Genetics in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a non-common disease in children that can persist into adulthood. JIA is considered to be an auto-immune disease. Genetic factors play a role in the pathogenesis. In a new cohort of JIA patients from North-West European descent genetic candidate gene association studies have been performed. In this cohort we have discovered new associations with the susceptibility of JIA and the genes/loci TRAF1/C5, 4q27, CD226 and CD28. These genes have already been associated with other auto-immune diseases and might be part of a shared common auto-immune susceptibility. Also genetic association with the course of disease has been studied, revealing an association of VTCN1 and the severity of JIA defined by the percentage of active disease in the first two years. VTCN1 encodes B7-H4 that is involved in the co-stimulation of T-cells and inhibits the immune-response. Until the precise role of VTCN1 will be clarified, the genetic association might be of use in predicting the course of disease and might be a lead point for new treatment.UBL - phd migration 201

Parental rearing and psychopathology in mothers of adolescents with and without borderline personality symptoms

BACKGROUND: A combination of multiple factors, including a strong genetic predisposition and environmental factors, are considered to contribute to the developmental pathways to borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, these factors have mostly been investigated retrospectively, and hardly in adolescents. The current study focuses on maternal factors in BPD features in adolescence. METHODS: Actual parenting was investigated in a group of referred adolescents with BPD features (N = 101) and a healthy control group (N = 44). Self-reports of perceived concurrent parenting were completed by the adolescents. Questionnaires on parental psychopathology (both Axis I and Axis II disorders) were completed by their mothers. RESULTS: Adolescents reported significantly less emotional warmth, more rejection and more overprotection from their mothers in the BPD-group than in the control group. Mothers in the BPD group reported significantly more parenting stress compared to mothers in the control group. Also, these mothers showed significantly more general psychopathology and clusters C personality traits than mothers in the control group. Contrary to expectations, mothers of adolescents with BPD features reported the same level of cluster B personality traits, compared to mothers in the control group. Hierarchical logistic regression revealed that parental rearing styles (less emotional warmth, and more overprotection) and general psychopathology of the mother were the strongest factors differentiating between controls and adolescents with BPD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with BPD features experience less emotional warmth and more overprotection from their mothers, while the mothers themselves report more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Addition of family interventions to treatment programs for adolescents might increase the effectiveness of such early interventions, and prevent the adverse outcome that is often seen in adult BPD patients

Decay of the key 92-keV resonance in the 25Mg(p,γ) reaction to the ground and isomeric states of the cosmic γ-ray emitter 26Al

The 92-keV resonance in the 25Mg(p,γ)26Al reaction plays a key role in the production of 26Al at astrophysical burning temperatures of ≈100 MK in the Mg-Al cycle. However, the state can decay to feed either the ground, 26gAl, or isomeric state, 26mAl. It is the ground state that is critical as the source of cosmic γ rays. It is therefore important to precisely determine the ground-state branching fraction f0 of this resonance. Here we report on the identification of four γ-ray transitions from the 92-keV resonance, and determine the spin of the state and its ground-state branching fraction f0=0.52(2)stat(6)syst. The f0 value is the most precise reported to date, and at the lower end of the range of previously adopted values, implying a lower production rate of 26gAl and its cosmic 1809-keV γ rays.peerReviewe

Decay of the key 92-keV resonance in the 25Mg(p,γ) reaction to the ground and isomeric states of the cosmic γ-ray emitter 26Al

The 92-keV resonance in the 25Mg(p,γ)26Al reaction plays a key role in the production of 26Al at astrophysical burning temperatures of ≈100 MK in the Mg-Al cycle. However, the state can decay to feed either the ground, 26gAl, or isomeric state, 26mAl. It is the ground state that is critical as the source of cosmic γ rays. It is therefore important to precisely determine the ground-state branching fraction f0 of this resonance. Here we report on the identification of four γ-ray transitions from the 92-keV resonance, and determine the spin of the state and its ground-state branching fraction f0=0.52(2)stat(6)syst. The f0 value is the most precise reported to date, and at the lower end of the range of previously adopted values, implying a lower production rate of 26gAl and its cosmic 1809-keV γ rays

Structure of resonances in the Gamow burning window for the Al 25 (p,γ) Si 26 reaction in novae

A γ-ray spectroscopy study of excited states in Si26 has been performed by using the Mg24(3He,n) reaction at a beam energy of 10 MeV. In particular, states have been studied above the proton threshold relevant for burning in the Al25(p,γ)Si26 reaction in novae. This reaction influences the amount of Al26 injected into the interstellar medium by novae, which contributes to the overall flux of cosmic γ-ray emission from Al26 observed in satellite missions. The present results point strongly to the existence of a 0+ state at an excitation energy of 5890 keV lying within the Gamow burning window, which raises questions about the existence and properties of another, higher-lying state reported in previous experimental work. The existence of two such states within this excitation energy region cannot be understood within the framework of sd-shell-model calculations. © 2015 American Physical Society

Revised decay properties of the key 93-keV resonance in the Mg 25 (p,γ) reaction and its influence on the MgAl cycle in astrophysical environments

The γ-decay properties of an excited state in Al26 at 6398.3(8) keV have been reexamined using the B11+O16 fusion-evaporation reaction. This level represents a key 93.1(8)-keV resonance in the Mg25+p system and its relative branching to the Al26 ground state, f0, has been determined to be 0.76±0.03 (stat.) ±0.10 (syst.). This is a significantly higher value than the most recent evaluation and implies a considerable increase in the production of cosmic γ rays from Al26 radioactivity

Low-lying T=0 states in the odd-odd N=Z nucleus 62Ga

New, low-lying levels in the odd-odd, N=Z nucleus 62Ga have been identified using a sensitive technique, where in-beam γ rays from short-lived nuclei are tagged with β decays following recoil mass identification. A comparison of the results with shell-model and IBM-4 calculations demonstrates good agreement between theory and experiment, with the majority of predicted low-lying, low-spin T=0 states now identified. There is a dramatic change in the level density at low excitation energies for the N=Z nucleus 62Ga when compared with neighbouring odd-odd Ga isotopes where, in contrast, the low-lying level structure is dominated by configurations with T=1 pairing interactions between excess neutrons. This illustrates the distinctively different aspects of nuclear structure exhibited by nuclei with N=Z

Incidence, risk factors and re-exacerbation rate of severe asthma exacerbations in a multinational, multidatabase pediatric cohort study

Background: There are sparse real-world data on severe asthma exacerbations (SAE) in children. This multinational cohort study assessed the incidence of and risk factors for SAE and the incidence of asthma-related rehospitalization in children with asthma. Methods: Asthma patients 5-17 years old with ≥1 year of follow-up were identified in six European electronic databases from the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, Denmark and Spain in 2008-2013. Asthma was defined as ≥1 asthma-specific disease code within 3 months of prescriptions/dispensing of asthma medication. Severe asthma was defined as high-dosed inhaled corticosteroids plus a second controller. SAE was defined by systemic corticosteroids, emergency department visit and/or hospitalization all for reason of asthma. Risk factors for SAE were estimated by Poisson regression analyses. Results: The cohort consisted of 212 060 paediatric asthma patients contributing to 678 625 patient-years (PY). SAE rates ranged between 17 and 198/1000 PY and were higher in severe asthma and highest in severe asthma patients with a history of exacerbations. Prior SAE (incidence rate ratio 3-45) and younger age increased the SAE risk in all countries, whereas obesity, atopy and GERD were a risk factor in some but not all countries. Rehospitalization rates were up to 79% within 1 year. Conclusions: In a real-world setting, SAE rates were highest in children with severe asthma with a history of exacerbations. Many severe asthma patients were rehospitalized within 1 year. Asthma management focusing on prevention of SAE is important to reduce the burden of asthma

Systematic evidence for quasifission in 9Be-, 12C-, and 16O-induced reactions forming 258, 260No

Background: Cross sections for the formation of superheavy elements (SHE) by heavy ion fusion are suppressed by the competing quasifission process. This results in a fissionlike decay after capture but before formation of a compact compound nucleus. Fast quasifission is evident from very mass-asymmetric fission, focused in angle. In contrast, slow quasifission shows no significant mass-angle correlation, and a mass distribution peaked at symmetry. However, it shows angular distributions more anisotropic than those calculated for fission following fusion. Following fusion, low excitation energies should increase SHE survival through reduced competition from fission. However, in reactions with deformed actinide target nuclei, subbarrier fusion is highly suppressed by both fast and slow quasifission