Effect of a Lay Counselor Intervention on Prevention of Major Depression in Older Adults Living in Low- and Middle-Income Countries:A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Preventing depression in older adults living in low- and middle-income countries is important because of the scarcity of treatment resources and the risk of disability, suicide, and dementia. Objective: To assess whether an intervention for depression prevention provided by lay counselors is effective in older adults from low- and middle-income countries. Design, Setting, and Participants: This parallel-group randomized clinical trial with masked outcome assessment was performed in 181 older adults (≥60 years) with subsyndromal depressive symptoms at rural and urban primary care clinics in Goa, India. The first participant entered the trial on March 31, 2015, and the last exited on June 2, 2017. Data analysis used the intention-to-treat approach. Interventions: Lay counselors provided problem-solving therapy, brief behavioral treatment for insomnia, education in self-care of common medical disorders such as diabetes, and assistance in accessing medical and social programs. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was incidence of major depressive episodes. The study also assessed symptom change during 12 months (12-item General Health Questionnaire [GHQ-12]; score range of 0 to 12, with higher scores indicating greater symptoms of depression and anxiety), functional status (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0; score range of 12 to 60, with higher scores indicating greater disability), cognition (Hindi Mini-Mental State Examination; score range of 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better cognitive functioning), blood pressure, and body mass index to provide further clinical context. Results: The study enrolled 181 participants (mean [SD] age, 69.6 [7.2] years; 114 [63.0%] female): 91 to the intervention arm (depression in later life [DIL] intervention) and 90 to care as usual (CAU). Incident episodes of major depression were lower in the DIL intervention than in the CAU group (4.40% vs 14.44%; log-rank P =.04; number needed to treat, 9.95; 95% CI, 5.12-182.43). The 12-month Kaplan-Meier estimates of percentage of depression-free participants were 95.1% (95% CI, 90.5%-99.9%) in the DIL group vs 87.4% (95% CI, 80.4%-95.1%) in the CAU group. The incidence of depressive symptoms (GHQ-12) was also less (12-month mean difference, -1.18; 95% CI, -2.03 to -0.31; group × time interaction P <.001). There were no changes in measures of disability or cognition. The DIL intervention was associated with a significantly greater lowering of systolic blood pressure (12-month mean difference, -6.98; 95% CI, -11.96 to -2.01; group × time interaction P <.001) and change in body mass index (12-month mean difference, 0.23; 95% CI, -0.97 to 1.43; P =.04). Conclusions and Relevance: The DIL intervention is effective for preventing episodes of major depression in older persons with subsyndromal symptoms. If replicated, the DIL intervention may be effective in older adults living in low- and middle-income countries

Insights from Amphioxus into the Evolution of Vertebrate Cartilage

Central to the story of vertebrate evolution is the origin of the vertebrate head, a problem difficult to approach using paleontology and comparative morphology due to a lack of unambiguous intermediate forms. Embryologically, much of the vertebrate head is derived from two ectodermal tissues, the neural crest and cranial placodes. Recent work in protochordates suggests the first chordates possessed migratory neural tube cells with some features of neural crest cells. However, it is unclear how and when these cells acquired the ability to form cellular cartilage, a cell type unique to vertebrates. It has been variously proposed that the neural crest acquired chondrogenic ability by recruiting proto-chondrogenic gene programs deployed in the neural tube, pharynx, and notochord. To test these hypotheses we examined the expression of 11 amphioxus orthologs of genes involved in neural crest chondrogenesis. Consistent with cellular cartilage as a vertebrate novelty, we find that no single amphioxus tissue co-expresses all or most of these genes. However, most are variously co-expressed in mesodermal derivatives. Our results suggest that neural crest-derived cartilage evolved by serial cooption of genes which functioned primitively in mesoderm

Smaller classes promote equitable student participation in STEM

Under embargo until: 2020-07-24As science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms in higher education transition from lecturing to active learning, the frequency of student interactions in class increases. Previous research documents a gender bias in participation, with women participating less than would be expected on the basis of their numeric proportions. In the present study, we asked which attributes of the learning environment contribute to decreased female participation: the abundance of in-class interactions, the diversity of interactions, the proportion of women in class, the instructor's gender, the class size, and whether the course targeted lower division (first and second year) or upper division (third or fourth year) students. We calculated likelihood ratios of female participation from over 5300 student–instructor interactions observed across multiple institutions. We falsified several alternative hypotheses and demonstrate that increasing class size has the largest negative effect. We also found that when the instructors used a diverse range of teaching strategies, the women were more likely to participate after small-group discussions.acceptedVersio

A critical appraisal of appendage disparity and homology in fishes

Fishes are both extremely diverse and morphologically disparate. Part of this disparity can be observed in the numerous possible fin configurations that may differ in terms of the number of fins as well as fin shapes, sizes and relative positions on the body. Here, we thoroughly review the major patterns of disparity in fin configurations for each major group of fishes and discuss how median and paired fin homologies have been interpreted over time. When taking into account the entire span of fish diversity, including both extant and fossil taxa, the disparity in fin morphologies greatly complicates inferring homologies for individual fins. Given the phylogenetic scope of this review, structural and topological criteria appear to be the most useful indicators of fin identity. We further suggest that it may be advantageous to consider some of these fin homologies as nested within the larger framework of homologous fin‐forming morphogenetic fields. We also discuss scenarios of appendage evolution and suggest that modularity may have played a key role in appendage disparification. Fin modules re‐expressed within the boundaries of fin‐forming fields could explain how some fins may have evolved numerous times independently in separate lineages (e.g., adipose fin), or how new fins may have evolved over time (e.g., anterior and posterior dorsal fins, pectoral and pelvic fins). We favour an evolutionary scenario whereby median appendages appeared from a unique field of competence first positioned throughout the dorsal and ventral midlines, which was then redeployed laterally leading to paired appendages.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151971/1/faf12402_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151971/2/faf12402.pd

Biochemical changes in tissues of crab <i style="">Sesarma quadratum</i> (Decapoda) exposed to CuCl₂

246-248Crabs of the species Sesarma quadratum were exposed to two sublethal concentrations of CuCl2 (2.8 and 9.3 ppm) for 21 days. Suitable control experiments were maintained. Sample tissues were taken from the muscle, gills and hepatopancreas of crabs of both test and control groups after an exposure to CuCl2 for 1, 7, 14 and 21 days. The levels of protein, amino acids, lipids, free sugar and protein bound sugar were found to be lower in comparison with control crabs, in the case of muscle, gills and hepatopancreas of test crabs, especially those exposed to 9.3 ppm of sublethal concentration of CuCl2. However, present data strongly suggest that CuCl2 is toxic to Sesarma quadratum resulting in alterations in major biochemical constituents of all tissues

Seasonal variation of heavy metals in coastal water of the Coromandel coast, Bay of Bengal, India

249-256This report presents the dissolved heavy metals and associated hydrographic and nutrients data. Concentrations of heavy metals such as Cu, Zn, Ni, Co, Cd and Hg were showed a rather homogeneous distribution (except Hg) within the coastal region, with high values of Cu (63.20 μg l-1) and Cd (66 .80 μg l-1) at Mahabalipuram and Zn (130.20 μg l-1),Ni(14.60 μg l-1 ), Co (9.60 μg l-1) and Hg (0.12 μg l-1) at Pondicherry during the premonsoon and monsoon seasons respectively. High concentrations of these metals in water may be due to the discharge of monsoonal rains carrying discharge of industrial and agricultural wastes and sewage directly into the coast. This is substantiated by a highly significant positive correlation between concentrations of heavy metals in seawater and nutrients. The metal concentrations in seawater were in order of Zn> Cu> Cd> Ni> Co> Hg at Mahabalipuram and Zn> Cd> Cu> Co> Ni> Hg at Pondicherry. Enrichment of heavy metals contaminations were more in the Coromandel coast, when compared to other marine environs of the Indian coast and also compared to natural seawater level.</span

Plant communities and soil properties of three mangrove stands of Madras coast

67-69Small patches of mangroves comprising Avicennia marina, Excoecaria agallocha and Sonneratia apetala were found along the intertidal margins of the Adyar and Cooum estuaries as well as Ennore backwaters of Madras Coast. A. marina was the dominant species. The average height of A. marina in the Adyar and Cooum stand was approximately 20 to 30 m respectively, whereas in the Ennore swamp it was around 1.5 m. Soil properties (texture, salinity and nutrients) were more or less similar in all the three mangrove stands. Constant use of A. marina foliage for fodder and also the soil salinity were the major factors responsible for the stunted growth of A. marina in the Ennore backwaters