Abstract. Recent climate changes have increased fire-prone weather conditions in many regions and have likely affected fire occurrence, which might impact ecosystem functioning, biogeochemical cycles, and society. Prediction of how fire impacts may change in the future is difficult because of the complexity of the controls on fire occurrence and burned area. Here we aim to assess how process-based fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) represent relationships between controlling factors and burned area. We developed a pattern-oriented model evaluation approach using the random forest (RF) algorithm to identify emergent relationships between climate, vegetation, and socio-economic predictor variables and burned area. We applied this approach to monthly burned area time series for the period from 2005 to 2011 from satellite observations and from DGVMs from the “Fire Modeling Intercomparison Project” (FireMIP) that were run using a common protocol and forcing data sets. The satellite-derived relationships indicate strong sensitivity to climate variables (e.g. maximum temperature, number of wet days), vegetation properties (e.g. vegetation type, previous-season plant productivity and leaf area, woody litter), and to socio-economic variables (e.g. human population density). DGVMs broadly reproduce the relationships with climate variables and, for some models, with population density. Interestingly, satellite-derived responses show a strong increase in burned area with an increase in previous-season leaf area index and plant productivity in most fire-prone ecosystems, which was largely underestimated by most DGVMs. Hence, our pattern-oriented model evaluation approach allowed us to diagnose that vegetation effects on fire are a main deficiency regarding fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models' ability to accurately simulate the role of fire under global environmental change.

Objectives Veterans with serious mental illness are at increased risk of obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and a host of related chronic diseases. Although evidence suggests that lifestyle interventions can help mental health consumers achieve modest weight loss, several studies have failed to show a benefit and most have concluded that significant challenges remain in delivering effective interventions. In 2006, the Veterans Health Administration introduced MOVE!, a weight management program that includes behaviorally based dietary and physical activity self-management support. This article describes modifications used to manualize MOVE! for veterans with serious mental illness and reports findings from a randomized controlled trial of the new intervention. Methods Between January 2007 and June 2009, overweight or obese veterans with serious mental illness were randomly assigned to a six-month trial of MOVE! (N=53), which includes both individual and group sessions, or to a control condition that offered basic information about diet and exercise every month (N=56). Weight and metabolic, attitudinal, behavioral, and functional variables were measured at baseline and six months, and weight was also measured monthly. Results Thirty participants in MOVE! and 41 participants in the control group completed the six-month assessment, and only seven lost 5% of their baseline weight; there was no effect of group assignment on weight loss. There were no significant group × time differences in any metabolic, dietary, physical activity, attitudinal, or functional measure. Conclusions Despite the negative findings of this study, research is crucial to identify lifestyle interventions and related supports and services to help veterans with mental illness reduce overweight and obesity.

Objective The Family-to-Family Education Program (FTF) is a 12-week course for family members of adults with mental illness offered by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). This study evaluates the effectiveness of FTF. Method A total of 318 consenting participants in five Maryland counties were randomly assigned to take FTF immediately or to wait at least three months for the next available class with free use of any other NAMI, community or professional supports. Participants were interviewed at study enrollment and 3 months later (at course termination) regarding problem and emotion-focused coping, subjective illness burden, and distress. We used a linear mixed effects multilevel regression model to test for significant changes over time between intervention conditions. Results FTF participants had significantly greater improvements in problem-focused coping as measured by empowerment and illness knowledge. Exploratory analyses revealed FTF participants had significantly enhanced emotion-focused coping as measured by increased acceptance, reduced distress, and improved problem solving. Subjective illness burden did not differ between groups. Conclusion This study provides evidence that FTF is effective for enhancing coping and empowerment of families of persons with mental illness, though not for reducing subjective burden. Other benefits for problem solving and reducing distress are suggested, but require replication.

Results indicate that ESS was useful in helping to reduce key aspects of internalized stigma among individuals with mental illnesses and that advances in the delivery, targeting, and content of the intervention in the field may be warranted to increase its potency.