Epigenetic marks as the link between environment and development: examination of the associations between attachment, socioeconomic status, and methylation of the SLC6A4 gene.

BackgroundEpigenetic processes act as a link between environment and individual development. This pilot study examined the association between socioeconomic status (SES), attachment, and methylation of the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4).MethodsAttachment classification and SLC6A4 methylation was determined in 100 late adolescents. We hypothesized that (1) SES would interact with methylation to predict higher unresolved loss (UL) or trauma scores on the Adult Attachment Interview; (2) across SES, participants with unresolved attachment would have lower levels of methylation than organized or secure participants; and (3) within the unresolved classification, SES would predict methylation.ResultsResults showed that lower methylation and low-SES were associated with higher UL, and higher methylation and low-SES were associated with higher unresolved trauma. Across SES, unresolved participants had lower levels of methylation than organized participants. Within the unresolved category, low-SES unresolved participants had higher levels of methylation than mid/upper-SES participants. SES was unrelated to methylation within the secure and organized categories.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the quality of attachment relationships may impact epigenetic processes

Electric Scooter Injuries and Hospital Admissions in the United States, 2014-2018.

This study investigates trends of injury and hospital admission associated with electric scooter use

Utilization of screening mammography in older women according to comorbidity and age: protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Approximately half of new invasive breast cancer cases diagnosed each year in the United States occur among women aged 65 years and older. The increasing life expectancy coupled with the attendant rise in breast cancer incidence and elimination of out-of-pocket expenses for screening mammography as a result of the Affordable Care Act could lead to higher utilization rates of screening mammography. Although research indicates that life expectancy should be a strong consideration when making screening decisions among older women, the extent to which screening mammography utilization is tailored to comorbidity and life expectancy is not well established. METHODS/DESIGN: To identify relevant studies, a systematic search of the literature will be conducted using PubMed and EMBASE between January 1, 1991, and March 1, 2016. Additional studies will be found through citation review or by contacting experts in the field. The inclusion criteria will be any study design comprised of women aged 65 and older, assessing women’s comorbidity, functional impairments, and/or health status, and reporting outcome measures that addressed mammography utilization within the last 1–5 years. For each study, two authors will independently abstract data regarding study eligibility and outcomes to determine relevance. Quantitative results will be extracted from text and tables, choosing preferably those adjusted for important confounders. DISCUSSION: The review will provide evidence on the impact of comorbidity, functional limitations, and health status on screening mammography utilization in older women and inform decision aids in this area. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42016032661 ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0345-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Dynamics of Annihilation II: Fluctuations of Global Quantities

We develop a theory for fluctuations and correlations in a gas evolving under ballistic annihilation dynamics. Starting from the hierarchy of equations governing the evolution of microscopic densities in phase space, we subsequently restrict to a regime of spatial homogeneity, and obtain explicit predictions for the fluctuations and time correlation of the total number of particles, total linear momentum and total kinetic energy. Cross-correlations between these quantities are worked out as well. These predictions are successfully tested against Molecular Dynamics and Monte-Carlo simulations. This provides strong support for the theoretical approach developed, including the hydrodynamic treatment of the spectrum of the linearized Boltzmann operator. This article is a companion paper to arXiv:0801.2299 and makes use of the spectral analysis reported there.Comment: 19 page

Study on the use of mobile devices in schools: the case of Portugal

The research found focuses on students of basic and secondary education from schools, within the fields language, social and exact sciences and more frequently in the context of specific subjects, for example mathematics, portuguese and foreign languages, history. Two studies explore the use of mobile technologies on outdoor activities. Mobile devices are generally used as a tool to stimulate motivation and strengthen engagement, for collaborative work and also to assist with constructive thinking or reflection

Screening Mammography Use in Older Women According to Health Status: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The extent to which screening mammography (SM) recommendations in older women incorporate life expectancy factors is not well established. Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate evidence on SM utilization in older women by life expectancy factors. Data sources: We searched Medline, Embase and Web of Science from January 1991 to March 2016. Study selection: We included studies examining SM utilization in women ages ≥ 65 years that measured life expectancy using comorbidity, functional limitations or health or prognostic status. Data extraction and synthesis: ORs and 95% CIs were extracted and grouped by life expectancy category. Findings were aggregated into pooled ORs and 95% CIs and meta-analyzed by life expectancy category. Main outcomes and measures: The primary outcome was SM utilization within the last 5 years. Life expectancy factors included number of comorbidities, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, self-reported health status and 5-year prognostic indices. Results: Of 2,606 potential titles, we identified 25 meeting the inclusion criteria (comorbidity: eight studies, functional status: 11 studies and health/prognostic status: 13 studies). Women with higher CCI scores had decreased SM utilization (pooled OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.67–0.85), but increased absolute number of comorbidities were weakly associated with increased SM utilization (pooled OR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.00–1.36). Women with more functional limitations had lower SM use odds than women with no limitations (pooled OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.62–0.83). Screening utilization odds were lower among women with poor vs excellent health (pooled OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.96). Conclusion: Greater CCI score, functional limitations and lower perceived health were associated with decreased SM use, whereas higher absolute number of comorbidities was associated with increased SM use. SM guidelines should consider these factors to improve assessments of potential benefits and harms in older women

Surgical treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism with intraoperative iPTH determination

INTRODUCTION Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is most frequently caused by a solitary adenoma. Surgical intervention has a high cure rate, particularly when associated with a fast intraoperative intact parathyroid hormone (IOPTH) assay. Aim: to evaluate the performance and accuracy when applying this technique. METHODS we conducted a retrospective study of the last 20 patients with pHPT (mean age 59, range 24-75) that had a surgical intervention in our unit. IOPTH was used in 14 patients, with dosage at 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes after removal of the adenoma. RESULTS The localization exams had a sensitivity of >75%. The surgical procedure of choice was a unilateral dissection through a 4cm central mini-incision, with all patients experiencing a reduction of >50% of the IOPTH at 10 minutes. There were no surgical complications and the average length of the follow-up period was 11.4 months. The mean calcemia and iPTH dosage progression, from pre-surgery to the last follow-up visit, was respectively of 11 (SD1) to 9.4 (SD0.5) mg/dl and of 233.3 (SD177.5) to 57.1 (SD42) pg/ml. Symptoms improved in all patients.publishersversionpublishe

Population screening for liver fibrosis: Toward early diagnosis and intervention for chronic liver diseases

Population screening; Liver fibrosis; Early diagnosisCribratge de població; Fibrosi hepàtica; Diagnòstic precoçCribado de población; Fibrosis hepática; Diagnóstico precozCirrhosis, highly prevalent worldwide, develops after years of hepatic inflammation triggering progressive fibrosis. Currently, the main etiologies of cirrhosis are non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related liver disease, although chronic hepatitis B and C infections are still major etiological factors in some areas of the world. Recent studies have shown that liver fibrosis can be assessed with relatively high accuracy noninvasively by serological tests, transient elastography, and radiological methods. These modalities may be utilized for screening for liver fibrosis in at-risk populations. Thus far, a limited number of population-based studies using noninvasive tests in different areas of the world indicate that a significant percentage of subjects without known liver disease (around 5% in general populations and a higher rate −18% to 27%-in populations with risk factors for liver disease) have significant undetected liver fibrosis or established cirrhosis. Larger international studies are required to show the harms and benefits before concluding that screening for liver fibrosis should be applied to populations at risk for chronic liver diseases. Screening for liver fibrosis has the potential for changing the current approach from diagnosing chronic liver diseases late when patients have already developed complications of cirrhosis to diagnosing liver fibrosis in asymptomatic subjects providing the opportunity of preventing disease progression.LiverScreen Consortium and the European Commission under the H20/20 program (847989); AGAUR (2017SGR-01281); Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Enfermedades Hepaticas y Digestivas; Fundación de Investigación Sanitaria, cofunded by Instituto Carlos III–Subdirección General de Evaluación and the European Regional Development Fund (PI18/01330, PI18/00662, and PI18/00862); and Gilead’s Investigator–sponsored research program (IN-ES-989-5309

Monitoring Vegetation Dynamics and Carbon Stock Density in Miombo Woodlands

Background The United Nation’s Program for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) aims to reduce the 20% contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases from the forest sector, offering a financial value of the carbon stored in forests as an incentive for local communities. The pre-requisite for the setup of a participatory REDD + Program is the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of baseline carbon stocks and their changes over time. In this study, we investigated miombo woodland’s dynamics in terms of composition, structure and biomass over a 4-year period (2005–2009), and the Carbon Stock Density (CSD) for the year 2009. The study was conducted in the Niassa National Reserve (NNR) in northern Mozambique, which is the 14th largest protected area in the world. Results Mean tree density distributed across 79 species increased slightly between 2005 and 2009, respectively, from 548 to 587 trees ha-1. Julbernardia globiflora (Benth.) was the most important species in this area [importance value index (IVI2005= 61 and IVI2009 = 54)]. The woodlands presented an inverted J-shaped diametric curve, with 69% of the individuals representing the young cohort. Woody biomass had a net increase of 3 Mg ha-1 with the highest growth observed in Dyplorhynchus condilocarpon (Müll.Arg.) Pichon (0.54 Mg ha-1). J. globiflora had a net decrease in biomass of 0.09 Mg ha-1. Total CSD density was estimated at ca. 67 MgC ha-1 ± 24.85 with soils (average 34.72 ± 17.93 MgC ha-1) and woody vegetation (average 29.8 MgC ha-1 ± 13.07) representing the major carbon pools. The results point to a relatively stable ecosystem, but they call for the need to refocus management activities. Conclusions The miombo woodlands in NNR are representative of the woodlands in the eco-region in terms of vegetation structure and composition. They experienced net increase in woody biomass, a considerable recruitment level and low mortality. According to our results, NNR may present good potential for carbon sequestration especially in soils and woody biomass, representing an important potential carbon sink. However, further investigations are needed in order to address the contribution of this area to MRV REDD + initiatives