A Randomized Depression Prevention Trial Comparing Interpersonal Psychotherapy—Adolescent Skills Training To Group Counseling In Schools

Given the rise in depression disorders in adolescence, it is important to develop and study depression prevention programs for this age group. The current study examined the efficacy of Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), a group prevention program for adolescent depression, in comparison to group programs that are typically delivered in school settings. In this indicated prevention trial, 186 adolescents with elevated depression symptoms were randomized to receive IPT-AST delivered by research staff or group counseling (GC) delivered by school counselors. Hierarchical linear modeling examined differences in rates of change in depressive symptoms and overall functioning from baseline to the 6-month follow-up assessment. Cox regression compared rates of depression diagnoses. Adolescents in IPT-AST showed significantly greater improvements in self-reported depressive symptoms and evaluator-rated overall functioning than GC adolescents from baseline to the 6-month follow-up. However, there were no significant differences between the two conditions in onset of depression diagnoses. Although both intervention conditions demonstrated significant improvements in depressive symptoms and overall functioning, results indicate that IPT-AST has modest benefits over groups run by school counselors which were matched on frequency and duration of sessions. In particular, IPT-AST outperformed GC in reduction of depressive symptoms and improvements in overall functioning. These findings point to the clinical utility of this depression prevention program, at least in the short-term. Additional follow-up is needed to determine the long-term effects of IPT-AST, relative to GC, particularly in preventing depression onset

Long-Term Effects From A School-Based Trial Comparing Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training To Group Counseling

Adolescence represents a vulnerable developmental period for depression and an opportune time for prevention efforts. In this study, 186 adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms (M age = 14.01, SD = 1.22; 66.7% female; 32.2% racial minority) were randomized to receive either Interpersonal Psychotherapy–Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST; n = 95) delivered by research clinicians or group counseling (GC; n = 91) delivered by school counselors. We previously reported the short-term outcomes of this school-based randomized controlled trial: IPT-AST youth experienced significantly greater improvements in depressive symptoms and overall functioning through 6-month follow-up. Here, we present the long-term outcomes through 24 months postintervention. We examined differences in rates of change in depressive symptoms and overall functioning and differences in rates of depression diagnoses. Youth in both conditions showed significant improvements in depressive symptoms and overall functioning from baseline to 24-month follow-up, demonstrating the efficacy of school-based depression prevention programs. However, the two groups did not differ in overall rates of change or in rates of depression diagnoses from baseline to 24-month follow-up. Although IPT-AST demonstrated advantages over GC in the short term, these effects dissipated over long-term follow-up. Specifically, from 6- to 24-month follow-up, GC youth showed continued decreases in depressive symptoms, whereas IPT-AST youth showed a nonsignificant increase in symptoms. GC youth remained relatively stable in overall functioning, whereas IPT-AST youth experienced a small but statistically significant worsening in functioning. This study highlights the potential of school-based depression prevention efforts and the need for further research

Intrathecal administration of AAV/GALC vectors in 10-11-day-old twitcher mice improves survival and is enhanced by bone marrow transplant: Intrathecal AAV Combined With BMT To Treat Krabbe Disease

Globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD), or Krabbe disease, is an autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease caused by the deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme galactocerebrosidase (GALC). Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) provides modest benefit in presymptomatic patients but is well short of a cure. Gene transfer experiments using viral vectors have shown some success in extending the survival in the mouse model of GLD, twitcher mice. The present study compares three single-stranded (ss) AAV serotypes, two natural and one engineered (with oligodendrocyte tropism), and a self-complementary (sc) AAV vector, all packaged with a codon-optimized murine GALC gene. The vectors were delivered via a lumbar intrathecal route for global CNS distribution on PND10-11 at a dose of 2 × 10(11) vector genomes (vg) per mouse. The results showed a similar significant extension of life span of the twitcher mice for all three serotypes (AAV9, AAVrh10, and AAV-Olig001) as well as the scAAV9 vector, compared to control cohorts. The rAAV gene transfer facilitated GALC biodistribution and detectable enzymatic activity throughout the CNS as well as in sciatic nerve and liver. When combined with BMT from syngeneic wild-type mice, there was significant improvement in survival for ssAAV9. Histopathological analysis of brain, spinal cord, and sciatic nerve showed significant improvement in preservation of myelin, with ssAAV9 providing the greatest benefit. In summary, we demonstrate that lumbar intrathecal delivery of rAAV/mGALCopt can significantly enhance the life span of twitcher mice treated at PND10-11 and that BMT synergizes with this treatment to improve the survival further. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Non-monotonic variation with salt concentration of the second virial coefficient in protein solutions

The osmotic virial coefficient $B_2$ of globular protein solutions is calculated as a function of added salt concentration at fixed pH by computer simulations of the ``primitive model''. The salt and counter-ions as well as a discrete charge pattern on the protein surface are explicitly incorporated. For parameters roughly corresponding to lysozyme, we find that $B_2$ first decreases with added salt concentration up to a threshold concentration, then increases to a maximum, and then decreases again upon further raising the ionic strength. Our studies demonstrate that the existence of a discrete charge pattern on the protein surface profoundly influences the effective interactions and that non-linear Poisson Boltzmann and Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory fail for large ionic strength. The observed non-monotonicity of $B_2$ is compared to experiments. Implications for protein crystallization are discussed.Comment: 43 pages, including 17 figure

Adsorption of mono- and multivalent cat- and anions on DNA molecules

Adsorption of monovalent and multivalent cat- and anions on a deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) molecule from a salt solution is investigated by computer simulation. The ions are modelled as charged hard spheres, the DNA molecule as a point charge pattern following the double-helical phosphate strands. The geometrical shape of the DNA molecules is modelled on different levels ranging from a simple cylindrical shape to structured models which include the major and minor grooves between the phosphate strands. The densities of the ions adsorbed on the phosphate strands, in the major and in the minor grooves are calculated. First, we find that the adsorption pattern on the DNA surface depends strongly on its geometrical shape: counterions adsorb preferentially along the phosphate strands for a cylindrical model shape, but in the minor groove for a geometrically structured model. Second, we find that an addition of monovalent salt ions results in an increase of the charge density in the minor groove while the total charge density of ions adsorbed in the major groove stays unchanged. The adsorbed ion densities are highly structured along the minor groove while they are almost smeared along the major groove. Furthermore, for a fixed amount of added salt, the major groove cationic charge is independent on the counterion valency. For increasing salt concentration the major groove is neutralized while the total charge adsorbed in the minor groove is constant. DNA overcharging is detected for multivalent salt. Simulations for a larger ion radii, which mimic the effect of the ion hydration, indicate an increased adsorbtion of cations in the major groove.Comment: 34 pages with 14 figure

Pain coping skills training for African Americans with osteoarthritis (STAART): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

Background: African Americans bear a disproportionate burden of osteoarthritis (OA), with higher prevalence rates, more severe pain, and more functional limitations. One key barrier to addressing these disparities has been limited engagement of African Americans in the development and evaluation of behavioral interventions for management of OA. Pain Coping Skills Training (CST) is a cognitive-behavioral intervention with shown efficacy to improve OA-related pain and other outcomes. Emerging data indicate pain CST may be a promising intervention for reducing racial disparities in OA symptom severity. However, there are important gaps in this research, including incorporation of stakeholder perspectives (e.g. cultural appropriateness, strategies for implementation into clinical practice) and testing pain CST specifically among African Americans with OA. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally enhanced pain CST program among African Americans with OA. Methods/Design: This is a randomized controlled trial among 248 participants with symptomatic hip or knee OA, with equal allocation to a pain CST group and a wait list (WL) control group. The pain CST program incorporated feedback from patients and other stakeholders and involves 11 weekly telephone-based sessions. Outcomes are assessed at baseline, 12 weeks (primary time point), and 36 weeks (to assess maintenance of treatment effects). The primary outcome is the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, and secondary outcomes include self-efficacy, pain coping, pain interference, quality of life, depressive symptoms, and global assessment of change. Linear mixed models will be used to compare the pain CST group to the WL control group and explore whether participant characteristics are associated with differential improvement in the pain CST program. This research is in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration and was approved by the Institutional Review Boards of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, East Carolina University, and Duke University Health System. Discussion: This culturally enhanced pain CST program could have a substantial impact on outcomes for African Americans with OA and may be a key strategy in the reduction of racial health disparities.Funded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Award (AD-1408-19519)

The MSG-SEVIRI-based cloud property data record CLAAS-2

Clouds play a central role in the Earth's atmosphere, and satellite observations are crucial for monitoring clouds and understanding their impact on the energy budget and water cycle. Within the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF), a new cloud property data record was derived from geostationary Meteosat Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) measurements for the time frame 2004–2015. The resulting CLAAS-2 (CLoud property dAtAset using SEVIRI, Edition 2) data record is publicly available via the CM SAF website (https://doi.org/10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/CLAAS/V002). In this paper we present an extensive evaluation of the CLAAS-2 cloud products, which include cloud fractional coverage, thermodynamic phase, cloud top properties, liquid/ice cloud water path and corresponding optical thickness and particle effective radius. Data validation and comparisons were performed on both level 2 (native SEVIRI grid and repeat cycle) and level 3 (daily and monthly averages and histograms) with reference datasets derived from lidar, microwave and passive imager measurements. The evaluation results show very good overall agreement with matching spatial distributions and temporal variability and small biases attributed mainly to differences in sensor characteristics, retrieval approaches, spatial and temporal samplings and viewing geometries. No major discrepancies were found. Underpinned by the good evaluation results, CLAAS-2 demonstrates that it is fit for the envisaged applications, such as process studies of the diurnal cycle of clouds and the evaluation of regional climate models. The data record is planned to be extended and updated in the future