Unveiling relationships between crime and property in England and Wales via density scale-adjusted metrics and network tools

Scale-adjusted metrics (SAMs) are a significant achievement of the urban scaling hypothesis. SAMs remove the inherent biases of per capita measures computed in the absence of isometric allometries. However, this approach is limited to urban areas, while a large portion of the world’s population still lives outside cities and rural areas dominate land use worldwide. Here, we extend the concept of SAMs to population density scale-adjusted metrics (DSAMs) to reveal relationships among different types of crime and property metrics. Our approach allows all human environments to be considered, avoids problems in the definition of urban areas, and accounts for the heterogeneity of population distributions within urban regions. By combining DSAMs, cross-correlation, and complex network analysis, we find that crime and property types have intricate and hierarchically organized relationships leading to some striking conclusions. Drugs and burglary had uncorrelated DSAMs and, to the extent property transaction values are indicators of affluence, twelve out of fourteen crime metrics showed no evidence of specifically targeting affluence. Burglary and robbery were the most connected in our network analysis and the modular structures suggest an alternative to "zero-tolerance" policies by unveiling the crime and/or property types most likely to affect each other

CariesCare International adapted for the pandemic in children: Caries OUT multicentre single-group interventional study protocol

Fil: Martignon, Stefania. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Douglas, Gail V. A. University of Leeds. Dental Public Health. Dental Institute; United Kingdom.Fil: Cortes, Andrea. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Newton, J. Timothy. King’s College. Faculty of Dentistry. Oral and Craniofacial Sciences; United Kingdom.Fil: Pitts, Nigel B. King’s College. Faculty of Dentistry. Oral and Craniofacial Sciences; United Kingdom.Fil: Ávila, Viviana. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Usuga Vacca, Margarita. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Usuga Vacca, Margarita. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Gamboa, Luis F. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Deery, Christopher. University of Sheffield. School of Clinical Dentistry; United Kingdom.Fil: Abreu - Placeres, Ninoska. Universidad Iberoamericana. Biomaterials and Dentistry Research Center. Academic Research Department; República Dominicana.Fil: Bonifacio, Clarisa. Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam. Department of Pediatric Dentistry; Países Bajos.Background: Comprehensive caries care has shown effectiveness in controlling caries progression and improving health outcomes by controlling caries risk, preventing initial-caries lesions progression, and patient satisfaction. To date, the caries-progression control effectiveness of the patient-centred risk-based cariesCare International (CCI) system, derived from ICCMS™ for the practice (2019), remains unproven. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a previously planned multi-centre RCT shifted to this “Caries OUT” study, aiming to assess in a single-intervention group in children, the caries-control effectiveness of CCI adapted for the pandemic with non-aerosols generating procedures (non-AGP) and reducing in-office time. Methods: In this 1-year multi-centre single-group interventional trial the adapted-CCI effectiveness will be assessed in one single group in terms of tooth-surface level caries progression control, and secondarily, individual-level caries progression control, children’s oral-health behaviour change, parents’ and dentists’ process acceptability, and costs exploration. A sample size of 258 3–5 and 6–8 years old patients was calculated after removing half from the previous RCT, allowing for a 25% dropout, including generally health children (27 per centre). The single-group intervention will be the adapted-CCI 4D-cycle caries care, with non-AGP and reduced in-office appointments’ time. A trained examiner per centre will conduct examinations at baseline, at 5–5.5 months (3 months after basic management), 8.5 and 12 months, assessing the child’s CCI caries risk and oral-health behaviour, visually staging and assessing carieslesions severity and activity without air-drying (ICDAS-merged Epi); fillings/sealants; missing/dental-sepsis teeth, and tooth symptoms, synthetizing together with parent and external-trained dental practitioner (DP) the patient- and tooth-surface level diagnoses and personalised care plan. DP will deliver the adapted-CCI caries care. Parents’ and dentists’ process acceptability will be assessed via Treatment-Evaluation-Inventory questionnaires, and costs in terms of number of appointments and activities. Twenty-one centres in 13 countries will participate. Discussion: The results of Caries OUT adapted for the pandemic will provide clinical data that could help support shifting the caries care in children towards individualised oral-health behaviour improvement and tooth-preserving care, improving health outcomes, and explore if the caries progression can be controlled during the pandemic by conducting non-AGP and reducing in-office time.publishedVersionFil: Martignon, Stefania. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Douglas, Gail V. A. University of Leeds. Dental Public Health. Dental Institute; United Kingdom.Fil: Cortes, Andrea. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Newton, J. Timothy. King’s College. Faculty of Dentistry. Oral and Craniofacial Sciences; United Kingdom.Fil: Pitts, Nigel B. King’s College. Faculty of Dentistry. Oral and Craniofacial Sciences; United Kingdom.Fil: Ávila, Viviana. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Usuga Vacca, Margarita. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Usuga Vacca, Margarita. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Gamboa, Luis F. Universidad El Bosque. Caries Research Unit. Research Department; Colombia.Fil: Deery, Christopher. University of Sheffield. School of Clinical Dentistry; United Kingdom.Fil: Abreu - Placeres, Ninoska. Universidad Iberoamericana. Biomaterials and Dentistry Research Center. Academic Research Department; República Dominicana.Fil: Bonifacio, Clarisa. Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam. Department of Pediatric Dentistry; Países Bajos.Otras Ciencias de la Salu

Longitudinal in vivo Imaging of the Cerebrovasculature: Relevance to CNS Diseases

International audienceRemodeling of the brain vasculature is a common trait of brain pathologies. In vivo imaging techniques are fundamental to detect cerebrovascular plasticity or damage occurring overtime and in relation to neuronal activity or blood flow. In vivo two-photon microscopy allows the study of the structural and functional plasticity of large cellular units in the living brain. In particular, the thinned-skull window preparation allows the visualization of cortical regions of interest (ROI) without inducing significant brain inflammation. Repetitive imaging sessions of cortical ROI are feasible, providing the characterization of disease hallmarks over time during the progression of numerous CNS diseases. This technique accessing the pial structures within 250 μm of the brain relies on the detection of fluorescent probes encoded by genetic cellular markers and/or vital dyes. The latter (e.g., fluorescent dextrans) are used to map the luminal compartment of cerebrovascular structures. Germane to the protocol described herein is the use of an in vivo marker of amyloid deposits, Methoxy-O4, to assess Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. We also describe the post-acquisition image processing used to track vascular changes and amyloid depositions. While focusing presently on a model of AD, the described protocol is relevant to other CNS disorders where pathological cerebrovascular changes occur. Video Link The video component of this article can be found a

Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during the stress response in large-scale brain networks

The diversity of actions of the glucocorticoid stress hormones among individuals and within organs, tissues and cells is shaped by age, gender, genetics, metabolism, and the quantity of exposure. However, such factors cannot explain the heterogeneity of responses in the brain within cells of the same lineage, or similar tissue environment, or in the same individual. Here, we argue that the stress response is continuously updated by synchronized neural activity on large-scale brain networks. This occurs at the molecular, cellular and behavioral levels by crosstalk communication between activity-dependent and glucocorticoid signaling pathways, which updates the diversity of responses based on prior experience. Such a Bayesian process determines adaptation to the demands of the body and external world. We propose a framework for understanding how the diversity of glucocorticoid actions throughout brain networks is essential for supporting optimal health, while its disruption may contribute to the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders, such as major depression, and resistance to therapeutic treatments.Diabetes mellitus: pathophysiological changes and therap

Experience and activity-dependent control of glucocorticoid receptors during the stress response in large-scale brain networks

The diversity of actions of the glucocorticoid stress hormones among individuals and within organs, tissues and cells is shaped by age, gender, genetics, metabolism, and the quantity of exposure. However, such factors cannot explain the heterogeneity of responses in the brain within cells of the same lineage, or similar tissue environment, or in the same individual. Here, we argue that the stress response is continuously updated by synchronized neural activity on large-scale brain networks. This occurs at the molecular, cellular and behavioral levels by crosstalk communication between activity-dependent and glucocorticoid signaling pathways, which updates the diversity of responses based on prior experience. Such a Bayesian process determines adaptation to the demands of the body and external world. We propose a framework for understanding how the diversity of glucocorticoid actions throughout brain networks is essential for supporting optimal health, while its disruption may contribute to the pathophysiology of stress-related disorders, such as major depression, and resistance to therapeutic treatments

Issues Associated with and Recommendations for Using PCR To Detect Outbreaks of Pertussis

Two outbreaks of respiratory tract illness associated with prolonged cough occurring in 1998 and 1999 in New York State were investigated. A PCR test for Bordetella pertussis was primarily used by a private laboratory to confirm 680 pertussis cases. Several clinical specimens had positive culture results for B. pertussis during both outbreaks, which confirmed that B. pertussis was circulating during the outbreaks. However, testing by the New York State Department of Health reference laboratory suggested that some of the PCR results may have been falsely positive. In addition, features of the outbreak that suggested that B. pertussis may not have been the primary agent of infection included a low attack rate among incompletely vaccinated children and a significant amount of illness among patients testing PCR negative for B. pertussis. These investigations highlight the importance of appropriate clinical laboratory quality assurance programs, of the limitations of the PCR test, and of interpreting laboratory results in context of clinical disease