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A cluster of 18 scarlet fever cases and large illness absenteeism (32%, 58/184) in a school prompted concern and further investigation. We conducted telephone interviews with parents to ascertain cases and better comprehend parents' views. We identified 19 cases, of which 13 reported scarlet fever diagnosis by a physician and only seven fulfilled the probable case definition. We concluded that the outbreak was far smaller than suspected and found that communication and reporting could be improved. Accurate information and communication is essential in an outbreak; the school's concern could have been alleviated sooner and response measures better targeted.
Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a rare congenital heart defect. We report an infant with a mixed form of supracardiac TAPVC, in whom all pulmonary veins, except the right upper, entered a pulmonary venous confluence that is connected to a vertical vein and drained into the superior vena caval–right atrial junction. Several segmental right upper pulmonary veins entered the superior vena cava, superior to the entry of the vertical vein. Surgical repair consisted of the Warden procedure combined with direct anastomosis of the vertical vein to the left atrium. Separate pulmonary venous drainage pathways decreased the risk of post-operative pulmonary venous obstruction. Our patient had an uneventful post-operative course and encouraging 2-month follow-up echocardiography. Careful follow-up is warranted to detect post-operative complications, including obstruction of the pulmonary venous and cavoatrial anastomoses.
Tobacco smoking remains one of the leading causes of preventable illness and death and is heritable with complex underpinnings. Converging evidence suggests a contribution of the polygenic risk for smoking to the use of tobacco and other substances. Yet, the underlying brain mechanisms between the genetic risk and tobacco smoking remain poorly understood.
Methods
Genomic, neuroimaging, and self-report data were acquired from a large cohort of adolescents from the IMAGEN study (a European multicenter study). Polygenic risk scores (PGRS) for smoking were calculated based on a genome-wide association study meta-analysis conducted by the Tobacco and Genetics Consortium. We examined the interrelationships among the genetic risk for smoking initiation, brain structure, and the number of occasions of tobacco use.
Results
A higher smoking PGRS was significantly associated with both an increased number of occasions of tobacco use and smaller cortical volume of the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Furthermore, reduced cortical volume within this cluster correlated with greater tobacco use. A subsequent path analysis suggested that the cortical volume within this cluster partially mediated the association between the genetic risk for smoking and the number of occasions of tobacco use.
Conclusions
Our data provide the first evidence for the involvement of the OFC in the relationship between smoking PGRS and tobacco use. Future studies of the molecular mechanisms underlying tobacco smoking should consider the mediation effect of the related neural structure.
Working consistently through one's early 60s is key to retirement security. However, workers without access to retirement plans and health insurance will likely struggle to achieve such security. This paper uses the Health and Retirement Study to identify nontraditional jobs – which lack these benefits – and applies sequence analysis to explore how workers aged 50–62 use them. The results suggest that most nontraditional jobs are used by workers consistently, and that fewer workers use these jobs briefly or as a bridge to retirement. Workers consistently in nontraditional jobs end up with less retirement income and are more likely to be depressed.
La schizophrénie reste une pathologie invalidante malgré une prise en charge médicamenteuse efficace. Il importe de développer d’autres stratégies adjuvantes efficaces sur les symptômes de la maladie en limitant les effets secondaires des traitements pharmacologiques. L’efficacité des activités physiques dans le traitement de la schizophrénie n’est pas démontrée mais des travaux soulignent des bénéfices sur les symptômes négatifs et dépressifs [1,2].
Objectif
Nous souhaitons évaluer l’impact clinique d’un programme d’activité physique sur une population de sujets atteints de schizophrénie.
Méthode
Un programme d’activités physiques supervisé par deux moniteurs a été élaboré. Il comprend une heure de multi-activités, 2 fois par semaine, pendant 12 semaines. L’intensité minimale de chaque séance était fixée à 50 % de la fréquence cardiaque de réserve. Des mesures comprenant les échelles PANSS, SANS, SAPS, CDSS, S-QoL, un bilan anthropométrique et biologique ont été réalisés à S 0, S 6, S 12 et S 16.
Résultats
Deux groupes de 5 patients (n = 10) ont réalisé le programme. Une amélioration clinique est retrouvée sur l’ensemble des échelles utilisées entre S 0 et S 16. Les changements observés ne sont pas en faveur d’une amélioration du syndrome métabolique et nous notons une prise de poids des sujets sur la période de l’étude. Le traitement statistique des données présente des résultats non significatifs (p > 0,05).
La couverture médiatique d’un fait suicidaire influence le taux de suicide par le biais d’un effet d’incitation, aussi nommé « effet Werther » (EW) ou d’un potentiel rôle préventif via « l’effet Papageno » (EP) . L’objectif du programme national français Papageno est d’améliorer les propriétés qualitatives du contenu médiatique dont dépendent principalement l’EW et l’EP, via l’application des recommandations de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) pour un traitement journalistique plus responsable du suicide. L’évaluation de l’efficacité du programme est donc un enjeu de prévention qui nécessite un outil d’analyse fidèle à ces recommandations.
Objectifs
Élaborer et valider une grille d’analyse qualitative permettant, pour chaque article de presse traitant du suicide, de mesurer le degré de compliance aux recommandations de l’OMS et de quantifier le risque d’EW et le potentiel EP.
Méthode
La grille d’évaluation PReSS (Print media Reporting on Suicide Scale) combine 10 items descriptifs et 19 items qualitatifs issus de l’opérationnalisation des 11 recommandations de l’OMS. La validation de la fiabilité interjuges a été obtenue par séries de double cotation-correction de 25 articles traitant du suicide. Les critères de satisfaction des items ont été affinés après chaque série jusqu’à obtention d’un coefficient de kappa ≥ 0.7 pour chacun. À titre d’illustration, le traitement médiatique du supposé suicide du pilote d’avion A. Lubitz en mars 2015 a été analysé grâce à la PReSS.
Résultats
Trois séries de cotation-correction ont été nécessaires pour valider la grille. L’analyse de la couverture du suicide présumé d’A. Lubitz montre un compliance faible aux recommandations, un score Papageno bas et un score Werther élevé.
Conclusion
La grille d’évaluation PReSS est un outil fiable et utile pour mesurer la compliance aux recommandations de l’OMS concernant la couverture médiatique du suicide.
L’accès aux soins des personnes à risque constitue un pilier essentiel de la prévention du suicide. Cependant, les idées reçues véhiculées autour des conduites suicidaires y opposent un obstacle significatif. Afin de cibler au mieux les campagnes d’information qui dissiperaient ces mythes, et pour en évaluer l’efficacité, les connaissances sur le suicide devraient pouvoir être quantifiées de façon fiable. À ce jour, seules quelques études anglo-saxonnes dédiées ont été validées. La limite décisive à leur interprétation tient cependant à ce qu’elles ne permettent pas d’approche normative. En effet, l’exactitude de leurs propositions n’est validée par aucun étalon officiel, alors même que certaines relèvent plus de l’expérience clinique que de connaissances issues de la littérature. Notre objectif consiste à palier cette limite en proposant une échelle dont la cotation est adaptée à l’évaluation d’un savoir normé. Le Questionnaire d’Évaluation des Connaissances sur le Suicide (QECS) est un auto-questionnaire qui explore, en 35 items, les principales connaissances relatives à l’épidémiologie et aux mythes communs concernant le suicide. Les réponses y sont recueillies par échelle visuelle analogique. La cotation finale se fait en confrontant ces réponses à celles d’un panel de référence constitué de spécialistes en suicidologie (n = 47). Nous présentons ici les résultats de ce panel, ainsi qu’une illustration des potentialités d’interprétation du QECS, via l’évaluation des connaissances d’un échantillon test d’étudiants en journalisme (n = 111). Les réponses du panel de référence étaient significativement différentes de « ni accord, ni désaccord » pour 27 des 29 items dédiés aux mythes. Pour 25 de ces items, une différence significative était retrouvée entre l’échantillon test et le panel de référence. Ainsi attestée, l’existence d’un avis expertal spécifique a servi d’étalon pour 2 modes de cotation des réponses de l’échantillon test : un score de véracité et un score de concordance aux experts.
Childhood maltreatment (CM) plays an important role in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). The aim of this study was to examine whether CM severity and type are associated with MDD-related brain alterations, and how they interact with sex and age.
Methods
Within the ENIGMA-MDD network, severity and subtypes of CM using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were assessed and structural magnetic resonance imaging data from patients with MDD and healthy controls were analyzed in a mega-analysis comprising a total of 3872 participants aged between 13 and 89 years. Cortical thickness and surface area were extracted at each site using FreeSurfer.
Results
CM severity was associated with reduced cortical thickness in the banks of the superior temporal sulcus and supramarginal gyrus as well as with reduced surface area of the middle temporal lobe. Participants reporting both childhood neglect and abuse had a lower cortical thickness in the inferior parietal lobe, middle temporal lobe, and precuneus compared to participants not exposed to CM. In males only, regardless of diagnosis, CM severity was associated with higher cortical thickness of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Finally, a significant interaction between CM and age in predicting thickness was seen across several prefrontal, temporal, and temporo-parietal regions.
Conclusions
Severity and type of CM may impact cortical thickness and surface area. Importantly, CM may influence age-dependent brain maturation, particularly in regions related to the default mode network, perception, and theory of mind.
Off-target movement of dicamba and 2,4-D may injure and reduce the yield of many fruit and vegetable crops, impacting specialty crop producers and herbicide applicators alike. Two field experiments were established, using plant growth regulator–resistant soybean herbicide technologies, to evaluate drift and carryover risks to horseradish production. The drift experiment was conducted in 2015 and 2016 to evaluate impact of dicamba and 2,4-D simulated drift on horseradish production with a mid-POST application in soybean. Simulated drift rates were 1/10,000X, 1/1,000X, and 1/100X, with 1/2X, 1X, and 2X of standard application rates. Injury and yield loss was greater following application of 2,4-D than with dicamba. Yield reductions were observed beginning at the 1/1,000X rate of 2,4-D, with complete crop loss occurring when rates exceed 1/2X. In comparison, dicamba only reduced yields when applied at the 1X and 2X rates. Only horseradish roots from plants treated with dicamba at the 2X rate had greater dicamba residue than the nontreated control, and the amount detected, 0.32 parts per billion (ppb), was lower than the EPA tolerance of 100 ppb in root crops. There was little to no harvestable tissue for 2,4-D residue analysis for plants treated with 2,4-D at rates above 1/2X. The carryover experiment was a 2-yr rotational evaluation conducted in 2014, 2015, and 2016 to assess dicamba carryover to horseradish following application to dicamba-resistant soybean the previous season. Observations taken at 4, 6, and 8 wk after planting indicated no significant horseradish injury, nor was height, stand, or root weight reduced. These results suggest that horseradish growers should have few concerns about injury from dicamba drift or carryover. While 2,4-D applicators may need to be cautious when making applications near horseradish fields, 2,4-D may be an effective tool for controlling volunteer horseradish in 2,4-D–resistant soybean.
Little is known about health-related quality of life in young children undergoing staged palliation for single-ventricle CHD. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of CHD on daily life in pre-schoolers with single-ventricle CHD and to identify determinants of health-related quality of life.
Method
Prospective two-centre cohort study assessing health-related quality of life using the Preschool Paediatric Cardiac Quality of Life Inventory in 46 children at a mean age of 38 months and 3 weeks. Children with genetic anomalies were excluded. Scores were compared with reference data of children with biventricular CHD. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify determinants of health-related quality of life.
Results
Health-related quality of life in pre-schoolers with single-ventricle CHD was comparable to children with biventricular CHD. Preterm birth and perioperative variables were significant predictors of low health-related quality of life. Notably, pre-Fontan brain MRI findings and neurodevelopmental status were not associated with health-related quality of life. Overall, perioperative variables explained 24% of the variability of the total health-related quality of life score.
Interpretation
Despite substantial health-related burden, pre-schoolers with single-ventricle CHD showed good health-related quality of life. Less-modifiable treatment-related risk factors and preterm birth had the highest impact on health-related quality of life. Long-term follow-up assessment of self-reported health-related quality of life is needed to identify patients with poorer health-related quality of life and to initiate supportive care.
Abnormalities in reward circuit function are considered a core feature of addiction. Yet, it is still largely unknown whether these abnormalities stem from chronic drug use, a genetic predisposition, or both.
Methods
In the present study, we investigated this issue using a large sample of adolescent children by applying structural equation modeling to examine the effects of several dopaminergic polymorphisms of the D1 and D2 receptor type on the reward function of the ventral striatum (VS) and orbital frontal cortex (OFC), and whether this relationship predicted the propensity to engage in early alcohol misuse behaviors at 14 years of age and again at 16 years of age.
Results
The results demonstrated a regional specificity with which the functional polymorphism rs686 of the D1 dopamine receptor (DRD1) gene and Taq1A of the ANKK1 gene influenced medial and lateral OFC activation during reward anticipation, respectively. Importantly, our path model revealed a significant indirect relationship between the rs686 of the DRD1 gene and early onset of alcohol misuse through a medial OFC × VS interaction.
Conclusions
These findings highlight the role of D1 and D2 in adjusting reward-related activations within the mesocorticolimbic circuitry, as well as in the susceptibility to early onset of alcohol misuse.
OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: We sought to investigate the role of the host microbiome during severe, acute respiratory infection (ARI) to understand the drivers of both acute clinical pathogenesis. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Nasopharyngeal swabs comprised of mixed cell populations at the active site of infection were collected from 192 hospitalized pediatric patients with ARI. We combined comprehensive respiratory virus detection and virus genome sequencing with 16S rRNA gene sequencing to evaluate the microbial content of the airway during ARI. This data was coupled with 11 clinical parameters, which were compiled to create a clinical severity score. The microbiome profiles were assessed to determine if clinical severity of infection, and/or specific virus was associated with increased clinical severity. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We identified 8 major microbiome profiles classified by dominant bacterial genus, Moraxella, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, Haemophilus, Streptococcus, Alloiococcus, Schlegelella, and Diverse. Increased clinical severity was significantly associated with microbiome profiles dominated by Haemophilus, Streptococcus, and Schlegelella, whereas Corynebacterium and Alloiococcus were more prevalent in children with less severe disease. Independent of the microbial community, more than 60% of patients with the highest clinical severity were infected with either respiratory syncytial virus or rhinovirus. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Our results indicate that individually and in combination, both virus and microbial composition may drive clinical severity during acute respiratory viral infections. It is still unclear how the complex interplay between virus, bacterial community, and the host response influence long-term respiratory impacts, such as the development of asthma. Nonetheless, during ARIs therapeutic interventions such as antibiotics and probiotics may be warranted in a subset of patients that are identified to have both a virus and microbiome profile that is associated with increased pathogenesis to limit both acute and long-term phenotypes.
To identify predominant dietary patterns in four African populations and examine their association with obesity.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting/Subjects
We used data from the Africa/Harvard School of Public Health Partnership for Cohort Research and Training (PaCT) pilot study established to investigate the feasibility of a multi-country longitudinal study of non-communicable chronic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. We applied principal component analysis to dietary intake data collected from an FFQ developed for PaCT to ascertain dietary patterns in Tanzania, South Africa, and peri-urban and rural Uganda. The sample consisted of 444 women and 294 men.
Results
We identified two dietary patterns: the Mixed Diet pattern characterized by high intakes of unprocessed foods such as vegetables and fresh fish, but also cold cuts and refined grains; and the Processed Diet pattern characterized by high intakes of salad dressing, cold cuts and sweets. Women in the highest tertile of the Processed Diet pattern score were 3·00 times more likely to be overweight (95 % CI 1·66, 5·45; prevalence=74 %) and 4·24 times more likely to be obese (95 % CI 2·23, 8·05; prevalence=44 %) than women in this pattern’s lowest tertile (both P<0·0001; prevalence=47 and 14 %, respectively). We found similarly strong associations in men. There was no association between the Mixed Diet pattern and overweight or obesity.
Conclusions
We identified two major dietary patterns in several African populations, a Mixed Diet pattern and a Processed Diet pattern. The Processed Diet pattern was associated with obesity.
An internationally approved and globally used classification scheme for the diagnosis of CHD has long been sought. The International Paediatric and Congenital Cardiac Code (IPCCC), which was produced and has been maintained by the International Society for Nomenclature of Paediatric and Congenital Heart Disease (the International Nomenclature Society), is used widely, but has spawned many “short list” versions that differ in content depending on the user. Thus, efforts to have a uniform identification of patients with CHD using a single up-to-date and coordinated nomenclature system continue to be thwarted, even if a common nomenclature has been used as a basis for composing various “short lists”. In an attempt to solve this problem, the International Nomenclature Society has linked its efforts with those of the World Health Organization to obtain a globally accepted nomenclature tree for CHD within the 11th iteration of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The International Nomenclature Society has submitted a hierarchical nomenclature tree for CHD to the World Health Organization that is expected to serve increasingly as the “short list” for all communities interested in coding for congenital cardiology. This article reviews the history of the International Classification of Diseases and of the IPCCC, and outlines the process used in developing the ICD-11 congenital cardiac disease diagnostic list and the definitions for each term on the list. An overview of the content of the congenital heart anomaly section of the Foundation Component of ICD-11, published herein in its entirety, is also included. Future plans for the International Nomenclature Society include linking again with the World Health Organization to tackle procedural nomenclature as it relates to cardiac malformations. By doing so, the Society will continue its role in standardising nomenclature for CHD across the globe, thereby promoting research and better outcomes for fetuses, children, and adults with congenital heart anomalies.
With rapid and accelerated Arctic sea-ice loss, it is beneficial to update and baseline historical change on the regional scales from a consistent, intercalibrated, long-term time series of sea-ice data for understanding regional vulnerability and monitoring ice state for climate adaptation and risk mitigation. In this paper, monthly sea-ice extents (SIEs) derived from a passive microwave sea-ice concentration climate data record for the period of 1979–2015, are used to examine Arctic-wide and regional temporal variability of sea-ice cover and their decadal trends for 15 regions of the Arctic. Three unique types of SIE annual cycles are described. Regions of vulnerability within each of three types to further warming are identified. For the Arctic as a whole, the analysis has found significant changes in both annual SIE maximum and minimum, with −2.41 ± 0.56% per decade and −13.5 ± 2.93% per decade change relative to the 1979–2015 climate average, respectively. On the regional scale, the calculated trends for the annual SIE maximum range from +2.48 to −10.8% decade−1, while the trends for the annual SIE minimum range from 0 to up to −42% decade−1.
We do not know how primary care treatment of depression varies by age across both psychotropic medication and psychological therapies.
Methods
Cohort study including 19 710 people aged 55+ with GP recorded depression diagnoses and 26 276 people with recorded depression symptoms during the period 2009–2013, from 373 General Practices in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) database in England. Main outcomes were initiation of treatment with anti-depressants, anxiolytics, hypnotics, anti-psychotic drugs, referrals to psychological therapies within 6 months of onset.
Results
Treatment rates with antidepressants are high for those recorded with new depression diagnoses (87.1%) or symptoms of depression (58.7%). Treatment in those with depression diagnoses varies little by age. In those with depressive symptoms there was a J-shaped pattern with reduced antidepressant treatment in those in their 60s and 70s followed by increased treatment in the oldest age groups (85+ years), compared with those aged 55–59 years. Other psychotropic drug prescribing (hypnotics/anxiolytics, antipsychotics) all increase with increasing age. Recorded referrals for psychological therapies were low, and decreased steadily with increasing age, such that women aged 75–79 years with depression diagnoses had around six times lower odds of referral (OR 0.17, 95% CI 0.1–0.29) than those aged 55–59 years, and men aged 80–84 years had around seven times lower (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.05–0.36).
Conclusions
The oldest age groups with new depression diagnoses and symptoms have fewer recorded referrals to psychological therapies, and higher psychotropic drug treatment rates in primary care. This suggests potential inequalities in access to psychological therapies.
Astrobiology seeks to understand the limits of life and to determine the physiology of organisms in order to better assess the habitability of other worlds. To successfully achieve these goals we require microorganisms from environments on Earth that approximate to extraterrestrial environments in terms of physical and/or chemical conditions. The most challenging of these environments with respect to sample collection, isolation and cultivation of microorganisms are anoxic environments. In this paper, an approach to this challenge was implemented within the European Union's MASE (Mars Analogues for Space Exploration) project. In this review paper, we aim to provide a set of methods for future field work and sampling campaigns. A number of anoxic environment based on characteristics that make them analogous to past and present locations on Mars were selected. They included anoxic sulphur-rich springs (Germany), the salt-rich Boulby Mine (UK), a lake in a basaltic context (Iceland), acidic sediments in the Rio Tinto (Spain), glacier samples (Austria) and permafrost samples (Russia and Canada). Samples were collected under strict anoxic conditions to be used for cultivation and genomic community analysis. Using the samples, a culturing approach was implemented to enrich anaerobic organisms using a defined medium that would allow for organisms to be grown under identical conditions in future physiological comparisons. Anaerobic microorganisms were isolated and deposited with the DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH) culture collection to make them available to other scientists. In MASE, the selected organisms are studied with respect to survival and growth under Mars relevant stresses. They are artificially fossilized and the resulting biosignatures studied and used to investigate the efficacy of life detection instrumentation for planetary missions. Some of the organisms belong to genera with medical and environmental importance such as Yersinia spp., illustrating how astrobiology field research can be used to increase the availability of microbial isolates for applied terrestrial purposes.
Bipolar disorder (BD), with the hallmark symptoms of elevated and depressed mood, is thought to be characterized by underlying alterations in reward-processing networks. However, to date the neural circuitry underlying abnormal responses during reward processing in BD remains largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate whether euthymic BD is characterized by aberrant ventral striatal (VS) activation patterns and altered connectivity with the prefrontal cortex in response to monetary gains and losses.
Method
During functional magnetic resonance imaging 20 euthymic BD patients and 20 age-, gender- and intelligence quotient-matched healthy controls completed a monetary incentive delay paradigm, to examine neural processing of reward and loss anticipation. A priori defined regions of interest (ROIs) included the VS and the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC). Psychophysiological interactions (PPIs) between these ROIs were estimated and tested for group differences for reward and loss anticipation separately.
Results
BD participants, relative to healthy controls, displayed decreased activation selectively in the left and right VS during anticipation of reward, but not during loss anticipation. PPI analyses showed decreased functional connectivity between the left VS and aPFC in BD patients compared with healthy controls during reward anticipation.
Conclusions
This is the first study showing decreased VS activity and aberrant connectivity in the reward-processing circuitry in euthymic, medicated BD patients during reward anticipation. Our findings contrast with research supporting a reward hypersensitivity model of BD, and add to the body of literature suggesting that blunted activation of reward processing circuits may be a vulnerability factor for mood disorders.