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Background: Depression is a common mental disorder and is associated with work disability. For the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as Individual Placement and Support (IPS) for people with depression in Germany, the aim of this study was to investigate client variables that predict return to work., Methods: The sample consisted of 129 participants, initially treated in a psychiatric hospital due to major depression, who participated in IPS as part of a German clinical trial. Baseline demographic (age, sex, education, sickness absence days, employment status), psychiatric (symptom severity, comorbidity, general physical and mental health, disability), and neuropsychological (self-rated deficits, test performance) variables were included. Return to work within one year was predicted using separate and overall binary logistic regression analyses., Results: A total of 70 participants (56 %) returned to work within the one-year follow-up period. >100 days of sick leave in the year prior to study entry (vs. <100 days) and higher self-rated cognitive deficits were significantly associated with reduced odds of return to work within one year of IPS., Limitations: The sample consisted of participants with a relatively good work history who were assigned to IPS by the treatment team, thus, the generalizability of the results is limited., Conclusions: People with depression who participate in IPS interventions might benefit from specifically targeting perceived cognitive deficits. Factors associated with prolonged sick leave due to depression and their role in return to work with IPS need further investigation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Circuit implementations of neuronal networks so far have been focusing on synaptic weight changes as network growth principles. Besides these weight changes, however, it is also useful to incorporate additional network growth principles such as guided axon growth and pruning. These allow for dynamical signal delays and a higher degree of self-organization, and can thus lead to novel circuit design principles. In this work we develop an ideal, bio-inspired electrical circuit mimicking growth and pruning controlled by guidance cues. The circuit is based on memristively coupled neuronal oscillators. As coupling element, we use memsensors consisting of a general sensor, two gradient sensors, and two memristors. The oscillators and memsensors are arranged in a grid structure, where oscillators and memsensors realize nodes and edges, respectively. This allows for arbitrary 2D growth scenarios with axon growth controlled by guidance cues. Simulation results show that the circuit successfully mimics a biological example in which two neurons initially grow towards two target neurons, where undesired connections are pruned later on., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: The study analyses the number, characteristics and reasons for a length of stay of patients in German psychiatric clinics in excess of 6 months., Methods: The study was implemented in the form of a nationwide online survey, which was addressed to chief physicians of psychiatric clinics., Results: In the sample, 174 patients in 80 psychiatric clinics were identified who could not be discharged because no suitable follow-up services were available in the region. The majority of patients are male, often have an F2 diagnosis and exhibit aggressive behaviour during their hospital stay., Conclusion: To avoid inappropriate health care and prevent prolonged stays for a subgroup of mentally ill people, individual complex services should be implemented in community psychiatry., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in psychiatric and psychosocial services and their impact on the care of people with severe mental illness in two contrasting regions., Methods: Development and use of an online questionnaire (PandA-Psy) in Leipzig (N=50) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (N=126)., Results: In community psychiatric care, mostly comparable changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were observed in the two selected regions. These mainly concern the decrease in face-to-face contacts and group services, the increase in digital and telephone services, as well as the increasing constraints of staff. Differences between the regions are discussed., Conclusion: PandA-Psy was successfully used to map changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in psychiatric and psychosocial services in two areas. In addition to the predominantly negative consequences of the pandemic situation, we also found opportunities arising from the crisis., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Federal Participation Act state that all human beings have the right to choose where to live. This human right is compromised by the institutional limitations of the community psychiatric system, where persons with severe mental illnesses and with intensive support needs are often housed in closed (i.e. physically locked) living contexts. How can the concept of person-centered care help to solve this conflict?, Objective: Description of the nationwide situation of closed residential facilities and discussion of the person-centered approach as a solution to the problem of closed living contexts., Methods: Summary of current knowledge on the structural and procedural data of closed residential facilities in Germany, which were collated within the framework of the "Coercive measures in the psychiatric care system-Collation and reduction" (ZIPHER) study., Results: The empirical data indicate a great need for regionally based care of the target group and a lack of individual arrangements as alternatives to closed living contexts. The necessity for regional care obligations is highlighted by the example of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania., Conclusion: The avoidance and reduction of closed accommodation can primarily be achieved by individual arrangements within the framework of person-centered and flexible proposal landscapes. For this the service providers of integration assistance, including the psychiatric hospitals, must be committed to the care of all people in their region. An appropriate accompaniment and refunding by the service provider are also necessary., (© 2021. Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Objective: Description of the nationwide housing situation for severely mentally ill people (including substance dependencies)., Methods: Nationwide quantitative survey using an online questionnaire on structural and process data of residential facilities., Results: A response rate of 20 % was achieved, 11,881 open and 1,268 closed home places were recorded. The empirical data refer to a lack of individual arrangements after living in a psychiatric housing facility and as an alternative to closed living contexts - even today people are still accommodated far away from their home., Conclusion: The high allocation from psychiatric inpatient units to closed housing facilities shows that there has to be a better control of aftercare by the community psychiatry in general and the inpatient units in particular. Required are individual residential arrangements for severely mentally ill that are appropriately funded., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Description of the nationwide housing situation for severely mentally ill people (including substance dependencies)., Methods: Nationwide quantitative survey using an online questionnaire on structural and process data of residential facilities. The survey was conducted as part of the "ZIPHER" study (coercive measures in the psychiatric help system - recording and reduction)., Results: A response rate of 20 % was achieved, 11,881 open and 1,268 closed home places were recorded. The present results show that especially male people, who are 50 years of age and older and/or suffering from schizophrenia are living in the psychiatric housing facilities. Both the composition of staff members during the day and the presence of staff at night differ between the open and closed living contexts., Conclusion: The first nationwide results refer to a lack of data in the field of inpatient housing facilities and the need for a regionally based social reporting., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

NOV-002 is a glutathione disulfide (GSSG) mimetic with chemoprotective activity. Previous and ongoing clinical studies demonstrate a significantly improved 1-year survival and decreased tumor progression rates in non-small cell lung (NSCLC) and ovarian cancer patients when NOV-002 was included in cisplatin containing regimens. In order to understand this chemoprotective property, we employed as an animal model of kidney toxicity, 8-week-old Bl6 mice that were treated with a single nephrotoxic dose of cisplatin (15 mg/kg, ip) and sacrificed on Day 5. One group of animals was treated with NOV-002 (15 mg/kg, im) daily. NOV-002-treated mice had significantly lower levels of plasma creatinine compared to mice treated with cisplatin alone (4.7 vs 2.9 mg/dL, respectively). Moreover, NOV-002 protected the kidneys from cisplatin mediated proximal tubule damage, including dilation of tubules and the presence of protein casts. Since cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity can be mediated by a glutathione-platinum conjugate catalyzed by gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT) and glutathione is an endogenous substrate of GGT, the protective effect of NOV-002 in the kidney may be attributed to its ability to act as a competitive substrate for the enzyme., (Copyright 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)