Psychological distress of SARS survivors at 1-month recovery is real and significant. Negative appraisals may play a pivotal role in the development of psychological distress for SARS survivors, at least in the short term.

In February 2003, Hong Kong was hit by a community-wide outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). During the period of the outbreak, 10 patients with SARS with psychiatric complications were referred to our Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry Team for assessment and management. We found that both the direct and indirect effects of SARS such as symptom severity, total isolation during treatment and administration of steroid were probable causes of psychiatric complications. In this paper, we report on the nature of their psychiatric problems, challenges to management and psychiatric treatment strategies used during the acute phase.

Background: Halyomorpha halys (Stål), the brown marmorated stink bug, is a highly invasive insect species due in part to its exceptionally high levels of polyphagy. This species is also a nuisance due to overwintering in humanmade structures. It has caused significant agricultural losses in recent years along the Atlantic seaboard of North America and in continental Europe. Genomic resources will assist with determining the molecular basis for this species' feeding and habitat traits, defining potential targets for pest management strategies.

Being infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) can be a traumatic experience. Recent findings indicate that SARS survivors tend to report prominent distress after short-term recovery. This study aimed to examine the roles of appraisal and post-traumatic growth in explaining adjustment outcomes in SARS survivors. Fifty-seven Hong Kong Chinese SARS survivors completed self-administered questionnaires that assessed anxiety and depression symptoms, perceived health, appraisal, and post-traumatic growth. Results of regression analyses showed that factors of appraisal ('perceived impact' and 'coping efficacy') and of post-traumatic growth ('personal growth' and 'relationship growth') respectively accounted for a significant portion of variance in all of the outcome measures, after the effects of demographic and clinical features were controlled. Path analyses revealed that 'perceived impact' and 'coping efficacy' had direct and indirect effects on all outcome variables, whereas 'personal growth' only had a direct effect on depression. Appraisal and post-traumatic growth might be important constructs in accounting for differential outcomes in SARS survivors. Treatment implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Background The western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is a globally invasive pest and plant virus vector on a wide array of food, fiber, and ornamental crops. The underlying genetic mechanisms of the processes governing thrips pest and vector biology, feeding behaviors, ecology, and insecticide resistance are largely unknown. To address this gap, we present the F. occidentalis draft genome assembly and official gene set. Results We report on the first genome sequence for any member of the insect order Thysanoptera. Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Ortholog (BUSCO) assessments of the genome assembly (size = 415.8 Mb, scaffold N50 = 948.9 kb) revealed a relatively complete and well-annotated assembly in comparison to other insect genomes. The genome is unusually GC-rich (50%) compared to other insect genomes to date. The official gene set (OGS v1.0) contains 16,859 genes, of which ~ 10% were manually verified and corrected by our consortium. We focused on manual annotation, phylogenetic, and expression evidence analyses for gene sets centered on primary themes in the life histories and activities of plant-colonizing insects. Highlights include the following: (1) divergent clades and large expansions in genes associated with environmental sensing (chemosensory receptors) and detoxification (CYP4, CYP6, and CCE enzymes) of substances encountered in agricultural environments; (2) a comprehensive set of salivary gland genes supported by enriched expression; (3) apparent absence of members of the IMD innate immune defense pathway; and (4) developmental- and sex-specific expression analyses of genes associated with progression from larvae to adulthood through neometaboly, a distinct form of maturation differing from either incomplete or complete metamorphosis in the Insecta. Conclusions Analysis of the F. occidentalis genome offers insights into the polyphagous behavior of this insect pest that finds, colonizes, and survives on a widely diverse array of plants. The genomic resources presented here enable a more complete analysis of insect evolution and biology, providing a missing taxon for contemporary insect genomics-based analyses. Our study also offers a genomic benchmark for molecular and evolutionary investigations of other Thysanoptera species.

This study aimed to examine the short-term adjustment outcomes including distress, self-esteem, and quality of life among Chinese patients after 1-month recovery from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong and to investigate the predictive abilities of a set of selected variables on the outcomes. At 1-month recovery, 100 SARS survivors (mean age = 37; 66 women) and 184 community subjects completed self-administered questionnaires. In the General Health Questionnaire-28, 61% of the SARS survivors were identified as distressed cases under a conservative cutoff score of 6. Compared with the community sample, SARS survivors had significantly more distress and poor quality of life. Being a healthcare worker, severity of SARS symptoms, steroid dosage, and social support accounted for a portion of variances of different measures. Early psychiatric screening and intervention may be beneficial for the adjustment of SARS survivors after short-term recovery. Future research on the long-term impact of SARS is recommended.

In 2003, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) severely hit Hong Kong. We conducted a series of five studies examining the psychological impacts of SARS on the sufferers. Results showed that (1) various psychiatric complications emerged in the acute treatment phase; (2) certain types of behavioral and verbal responses of healthcare workers (HCWs) were able to ameliorate the psychological distress of the sufferers in the acute phase; (3) the short-term adjustment outcomes of the sufferers were unsatisfactory; (4) 'being an HCW' and 'having a family member killed by SARS' were risk factors predisposing individuals to the development of high distress after discharge; and (5) after controlling for the effects of demographic and risk factors psychosocial factors such as social support, negative appraisal (or perceived impact), positive appraisal (or post-traumatic growth) and self-efficacy could account for substantial variances of differential outcomes including symptoms of anxiety and depression, quality of life and perceived health of the sufferers. This practitioner report aims to summarize the key findings, which have significant clinical implications in the provision of psychological intervention to the sufferers of SARS or other comparable infectious diseases. Copyright

This study showed that the influence of perceived discrimination on recovery was universal and could be generalized across people with different psychiatric diagnoses. Multipronged stigma reduction interventions targeting the general public, health care professionals, and people in recovery, along with policies that avert discrimination and uphold human rights in health care settings and beyond, should be implemented.