Effects of Genotype and Sleep on Temperament

Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Postnatal screening and care for non-medical risk factors by preventive child healthcare in deprived and non-deprived neighbourhoods

Background: Children born in families with non-medical risk factors, such as deprivation, have higher odds of preterm birth (< 37 weeks of gestation) or being born small for gestational age (birth weight < 10th percentile). In addition, growing up they are at risk for growth and developmental problems. Preventive Child Healthcare (PCHC) monitors growth and development of babies and children. Early identification of children at risk could result in early interventions to prevent growth and developmental problems in later life. Therefore, we aimed to assess current practices in postnatal risk screening and care for non-medical risk factors and the collaboration with other healthcare professionals, in both deprived and non-deprived neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Methods: Eight out of ten invited PCHC organisations, from different areas in the Netherlands, consented to participate in this study. A questionnaire was designed and digitally distributed to professionals working at these organisations, where 370 physicians and nurses were employed. Data was collected between June and September 2016. Descriptive statistics, chi square tests and t-tests were applied. Results: Eighty-nine questionnaires were eligible for analyses. Twenty percent of the respondents were working in a deprived neighbourhood and 70.8% of the respondents were employed as nurse. Most of them performed screening for non-medical risk factors in at least 50% of their consultations. PCHC professionals working in deprived neighbourhoods encountered significantly more often families with non-medical risk factors and experienced significantly more communication problems than their colleagues working in non-deprived neighbourhoods. 48.2% of the respondents were satisfied with the current form of postnatal risk screening in their organisation, whereas 41.2% felt a need for a structured postnatal risk assessment. Intensified collaboration is preferred with district-teams, general practitioners and midwifes, concerning clients with non-medical risk factors. Conclusion: This study shows that postnatal screening for non-medical risk factors is part of cur

Characterizing genomic alterations in cancer by complementary functional associations.

Systematic efforts to sequence the cancer genome have identified large numbers of mutations and copy number alterations in human cancers. However, elucidating the functional consequences of these variants, and their interactions to drive or maintain oncogenic states, remains a challenge in cancer research. We developed REVEALER, a computational method that identifies combinations of mutually exclusive genomic alterations correlated with functional phenotypes, such as the activation or gene dependency of oncogenic pathways or sensitivity to a drug treatment. We used REVEALER to uncover complementary genomic alterations associated with the transcriptional activation of β-catenin and NRF2, MEK-inhibitor sensitivity, and KRAS dependency. REVEALER successfully identified both known and new associations, demonstrating the power of combining functional profiles with extensive characterization of genomic alterations in cancer genomes

An ultrafast system for signaling mechanical pain in human skin.

The canonical view is that touch is signaled by fast-conducting, thickly myelinated afferents, whereas pain is signaled by slow-conducting, thinly myelinated ("fast" pain) or unmyelinated ("slow" pain) afferents. While other mammals have thickly myelinated afferents signaling pain (ultrafast nociceptors), these have not been demonstrated in humans. Here, we performed single-unit axonal recordings (microneurography) from cutaneous mechanoreceptive afferents in healthy participants. We identified A-fiber high-threshold mechanoreceptors (A-HTMRs) that were insensitive to gentle touch, encoded noxious skin indentations, and displayed conduction velocities similar to A-fiber low-threshold mechanoreceptors. Intraneural electrical stimulation of single ultrafast A-HTMRs evoked painful percepts. Testing in patients with selective deafferentation revealed impaired pain judgments to graded mechanical stimuli only when thickly myelinated fibers were absent. This function was preserved in patients with a loss-of-function mutation in mechanotransduction channel PIEZO2. These findings demonstrate that human mechanical pain does not require PIEZO2 and can be signaled by fast-conducting, thickly myelinated afferents

Health service use in indigenous Sami and non-indigenous youth in North Norway: A population based survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This is the first population based study exploring health service use and ethno-cultural factors in indigenous Sami and non-Sami youth in North Norway. The first aim of the present study was to compare the frequency of health service use between Sami adolescents and their non-indigenous peers. The second aim was to explore the relationships between health service use and ethno-cultural factors, such as ethnic context, Sami self-identification, perceived discrimination and Sami language competence. Finally, we wanted to explore the relationship between use of health services and emotional and behavioural problems.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The Norwegian Arctic Adolescent Health Study was conducted among 10th graders (15-16 years old) in junior high schools in North Norway. The sample consisted of 4,449 adolescents, of whom 450 (10.1%) were indigenous Sami and 3,999 (89.9%) were non-Sami.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sami and non-Sami youth used all health services with equal frequency. However, several ethno-cultural factors were found to influence health service use. Sami youth in more assimilated ethnic contexts used general practitioners more than non-Sami youth. Youth with Sami self-identification had a higher probability of using the school health service compared with other youth. Ethnic barriers to health service use were also identified. Sami speaking youth with a high degree of perceived discrimination had lower probability of using school health services than non-Sami speaking youth. Sami youth with conduct problems were less likely than non-Sami to use psychologist/psychiatrist. The present study demonstrated a relationship between health need and actual health service use.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Culture-specific factors influenced the help-seeking process in indigenous youth; some factors acted as barriers against health service use and other factors increased the probability of health service use.</p

Predictors of outcome in infant and toddlers functional or behavioral disorders after a brief parent–infant psychotherapy

The efficacy of parent–child psychotherapies is widely recognized today. There are, however, less data on predictive factors for outcome in infants and toddlers and their parents. The aim of this study was to highlight predictive factors for outcome after a brief psychotherapy in a population of 49 infants and toddlers aged 3–30 months presenting functional or behavioral disorders. Two assessments were performed, the first before treatment and the second a month after the end of the therapy. These assessments included an evaluation of the child’s symptoms, and of depressive or anxiety symptoms in the parents. The assessments after therapy show complete or partial improvement in the child’s symptoms for nearly three quarters, and a decrease in the number of anxious and depressive mothers, and also in the number of depressive fathers. Three independent factors appear as predictive of unfavorable outcome for the child: frequency and intensity of behavioral problems and fears, and the absence of the father at more than two-thirds of consultations. The outcome for the mother is associated solely with her anxiety score at the start of the therapy. This study underlines the particular difficulties involved in the treatment of infants and toddlers presenting behavioral disturbances and emotional difficulties, and the value of involving the father in treatment

Indigenous knowledge, skills and action:Indigenous women’s learning in the Peruvian Amazon

Drawing on long term ethnographic research in the SE Peruvian Amazon this article asks what kinds and forms of learning do indigenous women value, how are the knowledge and skills they value changing over time and what is the nature of their agency in the face of the discrimination and prejudice that permeate their lives. Harakmbut women’s lives have been transformed over the past 40 years in the wake of neoliberal globalisation, rapacious exploitative economic practices and unregulated illegal gold mining. Within this context, three types of learning emerge as important: learning about indigenous cosmology and way of life; experiential learning through engagement with an expanding capitalist society; and learning through training and capacity building for participation, voice and rights-based advocacy. The article argues that all three types of learning give meaning to Harakmbut women’s lives, their relationship to their history and their views of the world