several medications exert noticeable effects on body-weight regulation. Histamine-1 (H1) receptor blockers commonly used to alleviate allergy symptoms are known to report weight gain as a possible side effect. Therefore, we investigated the association between prescription H1 antihistamine use and obesity in adults using data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Adults taking prescription H1 antihistamines were matched by age and gender with controls and compared on the basis of body measurements, plasma glucose, insulin concentrations, and lipid levels. Prescription H1 antihistamine users had a significantly higher weight, waist circumference, and insulin concentration than matched controls. The odds ratio (OR) for being overweight was increased in prescription H1 antihistamine users. H1 antihistamine use may contribute to the increased prevalence of obesity and the metabolic syndrome in adults given these medications are also commonly used as over-the-counter remedies.

Monitoring the dissemination of peer support in the VA Healthcare System.

This study illustrates a monitoring system for peer support programs, focusing on Vet-to-Vet, a program for veterans with chronic psychiatric disorders. The sample consisted of 1,847 anonymous surveys from 38 veteran peer support programs. Program satisfaction and recovery orientation were positively associated with duration and frequency of participation in peer support. Program satisfaction was also associated with the Vet-to-Vet model and location at a VA medical center (vs. other model & location types). Payment for peer facilitators was positively associated with recovery orientation, spirituality, and engagement in meaningful activity. Additional research using experimental design methods is needed to determine the impact of peer support on mental health outcomes.