Genetics of childhood and adolescent depression: insights into etiological heterogeneity and challenges for future genomic research

There is heterogeneity between depression in childhood, adolescence and adulthood in terms of the gender composition of affected cases, prevalence, rates of recurrence and risk factors. This raises complex questions for refining the phenotype for molecular genetic studies of depression and the selection of appropriate proband groups. This article aims to provide a review of issues arising from family, twin and adoption studies of relevance to molecular genetic studies, and to summarize molecular genetic findings on childhood/adolescent depression. While retrospective studies of adults suggest greater familial aggregation among those with an earlier age of onset, prospective studies do not confirm this association. In fact, taken together, evidence from family and twin studies suggests that prepubertal depression is more strongly associated with psychosocial adversity, is less heritable and shows lower levels of continuity with adult depression than either adolescent or adult depression. Adolescent depressive symptoms and disorder show similar levels of heritability to depression in adult life, although there is only one twin study of adolescent depressive disorder, and heritability estimates of depressive symptoms vary widely between studies. This variability in heritability estimates is partly attributable to age and informant effects. Adoption studies and other intergenerational transmission designs show that the transmission of depression between parents and children involves genetic and environmental processes, with converging evidence that environmental processes are most important. Molecular genetic studies of childhood/adolescent depression have to date used a candidate gene approach and focused on genes already examined in adult studies. Prospective longitudinal studies of community and high-risk samples are needed to clarify issues of etiological heterogeneity in depression, and these should in turn inform the planning of molecular genetic studies

Comparison of cooperative and noncooperative purchasing in school foodservice

School districts operating Child Nutrition Programs must use competitive bidding to purchase food and supplies. Purchasing cooperatives are a resource used by districts to meet competitive purchasing requirements and increase purchasing power through combining purchasing with other districts that have similar needs. The purpose of this research was to compare school foodservice directors\u27 satisfaction with current purchasing methods and prices paid for selected food items between cooperative members and nonmembers.;Electronic questionnaires were sent to a random sample of foodservice directors (N = 1630). Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that included satisfaction with competitive bidding, costs of selected food items, and district characteristics. Cooperative members provided reasons for entering into this type of purchasing arrangement.;A convenience sample (n = 14) of cooperative directors and foodservice directors were selected from the information provided in the electronic survey. Historical costs of selected food items were compared between the groups. Competitive bid contract documents were compared for terms and conditions.;Study results indicated about half the respondents (n = 185) participated in purchasing cooperatives. This represents an increase in the percentage of cooperative membership by school districts from previous studies. The majority of districts in cooperatives had student enrollment of less than 5,000 students. The largest group of respondents reported using line-item bidding. Significantly, more cooperatives used cost-plus-fixed-fee bidding.;Mean price for eight selected food items were compared. Limited differences between the two groups were found. Cooperative members reported significantly lower prices for three of the eight items studied. Districts that were not members of cooperatives had no lower prices. Cooperatives\u27 percentage change in price over 3 years was significantly less than the national index. Those not members of cooperatives did not report the same level of cost containment.;Director satisfaction with current purchasing methods was also compared. Directors indicated level of satisfaction on 17 items using a 5-point Likert-type scale. There was no significant difference in overall satisfaction between cooperative members and nonmembers. Significant differences were found for only 5 of the 17 items. Cooperative members were more satisfied than nonmembers with four items, whereas nonmembers were more satisfied than cooperative members for only one item. Cooperative members were more satisfied with frequency of delivery, brands bid by vendors, competitive bid method, and administrative cost savings. Nonmembers were more satisfied with vendor responsiveness to problems. The primary reason districts reported joining a cooperative was to lower food costs, gain increased competition among vendors, and reduce paperwork related to bidding. Other reasons that appeared to be important were saving staff time and increasing the number of bidders.;From this study, no one best way to conduct school foodservice purchasing was identified. Cooperative membership appears to be a growing trend, particularly for districts with fewer than 5,000 students. Further research is needed to determine what factors influence competitive bidding by vendors and the bid price. It would also be important to determine why a high percentage of school foodservice directors were not aware of competitive purchasing practices in their district or cooperative. Recommendations for further research also include the need for empirical evidence to provide data from a representative sample of school foodservice directors about current purchasing methods to assist in school foodservice purchasing decision-making

Going 3D

In addition to published materials, academic libraries often curate special collections. Some of these collections contain three‐dimensional objects like statues, sports memorabilia, art, and cultural objects. This poster session will demonstrate how one library has used 360 degree digital imaging to provide access to such objects, including the equipment and process used to generate animated flash files, and ways to assess user satisfaction. At this library space is at a premium. 3D objects cannot be stored in a single location; instead, they are stored across campus in boxes, filing cabinets, vaults, shelves, and closets. This causes a delay of two days or more to accommodate requests for access. In addition, fragile objects require handling by personnel familiar with best practices. Valuable objects cannot be displayed publically due to a lack of adequate security. Staffing constraints and a shortage of exhibit space obliged us to restrict access to one researcher at a time. To help alleviate the issues of access, security, mishandling, and staffing, the library investigated the use of digitization. A review of digital collections found that most collections have attempted to display different perspectives of 3D items with photographs of the front, back and interesting details. However, using this technique, viewers do not experience the dimensional aspects of the items. With the popularity of video games like the Wii and 3D virtual worlds like Second Life, users have become accustomed to interacting and exploring by electronic means. We wanted to provide researchers with the virtual experience of touching and examining the object from all angles with a digital facsimile they could manipulate. Through our review, we learned a few museums, like the Smithsonian Institution, are using 360 degree imaging technology to render animated flash files of objects in their collections. This technology provided the interactive experience we wanted for our users, and revealed the dimensional perspectives of our objects. Funding for specialized equipment came from a mini‐grant awarded from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. Funded equipment included the Ortery Photocapture 360 Product Turntable, image creation software, a light kit, and a few backdrops. This computer controlled turntable and software automatically take and stitch pictures together to create animated GIF and flash files that can be included in existing digital collections. The software is easy to use, and our student assistants have quickly learned how to use the equipment. There are various techniques for assessing the effectiveness of 360 degree digital imaging. Google analytics can be used to gather the number of on line visits to digital collections. Another method is counting the number of research requests. Finally, a user satisfaction survey would help identify areas of improvement and to measure overall satisfaction

Can Basic Risk Research Help in the Prevention of Childhood and Adolescent Depression? Examining a Cognitive and Emotional Regulation Approach

This paper aims to highlight ways in which basic research findings in the field of childhood and adolescent depression can help to inform and refine preventive intervention efforts. We selectively review basic research evidence from community, clinical, and high-risk populations that identifies cognitive mechanisms (thought processes and reactions to negative affect) and emotional regulation as key processes involved in the onset and maintenance of depression. We focus on cognitive and emotional mechanisms in order to allow comparability with the majority of current preventive interventions. A range of basic research strategies and studies are then suggested that could be employed to help the development and refinement of prevention strategies. These include the need for prospective longitudinal studies to identify causal risk and protective factors, an integration of research approaches and methods, and a focus on understanding potential aetiological heterogeneity between childhood and adolescent depression

Links between depressive symptoms and the observer perspective for autobiographical memories and imagined events:a high familial risk study

Depression is associated with increased observer visual perspective for positive autobiographical memories. However, it is unclear if this relationship (1) is present in individuals at high familial risk of depression; (2) is a general bias extending to future imagined events; and (3) is independent of general cognition and other cognitive biases. We examined the association of observer perspective, valence (positive, negative, neutral) and temporality (memories, future imagined events) with depressive symptoms in 29 young adults at high familial risk for depression. Increased observer perspective for memories was associated with dimensional depressive symptoms controlling for IQ and autobiographical specificity. There was weak evidence that increased observer perspective for future events was associated with a diagnostic measure of depressive symptoms, but limited evidence that perspective by valence interactions were associated with depressive symptoms. Results indicate depressive symptoms are associated with an observer perspective bias in autobiographical thinking regardless of temporality or valence

Surface enhanced resonance Raman and luminescence on plasmon active nanostructured cavities

Presented here are studies of the impact of excitation angle on surface enhanced Raman and luminescence spectroscopy of dye immobilised on a plasmon active nanocavity array support. Results show that both Raman and luminescence intensities depend on the angle of incidence consistent with the presence of cavity supported plasmon modes. Dependence of scattering or emission intensity with excitation angle occurs over the window of observation

Examining the relationship between stressful life events and overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescents at high familial risk of depression

Difficulty remembering specific events from the personal past, known as overgeneral autobiographical memory (AM), may be a marker of vulnerability to adolescent depression but little is known about how overgeneral AM arises in this age group. Stressful life events (SLEs) are strongly implicated in the onset of depression and are considered important in theoretical work on AM. We investigated whether exposure to lifetime and recent SLEs contributed to the development of overgeneral AM in a sample of adolescents at high familial risk of depression (n = 257) and examined the effects of gender and memory valence. Whether AM mediated the relationship between SLEs and MDD was also assessed. Exposure to a higher number of lifetime SLEs was associated with an increase in specific AMs. Associations of recent SLEs with AM differed by gender. For girls, more recent SLEs were associated with more overgeneral AMs. For boys, more recent SLEs were associated with fewer overgeneral AMs and more specific AMs. AM did not mediate the relationship between SLEs and subsequent DSM-IV depressive symptom count. Results suggest a complex relationship between AM and SLEs and that overgeneral AM and SLEs may have independent effects on future depression