A series of benzofuran derivatives have been identified as inhibitors of fibril formation in the beta-amyloid peptide. The activity of these compounds has been assessed by a novel fibril-formation-specific immunoassay and for their effects on the production of a biologically active fibril product. The inhibition afforded by the compounds seems to be associated with their binding to beta-amyloid, as identified by scintillation proximity binding assay. Binding assays and NMR studies also indicate that the inhibition is associated with self-aggregation of the compounds. There is a close correlation between the activity of the benzofurans as inhibitors of fibril formation and their ability to bind to beta-amyloid. Non-benzofuran inhibitors of the fibril formation process do not seem to bind to the same site on the beta-amyloid molecule as the benzofurans. Thus a specific recognition site might exist for benzofurans on beta-amyloid, binding to which seems to interfere with the ability of the peptide to form fibrils.

A questionnaire assessing attitudes toward suicide prevention was constructed and shown to have satisfactory reliability and internal consistency. The determinants and distribution of these attitudes were investigated in four groups of health professionals who are in contact with suicidal patients: general practitioners, accident and emergency nurses, psychiatrists in training, and community psychiatric nurses. Attitudes toward suicide prevention were shown to differ significantly between professional groups. More positive attitudes were associated with mental health professionals, working in the community, and previous training in suicide risk assessment. Negative attitudes should be assessed and targeted in training designed to improve the management of suicide risk.

Training in the assessment and management of suicide risk can be delivered to approximately half the targeted staff in primary care, accident and emergency departments and mental health services. The current training package can improve skills and is well accepted. If it were to produce a modest fall in the suicide rate, such training would be cost-effective. However, a future training programme should develop a broader training package to reach those who will not attend.

Summary Background Rates of suicide among people in prison are elevated compared with people of similar age and sex who are living in the community. Improving assessments and interventions to reduce suicide risk requires updated evidence on risk factors. We aimed to examine risk factors associated with suicide in prisoners. Methods We did an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of risk factors for suicide among people in prison. We searched five biblographic databases for articles published between Jan 1, 2006, and Aug 13, 2020, and one database for articles published between Jan 1, 1973, and Aug 13, 2020. Eligible studies reported risk factors in individuals who died by suicide while in prison and in controls from the general prison population. Two reviewers independently extracted data for each study using a standardised form. We calculated random-effects pooled odds ratios (ORs) for the association of suicide with demographical, clinical, criminological, and institutional risk factors, and investigated heterogeneity using subgroup and meta-regression analyses. This systematic review is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020137979. Findings We identified 8041 records through our searches, and used 77 eligible studies from 27 countries, including 35 351 suicides, in the main analysis. The strongest clinical factors associated with suicide were suicidal ideation during the current period in prison (OR 15·2, 95% CI 8·5–27·0), a history of attempted suicide (OR 8·2, 4·4–15·3), and current psychiatric diagnosis (OR 6·4, 3·6–11·1). Institutional factors associated with suicide included occupation of a single cell (OR 6·8, 2·3–19·8) and having no social visits (OR 1·9, 1·5–2·4). Criminological factors included remand status (OR 3·6, 3·1–4·1), serving a life sentence (OR 2·4, 1·3–4·6), and being convicted of a violent offence, in particular homicide (OR 3·1, 2·2–4·2). Interpretation Several modifiable risk factors, such as psychiatric diagnosis, suicidal ideation during the current period in prison, and single-cell occupancy, are associated with suicide among people in prison. Preventive interventions should target these risk factors and include improved access to evidence-based mental health care. Understanding other factors associated with suicide might improve risk stratification and resource allocation in prison services. Funding Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration Oxford and Thames Valley.

INTRODUCTIONMany psychology students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level are required to conduct literature reviews. As often as not, little guidance is provided on how this task should be achieved: how the purpose of the review might be defined, what methodologies are available for the search, selection and analysis of relevant literature (and how to choose between alternative strategies to meet the purpose of the review), how the extracted information be best integrated or compared, and not least how the review should be structured and written.This report describes the experiences of the first author in the application of "systematic review methodology" for conducting a major part of her literature review for her PhD thesis. Whilst the systematic reviews methodology was originally developed for reviewing evidence on alternative forms of treatment of practice in the medical field, it is our belief that the approach has a much wider relevance to reviews conducted in psychology in which evidencebased comparisons are to be made. It is certainly the case that the strict systematic review methodology will not always be appropriate or practicable; however there are elements of the processes and procedures of the technique which may well be of use either to individual students or to teaching staff in advising their students on effective practice in conducting reviews. This short report has the primary purpose of alerting readers to the methodology and providing some personal reflections on its application. SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS IN NON-MEDICAL FIELDSSince the late 1970s, systematic reviews have been used in the medical field to provide evidence on the effectiveness of practice and treatment. The evidence has shown that much of what health professionals do is not derived from 'what works', but rather on what practitioners have always done. This finding is not unique to the medical profession, and also occurs in other professional groups including teachers and prison staff.The Cochrane Collaboration (named after the British epidemiologist Archie Cochrane) is an organisation which maintains and prepares systematic reviews of health care interventions and currently consists of approximately fifty collaborative review groups. More recently, systematic review methodology has been expanded for use with other research disciplines such as psychology, education, social psychology and criminology. This expansion has led to the development of two new groups: the Campbell Collaboration (a partner group of the Cochrane Collaboration, established in January 2001) and the Evidence Informed Policy and Practice Centre (EIPPC) at the Institute of Education in London. The Campbell Collaboration aims to synthesize evidence on social and behavioural interventions and public policy, including education, criminal justice and social welfare. The EIPPC has been awarded funding by the DfES to conduct a series of systematic reviews on education.In education, this new wave of systematic review methodology is due in part to changes in policy ...

Background and objectivesServices have variable practices for identifying and providing interventions for ‘severe attachment problems’ (disorganised attachment patterns and attachment disorders). Several government reports have highlighted the need for better parenting interventions in at-risk groups. This report was commissioned to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of parenting interventions for children with severe attachment problems (the main review). One supplementary review explored the evaluation of assessment tools and a second reviewed 10-year outcome data to better inform health economic aspects of the main review.Data sourcesA total of 29 electronic databases were searched with additional mechanisms for identifying a wide pool of references using the Cochrane methodology. Examples of databases searched include PsycINFO (1806 to January week 1, 2012), MEDLINE and MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations (1946 to December week 4, 2011) and EMBASE (1974 to week 1, 2012). Searches were carried out between 6 and 12 January 2012.Review methodsPapers identified were screened and data were extracted by two independent reviewers, with disagreements arbitrated by a third independent reviewer. Quality assessment tools were used, including quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies – version 2 and the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of parenting interventions was undertaken. A health economics analysis was conducted.ResultsThe initial search returned 10,167 citations. This yielded 29 RCTs in the main review of parenting interventions to improve attachment patterns, and one involving children with reactive attachment disorder. A meta-analysis of eight studies seeking to improve outcome in at-risk populations showed statistically significant improvement in disorganised attachment. The interventions saw less disorganised attachment at outcome than the control (odds ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.34 to 0.65;p < 0.00001). Much of this focused around interventions improving maternal sensitivity, with or without video feedback. In our first supplementary review, 35 papers evaluated an attachment assessment tool demonstrating validity or psychometric data. Only five reported test–retest data. Twenty-six studies reported inter-rater reliability, with 24 reporting a level of 0.7 or above. Cronbach’s alphas were reported in 12 studies for the comparative tests (11 with α > 0.7) and four studies for the reference tests (four with α > 0.7). Three carried out concurrent validity comparing the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) with another assessment tool. These had good sensitivity but poor specificity. The Disturbances of Attachment Interview had good sensitivity and specificity with the research diagnostic criteria (RDC) for attachment disorders. In our supplementary review of 10-year outcomes in cohorts using a baseline reference standard, two studies were found with disorganised attachment at baseline, with one finding raised psychopathology in adolescence. Budget impact analysis of costs was estimated because a decision model could not be justifiably populated. This, alongside other findings, informed research priorities.LimitationsThere are relatively few UK-based clinical trials. A 10-year follow-up, while necessary for our health economists for long-term sequelae, yielded a limited number of papers.ConclusionsMaternal sensitivity interventions show good outcomes in at-risk populations, but require further research with complex children. The SSP and RDC for attachment disorders remain the reference standards for identification until more concurrent and predictive validity research is conducted. A birth cohort with sequential attachment measures and outcomes across different domains is recommended with further, methodologically sound randomised controlled intervention trials. The main area identified for future work was a need for good-quality RCTs in at-risk groups such as those entering foster care or adoption.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42011001395.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme.

Descriptive validity is an important factor in assessing the transparent reporting of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Measures of validity in crime and justice have reported on this issue but there has been a lack of standardization in comparison to other discipline areas (e.g., healthcare) where tools such as the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement have improved reporting standards. In this study, we evaluate crime and justice trials from five different settings (community, prevention, policing, correctional, and court) and assess the extent to which they transparently report information using the CONSORT Statement as a guide. Overall, the findings suggest that crime and justice studies have low descriptive validity. Reporting was poor on methods of randomization, outcome measures, statistical analyses, and study findings, though much better in regard to reporting of background and participant details. We found little evidence of improvement in reporting over time and no significant relationship between the number of CONSORT items reported and size of the trial sample. In conclusion, we argue that the state of descriptive validity in crime and justice is inadequate, and must change if we are to develop higher-quality studies that can be assessed systematically. We suggest the adoption of a modified CONSORT Statement for crime and justice research.

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