Insecure attachment is associated with paranoia but not hallucinations in psychotic patients: the mediating role of negative self-esteem.

BACKGROUND: A growing body of research has investigated associations between insecure attachment styles and psychosis. However, despite good theoretical and epidemiological reasons for hypothesising that insecure attachment may be specifically implicated in paranoid delusions, few studies have considered the role it plays in specific symptoms. METHOD: We examined the relationship between attachment style, paranoid beliefs and hallucinatory experiences in a sample of 176 people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 113 healthy controls. We also investigated the possible role of negative self-esteem in mediating this association. RESULTS: Insecure attachment predicted paranoia but not hallucinations after co-morbidity between the symptoms was controlled for. Negative self-esteem partially mediated the association between attachment anxiety and clinical paranoia, and fully mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and clinical paranoia. CONCLUSIONS: It may be fruitful to explore attachment representations in psychological treatments for paranoid patients. If future research confirms the importance of disrupted attachment as a risk factor for persecutory delusions, consideration might be given to how to protect vulnerable young people, for example those raised in children's homes.

A novel agrosinters support growth, photosynthetic efficiency and reduce trace metal elements accumulation in oilseed rape growing on metalliferous soil.

Soil conditioners to fertilize, improve soil structure and support the phytostabilization of trace metal elements (TMEs) are being used more and more frequently. One of the options are agrosinters - slow-release ceramic fertilizers consisting mainly of SiO2, CaO, P2O5 and K2O, with an alkaline pH and high impact strength. The effect of two different agrosinters, A1 and A2, on the growth and physiological condition of Brassica napus grown in uncontaminated and Pb-, Cd- and Zn-contaminated soil was investigated in a pot experiment. In vivo data were collected using an infrared gas analyzer, a fluorimeter, a pigment content meter and a thermal camera. Elemental composition of the biomass was also investigated. The tested agrosinters promote biomass yield and have an effect on improving leaf chlorophyll content, phenomenological energy fluxes and plant gas exchange. The effect of the agrosinters on the plants was dose- and amendment-specific. An immobilization effect was observed not only in the soil but also in the plants. A reduction in the Cd (22%) and Zn (40%) content in the biomass was measured. All this was related to the effect of increasing the available form of P (50%), K (300%) and Ca (50%) in the soil, which improves soil fertility and reduces the bioavailable forms of the studied TMEs, due to the increase in soil pH and/or the complexation of these with phosphate compounds. The multidimensional analysis of A2 agrosinter shows the most positive effects on plant conditions, indicating that fly ash as a mixed substrate benefits the plants.

Cultivation of C4 perennial energy grasses on heavy metal contaminated arable land: Impact on soil, biomass, and photosynthetic traits.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of three C4 perennial grasses (Miscanthus x giganteus, Panicum virgatum and Spartina pectinata) for biomass production on arable land unsuitable for food crop cultivation due to Pb, Cd and Zn contamination. We assessed soil properties, biomass yield, metal concentrations, and the photosynthetic performance of each species. Physico-chemical and elemental analyses were performed on soil samples before plantation establishment (2014) and after three years of cultivation (2016), when leaf area index, plant height, yield and heavy metal content of biomass were also determined. Physiological measurements (gas exchange, pigment content, chlorophyll a fluorescence) were recorded monthly between June and September on mature plants in 2016. Cultivation of investigated plants resulted in increased pH, nitrogen, and organic matter (OM) content in soil, although OM increase (13%) was significant only for S. pectinata plots. During the most productive months, maximal quantum yield values of primary photochemistry (Fv/Fm) and gas exchange parameter values reflected literature data of those plants grown on uncontaminated sites. Biomass yields of M. x giganteus (15.0 ±â€¯0.4 t d.m. ha-1) and S. pectinata (12.6 ±â€¯1.2 t d.m. ha-1) were also equivalent to data published from uncontaminated land. P. virgatum performed poorly (4.1 ±â€¯0.4 t d.m. ha-1), probably due to unfavourable climatic conditions, although metal uptake in this species was the highest (3.6 times that of M. x giganteus for Pb). Yield and physiological measurements indicated that M. x giganteus and S. pectinata were unaffected by the levels of contamination and therefore offer alternatives for areas where food production is prohibited. The broad cultivatable latitudinal range of these species suggests these results are widely relevant for development of the bioeconomy. We recommend multi-location trials under diverse contaminant and environmental regimes to determine the full potential of these species.

Protease-resistant insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-4 inhibits IGF-I actions and neointimal expansion in a porcine model of neointimal hyperplasia.

IGF-I has been shown to play a role in the progression of atherosclerosis in experimental animal models. IGF-binding protein-4 (IGFBP-4) binds to IGF-I and prevents its association with receptors. Overexpression of a protease-resistant form of IGFBP-4 has been shown to inhibit the ability of IGF-I to stimulate normal smooth muscle cell growth in mice. Based on these observations, we prepared a protease-resistant form of IGFBP-4 and infused it into hypercholesterolemic pigs. Infusion of the protease-resistant mutant inhibited lesion development by 53.3 +/- 6.1% (n = 6; P < 0.01). Control vessels that received an equimolar concentration of IGF-I and the protease-resistant IGFBP-4 showed no reduction in lesion size compared with control lesions that were infused with vehicle. Infusion of a nonmutated form of IGFBP-4 did not significantly inhibit lesion development. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen analysis showed that the mutant IGFBP-4 appeared to inhibit cell proliferation. The area occupied by extracellular matrix was also reduced proportionally compared with total lesion area. Immunoblotting revealed that the mutant IGFBP-4 remained intact, whereas the wild-type IGFBP-4 that was infused was proteolytically cleaved. Further analysis of the lesions revealed that a marker protein, IGFBP-5, whose synthesis is stimulated by IGF-I, was decreased in the lesions that received the protease-resistant, IGFBP-4 mutant, whereas there was no change in lesions that received wild-type IGFBP-4 or the mutant protein plus IGF-I. These findings clearly illustrate that infusion of protease-resistant IGFBP-4 into the perilesion environment results in inhibition of cell proliferation and attenuation of the development of neointima. The findings support the hypothesis that inhibiting IGFBP-4 proteolysis in the lesion microenvironment could be an effective means for regulating neointimal expansion.