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Major strategic investments in infrastructures and equipment across four different areas have been outlined by the National Investments’ Program (PNI 2030) in Portugal. This paper in built on the environmental assessment study of the PNI 2030 and focus on its key methodological contributions and policy recommendations addressing the transport and mobility area that represents around 52% of the total investment. One innovative feature of the study is the multi-level system of indicators’ framework developed to assess and monitor impacts along time, within the scope of the five “Critical Decision Factors”, namely “Climate change and energy transition for decarbonisation”, “Territorial cohesion, mobility and accessibility, “Competitiveness and innovation”. Finally, the set of policy recommendations to promote a better incorporation of environmental and sustainability issues are outlined.

•The current study reviews the literature on psychosocial and psychological interventions to prevent and treat depression and anxiety in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).•Studies suggested that tailored interventions using group self-management techniques, and individual behavioural activation plus low vision rehabilitation can be effective to treat and prevent depression in AMD patients. One study suggested that a stepped-care intervention using cognitive-behavioural techniques can be effective to manage anxiety and depression over time.•Clinical practice with AMD patients can rely on some tailored cognitive-behavioural therapeutic protocols to improve patients’ mental health, but further clinical trials will generate the necessary evidence-based knowledge to improve those therapeutic techniques and offer additional tailored interventions for AMD patients.

Purpose: This study examined the moderator role of gender in the relationship between negative affect and eating psychopathology as well as gender differences in these variables. Methods: A community sample of 285 students (61.8% females), aged 13–25, was recruited in middle and high schools and universities. They filled instruments that assess negative affect and eating disordered symptoms (restraint, eating concern, shape concern, weight concern, and global scale). Results: Females scored higher both in all subscales and the global scale of eating psychopathology. The restraint subscale was the only subscale showing non-significant differences between females and males. Controlling for BMI, moderation analyses revealed that gender moderated the relationship between negative affect and eating psychopathology, except for restraint behavior. Conclusions: To deal with negative affect, females engage in more cognitive symptoms associated with disordered eating than males, but both endorse equally in eating restraint. These findings suggest that interventions focused on emotion regulation could help to reduce eating disordered symptoms among females and males. Level of evidence: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

Described as a contextual behavioural approach, Compassion-focused Therapy (CFT) aims at helping people develop compassionate relationships both with others and with the self. CFT has been used to promote recovery in psychosis with promising results. The development process of the Compassionate Approach to Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder (COMPASS) builds upon the available research on contextual behavioural approaches for psychosis. Its main framework is the affect regulation system's model and the compassion-focused therapy rationale as it was adapted for psychosis. Other theoretical and empirical influences are presented and innovations regarding CFT protocols for psychosis are highlighted. COMPASS is already being studied and details on the pilot study are provided. With further study and continuing improvement COMPASS has the potential to help foster recovery in psychosis.

Abstract.Considering several etiologic, therapeutic, and comorbidity-related factors, a psychosis continuum model has been proposed for the understanding and treatment of psychotic disorders. Within the new emerging treatment approaches, Contextual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CCBT) seem to hold promise for the psychosis continuum. However, considering their novelty for this specific population, the quality of efficacy evidence remains unclear. Objective: To examine, critically analyze, and summarize the results from studies based on therapeutic models within the CCBT approach (Mindfulness and Acceptance-based interventions, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Metacognitive Therapy) for patients with a diagnosis within the psychosis continuum (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder). Methods: Three leading electronic databases (MEDLINE/PUBMED; PsycINFO; Cochrane Library), a grey literature database (OpenGrey), and registered clinical trials (ClinicalTrials.Gov) were searched using combinations of key terms regarding the CCBT models and the diagnosis considered. Reference lists of the relevant studies and reviews were searched. Only Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) were included. The “Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool” was used for quality assessment. Results: A total of 17 articles were included. This review was based on a majority of unclear or low risk of bias studies. Benefits regarding clinical variables such as psychotic symptoms, anxiety and depression, functioning or quality of life were found. Conclusion: Overall the studies supported some benefits of CCBT approaches for the psychosis continuum. The conceptual perspective on treatment has changed, nevertheless the outcomes assessed are still symptom-focused and there is still need for improvement. Methodological considerations and future directions are presented.

: To investigate the predictive/protective role of negative affect/positive affect in late pregnancy on the outcome of postpartum depression.

The instability of fixation with central scotoma has been mainly studied in patients with age-related macular diseases (MDs). However, early macular lesions can lead to different characteristics of fixation. The aim of this work was to study fixation in patients with juvenile MD.

Several observations point to the involvement of disturbed lipid biology in schizophrenia. Reduced response to niacin flushing test, which involves vasodilatation induced by prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), is among the evidences, together with decreased CSF levels of lipocalin‐type prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of PGD2 in the brain. Since PTGDS is also a carrier for lipophilic molecules such as retinoids and thyroid hormones, altered PTGDS levels might influence both PGD2‐mediated signaling, and vitamin A and thyroid hormone availability. To test whether genetic variants of PTGDS are involved in the etiology of schizophrenia, we searched for variants in the coding and regulatory regions of the gene. We identified four previously described polymorphisms. Using two case‐control samples from Portugal and Brazil, none of the polymorphisms tested was associated with the disease. In addition, no transmission distortion was observed in an independent parents‐offspring sample from the Azorean Islands. Our data do not support the involvement of the PTGDS gene in the etiology of schizophrenia. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

The present study investigates the association of mutations in the nuclear receptor NR4A2 in schizophrenic patients. The human Nur‐related receptor 1, NR4A2, is an orphan nuclear receptor that can be constitutively active as a transcription factor and for which no natural ligand has yet been identified. Alone or with retinoid X receptor, RXR, NR4A2 influences the expression of several genes important for human brain development and regulation. In the absence of Nurr1 (the mouse homologue to human NR4A2), ventral mesencephalic dopaminergic mouse neurons evidence severe developmental failure, a condition that is lethal soon after birth. Nurr1 involvement in the dopaminergic system makes it a good candidate for study in neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and Parkinson disease. Evidence by others support this hypothesis (1) mapping of the NR4A2 gene to chromosome 2q22‐23, a region with suggestive linkage to schizophrenia and (2) identification of mutations in patients with schizophrenia (c.366‐369delTAC, c.308A > G, c.‐469delG), manic depression (c.289A > G), and familial Parkinson's disease (c.‐291delT, c.‐245T > G). To further extend these observations, we searched for all these mutations in 176 Caucasian Portuguese and 82 Caucasian Brazilian subjects with lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia. The study failed to identify any of the described mutations in patients or controls. Nevertheless, these negative results do not exclude altered expression of nuclear receptors in schizophrenia or the presence of other mutations. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

During pregnancy, obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and disorder are underdiagnosed and undertreated. The Prenatal Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (PreOCS; Lord, Rieder, Hall, Soares, & Steiner, 2011) is the only self-report questionnaire that evaluates the severity and interference of specific pregnancy-related obsessions and compulsions. We aimed to analyze the validity and reliability of the PreOCS Portuguese version and to describe the prevalence, content, severity, interference, and onset of OC symptoms in pregnancy. Three hundred fifty-five pregnant women completed the PreOCS and other self-report instruments to evaluate perinatal anxiety and depression. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a second-order model presented an acceptable fit. Cronbach's alphas were ≥.75 for the Severity and the Interference subscales and both were moderately correlated with depression and anxiety measures. Nearly 10% of the women presented OC symptoms with relevant severity. Co-occurrence of obsessions and compulsions (44.4%) was associated with significantly higher PreOCS scores. Obsessions about contamination, harm to the baby, others' judgment and baby's health presented the highest prevalence and increased the odds of having at least one compulsion. Searching for information, asking for reassurance, checking, and cleaning were the most reported compulsions. The Portuguese version of PreOCS has good psychometric properties, presenting itself as a valid and reliable instrument.