High (but Not Low) Urinary Iodine Excretion Is Predicted by Iodine Excretion Levels from Five Years Ago

Background: It has not been investigated whether there are associations between urinary iodine (UI) excretion measurements some years apart, nor whether such an association remains after adjustment for nutritional habits. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relation between iodine-creatinine ratio (ICR) at two measuring points 5 years apart. Methods: Data from 2,659 individuals from the Study of Health in Pomerania were analyzed. Analysis of covariance and Poisson regressions were used to associate baseline with follow-up ICR. Results: Baseline ICR was associated with follow-up ICR. Particularly, baseline ICR >300 mu g/g was related to an ICR >300 mu g/g at follow-up (relative risk, RR: 2.20; p < 0.001). The association was stronger in males (RR: 2.64; p < 0.001) than in females (RR: 1.64; p = 0.007). In contrast, baseline ICR <100 mu g/g was only associated with an ICR <100 mu g/g at follow-up in males when considering unadjusted ICR. Conclusions: We detected only a weak correlation with respect to low ICR. Studies assessing iodine status in a population should take into account that an individual with a low UI excretion in one measurement is not necessarily permanently iodine deficient. On the other hand, current high ICR could have been predicted by high ICR 5 years ago. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Brain iron and metabolic abnormalities in C19orf12 mutation carriers: a 7.0 tesla MRI study in mitochondrial membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration

BACKGROUND: Mitochondrial membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration is an autosomal-recessive disorder caused by C19orf12 mutations and characterized by iron deposits in the basal ganglia. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to quantify iron concentrations in deep gray matter structures using quantitative susceptibility mapping MRI and to characterize metabolic abnormalities in the pyramidal pathway using (1)H MR spectroscopy in clinically manifesting membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration patients and asymptomatic C19orf12 gene mutation heterozygous carriers. METHODS: We present data of 4 clinically affected membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration patients (mean age: 21.0 ± 2.9 years) and 9 heterozygous gene mutation carriers (mean age: 50.4 ± 9.8 years), compared to age-matched healthy controls. MRI assessments were performed on a 7.0 Tesla whole-body system, consisting of whole-brain gradient-echo scans and short echo time, single-volume MR spectroscopy in the white matter of the precentral/postcentral gyrus. Quantitative susceptibility mapping, a surrogate marker for iron concentration, was performed using a state-of-the-art multiscale dipole inversion approach with focus on the globus pallidus, thalamus, putamen, caudate nucleus, and SN. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration patients, magnetic susceptibilities were 2 to 3 times higher in the globus pallidus (P = 0.02) and SN (P = 0.02) compared to controls. In addition, significantly higher magnetic susceptibility was observed in the caudate nucleus (P = 0.02). Non-manifesting heterozygous mutation carriers exhibited significantly increased magnetic susceptibility (relative to controls) in the putamen (P = 0.003) and caudate nucleus (P = 0.001), which may be an endophenotypic marker of genetic heterozygosity. MR spectroscopy revealed significantly increased levels of glutamate, taurine, and the combined concentration of glutamate and glutamine in membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration, which may be a correlate of corticospinal pathway dysfunction frequently observed in membrane protein-associated neurodegeneration patients

Oppositional COMT Val158Met effects on resting state functional connectivity in adolescents and adults

© 2014, The Author(s).Prefrontal dopamine levels are relatively increased in adolescence compared to adulthood. Genetic variation of COMT (COMT Val158Met) results in lower enzymatic activity and higher dopamine availability in Met carriers. Given the dramatic changes of synaptic dopamine during adolescence, it has been suggested that effects of COMT Val158Met genotypes might have oppositional effects in adolescents and adults. The present study aims to identify such oppositional COMT Val158Met effects in adolescents and adults in prefrontal brain networks at rest. Resting state functional connectivity data were collected from cross-sectional and multicenter study sites involving 106 healthy young adults (mean age 24 ± 2.6 years), gender matched to 106 randomly chosen 14-year-olds. We selected the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (amPFC) as seed due to its important role as nexus of the executive control and default mode network. We observed a significant age-dependent reversal of COMT Val158Met effects on resting state functional connectivity between amPFC and ventrolateral as well as dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parahippocampal gyrus. Val homozygous adults exhibited increased and adolescents decreased connectivity compared to Met homozygotes for all reported regions. Network analyses underscored the importance of the parahippocampal gyrus as mediator of observed effects. Results of this study demonstrate that adolescent and adult resting state networks are dose-dependently and diametrically affected by COMT genotypes following a hypothetical model of dopamine function that follows an inverted U-shaped curve. This study might provide cues for the understanding of disease onset or dopaminergic treatment mechanisms in major neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Digitalisierung: Perspektiven für Arbeitsmodelle der Zukunft in Wirtschaft und Verwaltung

Die Digitalisierung ist derzeit einer der wichtigsten Wandlungstreiber in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Die aus den neuen technischen Möglichkeiten resultierenden Veränderungen wirken sich auch auf das Verhalten von Kunden und Mitarbeitenden aus. In Bezug auf die Zusammenarbeit in Unternehmen und Organisationen sind bestehende Arbeitsmodelle für administrative Arbeit anzupassen und neue Formen digitaler Kollaboration einzuführen. Hiermit verbunden sind Änderungen der Arbeitszeitmodelle, der Organisation der Mitarbeitenden, der Art der Zusammenarbeit und Führung sowie der Gestaltung von Büroräumlichkeiten. In einem vergleichenden Case-Study-Ansatz von zwei Schweizer Großunternehmen und einer großen Verwaltungseinheit des Bundes werden die existierenden Arbeitsmodelle für Büroarbeit analysiert und auf Entwicklungsperspektiven hin untersucht. Ein derzeit vorhandener Mix aus traditionellen und agilen Arbeitsmodellen wird sich in Zukunft im digitalen Kontext voraussichtlich unternehmensspezifisch stärker in Richtung einer höheren Agilität weiterentwickeln

Evidence of amygdala hypersensitivity to signals of threat

Cannabis use in adolescence may be characterized by differences in the neural basis of affective processing. In this study, we used an fMRI affective face processing task to compare a large group (n = 70) of 14-year olds with a history of cannabis use to a group (n = 70) of never-using controls matched on numerous characteristics including IQ, SES, alcohol and cigarette use. The task contained short movies displaying angry and neutral faces. Results indicated that cannabis users had greater reactivity in the bilateral amygdalae to angry faces than neutral faces, an effect that was not observed in their abstinent peers. In contrast, activity levels in the cannabis users in cortical areas including the right temporal-parietal junction and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex did not discriminate between the two face conditions, but did differ in controls. Results did not change after excluding subjects with any psychiatric symptomology. Given the high density of cannabinoid receptors in the amygdala, our findings suggest cannabis use in early adolescence is associated with hypersensitivity to signals of threat. Hypersensitivity to negative affect in adolescence may place the subject at- risk for mood disorders in adulthood