Objectives: As Ireland confronts the many challenges of broadening the introduction of early intervention services (EIS) for first episode psychosis (FEP) as national policy, this article describes Carepath for Overcoming Psychosis Early (COPE), the EIS of Cavan–Monaghan Mental Health Service, and presents prospective research findings during its first 5 years of operation. Methods: COPE was launched as a rural EIS with an embedded research protocol in early 2012, following an education programme for general practitioners (GPs). Here, operational activities are documented and research findings presented through to late 2016. Results: During this period, 115 instances of FEP were incepted into COPE, 70.4% via their GP and 29.6% via the Emergency Department. The annual rate of inception was 24.8/100,000 of population aged > 15 years and was 2.1-fold more common among men than women. Mean duration of untreated psychosis was 5.7 months and median time from first psychotic presentation to initiation of antipsychotic treatment was zero days. Assessments of psychopathology, neuropsychology, neurology, premorbid functioning, quality of life, insight, and functionality compared across 10 DSM-IV psychotic diagnoses made at six months following presentation indicated minimal differences between them, other than more prominent negative symptoms in schizophrenia and more prominent mania in bipolar disorder. Conclusions: COPE illustrates the actuality of introducing and the challenges of operating a rural EIS for FEP. Prospective follow-up studies of the 5-year COPE cohort should inform on the effectiveness of this EIS model in relation to long-term outcome in psychotic illness across what appear to be arbitrary diagnostic boundaries at FEP.

This case report highlights the genetic link associated with bipolar disorder and rising prevalence of such cases in Pakistan due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of the disease. It also shows that a family history of bipolar disorder is associated with more aggressive episodes, early onset, and treatment relapse. Further studies are warranted to fully understand the pathophysiology of genetic linkages causing bipolar disorder so we can understand the natural course of illness and provide effective treatment. We report the case of a 25-year-old girl who presented to the hospital with severe mania and had around 20 episodes of acute mania in the last ten years. Her parents (first cousins) and brother all had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Heavy metal toxicity in the soil causes harmful effects on plants as well as on human health. They are introduced into the soil by different means like smelting, burning of coal, and excess use of fertilizers, sewage sludge, and pesticides. Among different heavy metals Copper and arsenic are very important but their higher concentrations cause several morphological and biochemical in plants. They become part of the food chain when fruits and vegetables are grown in contaminated soil and can cause serious health issues to consumers. On the other hand, ornamental plants are used for aesthetic beautification and could be explored for the phytoremediation of soil heavy metals. A recent study was conducted to observe the phytoremediation potential of Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandifloras) and chrysanthemum against different levels of Copper (80 and100µg/kg of soil) and arsenic (80 and 100 µg/kg) in the soil under completely randomized design. Data of accumulated quantity of heavy metals were noted after the flowering stage of both plants by dividing into four parts including roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. Both Gladiolus and chrysanthemum accumulated significant amounts of Cu and As in roots, stem, leaves, and flower. Gladiolus and chrysanthemum accumulated 367, 456, 796 and 1278ppm Co and 356, 571, 832 and 1478ppm As respectively. Chrysanthemums took up significant amounts of Cu in the stem and easily translocated from stem flowers. The translocation ability of chrysanthemum was higher for both metals compared to Gladiolus. The data were analyzed by mini tab statistics 8.1.

Background: Burns are physically, psychologically and economically challenging injuries and the factors leading to them are many and under studied. Different studies have associated burn injuries with psychiatric disorders from different parts of the world. Objective: To determine the frequency of depression among the burn patients. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at the Pak Italian Modern Burn Unit, Nishtar Medical University, Multan and the Department of Psychiatry, Nishtar Medical University, Multan. Non probability consecutive sampling technique was used to collect the data from study subjects, which consisted of 150 patients of burn. All patients were assessed by a single psychiatrist on Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) scale for screening of depression. Chi square test was applied to determine association between the socio demographic factors of burn patients and depression. Results; Of these 150 study cases, 91 (60.7 %) were male patients while 59 (39.3 %) were female patients. Mean age of our study cases was 33.94 ± 8.88 years. The frequency of depression was noted as 88 (58.7%). Post stratification Pearson chi square test revealed significant associations between age (p=0.001), residential status (p=0.038), occupation (p= 0.000), etiology of burn (p=0.044) and duration of illness (p=0.000) with depression. Conclusion: A high frequency of depression was noted among burn patients in our study. Depression was significantly associated with age, residential status, occupation, duration of illness and etiology of the burn. Healthcare professionals treating such patients should anticipate depressive symptoms in these patients and treat them accordingly.

No abstract