Paper-based sensors for rapid detection of virulence factor produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pyocyanin is a toxin produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here we describe a novel paper-based electrochemical sensor for pyocyanin detection, manufactured with a simple and inexpensive approach based on electrode printing on paper. The resulting sensors constitute an effective electrochemical method to quantify pyocyanin in bacterial cultures without the conventional time consuming pretreatment of the samples. The electrochemical properties of the paper-based sensors were evaluated by ferri/ferrocyanide as a redox mediator, and showed reliable sensing performance. The paper-based sensors readily allow for the determination of pyocyanin in bacterial cultures with high reproducibility, achieving a limit of detection of 95 nM and a sensitivity of 4.30 μA/μM in standard culture media. Compared to the similar commercial ceramic based sensors, it is a 2.3-fold enhanced performance. The simple in-house fabrication of sensors for pyocyanin quantification allows researchers to understand in vitro adaptation of P. aeruginosa infections via rapid screenings of bacterial cultures that otherwise are expensive and time-consuming

Differential predictors for alcohol use in adolescents as a function of familial risk

Abstract: Traditional models of future alcohol use in adolescents have used variable-centered approaches, predicting alcohol use from a set of variables across entire samples or populations. Following the proposition that predictive factors may vary in adolescents as a function of family history, we used a two-pronged approach by first defining clusters of familial risk, followed by prediction analyses within each cluster. Thus, for the first time in adolescents, we tested whether adolescents with a family history of drug abuse exhibit a set of predictors different from adolescents without a family history. We apply this approach to a genetic risk score and individual differences in personality, cognition, behavior (risk-taking and discounting) substance use behavior at age 14, life events, and functional brain imaging, to predict scores on the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) at age 14 and 16 in a sample of adolescents (N = 1659 at baseline, N = 1327 at follow-up) from the IMAGEN cohort, a longitudinal community-based cohort of adolescents. In the absence of familial risk (n = 616), individual differences in baseline drinking, personality measures (extraversion, negative thinking), discounting behaviors, life events, and ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation were significantly associated with future AUDIT scores, while the overall model explained 22% of the variance in future AUDIT. In the presence of familial risk (n = 711), drinking behavior at age 14, personality measures (extraversion, impulsivity), behavioral risk-taking, and life events were significantly associated with future AUDIT scores, explaining 20.1% of the overall variance. Results suggest that individual differences in personality, cognition, life events, brain function, and drinking behavior contribute differentially to the prediction of future alcohol misuse. This approach may inform more individualized preventive interventions

Differential predictors for alcohol use in adolescents as a function of familial risk

Abstract: Traditional models of future alcohol use in adolescents have used variable-centered approaches, predicting alcohol use from a set of variables across entire samples or populations. Following the proposition that predictive factors may vary in adolescents as a function of family history, we used a two-pronged approach by first defining clusters of familial risk, followed by prediction analyses within each cluster. Thus, for the first time in adolescents, we tested whether adolescents with a family history of drug abuse exhibit a set of predictors different from adolescents without a family history. We apply this approach to a genetic risk score and individual differences in personality, cognition, behavior (risk-taking and discounting) substance use behavior at age 14, life events, and functional brain imaging, to predict scores on the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) at age 14 and 16 in a sample of adolescents (N = 1659 at baseline, N = 1327 at follow-up) from the IMAGEN cohort, a longitudinal community-based cohort of adolescents. In the absence of familial risk (n = 616), individual differences in baseline drinking, personality measures (extraversion, negative thinking), discounting behaviors, life events, and ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation were significantly associated with future AUDIT scores, while the overall model explained 22% of the variance in future AUDIT. In the presence of familial risk (n = 711), drinking behavior at age 14, personality measures (extraversion, impulsivity), behavioral risk-taking, and life events were significantly associated with future AUDIT scores, explaining 20.1% of the overall variance. Results suggest that individual differences in personality, cognition, life events, brain function, and drinking behavior contribute differentially to the prediction of future alcohol misuse. This approach may inform more individualized preventive interventions

Nosocomial outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritidis with unusual clinical-epidemiological features

Literature reports about Norovirus outbreaks, especially in hospitals, have accumulated in the past years, including patients and health workers.This report describes a small outbreak by Norovirus which occurred in USC Urology with unusual clinical-epidemiological features.The clinical course was unusual, as it presented no vomiting and duration of diarrhoea was unusually long (4-6 days) with the lack of involvement of health workers.The search for the virus was done with immunoassay method RIDASCREEN 2a generation on 11/19 patients (58%) with gastroenteritis symptoms, and 3/11 samples (27%) were positive. The molecular investigation by RT/PCR with diagnostic primers JV12 and JV13 on the polymerase region, carried out at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, gave negative results while the RT/PCR using primers GIISKR and GIISKF, which amplify a fragment of the capsid region, was positive in 4/11 samples (36%) showing a correlation of 2/4 samples (50%) with RIDASCREEN immunoassay test. Our observations confirm the usefulness of immunoassay tests and the need to extend the molecular methods using different diagnostic primers. In outbreaks of gastroenteritis the microbiologist should consider the detection of Norovirus in diagnostic routine, as a positive result requires prevention measures to avoid also the spreading by droplets when vomiting is present

Correction: Arc controls alcohol cue relapse by a central amygdala mechanism.

International audienc

Chronotype, Longitudinal Volumetric Brain Variations Throughout Adolescence, and Depressive Symptom Development

International audienceAdolescence is a critical period for circadian rhythm, with a strong shift toward eveningness around age 14. Also, eveningness in adolescence has been found to predict later onset of depressive symptoms. However, no previous study has investigated structural variations associated with chronotype in early adolescence and how this adds to the development of depressive symptoms

Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health:combined population and clinical study

International audienceBackground Identifying youths most at risk to COVID-19-related mental illness is essential for the development of effective targeted interventions. Aims To compare trajectories of mental health throughout the pandemic in youth with and without prior mental illness and identify those most at risk of COVID-19-related mental illness. Method Data were collected from individuals aged 18–26 years ( N = 669) from two existing cohorts: IMAGEN, a population-based cohort; and ESTRA/STRATIFY, clinical cohorts of individuals with pre-existing diagnoses of mental disorders. Repeated COVID-19 surveys and standardised mental health assessments were used to compare trajectories of mental health symptoms from before the pandemic through to the second lockdown. Results Mental health trajectories differed significantly between cohorts. In the population cohort, depression and eating disorder symptoms increased by 33.9% (95% CI 31.78–36.57) and 15.6% (95% CI 15.39–15.68) during the pandemic, respectively. By contrast, these remained high over time in the clinical cohort. Conversely, trajectories of alcohol misuse were similar in both cohorts, decreasing continuously (a 15.2% decrease) during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic symptom severity predicted the observed mental health trajectories in the population cohort. Surprisingly, being relatively healthy predicted increases in depression and eating disorder symptoms and in body mass index. By contrast, those initially at higher risk for depression or eating disorders reported a lasting decrease. Conclusions Healthier young people may be at greater risk of developing depressive or eating disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted mental health interventions considering prior diagnostic risk may be warranted to help young people cope with the challenges of psychosocial stress and reduce the associated healthcare burden

Author Correction: A shared neural basis underlying psychiatric comorbidity

Correction to: Nature Medicine. Published online 24 April 2023. In the version of this article initially published, the STRATIFY data also included cohort data from the ESTRA consortium, though this was not acknowledged in the author list and the section in Methods on the Stratify dataset. The Methods are now updated, and the author list is amended to combine the STRATIFY and ESTRA consortium names and to include the following authors: Marina Bobou, M. John Broulidakis, Betteke Maria van Noort, Zuo Zhang, Lauren Robinson, Nilakshi Vaidya, Jeanne Winterer, Yuning Zhang, Sinead King, Hervé Lemaître, Ulrike Schmidt, Julia Sinclair, Argyris Stringaris and Sylvane Desrivières. The STRATIFY and ESTRA consortia are now combined to list Marina Bobou, M. John Broulidakis, Betteke Maria van Noort, Zuo Zhang, Lauren Robinson, Nilakshi Vaidya, Jeanne Winterer, Yuning Zhang, Sinead King, Gareth J. Barker, Arun L. W. Bokde, Hervé Lemaître, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Ulrike Schmidt, Julia Sinclair, Argyris Stringaris, Henrik Walter, Robert Whelan, Sylvane Desrivières and Gunter Schumann as members, and the IMAGEN consortium is updated to also include Sylvane Desrivières. Affiliations, author contributions and acknowledgements have been updated to reflect the new authorship, and all changes have been made in the HTML and PDF versions of the article

A shared neural basis underlying psychiatric comorbidity

Funder: National Key R and D Program of China(2019YFA0709501,2018YFC1312900) The Shanghai Pujiang Project(18PJ1400900)Funder: Medical Research Foundation and Medical Research Council (grants MR/R00465X/1 and MR/S020306/1); NIH Consortium grant U54 EB020403; the cross-NIH alliance that funds Big Data to Knowledge Centres of Excellence (ENIGMA, Grant Nos. 5U54EB020403-05 and 1R56AG058854-01Funder: the Eranet Neuron (AF12-NEUR0008-01 – WM2NA; and ANR-18-NEUR00002-01 – ADORe);Paris Sud University IDEX 2012;Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau;Funder: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002738Funder: Fondation de l'Avenir pour la Recherche Médicale Appliquée (Fondation de l'Avenir); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100007380Funder: the ANR (ANR-12-SAMA-0004); INSERM (interface grant)Funder: DH | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000272Funder: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100009362Funder: the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (Reinforcement-related behavior in normal brain function and psychopathology) (LSHM-CT- 2007-037286);the Horizon 2020-funded ERC Advanced Grant' STRATIFY' (Brain network based stratification of reinforcement-related disorders) (695313);ERANID (Understanding the Interplay between Cultural, Biological and Subjective Factors in Drug Use Pathways) (PR-ST-0416-10004);Human Brain Project (HBP SGA 2, 785907, and HBP SGA 3, 945539);the Medical Research Council Grant' c-VEDA' (Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalising Disorders and Addictions) (MR/N000390/1) ;Forschungsnetz AERIAL 01EE1406A, 01EE1406B)Funder: Guangdong Key Research and Development Project(No. 2018B030335001);the 111 Project (B18015);the key project of Shanghai Science and Technology (16JC1420402);Recent studies proposed a general psychopathology factor underlying common comorbidities among psychiatric disorders. However, its neurobiological mechanisms and generalizability remain elusive. In this study, we used a large longitudinal neuroimaging cohort from adolescence to young adulthood (IMAGEN) to define a neuropsychopathological (NP) factor across externalizing and internalizing symptoms using multitask connectomes. We demonstrate that this NP factor might represent a unified, genetically determined, delayed development of the prefrontal cortex that further leads to poor executive function. We also show this NP factor to be reproducible in multiple developmental periods, from preadolescence to early adulthood, and generalizable to the resting-state connectome and clinical samples (the ADHD-200 Sample and the STRATIFY & ESTRA Project). In conclusion, we identify a reproducible and general neural basis underlying symptoms of multiple mental health disorders, bridging multidimensional evidence from behavioral, neuroimaging and genetic substrates. These findings may help to develop new therapeutic interventions for psychiatric comorbidities

Author Correction: A shared neural basis underlying psychiatric comorbidity.

Funder: National Key R and D Program of China(2019YFA0709501,2018YFC1312900) The Shanghai Pujiang Project(18PJ1400900)Funder: Medical Research Foundation and Medical Research Council (grants MR/R00465X/1 and MR/S020306/1); NIH Consortium grant U54 EB020403; the cross-NIH alliance thatfunds Big Data to Knowledge Centres of Excellence (ENIGMA, GrantNos. 5U54EB020403-05 and 1R56AG058854-01Funder: the Eranet Neuron (AF12-NEUR0008-01 – WM2NA ; and ANR-18-NEUR00002-01 – ADORe);Paris Sud University IDEX 2012;Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau;Funder: Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002738Funder: Fondation de l'Avenir pour la Recherche Médicale Appliquée (Fondation de l'Avenir); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100007380Funder: the ANR (ANR-12-SAMA-0004）；INSERM (interface grant)Funder: DH | National Institute for Health Research (NIHR); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000272Funder: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100009362Funder: the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (Reinforcement-related behavior in normal brain function and psychopathology) (LSHM-CT- 2007-037286);the Horizon 2020-funded ERC Advanced Grant' STRATIFY' (Brain network based stratification of reinforcement-related disorders) (695313);ERANID (Understanding the Interplay between Cultural, Biological and Subjective Factors in Drug Use Pathways) (PR-ST-0416-10004);Human Brain Project (HBP SGA 2, 785907, and HBP SGA 3, 945539);the Medical Research Council Grant' c-VEDA' (Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalising Disorders and Addictions) (MR/N000390/1) ;Forschungsnetz AERIAL 01EE1406A, 01EE1406B)Funder: Guangdong Key Research and Development Project(No. 2018B030335001);the 111 Project (B18015);the key project of Shanghai Science and Technology (16JC1420402)