Fraud and plagiarisim in school and career

Between 0% and 94% of university students acknowledge having committed academic fraud. Its forms are varied: cheating on examinations, submitting someone else's work, plagiarism, false citations, false reporting on experiments, tests or findings in the medical history and physical examination, unfair behavior toward fellow students, and many others. The consequences of academic fraud include learning corruption, useless efforts by students and faculty, incorrect performance evaluations and unfair selection for jobs. Since this can be a prelude to future fraud as doctors or researches, the prevalence, risk factors, motivations, clinical appearances, detection and prevention of the disease of academic fraud are here reviewed.

Subthreshold symptoms and time to relapse/recurrence in a community cohort of bipolar disorder outpatients

BACKGROUND

Researchers have previously found that persistent subthreshold symptoms increase the risk and shorten the time until an affective relapse in bipolar disorder (BD) patients. Research has mainly focused on patients from tertiary Care Centers in USA. We tested the hypothesis that even in a different setting, BD outpatients with subsyndromal affective symptoms would re.turn to a subsequent major affective episode significantly faster than completely asymptomatic at baseline. Secondarily, we analysed other variables related to time and risk to relapse.

METHODS

A community cohort of BD outpatients from Madrid (Spain) followed-up in a systematic prospective follow-up protocol for up to five years were evaluated. Patients in clinical euthymia at baseline were included and evaluated quarterly.

RESULTS

Initially, 225 patients were included in the survival analysis. Of them, according to predefined psychometric criteria, 163 were in euthymia (72.4%) and 62 (27.6%) suffered subsyndromal symptoms. Median follow-up was 157.6 weeks (95% CI, 78.14 to 111); 57.3% of patients experienced at least one affective episode during their follow-up. Median survival time to first affective episode was 109 weeks for patients in euthymia at baseline, versus 35 weeks for those with subsyndromal symptoms (p<0.0001). Psychosocial stress (p=0.003; HR 2.20; 95% CI 1.31-3.68) and the affective mood baseline state, subsyndromal vs. euthymic (p=0.046; HR 1.74; 95%CI 1.009-3.020), were related to time to first affective episode.

LIMITATIONS

Naturalistic study, some of the data collected were necessarily retrospective.

CONCLUSIONS

In Spanish non-tertiary psychiatric outpatients, subsyndromal BD symptoms and psychosocial stress at baseline predict earlier episode relapse/recurrence.

Syndromal and subsyndromal illness status and five-year morbidity using criteria of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders compared to alternative criteria

BACKGROUND

Subsyndromal symptoms have been recognized as relevant in the course and outcome of bipolar disorder (BD) patients. Nevertheless, their definition and cutoff points on current depression and mania scales are uncertain. The recently defined International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) operational criteria for the assessment of the course and outcome of bipolar illness have never been tested until now.

METHODS

A naturalistic longitudinal follow-up study of up to 5 years included a cohort of 317 DSM-IV-TR BD outpatients. For the first time, we assessed the proportion of visits in different affective states using the ISBD criteria. Secondarily, we compared the results with those obtained applying other cutoff points.

RESULTS

Patients were symptomatic in 39.1% (95% CI 35.3-42.9) of the visits. Subsyndromal symptoms, primarily subsyndromal depression, were present in 15.9% of patients (95% CI 13.4-18.4). No significant differences were found between bipolar I patients and bipolar II patients. There were differences in the total percentage of visits in euthymia depending on the cutoff points (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Applying ISBD criteria, bipolar patients have significant clinical morbidity and are often symptomatic, both with threshold symptoms and with subthreshold symptoms, especially with depression. The chosen cutoff points modify the apparent results.

LIMITATIONS

The cutoff points used have not been validated. Psychopharmacologic treatments were naturalistic.

Kaposi's sarcoma with an intense parasitization by Leishmania

Visceral leishmaniasis has been reported as a complication in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who live in areas where leishmaniasis is endemic or in patients who have traveled to these areas. Kaposi's sarcoma has been found frequently in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). We report a HIV-infected patient having visceral leishmaniasis associated with Kaposi's sarcoma in which a biopsy specimen obtained from a pigmented cutaneous lesion revealed the coexistence of a Kaposi's sarcoma pattern with Leishmania parasitic colonization.

Systemic anaphylaxis following parenteral orgotein administration

We present a patient displaying a systemic anaphylactic reaction after local infiltration of orgotein. An IgE-mediated mechanism was demonstrated with skin tests and specific IgE measurement. It is concluded that orgotein can rarely cause IgE-mediated anaphylaxis.

[Hepatic fascioliasis. Resistance to praziquantel treatment and the radiological findings]

We report a case of hepatic fascioliasis. Fever and epigastric pain was the clinical presentation. We describe the features of the ultrasound and computed tomography examination. Symptoms were persistent after praziquantel treatment. Bithionol was effective and cured the patient.

Growth hormone response to acute growth hormone releasing hormone administration in uraemic patients on haemodialysis

To examine the response of growth hormone (GH) to growth hormone releasing factor (GHRF) in patients on haemodialysis, we performed the acute GHRF test (50 micrograms administered intravenously as a bolus) in 10 uraemic male patients on haemodialysis and eight normal controls. Each patient was tested before and after a haemodialysis session (at 08.30 and 12.30). Controls were tested on the same time schedule. At 08.30, patients had significantly greater basal and peak GH values (2.5 +/- 0.6 and 27.8 +/- 5.5 micrograms/l) than controls (0.68 +/- and 11.5 +/- 4 micrograms/l). After the haemodialysis session, basal and peak values declined significantly (P less than 0.01) in the uraemic group (0.5 +/- 0.03 and 3.1 +/- 1.1 micrograms/l), whereas the controls did not show such a change in the 12.30 test. Basal and intratest glycaemic values were comparable both before and after haemodialysis. After dialysis test results did not change either with the use of glucose-free dialysate or with bicarbonate buffer. Uraemic patients display a greater GH response to GHRF injection than normal subjects, and this response decreases after haemodialysis. The degree of reduction has no relationship with either glycaemia or the dialysate buffer. We suggest that other GH secretion regulating factors are altered by the haemodialysis procedure.