Evidence-based treatment and implementation for early psychosis

The last two decades have witnessed enthusiasm and promise for early intervention services in psychotic disorders. In particular, treatments and treatment packages, called coordinated specialty care (CSC) in the United States, improve short-term outcomes when compared to usual care. This chapter provides an overview of key studies addressing the promise of early intervention services, organized around the notion of “before,” “during,” and “after” CSC care. Also included is a description of the challenges and opportunities of large-scale implementation of a multi-element CSC program in New York State, OnTrackNY, focusing on its attempts to optimize impact before, during, and after CSC treatment.

Corn Growth and Yield on Suboptimal Upland Soil After Amended with Biochar and Low Levels of Fertilizer in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Biochar is already well-known as a soil amendment material that has great potential to improve degraded soil properties. However, in order to maximize its role in improving important soil characteristics to support plant growth, it needs to be combined with other potential materials. In this study we are seeking a treatment package that is potentially useful and locally affordable. This experiment is designed to study the effects of biochar and low input of NPK treatment packages on corn growth and yield in suboptimal upland soil of West Kalimantan, and to study the impact of these treatments on some important soil characteristics. Four treatment levels were used: T0 (control), T1 (Biochar 5% (W/W), and NPK 300kg/ha), T2 (Biochar 5%, and NPK 600 kg/ha), T3 (Biochar 10% and NPK300 kg/ha, and T4 (Biochar 10% and NPK 600 kg/ha). Each treatment had four replications. The results show that total plant dry weight increased from 151 g/plant (T1) to 237 g/plant (T4), while total corn production increased from 12.9 (T1) to 15.7 ton/ha (T4). Furthermore, all treatment packages also significantly increased soil pH, C-organic content, CEC, and soil C/N ratios. Moreover, the content of N, P, K, in the soil by the end of the experiment also increased on average 163, 1143, and 432%, respectively. In short, all biochar based treatments significantly increased plant growth, yields, and some important soil charactersitics. We highly recommend T3, with lower NPK levels than normally recommended, as a treatment package to be further field tested in suboptimal upland soil in West Kalimantan.

Commentary on Hofmann and Hayes: The Water Looks Inviting, but How and When Do We Jump in?

In this issue, Hofmann and Hayes (p. 37) shined a light on our field’s lack of progress in reducing the prevalence and burden of mental illness and suggested that a paradigm shift is needed to make more rapid progress. They argued that empirically supported processes of change should guide treatment planning, rather than treatment packages. This approach should allow for greater personalization of treatment and more iterative treatment planning and should increase the scalability of our intervention delivery models. In this commentary, I discuss some of the difficult questions that will arise when trying to make the shift from treatment packages to process-based therapy and highlight some steps that we can take now to facilitate the shift.

Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapies for OCD

This chapter summarizes mindfulness-based therapies for observe-compulsive disorder (OCD). Mindfulness and acceptance interventions focus on the way in which individuals with OCD address or experience their obsessions, anxiety, uncertainty, and bodily sensations, and how this impacts their behavior. Mindfulness and acceptance interventions include a variety of procedures and treatment packages that center around the common goals of being open, aware, and present with emotional, cognitive, and bodily experiences that can otherwise derail intended actions. Although more evidence is needed, there is sufficient data to suggest that mindfulness and acceptance interventions are reasonable options for the treatment of OCD and related disorders. This chapter summarizes the theory and application of mindfulness and acceptance therapies and the data examining their use for OCD and related disorders.

A Multi-Purpose Finite Element Model for Flexible Risers Studies

The paper focuses on a Finite Element (FE) model developed at IFPEN, denominated 3D-Periodic, which is dedicated to flexible riser studies. It takes full advantage of the geometric and loading periodicities to reduce the model length and the CPU cost. The model is developed in a commercial FE software with dedicated pre- and post-treatment packages. The model can represent standard cyclic bending with internal pressure and axial tension as well as external pressures load cases to investigate the risk of lateral buckling of tensile armors or of pipe collapse.