Depression and anxiety in adolescents and adults with cystic fibrosis in the UK: A cross-sectional study

Background The International Depression/anxiety Epidemiological Study (TIDES) in the UK aimed: (i) to establish the prevalence of anxiety and depression amongst people with CF compared to a normative sample; (ii) to establish the association between mood, demographic and clinical variables; and (iii) to provide guidance for specialist-referral decision-making. Methods Patients (≥ 12 years) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). CF-HADS scores, expressed as percentiles, were compared with a normative sample. Multiple-regression analysis explored associations between demographic, clinical and mood variables. Results Thirty-nine CF centres recruited 2065 patients. Adults with CF were similar in terms of anxiety and depression to the general population. Adolescents with CF were less anxious and depressed. For adult patients, older age, unemployment for health reasons and poor lung function were associated with disordered mood. Gender-specific CF-percentile scores were calculated. Conclusion Surveillance, with attention to gender and risk factors is advocated. This work provides unique benchmark scores to aid referral decision-making

Entangled Mechanical Oscillators

Hallmarks of quantum mechanics include superposition and entanglement. In the context of large complex systems, these features should lead to situations like Schrodinger's cat, which exists in a superposition of alive and dead states entangled with a radioactive nucleus. Such situations are not observed in nature. This may simply be due to our inability to sufficiently isolate the system of interest from the surrounding environment -- a technical limitation. Another possibility is some as-of-yet undiscovered mechanism that prevents the formation of macroscopic entangled states. Such a limitation might depend on the number of elementary constituents in the system or on the types of degrees of freedom that are entangled. One system ubiquitous to nature where entanglement has not been previously demonstrated is distinct mechanical oscillators. Here we demonstrate deterministic entanglement of separated mechanical oscillators, consisting of the vibrational states of two pairs of atomic ions held in different locations. We also demonstrate entanglement of the internal states of an atomic ion with a distant mechanical oscillator.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Alpha-band rhythms in visual task performance: phase-locking by rhythmic sensory stimulation

Oscillations are an important aspect of neuronal activity. Interestingly, oscillatory patterns are also observed in behaviour, such as in visual performance measures after the presentation of a brief sensory event in the visual or another modality. These oscillations in visual performance cycle at the typical frequencies of brain rhythms, suggesting that perception may be closely linked to brain oscillations. We here investigated this link for a prominent rhythm of the visual system (the alpha-rhythm, 8-12 Hz) by applying rhythmic visual stimulation at alpha-frequency (10.6 Hz), known to lead to a resonance response in visual areas, and testing its effects on subsequent visual target discrimination. Our data show that rhythmic visual stimulation at 10.6 Hz: 1) has specific behavioral consequences, relative to stimulation at control frequencies (3.9 Hz, 7.1 Hz, 14.2 Hz), and 2) leads to alpha-band oscillations in visual performance measures, that 3) correlate in precise frequency across individuals with resting alpha-rhythms recorded over parieto-occipital areas. The most parsimonious explanation for these three findings is entrainment (phase-locking) of ongoing perceptually relevant alpha-band brain oscillations by rhythmic sensory events. These findings are in line with occipital alpha-oscillations underlying periodicity in visual performance, and suggest that rhythmic stimulation at frequencies of intrinsic brain-rhythms can be used to reveal influences of these rhythms on task performance to study their functional roles

Bonobo personality traits are heritable and associated with vasopressin receptor gene 1a variation

Despite being closely related, bonobos and chimpanzees show remarkable behavioral differences, the proximate origins of which remain unknown. This study examined the link between behavioral variation and variation in the vasopressin 1a receptor gene (Avpr1a) in bonobos. Chimpanzees are polymorphic for a ~360 bp deletion (DupB), which includes a microsatellite (RS3) in the 5′ promoter region of Avpr1a. In chimpanzees, the DupB deletion has been linked to lower sociability, lower social sensitivity, and higher anxiety. Chimpanzees and bonobos differ on these traits, leading some to believe that the absence of the DupB deletion in bonobos may be partly responsible for these differences, and to the prediction that similar associations between Avpr1a genotypes and personality traits should be present in bonobos. We identified bonobo personality dimensions using behavioral measures (Sociability(B), Boldness(B), Openness(B), Activity(B)) and trait ratings (Assertiveness(R), Conscientiousness(R), Openness(R), Agreeableness(R), Attentiveness(R), Extraversion(R)). In the present study we found that all 10 dimensions have nonzero heritabilities, indicating there is a genetic basis to personality, and that bonobos homozygous for shorter RS3 alleles were lower in Attentiveness(R) and higher in Openness(B). These results suggest that variations in Avpr1a genotypes explain both within and between species differences in personality traits of bonobos and chimpanzees

Action Being Character: A Promising Perspective on the Solution Concept of Game Theory

The inconsistency of predictions from solution concepts of conventional game theory with experimental observations is an enduring question. These solution concepts are based on the canonical rationality assumption that people are exclusively self-regarding utility maximizers. In this article, we think this assumption is problematic and, instead, assume that rational economic agents act as if they were maximizing their implicit utilities, which turns out to be a natural extension of the canonical rationality assumption. Implicit utility is defined by a player's character to reflect his personal weighting between cooperative, individualistic, and competitive social value orientations. The player who actually faces an implicit game chooses his strategy based on the common belief about the character distribution for a general player and the self-estimation of his own character, and he is not concerned about which strategies other players will choose and will never feel regret about his decision. It is shown by solving five paradigmatic games, the Dictator game, the Ultimatum game, the Prisoner's Dilemma game, the Public Goods game, and the Battle of the Sexes game, that the framework of implicit game and its corresponding solution concept, implicit equilibrium, based on this alternative assumption have potential for better explaining people's actual behaviors in social decision making situations

The deuteron: structure and form factors

A brief review of the history of the discovery of the deuteron in provided. The current status of both experiment and theory for the elastic electron scattering is then presented.Comment: 80 pages, 33 figures, submited to Advances in Nuclear Physic

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Soluble Immune Complexes Shift the TLR-Induced Cytokine Production of Distinct Polarized Human Macrophage Subsets towards IL-10

Contains fulltext : 109563.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Costimulation of murine macrophages with immune complexes (ICs) and TLR ligands leads to alternative activation. Studies on human myeloid cells, however, indicate that ICs induce an increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production. This study aimed to clarify the effect of ICs on the pro- versus anti-inflammatory profile of human polarized macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Monocytes isolated from peripheral blood of healthy donors were polarized for four days with IFN-gamma, IL-4, IL-10, GM-CSF, M-CSF, or LPS, in the presence or absence of heat aggregated gamma-globulins (HAGGs). Phenotypic polarization markers were measured by flow cytometry. Polarized macrophages were stimulated with HAGGs or immobilized IgG alone or in combination with TLR ligands. TNF, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-23 were measured by Luminex and/or RT-qPCR. RESULTS: HAGGs did not modulate the phenotypic polarization and the cytokine production of macrophages. However, HAGGs significantly altered the TLR-induced cytokine production of all polarized macrophage subsets, with the exception of MPhi(IL-4). In particular, HAGGs consistently enhanced the TLR-induced IL-10 production in both classically and alternatively polarized macrophages (M1 and M2). The effect of HAGGs on TNF and IL-6 production was less pronounced and depended on the polarization status, while IL-23p19 and IL-12p35 expression was not affected. In contrast with HAGGs, immobilized IgG induced a strong upregulation of not only IL-10, but also TNF and IL-6. CONCLUSION: HAGGs alone do not alter the phenotype and cytokine production of in vitro polarized human macrophages. In combination with TLR-ligands, however, HAGGs but not immobilized IgG shift the cytokine production of distinct macrophage subsets toward IL-10

Is High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRMA) Accurate for Detection of Human Disease-Associated Mutations? A Meta Analysis

BACKGROUND: High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRMA) is becoming the preferred method for mutation detection. However, its accuracy in the individual clinical diagnostic setting is variable. To assess the diagnostic accuracy of HRMA for human mutations in comparison to DNA sequencing in different routine clinical settings, we have conducted a meta-analysis of published reports. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Out of 195 publications obtained from the initial search criteria, thirty-four studies assessing the accuracy of HRMA were included in the meta-analysis. We found that HRMA was a highly sensitive test for detecting disease-associated mutations in humans. Overall, the summary sensitivity was 97.5% (95% confidence interval (CI): 96.8-98.5; I(2) = 27.0%). Subgroup analysis showed even higher sensitivity for non-HR-1 instruments (sensitivity 98.7% (95%CI: 97.7-99.3; I(2) = 0.0%)) and an eligible sample size subgroup (sensitivity 99.3% (95%CI: 98.1-99.8; I(2) = 0.0%)). HRMA specificity showed considerable heterogeneity between studies. Sensitivity of the techniques was influenced by sample size and instrument type but by not sample source or dye type. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings show that HRMA is a highly sensitive, simple and low-cost test to detect human disease-associated mutations, especially for samples with mutations of low incidence. The burden on DNA sequencing could be significantly reduced by the implementation of HRMA, but it should be recognized that its sensitivity varies according to the number of samples with/without mutations, and positive results require DNA sequencing for confirmation

Human Gastric Mucins Differently Regulate Helicobacter pylori Proliferation, Gene Expression and Interactions with Host Cells

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the mucus niche of the gastric mucosa and is a risk factor for gastritis, ulcers and cancer. The main components of the mucus layer are heavily glycosylated mucins, to which H. pylori can adhere. Mucin glycosylation differs between individuals and changes during disease. Here we have examined the H. pylori response to purified mucins from a range of tumor and normal human gastric tissue samples. Our results demonstrate that mucins from different individuals differ in how they modulate both proliferation and gene expression of H. pylori. The mucin effect on proliferation varied significantly between samples, and ranged from stimulatory to inhibitory, depending on the type of mucins and the ability of the mucins to bind to H. pylori. Tumor-derived mucins and mucins from the surface mucosa had potential to stimulate proliferation, while gland-derived mucins tended to inhibit proliferation and mucins from healthy uninfected individuals showed little effect. Artificial glycoconjugates containing H. pylori ligands also modulated H. pylori proliferation, albeit to a lesser degree than human mucins. Expression of genes important for the pathogenicity of H. pylori (babA, sabA, cagA, flaA and ureA) appeared co-regulated in response to mucins. The addition of mucins to co-cultures of H. pylori and gastric epithelial cells protected the viability of the cells and modulated the cytokine production in a manner that differed between individuals, was partially dependent of adhesion of H. pylori to the gastric cells, but also revealed that other mucin factors in addition to adhesion are important for H. pylori-induced host signaling. The combined data reveal host-specific effects on proliferation, gene expression and virulence of H. pylori due to the gastric mucin environment, demonstrating a dynamic interplay between the bacterium and its host