Attention deficit hyperactivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms in adolescence and risk of substance use disorders - a general population-based birth cohort study

BACKGROUND: Externalizing symptoms are associated with risk of future substance use disorder (SUD). Few longitudinal studies exist using general population-based samples which assess the spectrum of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms. AIMS/OBJECTIVES: We aimed to study the associations between adolescent ADHD symptoms and subsequent SUD and additionally examine whether the risk of SUD is influenced by comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms. METHODS: The Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 was linked to nationwide health care register data for incident SUD diagnoses until age 33 years (n = 6278, 49.5% male). ADHD/ODD-case status at age 16 years was defined using parent-rated ADHD indicated by Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD symptoms and Normal Behaviors (SWAN) questionnaire with 95% percentile cut-off. To assess the impact of ODD comorbidity on SUD risk, participants were categorized into four groups based on their ADHD/ODD case status. Cox-regression analysis with hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to study associations between adolescent ADHD/ODD case statuses and subsequent SUD. RESULTS: In all, 552 participants (8.8%) presented with ADHD case status at the age of 16 years, and 154/6278 (2.5%) were diagnosed with SUD during the follow-up. ADHD case status was associated with SUD during the follow-up (HR = 3.84, 95% CI 2.69-5.50). After adjustments for sex, family structure, and parental psychiatric disorder and early substance use the association with ADHD case status and SUD remained statistically significant (HR = 2.60, 95% CI 1.70-3.98). The risk of SUD remained elevated in individuals with ADHD case status irrespective of ODD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: ADHD in adolescence was associated with incident SUD in those with and without symptoms of ODD. The association of ADHD and SUD persisted even after adjustment for a wide range of potential confounds. This emphasizes the need to identify preventative strategies for adolescents with ADHD so as to improve health outcomes

Identification of pre-leukaemic haematopoietic stem cells in acute leukaemia.

In acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), the cell of origin, nature and biological consequences of initiating lesions, and order of subsequent mutations remain poorly understood, as AML is typically diagnosed without observation of a pre-leukaemic phase. Here, highly purified haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), progenitor and mature cell fractions from the blood of AML patients were found to contain recurrent DNMT3A mutations (DNMT3A(mut)) at high allele frequency, but without coincident NPM1 mutations (NPM1c) present in AML blasts. DNMT3A(mut)-bearing HSCs showed a multilineage repopulation advantage over non-mutated HSCs in xenografts, establishing their identity as pre-leukaemic HSCs. Pre-leukaemic HSCs were found in remission samples, indicating that they survive chemotherapy. Therefore DNMT3A(mut) arises early in AML evolution, probably in HSCs, leading to a clonally expanded pool of pre-leukaemic HSCs from which AML evolves. Our findings provide a paradigm for the detection and treatment of pre-leukaemic clones before the acquisition of additional genetic lesions engenders greater therapeutic resistance

Naming species with no morphological indicators: species status of Galeolaria caespitosa (Annelida : Serpulidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial gene sequences and morphology

Galeolaria caespitosa Lamarck, 1818 is an endemic, gregarious serpulid annelid, ubiquitous along the intertidal zone of southern Australia, occurring from Queensland to Western Australia. We sampled specimens across this range and utilised morphological features and sequences of mitochondrial (cytochrome-b) and nuclear (ITS2) markers to assess the taxonomic status of this morphospecies. No taxonomically significant morphological differences were observed across the range of G. caespitosa. However, the molecular data revealed the existence of the following two well supported clades that were also geographically concordant for the two markers: an eastern clade, consisting of New South Wales and southern Queensland samples, and a south-western group that encompassed samples from the rest of its range. The minimum pairwise distance between members of the two groups was more than 24% for cytochrome-b, with a maximum of 1% within-group variation. In addition, analysis of molecular variation showed a high proportion (97%) of the total variation distributed among the two groups, indicative of long-term isolation of the two clades. These results suggest that G. caespitosa comprises at least two cryptic species. Here, we discuss the merits of naming new Galeolaria species, given there were no consistent morphological differences detectable and the absence of details on the type locality for G. caespitosa. We conclude that a new species of Galeolaria is warranted and describe it here as G. gemineoa.Magdalena N. Halt, Elena K. Kupriyanova, Steven J. B. Cooper and Greg W. Rous

Phylogeny of the Serpula-Crucigera-Hydroides clade (Serpulidae:Annelida) using molecular and morphological data: implications for operculum evolution

The type genus of Serpulidae, Serpula Linnaeus, 1758, along with closely related genera Crucigera Benedict, 1887 and Hydroides Gunnerus, 1768, accounts for approximately one-third of all described species in the family. Although previous morphological and molecular studies unequivocally indicate that these three genera constitute a monophyletic group, the status of each genus remains unknown. In this study, the relationships among and within the genera Serpula, Crucigera, and Hydroides were investigated using maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses of nuclear (18S and 28S rDNA) and mitochondrial (cytochrome b) genomic molecular markers plus morphology. The phylogeny supports the monophyly of Hydroides, but Serpula forms a paraphyletic basal grade and Crucigera is polyphyletic. The lack of close relationship between Hydroides and Crucigera indicates that their similar opercular features are not homologous.E. K. Kupriyanova, R. Bastida-Zavala, M. N. Halt, M. S. Y. Lee and G. W. Rous

Miten itsemurhariskiä voidaan arvioida?

Tiivistelmä Suomi on muihin Pohjoismaihin verrattuna suuren itsemurhakuolleisuuden maa. Yksilöllistä itsemurhariskiä ei nykyisillä menetelmillä pystytä luotettavasti määrittämään, mutta suhteellista riskin suurenemista voidaan arvioida selvittämällä riskitekijöiden kasautumista ja potilaan elämäntilannetta kokonaisuutena. Merkittävin yksittäinen itsemurhan riskitekijä on aiempi itsemurhayritys. Muita merkittäviä itsemurhan riskitekijöitä ovat muun muassa mielenterveyden häiriöt, kuten mielialahäiriöt, psykoosit, persoonallisuushäiriöt ja päihdehäiriöt, sekä tietyt sosiodemografiset tekijät kuten työttömyys. Toivottomuus oirekuvassa on diagnoosista riippumatta suuren riskin merkki. Riskiä arvioitaessa tulee itsemurha-ajatuksista kysyä potilaalta suoraan. Myös strukturoituja kyselyjä voidaan käyttää riskinarvion tukena. Arviossa tulee pyrkiä kokonaisvaltaiseen ymmärrykseen potilaan psyykkisestä voinnista ja ajankohtaisista kuormitustekijöistä. Myös suojaavien tekijöiden kartoittaminen on osa onnistunutta kokonaisarviota

Time resolved x ray magnetic circular dichroism study of ultrafast demagnetization in a CoPd ferromagnetic film excited by circularly polarized laser pulse

The magnetization dynamics of CoPd films excited by circularly polarized ultrashort laser pulses is studied by time resolved x ray magnetic circular dichroism. In those films the ultrafast dynamics measured at the Co L3 edge is strongly sensitive to the orbitalmagnetic moment Lz. The amount of angular momentum transferred by the circularly polarized ultrashort laser pulses to the ferromagnetic films is evaluated to 0.1 h atom, which is above the detection limit of the experiment. Despite this, no polarization dependent difference on the magnetization dynamics could be evidenced. These results are explained by ultrafast electronic relaxation mechanisms of the transferred angular momentum, faster than amp; 8764;100 fs. This experiment sets the methodology as well as an upper time limit for determination of angular momentum relaxation processe