A Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcultural Validation of Group-Based Psychosocial Intervention for Patients with Bipolar Disorder.

Adjunctive psychosocial interventions are part of the preferred method to treat bipolar disorder (BD). This study aimed to conduct a randomized control and protocol-guided trial, in order to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adjunctive group-based treatments for Chinese outpatients with BD. A single-blind trial in which 68 outpatients with BD were randomly assigned to either treatment as usual (TAU) or to an experimental group with 12 additional weekly sessions and 3 monthly booster sessions. Participants were assessed at baseline for mood condition, suicidal ideation, medication adherence, and quality of life (QoL), with follow-up assessments every 3 months over a 1-year period. The overall retention rate of this study was 89.7%. The results showed significant differences between groups for the variables evaluated, which included achieving euthymia, decrease of depression symptoms, and improvement of QoL. No improvements in medication adherence, reduction in manic symptoms, or suicidal ideation was observed. The results of this study support the transcultural validity and efficacy of group-based psychosocial intervention as anadjunct to TAU among Chinese outpatients with BD to promote improvements during the course of the illness including achieving euthymia, reducing depressive symptoms, and improving QoL.

Photocatalytic hydrogen production of the CdS/TiO2-WO3 ternary hybrid under visible light irradiation.

An attractive and effective method for converting solar energy into clean and renewable hydrogen energy is photocatalytic water splitting over semiconductors. The study aimed at utilizing organic sacrificial agents in water, modeled by formic acid, in combination with visible light driven photocatalysts to produce hydrogen with high efficiencies. The photocatalytic hydrogen production of cadmium sulfide (CdS)/titanate nanotubes (TNTs) binary hybrid with specific CdS content was investigated. After visible light irradiation for 3 h, the hydrogen production rate of 25 wt% CdS/TNT achieved 179.35 µmol·h(-1). Thanks to the two-step process, CdS/TNTs-WO3 ternary hybrid can better promote the efficiency of water splitting compared with CdS/TNTs binary hybrid. The hydrogen production of 25 wt% CdS/TNTs-WO3 achieved 212.68 µmol·h(-1), under the same condition. Coating of platinum metal onto the WO3 could further promote the reaction. Results showed that 0.2 g 0.1 wt% Pt/WO3 + 0.2 g 25 wt% CdS/TNTs had the best hydrogen production rate of 428.43 µmol·h(-1). The resultant materials were well characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-Vis spectra.

Occurrence of aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonists and genotoxic compounds in the river systems in Southern Taiwan.

Water and sediment samples from river systems located in Southern Taiwan were investigated for the presence of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists and genotoxicants by a combination of recombinant cell assays and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. AhR agonist activity and genotoxic response were frequently detected in samples collected during different seasons. In particular, dry-season water and sediment samples from Erren River showed strong AhR agonist activity (201-1423 ng L(-1) and 1374-5631 ng g(-1) ß-naphthoflavone equivalents) and high genotoxic potential. Although no significant correlation was found between AhR agonist activity and genotoxicity, potential genotoxicants in sample extracts were suggested to be causative agents for yeast growth inhibition in the AhR-responsive reporter gene assay. After high performance liquid chromatography fractionation, AhR agonist candidates were detected in several fractions of Erren River water and sediment extracts, while possible genotoxicants were only found in water extracts. In addition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, the typical contaminants showing high AhR binding affinity, were only minor contributors to the AhR agonist activity detected in Erren River sediment extracts. Our findings displayed the usefulness of bioassays in evaluating the extent of environmental contamination, which may be helpful in reducing the chances of false-negative results obtained from chemical analysis of conventional contaminants. Further research will be undertaken to identify major candidates for xenobiotic AhR agonists and genotoxicants to better protect the aquatic environments in Taiwan.

Randomized controlled trial of a brief intervention for unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized Taiwanese men.

AIMS: To evaluate the effectiveness of a brief intervention in hospitalized Taiwanese men to reduce unhealthy alcohol consumption. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Medical/surgical wards of a medical centre in Taipei, Taiwan. PARTICIPANTS: Of 3669 consecutive adult male in-patients, 616 were identified as unhealthy alcohol users (>14 drinks/week) and assigned randomly to either usual care (n = 308) or a brief intervention (n = 308). MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcomes were changes in alcohol consumption at 4, 9 and 12 months, including self-reported weekly alcohol consumption, drinking days and heavy drinking episodes assessed by 7-day time-line follow-back. Secondary outcomes were (i) self-reported alcohol problems, (ii) health-care utilization (hospital days and emergency department visits), (iii) self-reported seeking of speciality treatment for alcohol problems and (iv) 3-month Quick Drinking Screen. FINDINGS: Based on intention-to-treat analyses, the intervention group consumed significantly less alcohol than the control group among both unhealthy drinkers and the subgroup of alcohol-dependent participants over 12 months, on both 7-day and 3-month assessments. Adjunctive analyses of only those who completed all assessments found that total drinks consumed did not remain significant. Significantly more participants with alcohol use disorders in the intervention than in the control group (8.3%, 19 of 230 versus 2.1%, four of 189) consulted specialists by 12 months (P = 0.01). However, alcohol-related problems and health-care utilization did not differ significantly in the two groups during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Data from Taiwan confirm that brief in-hospital intervention can result in a reduction in alcohol intake by men who drink heavily or are diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder.