Memory-guided force output is associated with self-reported ADHD symptoms in young adults

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed mental health disorder in childhood and persists into adulthood in up to 65 % of cases. ADHD is associated with adverse outcomes such as the ability to gain and maintain employment and is associated with an increased risk for substance abuse obesity workplace injuries and traffic accidents A majority of diagnosed children have motor deficits; however, few studies have examined motor deficits in young adults. This study provides a novel examination of visuomotor control of grip force in young adults with and without ADHD. Participants were instructed to maintain force production over a 20-second trial with and without real-time visual feedback about their performance. The results demonstrated that when visual feedback was available, adults with ADHD produced slightly higher grip force than controls. However, when visual feedback was removed, adults with ADHD had a faster rate of decay of force, which was associated with ADHD symptom severity and trait impulsivity. These findings suggest that there may be important differences in the way that adults with ADHD integrate visual feedback during continuous motor tasks. These may account for some of the motor impairments reported in children with ADHD. These deficits could result from (1) dysfunctional sensory motor integration and/or (2) deficits in short-term visuomotor memory

Measuring underreporting and under-ascertainment in infectious disease datasets: a comparison of methods

Gibbons CL, Mangen M-JJ, Plaß D, et al. Measuring underreporting and under-ascertainment in infectious disease datasets: a comparison of methods. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1): 147.Background: Efficient and reliable surveillance and notification systems are vital for monitoring public health and disease outbreaks. However, most surveillance and notification systems are affected by a degree of underestimation (UE) and therefore uncertainty surrounds the 'true' incidence of disease affecting morbidity and mortality rates. Surveillance systems fail to capture cases at two distinct levels of the surveillance pyramid: from the community since not all cases seek healthcare (under-ascertainment), and at the healthcare-level, representing a failure to adequately report symptomatic cases that have sought medical advice (underreporting). There are several methods to estimate the extent of under-ascertainment and underreporting. Methods: Within the context of the ECDC-funded Burden of Communicable Diseases in Europe (BCoDE)-project, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify studies that estimate ascertainment or reporting rates for salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis in European Union Member States (MS) plus European Free Trade Area (EFTA) countries Iceland, Norway and Switzerland and four other OECD countries (USA, Canada, Australia and Japan). Multiplication factors (MFs), a measure of the magnitude of underestimation, were taken directly from the literature or derived (where the proportion of underestimated, under-ascertained, or underreported cases was known) and compared for the two pathogens. Results: MFs varied between and within diseases and countries, representing a need to carefully select the most appropriate MFs and methods for calculating them. The most appropriate MFs are often disease-,country-, age-, and sex-specific. Conclusions: When routine data are used to make decisions on resource allocation or to estimate epidemiological parameters in populations, it becomes important to understand when, where and to what extent these data represent the true picture of disease, and in some instances (such as priority setting) it is necessary to adjust for underestimation. MFs can be used to adjust notification and surveillance data to provide more realistic estimates of incidence

Armazenamento de sementes de palmiteiro sob atmosfera modificada

Este trabalho objetivou avaliar o efeito do armazenamento sob atmosfera modificada (AM), passiva e ativa, sobre o desempenho de sementes de Euterpe edulis Martius. Os tratamentos avaliados foram: T1 - controle (sem embalagem); T2 - polietileno de baixa densidade (PEBD); T3 - PEBD + absorvedor de CO2, T4 - PEBD + N2; e T5 - PEBD + absorvedor de CO2 + N2. O tratamento T2 consistiu no armazenamento em AM passiva e os tratamentos T3, T4 e T5 no armazenamento em AM ativa. As sementes foram armazenadas por 150 e 480 dias a 7 ºC. Após 150 dias de armazenamento, as sementes dos tratamentos com AM (passiva ou ativa) mantiveram germinação (%), velocidade de emergência (VE), grau de umidade e vigor (comprimento da parte aérea e da raiz primária e menor condutividade elétrica) superiores ao tratamento controle. Após 480 dias de armazenamento, as sementes armazenadas nos tratamentos PEBD, PEBD + N2 e PEBD + absorvedor de CO2 + N2 estavam com maior germinação e menor condutividade elétrica, enquanto as sementes dos tratamentos PEBD e PEBD + N2, maior VE, comprimento da parte aérea e da raiz. O grau de umidade não variou significativamente entre os tratamentos de AM, mas esses foram superiores ao controle. A AM contribui para preservar o desempenho das sementes de Euterpe edulis por um período de até 150 dias de armazenamento. Quando há extensão desse período para 480 dias, tanto sob AM passiva como AM ativa, a injeção de N2 é benéfica à conservação de sementes de Euterpe edulis