Repetitive Negative Thinking outperforms loneliness and lack of social connectedness as a predictor of prospective depressive symptoms in adolescents

Background: Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) is a well-established predictor in adolescents of emotional problems, such as depression. Surprisingly little research, however, has looked at the relative importance of RNT vs. more interpersonally relevant variables in the context of depression, such as loneliness and lack of social connectedness. Objective: The present study, therefore, set out to examine whether RNT is a significant predictor when taking into account the contribution of loneliness and social connectedness. Methods: A sample of 135 typically developing adolescents (N = 135; 79.3% girls; M-age = 17.5; range 16-21) completed measures of depressive symptoms, RNT, loneliness and social connectedness at two time points with a 3-month interval. Results: Results showed that above and beyond baseline depressive symptoms, RNT was the only other significant predictor of prospective depressive symptoms. Conclusions: According to these results, RNT seems a relatively more important factor to consider in the context of adolescent depression than factors in the interpersonal or social context. Consequently, targeting RNT might be expected to yield more significant gains in reducing or preventing depressive symptoms in adolescents compared to focusing on feelings of loneliness or social connectedness - a hypothesis that remains to be tested

Adjunctive use of statins for COVID-19

The interaction between obesity, cardiometabolic disorders and COVID-19 represents a syndemic that requires both social intervention and a multipharmacological approach [...

Adjunctive use of statins for COVID-19

The interaction between obesity, cardiometabolic disorders and COVID-19 represents a syndemic that requires both social intervention and a multipharmacological approach. The risks associated with diabetes, obesity and hypertension for severe COVID-19 may be confounded by the type of medication for these cardiometabolic factors. Furthermore, endothelial dysfunction is a common feature of the key comorbidities that increase risk for severe COVID-19 such as hypertension, obesity, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease or heart failure. Among the drugs used to manage hypertension and diabetes mellitus are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and statins, all of which are known to improve endothelial dysfunction.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jcmam2022Internal MedicineNuclear Medicin

Hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients in Belgium treated with statins, ACE inhibitors and/or ARBs

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life throughout the world. Newly developed vaccines promise relief to people who live in high-income countries, although vaccines and expensive new treatments are unlikely to arrive in time to help people who live in low-and middle-income countries. The pathogenesis of COVID-19 is characterized by endothelial dysfunction. Several widely available drugs like statins, ACE inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have immunometabolic activities that (among other things) maintain or restore endothelial cell function. For this reason, we undertook an observational study in four Belgian hospitals to determine whether in-hospital treatment with these drugs could improve survival in 959 COVID-19 patients. We found that treatment with statins and ACEIs/ARBs reduced 28-day mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Moreover, combination treatment with these drugs resulted in a 3-fold reduction in the odds of hospital mortality (OR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.17-0.69). These findings were in general agreement with other published studies. Additional observational studies and clinical trials are needed to convincingly show that in-hospital treatment with statins, ACEIs/ARBs, and especially their combination saves lives

Minerva (MYRRHA Phase 1) RFQ Beam Commissioning

International audienceThe MYRRHA project aims at coupling a 600 MeV proton accelerator to a subcritical fission core operating at a thermal power of 60 MW. The nominal proton beam for this ADS has an intensity of 4 mA and is delivered in a quasi-CW mode. Phase 1 of the project will realize a 100 MeV, 4 mA superconducting linac with the mission of ensuring the ADS requirements in terms of reliability and fault tolerance. As part of the reliability optimization program the integrated prototyping of the MINERVA injector is ongoing. The front-end of the injector is composed of an ECR proton source, a 2.6 m long LEBT (low energy beam transport line) and a four-rod RFQ accelerating the beam to 1.5 MeV. The present contribution focuses on the current beam tests on the RFQ, including beam matching, RF conditioning, assessment of the cavities’ performances and accelerated beam characterisation

The Effects of ARBs, ACEis, and Statins on Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection Among Nursing Home Residents

Objectives: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors ("statins") have been hypothesized to affect COVID-19 severity. However, up to now, no studies investigating this association have been conducted in the most vulnerable and affected population groups (ie, older adults residing in nursing homes). The objective of this study was to explore the association of ACEi/ARB and/or statins with clinical manifestations in COVID-19-infected older adults residing in nursing homes. Design: We undertook a retrospective multicenter cohort study to analyze the association between ACEi/ARB and/or statin use with clinical outcome of COVID-19. The outcomes were (1) serious COVID-19 defined as long-stay hospital admission or death within 14 days of disease onset, and (2) asymptomatic (ie, no disease symptoms in the whole study period while still being diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction). Setting and participants: A total of 154 COVID-19-positive subjects were identified, residing in 1 of 2 Belgian nursing homes that experienced similar COVID-19 outbreaks. Measures: Logistic regression models were applied with age, sex, functional status, diabetes, and hypertension as covariates. Results: We found a statistically significant association between statin intake and the absence of symptoms during COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR] 2.91; confidence interval [CI] 1.27-6.71), which remained statistically significant after adjusting for covariates (OR 2.65; CI 1.13-6.68). Although the effects of statin intake on serious clinical outcome were in the same beneficial direction, these were not statistically significant (OR 0.75; CI 0.24-1.87). There was also no statistically significant association between ACEi/ARB and asymptomatic status (OR 2.72; CI 0.59-25.1) or serious clinical outcome (OR 0.48; CI 0.10-1.97). Conclusions and Implications: Our data indicate that statin intake in older, frail adults could be associated with a considerable beneficial effect on COVID-19 clinical symptoms. The role of statins and renin-angiotensin system drugs needs to be further explored in larger observational studies as well as randomized clinical trials. (C) 2020 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine