Assessing physical symptoms during the postpartum period: reliability and validity of the primary health questionnaire somatic symptom subscale (PHQ-15)

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupIntroduction: This study aimed at establishing the reliability and validity of the primary health questionnaire (PHQ-15) somatic symptom severity subscale for postpartum women. Methods: Women (N = 495) completed the PHQ-15 approximately 6 weeks postpartum during the baseline phase of a randomized controlled trial evaluating a writing intervention for postnatal health in England. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency statistics and convergent validity by comparing differences in self-reported physical health, health-related quality of life (QoL) and primary care usage by PHQ-15 symptom severity category. Results: Cronbach’s α for the PHQ-15 was 0.73 and item-total statistics met recommended guidelines. Validity analyzes showed 6% of women reported severe symptoms, 17% medium, 50% low and 27% minimal symptoms. Women with severe symptoms reported poorer overall physical health, poorer physical health-related QoL and greater use of primary care. Women with severe symptoms also rated their baby’s health as worse and used primary care more for their baby. Discussion: This study suggests the PHQ-15 has the potential to be a useful and valid measure of physical symptoms in postpartum women in high-income countries

Adaptive latitudinal variation in Common Blackbird Turdus merula nest characteristics

Nest construction is taxonomically widespread, yet our understanding of adaptive intraspecific variation in nest design remains poor. Nest characteristics are expected to vary adaptively in response to predictable variation in spring temperatures over large spatial scales, yet such variation in nest design remains largely overlooked, particularly amongst open-cup-nesting birds. Here, we systematically examined the effects of latitudinal variation in spring temperatures and precipitation on the morphology, volume, composition, and insulatory properties of open-cup-nesting Common Blackbirds’ Turdus merula nests to test the hypothesis that birds living in cooler environments at more northerly latitudes would build better insulated nests than conspecifics living in warmer environments at more southerly latitudes. As spring temperatures increased with decreasing latitude, the external diameter of nests decreased. However, as nest wall thickness also decreased, there was no variation in the diameter of the internal nest cups. Only the mass of dry grasses within nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes. The insulatory properties of nests declined with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes and nests containing greater amounts of dry grasses had higher insulatory properties. The insulatory properties of nests decreased with warmer temperatures at lower latitudes, via changes in morphology (wall thickness) and composition (dry grasses). Meanwhile, spring precipitation did not vary with latitude, and none of the nest characteristics varied with spring precipitation. This suggests that Common Blackbirds nesting at higher latitudes were building nests with thicker walls in order to counteract the cooler temperatures. We have provided evidence that the nest construction behavior of open-cup-nesting birds systematically varies in response to large-scale spatial variation in spring temperatures

Noncommutative resolutions of ADE fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds

In this paper we construct noncommutative resolutions of a certain class of Calabi-Yau threefolds studied by F. Cachazo, S. Katz and C. Vafa. The threefolds under consideration are fibered over a complex plane with the fibers being deformed Kleinian singularities. The construction is in terms of a noncommutative algebra introduced by V. Ginzburg, which we call the "N=1 ADE quiver algebra"

Biosensors for the monitoring of harmful algal blooms

Peer Reviewed Paper. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.02.018 Citation: McPartlin, D. A., Loftus, J. H., Crawley, A. S., Silke, J., Murphy, C. S., & O’Kennedy, R. J. (2017). Biosensors for the monitoring of harmful algal blooms. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 45, 164–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.02.018Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major global concern due to their propensity to cause environmental damage, healthcare issues and economic losses. In particular, the presence of toxic phytoplankton is a cause for concern. Current HAB monitoring programs often involve laborious laboratory-based analysis at a high cost and with long turnaround times. The latter also hampers the potential to develop accurate and reliable models that can predict HAB occurrence. However, a promising solution for this issue may be in the form of remotely deployed biosensors, which can rapidly and continuously measure algal and toxin levels at the point-of-need (PON), at a low cost. This review summarises the issues HABs present, how they are difficult to monitor and recently developed biosensors that may improve HAB-monitoring challenges

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Anxious Youth with Comorbid School Refusal: Clinical Presentation and Treatment Response

The present study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in youth (N = 27) diagnosed with a principal anxiety disorder and school refusal (SR; denial to attend school or difficulty remaining in school). Scant research examines the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment-seeking youth with a primary anxiety disorder and comorbid SR. Effects for youth who completed treatment (N = 12) ranged from d = .61 to 2.27 based on youth- and parent-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as independently rated global functioning. A discussion of treatment drop-out, a case illustration, and treatment recommendations are provided

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Anxious Youth with Comorbid School Refusal: Clinical Presentation and Treatment Response

The present study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in youth (N = 27) diagnosed with a principal anxiety disorder and school refusal (SR; denial to attend school or difficulty remaining in school). Scant research examines the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment-seeking youth with a primary anxiety disorder and comorbid SR. Effects for youth who completed treatment (N = 12) ranged from d = .61 to 2.27 based on youth- and parent-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as independently rated global functioning. A discussion of treatment drop-out, a case illustration, and treatment recommendations are provided

Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Anxious Youth with Comorbid School Refusal: Clinical Presentation and Treatment Response

The present study investigated the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in youth (N = 27) diagnosed with a principal anxiety disorder and school refusal (SR; denial to attend school or difficulty remaining in school). Scant research examines the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment-seeking youth with a primary anxiety disorder and comorbid SR. Effects for youth who completed treatment (N = 12) ranged from d = .61 to 2.27 based on youth- and parent-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as independently rated global functioning. A discussion of treatment drop-out, a case illustration, and treatment recommendations are provided

Scanning electron microscopy image representativeness: morphological data on nanoparticles.

A sample of a nanomaterial contains a distribution of nanoparticles of various shapes and/or sizes. A scanning electron microscopy image of such a sample often captures only a fragment of the morphological variety present in the sample. In order to quantitatively analyse the sample using scanning electron microscope digital images, and, in particular, to derive numerical representations of the sample morphology, image content has to be assessed. In this work, we present a framework for extracting morphological information contained in scanning electron microscopy images using computer vision algorithms, and for converting them into numerical particle descriptors. We explore the concept of image representativeness and provide a set of protocols for selecting optimal scanning electron microscopy images as well as determining the smallest representative image set for each of the morphological features. We demonstrate the practical aspects of our methodology by investigating tricalcium phosphate, Ca3 (PO4 )2 , and calcium hydroxyphosphate, Ca5 (PO4 )3 (OH), both naturally occurring minerals with a wide range of biomedical applications

'Reclaiming the criminal' : the role and training of prison officers in England, 1877-1914

This article examines the role and training of prison officers in England, between 1877 and 1914. It is concerned with the changing penal philosophies and practices of this period and how these were implemented in local prisons, and the duties of the prison officer. More broadly, this article argues that the role of the prison officer and their training (from 1896) reflect wider ambiguities in prison policy and practice during this period

Wider collateral damage to children in the UK because of the social distancing measures designed to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in adults

This article is freely available via Open Access. Click on the Publisher URL to access it via the publisher's site.ML is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship, DRF-2016-09-021).Published version, Accepted version, Submitted versio