The longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a systematic review.

ABSTRACTObjective:Loneliness and the onset of depression in old age are growing problems related to the greater life expectancy nowadays. This review investigated the longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly.Design:A comprehensive search was conducted using three databases (Scopus, PsycInfo, and PubMed) combing for empirical studies published up until July 2020. A total of 4.549 abstracts and 221 full-text articles were assessed. Three authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts; disagreements were resolved by consensus.Results:Ten studies were included in the final review. We identified two categories of studies based on the outcome considered in each article: 1) the longitudinal effect of loneliness on depressive symptoms and 2) the clinical course of depression and its association with loneliness. All the articles reported a significant and positive association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in their longitudinal design research, ranging from an odds ratio of 0.41 to 17.76. The heterogeneity regarding the effect size in the analyses can be explained by the multifactorial design implemented by most of the studies included.Conclusions:Future research should investigate the moderators' role and how it may influence the longitudinal association between loneliness and depression over the years

A hybrid radiation detector for simultaneous spatial and temporal dosimetry

In this feasibility study an organic plastic scintillator is calibrated against ionisation chamber measurements and then embedded in a polymer gel dosimeter to obtain a quasi-4D experimental measurement of a radiation field. This hybrid dosimeter was irradiated with a linear accelerator, with temporal measurements of the dose rate being acquired by the scintillator and spatial measurements acquired with the gel dosimeter. The detectors employed in this work are radiologically equivalent; and we show that neither detector perturbs the intensity of the radiation field of the other. By employing these detectors in concert, spatial and temporal variations in the radiation intensity can now be detected and gel dosimeters can be calibrated for absolute dose from a single irradiation

Two-photon NADH imaging exposes boundaries of oxygen diffusion in cortical vascular supply regions

Oxygen transport imposes a possible constraint on the brain's ability to sustain variable metabolic demands, but oxygen diffusion in the cerebral cortex has not yet been observed directly. We show that concurrent two-photon fluorescence imaging of endogenous nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and the cortical microcirculation exposes well-defined boundaries of tissue oxygen diffusion in the mouse cortex. The NADH fluorescence increases rapidly over a narrow, very low pO2 range with a p50 of 3.4±0.6 mm Hg, thereby establishing a nearly binary reporter of significant, metabolically limiting hypoxia. The transient cortical tissue boundaries of NADH fluorescence exhibit remarkably delineated geometrical patterns, which define the limits of tissue oxygen diffusion from the cortical microcirculation and bear a striking resemblance to the ideal Krogh tissue cylinder. The visualization of microvessels and their regional contribution to oxygen delivery establishes penetrating arterioles as major oxygen sources in addition to the capillary network and confirms the existence of cortical oxygen fields with steep microregional oxygen gradients. Thus, two-photon NADH imaging can be applied to expose vascular supply regions and to localize functionally relevant microregional cortical hypoxia with micrometer spatial resolution

miR-132/212 knockout mice reveal roles for these miRNAs in regulating cortical synaptic transmission and plasticity

miR-132 and miR-212 are two closely related miRNAs encoded in the same intron of a small non-coding gene, which have been suggested to play roles in both immune and neuronal function. We describe here the generation and initial characterisation of a miR-132/212 double knockout mouse. These mice were viable and fertile with no overt adverse phenotype. Analysis of innate immune responses, including TLR-induced cytokine production and IFNβ induction in response to viral infection of primary fibroblasts did not reveal any phenotype in the knockouts. In contrast, the loss of miR-132 and miR-212, while not overtly affecting neuronal morphology, did affect synaptic function. In both hippocampal and neocortical slices miR-132/212 knockout reduced basal synaptic transmission, without affecting paired-pulse facilitation. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulation was not affected by miR-132/212 deletion, whilst theta burst LTP was enhanced. In contrast, neocortical theta burst-induced LTP was inhibited by loss of miR-132/212. Together these results indicate that miR-132 and/or miR-212 play a significant role in synaptic function, possibly by regulating the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors under basal conditions and during activity-dependent synaptic plasticity

The perturbative partition function of supersymmetric 5D Yang-Mills theory with matter on the five-sphere

Based on the construction by Hosomichi, Seong and Terashima we consider N=1 supersymmetric 5D Yang-Mills theory with matter on a five-sphere with radius r. This theory can be thought of as a deformation of the theory in flat space with deformation parameter r and this deformation preserves 8 supercharges. We calculate the full perturbative partition function as a function of r/g^2, where g is the Yang-Mills coupling, and the answer is given in terms of a matrix model. We perform the calculation using localization techniques. We also argue that in the large N-limit of this deformed 5D Yang-Mills theory this matrix model provides the leading contribution to the partition function and the rest is exponentially suppressed.Comment: 34 pages; v2: typos fixed, matches published version; v3: factor correcte

Adult urinary bladder tumors with rabdomyosarcomatous differentiation: Clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical studies

Adult rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) in the urinary bladder is rare, and is the subject of case reports and small series. It consists of sheets of small round blue cells with high nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, brisk mitosis and apoptosis. In this study, we reported one case of pure rhabdomyosarcoma and two cases of urothelial carcinomas with extensive rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. In addition, their immunohistochemical profile was compared to that of small cell carcinoma of the bladder. Our study showed that sufficient sampling was critical for the diagnosis of urothelial carcinoma with extensive rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation. As adult RMS in the bladder and urothelial carcinoma with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation shared morphological features with small cell carcinoma of the bladder, appropriate immunohistochemical stains were necessary in the differential diagnosis. We showed both rhabdomyosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcomatous areas of the urothelial carcinoma were positive for myogenin, negative for cytokeratin and chromogranin stains. In contrast, small cell carcinoma was positive for cytokeratin, and 7 out of 9 cases were also positive for chromogranin. Both rhabdomyosarcoma and small cell carcinoma could be positive for synaptophysin, a potential pitfall to avoid. In addition, all of the tumors with rhabdomyosarcomatous differentiation were negative for FKHR rearrangement

Ablative therapy for people with localised prostate cancer : a systematic review and economic evaluation

The research reported in this issue of the journal was funded by the HTA programme as project number 10/136/01. The contractual start date was in April 2012. The draft report began editorial review in October 2013 and was accepted for publication in April 2014. The authors have been wholly responsible for all data collection, analysis and interpretation, and for writing up their work. The HTA editors and publisher have tried to ensure the accuracy of the authors’ report and would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments on the draft document. However, they do not accept liability for damages or losses arising from material published in this report. Acknowledgements We thank l the people recruited from the local UCAN for providing valuable consumer insight and advice through their participation as members of the project focus group: - Mark Emberton (Professor of Interventional Oncology), Damian Greene (consultant urologist), Axel Heidenreich (Professor and Director of Department of Urology), Christoph von Klot (specialist in brachytherapy), Roger Kockelbergh (BAUS chairman and Clinical Director of Urology) and Axel Merserburger (Deputy Clinical Director of Urology and Urologic Oncology) for providing their clinical expertise as members of the project advisory group - Edgar Paez (consultant urologist) and Gill Lawrence (Head of Radiotherapy Physics) for providing a list of staff time by grade and specialty involved in EBRT - Debbie Bennett (Radiotherapy Service Manager) for providing estimates for the expected number of uses for EBRT - Ian Pedley (clinical director/clinical oncologist) and Gill Lawrence for providing a list of all resource inputs relevant to brachytherapy - Steve Locks (Consultant Clinical Scientist in Radiotherapy) for providing a list of reusable equipment and consumables used during brachytherapy, along with their unit costs - Sue Asterling (urology research nurse) and Mark Kelly (Acting Divisional General Manager – Theatres) for providing a list of all resource inputs relevant to cryotherapy - Lara Kemp for providing secretarial support. The Health Services Research Unit is core funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Preliminary Definitions for Sacroiliac Joint Pathologies in the OMERACT Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis MRI Score (OMERACT JAMRIS-SIJ).

Objective: To develop definitions for the assessment of MRI pathologies of the sacroiliac joints (SIJ) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Methods: An OMERACT consensus-driven methodology consisting of iterative surveys and focus group meetings within an international group of rheumatologists and radiologists. Results: Two domains, inflammation and structural, were identified. Definitions for bone marrow edema, joint space inflammation, capsulitis and enthesitis were derived for joint inflammation; sclerosis, erosion, fatty lesion and ankylosis were defined for assessing structural joint changes. Conclusion: Preliminary consensus-driven definitions for inflammation and structural elements have been derived, underpinning the ongoing development of the JAMRIS-SIJ score

The prevalence of triggers in paediatric migraine: a questionnaire study in 102 children and adolescents

The prevalence and characterization of migraine triggers have not been rigorously studied in children and adolescents. Using a questionnaire, we retrospectively studied the prevalence of 15 predefined trigger factors in a clinic-based population. In 102 children and adolescents fulfilling the Second Edition of The International Headache Classification criteria for paediatric migraine, at least one migraine trigger was reported by the patient and/or was the parents’ interpretation in 100% of patients. The mean number of migraine triggers reported per subject was 7. Mean time elapsed between exposure to a trigger factor and attack onset was comprised between 0 and 3 h in 88 patients (86%). The most common individual trigger was stress (75.5% of patients), followed by lack of sleep (69.6%), warm climate (68.6%) and video games (64.7%). Stress was also the most frequently reported migraine trigger always associated with attacks (24.5%). In conclusion, trigger factors were frequently reported by children and adolescents with migraine and stress was the most frequent