Cognitive complaint inversely associated to UHR transition.

The aim of this study was to identify the impact of staging on a six-months transition in Ultra-High Risk (UHR) youth. Subjects were enrolled at assessment; evolution was monitored for six months. Clinical determinants (unusual thought content, perceptual abnormalities, cognitive complaint, etc.) were collected. 37 non-psychotic and 39 UHR subjects were included. 13 UHR (35.2 %) experienced psychotic transition, while none of non-psychotic subjects did log-rank p < 0.001. Self-reported cognitive complaint was inversely associated to transition OR 0.13 95 % IC [0.03-0.64]. Unusual Thought Content was associated to psychotic transition 0R 8.57 95 % IC [1.17-63]. Self-reported cognitive complaint could be a protective transition marker in UHR.

Staging's determinants in early intervention youth: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Since 2019 our early intervention unit has assessed help-seekers, mainly referred by psychiatric departments, and we have conducted a descriptive retrospective study. Our objective was to identify clinical determinants associated to staging at assessment for our three groups: "no psychosis", "ultra-high risk" and "first episode psychosis". METHODS: One hundred and thirteen participants (mean age 20.05±3.28) were enrolled, mainly referred by adult psychiatry (81.4%). We tested the association of each group with the following determinants: age, gender, family history of psychosis, referral (adolescent or adult psychiatry), cognitive, depressive complaint, cannabis active consumption, and current activity (scholar or employment). RESULTS: Multivariate analyses showed significant association with depressive symptoms (P=0.019) but an absence of family history of psychosis (P=0.002) or current activity (P=0.09) for "no psychosis" group. "Ultra-high risk" was significantly correlated with a family history of psychosis (P=0.001) and adolescent psychiatry referral (P=0.044) but an absence of depressive complaint (P=0.04). As for "first episode psychosis", we found significant cognitive complaint (P=0.026), family history (P=0.024) and current activity (0.026). CONCLUSIONS: As all our participants were seen in tertiary care, adolescent psychiatrists were more efficient in detecting a high-risk state. "No psychosis" help-seekers presented in fact mood issues, which have been confused with attenuated psychotic symptoms by their addressers, who have probably been misled by their absence of activity integration. High-risk and characterized psychotic episodes were logically correlated with family history. Surprisingly, "first episode psychosis" youth were currently integrated in scholarly or professional life despite an active cognitive complaint. Robust studies, especially prospective cohorts, are needed to test these associations.

Distinct Predictors of Clinical Response after Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation between Bipolar and Unipolar Disorders.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to be therapeutically effective for patients suffering from drug-resistant depression. The distinction between bipolar and unipolar disorders would be of great interests to better adapt their respective treatments. Methods: We aimed to identify the factors predicting clinical improvement at one month (M1) after the start of rTMS treatment for each diagnosis, which was preceded by a comparison of the patients' clinical conditions. We used the data collected and the method employed in a previous publication on 291 patients. Results: Although the bipolar group had fewer responders, these patients seemed to better maintain their post-rTMS improvement on anxiety and perception of the severity of their illness than those in the unipolar group. For the bipolar group, young age coupled with low number of medications and high fatigue was shown to be the best combination for predicting improvement at M1. The duration of current depressive episode, which was previously demonstrated for whole group, combined with being attached was shown to favor clinical improvement among the patients in unipolar group. Conclusion: We were able to define a combination of specific factors related to each diagnosis for predicting the patients' clinical response. This could be extremely useful to predict the efficacy of rTMS during routine clinical practice in neuromodulation services.

Morphological and molecular identification of specimens in the genus Euseius (Acari: Phytoseiidae) from the Republic of Congo.

The purpose of this study was to identify the taxonomic status of several individuals belonging to the genus Euseius, collected from three host plants (cassava, okra, and chilli) in the Republic of the Congo, using morphometric and molecular analysis. For this, hierarchical ascending classification on principal component analysis was performed using morphological measurements from 21 and 22 individuals of E. fustis and Euseius sp., respectively, with the original description of Euseius neodossei considered. For molecular analysis, two DNA fragments were amplified and sequenced: the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and the nuclear ribosomal region ITSS. This integrative approach found that (1) morphological differences existed between the Euseius sp. and both E. neodossei and E. fustis, and (2) both mitochondrial DNA fragments showed a clear delineation between Euseius sp. and E. fustis. The results obtained highlight the value of using integrative taxonomy to improve the identification of species in under-sampled areas and the need to increase the number of DNA sequences deposited in GenBank database from this region. This is the first time that DNA sequences of mites from the Congo (Brazzaville) have been deposited in this database.

Geographical differentiation of the molecular diversity of cacao swollen shoot virus in Togo.

The variability of cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) was studied in two areas of Togo with distinct epidemiological backgrounds, Kloto and Litimé. This molecular study was based on 120 sequence comparisons of the first part of ORF3 of the viral genome. The phylogenetic study distinguished three groups of CSSV isolates, A, B, and C, with clear geographical differentiation between the Kloto and Litimé areas. The only group detected in Kloto was group C, whereas the Litimé area only contained isolates from groups A and B, which most probably originated from Ghana. The divergence between the three groups strongly suggests a different origin for each of the groups.

Morphological and molecular diagnostics of Phytoseiulus persimilis and Phytoseiulus macropilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae).

This study focuses on the diagnostics of two natural enemy species, belonging to the genus Phytoseiulus in the family Phytoseiidae (sub-family Amblyseiinae): P. macropilis and P. persimilis. These two species are of primary importance in biological control all over the world. However, they are morphologically very similar and specific diagnostics is difficult. This study utilizes mitochondrial molecular markers (12S rRNA and Cytb mtDNA) to differentiate these two species. Morphological analyses showed significant differences between P. persimilis and P. macropilis for 17 morphological characters of the 32 considered. However, despite these significant differences, the ranges of all characters overlap. Only the serration of the macroseta on the basitarsus (StIV) allows the differentiation between P. persimilis and P. macropilis. Despite these small morphological differences, molecular results, for both mitochondrial DNA fragments considered (rRNA and Cytb mtDNA), showed a clear delineation between the specimens of P. macropilis and P. persimilis. This study emphasizes (i) that only one morphological character (serration of the seta StIV) clearly separates these two species, and (ii) the usefulness of an automatical molecular and simple diagnostic tool for accurate differentiation of the two species and ensure the morphological diagnostics. Further studies are proposed, including more DNA sequences especially for P. macropilis.