Mental disorders in new parents before and after birth: A population-based cohort study

© The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016 Background: Mental disorders of women during the postnatal period are a major public health problem. Compared with women's mental disorders, much less attention has been paid to men's mental disorders in the perinatal period. To date, there have been no reports in the literature describing secular changes of both maternal and paternal hospital admissions for mental disorders over the period covering the year before pregnancy (non-parents), during pregnancy (expectant parents) and up to the first year after birth (parents) based on linked parental data. The co-occurrences of couples' hospital admissions for mental disorders have not previously been investigated. Aims: To describe maternal and paternal hospital admissions for mental disorders before and after birth. To compare the co-occurrences of parents' hospital admissions for mental disorder in the perinatal period. Method: This is a cohort study using paired parents' population data from the New South Wales (NSW) Perinatal Data Collection (PDC), Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM) and Admitted Patients Data Collection (APDC). The study included all parents (n=196 669 couples) who gave birth to their first child in NSW between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2009. Results: The hospital admission rate for women with a principal mental disorder diagnosis in the period between the year before pregnancy and the first year after birth was significantly higher than that for men. Parents' mental disorders influenced each other. If a man was admitted to hospital with a principal mental disorder diagnosis, his wife or partner was more likely to be admitted to hospital with a principal mental disorder diagnosis compared with women whose partner had not had a hospital admission, and vice versa. Conclusions: Mothers' mental disorders after birth increased more significantly than fathers. However, fathers' mental disorders significantly impacted the co-occurrence of mothers' mental disorders

Anaemia and depression before and after birth: A cohort study based on linked population data

Background: To investigate the rates of hospitalisation for anaemia and depression in women in the six-year period (3 years before and after birth). To compare hospital admissions for depression in women with and without anaemia. Methods: This is a population-based cohort study. Women's birth records (New South Wales (NSW) Perinatal Data Collection) were linked with NSW Admitted Patients Data Collection records between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2010, so that hospital admissions for mothers could be traced back for 3 years before birth and followed up 3 years after birth. Setting: NSW Australia. Subjects: all women who gave birth to their first child in NSW between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008. Results: Hospital admissions for both anaemia and depression were increased significantly in the year just before and after birth compared with the years before and after. Women with anaemia were more likely to be admitted to hospital for depression than those without (for principal diagnosis of depression, adjusted OR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.25-2.11; for all diagnosis of depression, adjusted OR = 2.01, 95% CI = 1.70-2.38). Conclusions: Depression was associated with anaemia in women before and after birth. This finding highlight the important role of primary care providers in assessing for both anaemia and depressive symptomatology together, given the relationship between the two. Treating or preventing anaemia may help to prevent postnatal depression

Communicating and managing children and young people with autism and extensive burn injury

Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the way an individual communicates and relates to their environment and the people around them. Children and young people (0–18 years) with autism find change difficult and can demonstrate challenging behaviours when reacting to new situations. Children with autism can therefore be difficult to manage in paediatric intensive care settings, and this can become even more challenging when these children present with extensive burn injuries. A burns service at one children’s hospital in Manchester explored these issues among staff, and the reasons why children with autism have challenging hospital stays. Lack of staff awareness was found to be the key indicator of this, stemming from concerns relating to patient/staff experience, rights, safety and behaviour, management skills and improving clinical effectiveness. To ameliorate this situation and improve care provision, a range of measures have been implemented, including a hospital-wide care standard, an autism training and education strategy, and development of an autism ‘champion’ role to ensure early intervention. This article outlines the development and implementation of these measures and future action plans

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Risk of Esophageal Cancer: A Case-Control Study in North-West China

The north-western region of China carries a big burden of esophageal cancer with incidence above the national average. This study ascertained the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and the risk of esophageal cancer in this remote part of China. A case-control study was undertaken in Urumqi and Shihezi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, between 2008 and 2009. Participants were 359 incident esophageal cancer patients and 380 hospital-based controls. Information on habitual fruit and vegetable consumption was obtained by face-to-face interview using a validated semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire. Unconditional logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the strength of the associations. The esophageal cancer patients consumed significantly less fruits (mean 364.3, standard deviation [SD] 497.4 g) and vegetables (mean 711.4, SD 727.9 g) daily than their counterparts without the disease (mean 496.5, SD 634.4 g and mean 894.5, SD746.1 g, respectively). The adjusted odds ratios were 0.48 (95% confidence interval 0.33–0.71) and 0.46 (95% confidence interval 0.32–0.68) for consuming at least 515 g of fruits and 940 g of vegetables per day, respectively, relative to at most 170 g and 520 g. With respect to nutrients contained in fruits and vegetables, intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E, ß-cryptoxanthin, potassium, and magnesium at high levels also reduced the esophageal cancer risk. In conclusion, inverse associations were evident between consumption of fruits and vegetables and the risk of esophageal cancer for adults residing in north-west China

Applications of Abundance Data and Requirements for Cosmochemical Modeling

Understanding the evolution of the universe from Big Bang to its present state requires an understanding of the evolution of the abundances of the elements and isotopes in galaxies, stars, the interstellar medium, the Sun and the heliosphere, planets and meteorites. Processes that change the state of the universe include Big Bang nucleosynthesis, star formation and stellar nucleosynthesis, galactic chemical evolution, propagation of cosmic rays, spallation, ionization and particle transport of interstellar material, formation of the solar system, solar wind emission and its fractionation (FIP/FIT effect), mixing processes in stellar interiors, condensation of material and subsequent geochemical fractionation. Here, we attempt to compile some major issues in cosmochemistry that can be addressed with a better knowledge of the respective element or isotope abundances. Present and future missions such as Genesis, Stardust, Interstellar Pathfinder, and Interstellar Probe, improvements of remote sensing instrumentation and experiments on extraterrestrial material such as meteorites, presolar grains, and lunar or returned planetary or cometary samples will result in an improved database of elemental and isotopic abundances. This includes the primordial abundances of D, ^3He, ^4He, and ^7Li, abundances of the heavier elements in stars and galaxies, the composition of the interstellar medium, solar wind and comets as well as the (highly) volatile elements in the solar system such as helium, nitrogen, oxygen or xenon

p, He, and C to Fe cosmic-ray primary fluxes in diffusion models: Source and transport signatures on fluxes and ratios

The propagated fluxes of proton, helium, and heavier primary cosmic-ray species (up to Fe) are a means to indirectly access the source spectrum of cosmic rays. We check the compatibility of the primary fluxes with the transport parameters derived from the B/C analysis, but also if they bring further constraints. Proton data are well described in the simplest model defined by a power-law source spectrum and plain diffusion. They can also be accommodated by models with, e.g., convection and/or reacceleration. There is no need for breaks in the source spectral indices below $\sim 1$ TeV/n. Fits on the primary fluxes alone do not provide physical constraints on the transport parameters. If we let free the source spectrum $dQ/dE = q \beta^{\eta_S} {\cal R}^{-\alpha}$ and fix the diffusion coefficient $K(R)= K_0\beta^{\eta_T} {\cal R}^{\delta}$ such as to reproduce the B/C ratio, the MCMC analysis constrains the source spectral index $\alpha$ to be in the range $2.2-2.5$ for all primary species up to Fe, regardless of the value of the diffusion slope $\delta$. The $\eta_S$ low-energy shape of the source spectrum is degenerate with the low-energy shape $\eta_T$ of the diffusion coefficient: we find $\eta_S-\eta_T\approx 0$ for p and He data, but $\eta_S-\eta_T\approx 1$ for C to Fe primary species. This is consistent with the toy-model calculation in which the shape of the p/He and C/O to Fe/O data is reproduced if $\eta_S-\eta_T\approx 0-1$ (no need for different slopes $\alpha$). When plotted as a function of the kinetic energy per nucleon, the low-energy p/He ratio is shaped mostly by the modulation effect, whereas primary/O ratios are mostly shaped by their destruction rate.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures: accepted in A&A (1 table added

Galactic Cosmic Ray Origins and OB Associations: Evidence from SuperTIGER Observations of Elements 26_{26}Fe through 40_{40}Zr

We report abundances of elements from $_{26}$Fe to $_{40}$Zr in the cosmic radiation measured by the SuperTIGER (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) instrument during 55 days of exposure on a long-duration balloon flight over Antarctica. These observations resolve elemental abundances in this charge range with single-element resolution and good statistics. These results support a model of cosmic-ray origin in which the source material consists of a mixture of 19$^{+11}_{-6}$\% material from massive stars and $\sim$81\% normal interstellar medium (ISM) material with solar system abundances. The results also show a preferential acceleration of refractory elements (found in interstellar dust grains) by a factor of $\sim$4 over volatile elements (found in interstellar gas) ordered by atomic mass (A). Both the refractory and volatile elements show a mass-dependent enhancement with similar slopes.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables, accepted by Ap

Plutonic and Metamorphic Rocks of the Walcha-Nowendoc-Yarrowitch District, Northern New South Wales

This study represents the first detailed account of the geology of the area mapped and is currently one of the few detailed accounts of the highly deformed and metamorphosed rocks underlaying much of the New England region. Many of the results of this study were derived from lengthy fieldwork, supplemented by petrographic examination of more than 700 thin sections. Approximately 500 of these thin sections were prepared by the author, the remainder being made by the technical staff of the Geology Department of the University of New England. In addition, all drafting of maps and figures and the taking and printing of the plates are the work of the author