Comorbidity: Trauma, substance use and mental health

Substance use and mental health disorders commonly co-occur and they are frequently underpinned by history of psychological trauma. This symposium presents new data on the clinical presentation and documentation of trauma exposure, trauma-related disorders, and their treatment among adults entering substance use treatment, the implementation of integrated trauma-focused therapy in substance use treatment, and presenting issues among adolescents seeking integrated treatment for substance use and traumatic stress

A Trifecta of New Insights into Ovine Footrot for Infection Drivers, Immune Response and Host Pathogen Interactions.

Footrot is a polymicrobial infectious disease in sheep causing severe lameness, leading to one of the industry’s biggest welfare problems. The complex aetiology of footrot makes in-situ or in-vitro investigations difficult. Computational methods offer a solution to understanding the bacteria involved, how they may interact with the host and ultimately providing a way to identify targets for future hypotheses driven investigative work. Here we present the first combined global analysis of the bacterial community transcripts together with the host immune response in healthy and diseased ovine feet during a natural polymicrobial infection state using metatranscriptomics. The intra tissue and surface bacterial populations and the most abundant bacterial transcriptome were analysed, demonstrating footrot affected skin has a reduced diversity and increased abundances of, not only the causative bacteria Dichelobacter nodosus, but other species such as Mycoplasma fermentans and Porphyromonas asaccharolytica. Host transcriptomics reveals a suppression of biological processes relating to skin barrier function, vascular functions, and immunosurveillance in unhealthy interdigital skin, supported by histological findings that type I collagen (associated with scar tissue formation) is significantly increased in footrot affected interdigital skin comparted to outwardly healthy skin. Finally, we provide some interesting indications of host and pathogen interactions associated with virulence genes and the host spliceosome which could lead to the identification of future therapeutic targets

A position statement on the teaching and learning of multiplication bonds, on behalf of the Mathematic Association and the Association of Teachers of Mathematics

This Position Statement arises from a national need for clarification around the teaching of multiplication bonds (times tables), following the introduction of the year 4 statutory Multiplication Tables Check. The Joint ATM/MA Primary Group have frequently considered this issue and in the light of this, the ATM and MA invited a select group of Mathematics Educators, renown for their national expertise in this field, to co-author a Position Statement on behalf of these two large Professional Bodies. This statement was then peer reviewed by a selected group of Members and then put to the Joint MA/ATM Committee for approval and subsequent publication. This statement will help to inform the national debate around how best to teach and learn multiplication bonds

Exploring the relationship between chronic undernutrition and asymptomatic malaria in Ghanaian children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A moderate association has been found between asymptomatic parasitaemia and undernutrition. However, additional investigation using the gold standard for asymptomatic parasitaemia confirmation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), is needed to validate this association. Anthropometric measurements and blood samples from children less than five years of age in a rural Ghanaian community were used to determine if an association exists between chronic undernutrition and PCR-confirmed cases of asymptomatic malaria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 214 children less than five years of age from a community near Kumasi, Ghana. Blood samples and anthropometric measurements from these children were collected during physical examinations conducted in January 2007 by partners of the Barekuma Collaborative Community Development Programme.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Findings from the logistic model predicting the odds of asymptomatic malaria indicate that children who experienced mild, moderate or severe stunting were not more likely to have asymptomatic malaria than children who were not stunted. Children experiencing anaemia had an increased likelihood (OR = 4.15; 95% CI: 1.92, 8.98) of asymptomatic malaria. Similarly, increased spleen size, which was measured by ultrasound, was also associated with asymptomatic malaria (OR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.44, 3.28). Fast breathing, sex of the child, and age of the child were not significantly associated with the asymptomatic malaria.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>No significant association between chronic undernutrition and presence of asymptomatic malaria was found. Children who experience anaemia and children who have splenomegaly are more likely to present asymptomatic malaria. Programmes aimed at addressing malaria should continue to include nutritional components, especially components that address anaemia.</p

Long-term Spread and Control of Invasive, Common Reed (Phragmites australis) in Sheldon Marsh, Lake Erie

Author Institution: Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State UniversityIn 2001 the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) initiated a long-term, herbicide-spraying control program of Phragmites australis (common reed), a highly invasive perennial grass, in Sheldon Marsh on Lake Erie’s south shoreline. Controlling reed is a priority of many wetland managers because habitat homogenization from reed expansion may adversely affect wildlife habitat and waterfowl. Reed has historically been a minor part of wetland plant communities of the Laurentian Great Lakes but has spread rapidly since 2000 when lake water levels dropped. Here we examined ODNR records and aerial photographs using ArcGIS software and planimetry from 2000 to 2007 to (1) track annual changes in reed localities and areal coverage, (2) compare short-term effectiveness of glyphosate (Glypro® and AquaNeat®) and imazapyr (Habitat®) herbicides, and (3) estimate control costs. Reed first appeared in a small, isolated patch in 1998 but expanded to comprise approximately 18 percent of the marsh’s emergent vegetation by 2001. Annual change in areal cover was not related to minor changes in already low Lake Erie water levels. However, reed amount decreased from 6.7 ha (= 14.8 percent of emergent vegetation) in 2004 to 2.5 ha in 2007 after a two- to three-fold annual increase in amount of herbicide used. Short-term, post-spraying necrosis (browning) was slower for Phragmites treated with a five percent Habitat® solution than with a 30 percent AquaNeat® solution. Slowed necrosis presumably prolongs photosynthesis and plant nutrient uptake and delays habitat deterioration for some wildlife, but provides time for vegetative spread. Seven years of herbiciding have contained reed to approximately six percent of the emergent plant cover. Estimated control expenditures from 2003 to 2007 were \$8475 USD (average approximately \$1700/year); a small cost to maintain system ecological diversity