Association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents.

Association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Busto-Garrido, M.; Gutierrez-Castillo, D; Navas- Gonzalez, JR; Gutierrez-Bedmar, M; Gutierrez-Casares, JR; Martin-Lunar, MT; Rodríguez-Rosado, A; Pena-Andreu, JM. European Psychiatry 415(2017) 5221.Chronic irritability is the most frequently reported symptom in child and adolescent depression. The association of both has been linked with high rates of chronicity, comorbility and impairment. Objectives To study the association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Methods We have studied 857 participants recruited from the only Child and Adolescent Mental Health Clinic in a catchment area of 122968 people under 18 (2004-2010). A sample of 677 participants (57 controls and 620 patients) was included to carry out a cross-sectional study. Chronic irritability was measured by a Visual Analog Scale (VAS irritability) -scored from 0 to 10-, and depressive symptoms by the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). The participants were categorized into controls and patients, and according to their chronic irritability (≤4 [I],5 [II] and ≥6 [III]). The mean of CDI score was calculated for each of the groups, adjusted by sex and age, and analyzed by ANCOVA. Results The following means were obtained from the controls: 13,71 (group I), 9,82 (group II) and 17,45 (group III). Regarding to the patients: 13,92 (group I), 11,54 (group II) and 15,64 (group III). A quadratic association (p <0,0015) was found between VAS irritability score and CDI score. Conclussions There is not a lineal association between chronic irritability and depressive symptoms in children and adolescent. High rates of depressive symptoms were associated both with high and low rates of irritability. Several questions remain unexplained about the status of irritability in psychiatry as Stringaris group has been pointed out. Disclosure statement I have no potential conflict of interest to discloseUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Validation of the Portuguese version of the Lithium Attitudes Questionnaire (LAQ) in bipolar patients treated with lithium: cross-over study

BACKGROUND: Poor adherence to lithium is very common in bipolar patients and it is a frequent cause of recurrence during prophylactic treatment. Several reports suggest that attitudes of bipolar patients interfere with adherence to lithium. The Lithium Attitudes Questionnaire (LAQ) is a brief questionnaire developed as a means of identifying and grouping the problems patients commonly have with taking lithium regularly. The original version is validated in patients, but a validated version in Portuguese is not yet available. METHODS: One-hundred six patients with bipolar disorder (DSM-IV criteria) criteria under lithium treatment for at least one month were assessed using LAQ. LAQ is a brief questionnaire administered under interview conditions, which includes 19 items rating attitudes towards prophylactic lithium treatment. We analysed the internal consistency, concurrent validity, sensitivity and specificity of the Portuguese version of LAQ. RESULTS: The internal consistency, evaluated by Cronbach's alpha was 0.78. The mean total LAQ score was 4.1. Concurrent validity was confirmed by a negative correlation between plasma lithium concentration and total LAQ score (r = -0,198; p = 0.048). We analysed the scale's discriminative capacity revealing a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 71% in the identification of negative attitudes of bipolar patients. CONCLUSION: The psychometric assessment of the Portuguese version of LAQ showed good internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity. The results were similar to the original version in relation to attitudes of bipolar patients towards lithium therapy

Adaptation and validation of the Portuguese version of the Lithium Knowledge Test (LKT) of bipolar patients treated with lithium: cross-over study

OBJECTIVE: Adherence problems are a common feature among bipolar patients. A recent study showed that lithium knowledge was the main difference between adherent and non adherents bipolar patients. The Lithium Knowledge Test (LKT), a brief questionnaire, was developed as a means of identifying aspects of patients' practical and pharmacological knowledge which are important if therapy is to be safe and effective. The original English version is validated in psychiatric population, but a validated Portuguese one is not yet available. METHODS: One hundred six patients selected were diagnosed with bipolar disorder (I or II) according to DSM-IV criteria and had to be on lithium treatment for at least one month. The LKT was administered on only one occasion. We analysed the internal consis tency, concurrent validity, sensitivity and specificity of the LKT for the detection of the knowledge about lithium treatment of bipolar patients. RESULTS: The internal consistency, evaluated by Cronbach's alpha was 0.596. The mean of total score LKT by bipolar patients was 9.0 (SD: 0.75) for men and 8.74 (SD: 0.44) for women. Concurrent validity based on plasma lithium concentration showed a significant correlation between the total LKT score and plasma lithium (r = 0,232; p = 0.020). The sensitivity was 84% and specificity was 81%. CONCLUSION: LKT is a rapid, reliable instrument which appears to be as effective as a lengthier standard interview with a lithium clinic doctor, and which has a high level of acceptability to lithium patients. We found that the psychometric assessment of the Portuguese version of LKT showed good internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity

Large tunable valley splitting in edge-free graphene quantum dots on boron nitride

Coherent manipulation of binary degrees of freedom is at the heart of modern quantum technologies. Graphene offers two binary degrees: the electron spin and the valley. Efficient spin control has been demonstrated in many solid state systems, while exploitation of the valley has only recently been started, yet without control on the single electron level. Here, we show that van-der Waals stacking of graphene onto hexagonal boron nitride offers a natural platform for valley control. We use a graphene quantum dot induced by the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope and demonstrate valley splitting that is tunable from -5 to +10 meV (including valley inversion) by sub-10-nm displacements of the quantum dot position. This boosts the range of controlled valley splitting by about one order of magnitude. The tunable inversion of spin and valley states should enable coherent superposition of these degrees of freedom as a first step towards graphene-based qubits

Predicting the Impact of Climate Change on Threatened Species in UK Waters

Global climate change is affecting the distribution of marine species and is thought to represent a threat to biodiversity. Previous studies project expansion of species range for some species and local extinction elsewhere under climate change. Such range shifts raise concern for species whose long-term persistence is already threatened by other human disturbances such as fishing. However, few studies have attempted to assess the effects of future climate change on threatened vertebrate marine species using a multi-model approach. There has also been a recent surge of interest in climate change impacts on protected areas. This study applies three species distribution models and two sets of climate model projections to explore the potential impacts of climate change on marine species by 2050. A set of species in the North Sea, including seven threatened and ten major commercial species were used as a case study. Changes in habitat suitability in selected candidate protected areas around the UK under future climatic scenarios were assessed for these species. Moreover, change in the degree of overlap between commercial and threatened species ranges was calculated as a proxy of the potential threat posed by overfishing through bycatch. The ensemble projections suggest northward shifts in species at an average rate of 27 km per decade, resulting in small average changes in range overlap between threatened and commercially exploited species. Furthermore, the adverse consequences of climate change on the habitat suitability of protected areas were projected to be small. Although the models show large variation in the predicted consequences of climate change, the multi-model approach helps identify the potential risk of increased exposure to human stressors of critically endangered species such as common skate (Dipturus batis) and angelshark (Squatina squatina)

Factors associated with excessive bleeding in cardiopulmonary bypass patients: a nested case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Excessive bleeding (EB) after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) may lead to increased mortality, morbidity, transfusion requirements and re-intervention. Less than 50% of patients undergoing re-intervention exhibit surgical sources of bleeding. We studied clinical and genetic factors associated with EB.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a nested case-control study of 26 patients who did not receive antifibrinolytic prophylaxis. Variables were collected preoperatively, at intensive care unit (ICU) admission, at 4 and 24 hours post-CPB. EB was defined as 24-hour blood loss of >1 l post-CPB. Associations of EB with genetic, demographic, and clinical factors were analyzed, using SPSS-12.2 for statistical purposes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EB incidence was 50%, associated with body mass index (BMI)< 26.4 (25–28) Kg/m², (<it>P </it>= 0.03), lower preoperative levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) (<it>P </it>= 0.01), lower body temperature during CPB (<it>P </it>= 0.037) and at ICU admission (<it>P </it>= 0.029), and internal mammary artery graft (<it>P </it>= 0.03) in bypass surgery. We found a significant association between EB and 5G homozygotes for PAI-1, after adjusting for BMI (F = 6.07; <it>P </it>= 0.02) and temperature during CPB (F = 8.84; <it>P </it>= 0.007). EB patients showed higher consumption of complement, coagulation, fibrinolysis and hemoderivatives, with significantly lower leptin levels at all postoperative time points (<it>P </it>= 0.01, <it>P </it>< 0.01 and <it>P </it>< 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Excessive postoperative bleeding in CPB patients was associated with demographics, particularly less pronounced BMI, and surgical factors together with serine protease activation.</p

Molecular structure and biodegradation kinetics of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonates in sea water.

The present paper describes the results of the application of the biodegradation test proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “Biodegradability in sea water” Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) 835.3160, to Linear Alkylbenzene Sulphonate (LAS), the synthetic surfactant with the highest consumption volume on a world-wide basis. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been employed for the separation and quantification of the different homologues and isomers of the surfactant. Water from the Bay of Cádiz (South–West of the Iberian peninsula) has been used as test medium. The results indicate how both lag and t50 time shows a significant linear relationship with the length of the alkyl chain of the homologue; the effect of this is that the homologues of longer chain length not only begin to degrade first but also degrade at a faster rate. Regarding the isomeric composition, it is observed that as the percentage of biodegradation increases, there is an increase in the proportion of internal isomers, in comparison with the isomeric relationships of the original test substanc

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of bladder cancer identifies multiple susceptibility loci.

We conducted a multi-stage, genome-wide association study of bladder cancer with a primary scan of 591,637 SNPs in 3,532 affected individuals (cases) and 5,120 controls of European descent from five studies followed by a replication strategy, which included 8,382 cases and 48,275 controls from 16 studies. In a combined analysis, we identified three new regions associated with bladder cancer on chromosomes 22q13.1, 19q12 and 2q37.1: rs1014971, (P = 8 × 10⁻¹²) maps to a non-genic region of chromosome 22q13.1, rs8102137 (P = 2 × 10⁻¹¹) on 19q12 maps to CCNE1 and rs11892031 (P = 1 × 10⁻⁷) maps to the UGT1A cluster on 2q37.1. We confirmed four previously identified genome-wide associations on chromosomes 3q28, 4p16.3, 8q24.21 and 8q24.3, validated previous candidate associations for the GSTM1 deletion (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹) and a tag SNP for NAT2 acetylation status (P = 4 × 10⁻¹¹), and found interactions with smoking in both regions. Our findings on common variants associated with bladder cancer risk should provide new insights into the mechanisms of carcinogenesis

Accuracy in Copy Number Calling by qPCR and PRT: A Matter of DNA

The possible implication of copy number variation (CNV) in the genetic susceptibility to human disease needs to be assessed using robust methods that can be applied at a population scale. In this report, we analyze the performance of the two major techniques, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and paralog ratio test (PRT), and investigate the influence of input DNA amount and template integrity on the reliability of both methods. Analysis of three genes (PRELID1, SYNPO and DEFB4) in a large sample set showed that both methods are prone to false copy number assignments if sufficient attention is not paid to DNA concentration and quality. Accurate normalization of samples is essential for reproducible qPCR because it avoids the effect of differential amplification efficiencies between target and control assays, whereas PRT is generally more sensitive to template degradation due to the fact that longer amplicons are usually needed to optimize sensitivity and specificity of paralog sequence PCR. The use of normalized, high quality genomic DNA yields comparable results with both methods

A Polymorphism in a Gene Encoding Perilipin 4 Is Associated with Height but not with Bone Measures in Individuals from the Framingham Osteoporosis Study

There is increasing interest in identifying new pathways and candidate genes that confer susceptibility to osteoporosis. There is evidence that adipogenesis and osteogenesis may be related, including a common bone marrow progenitor cell for both adipocytes and osteoblasts. Perilipin 1 (PLIN1) and Perilipin 4 (PLIN4) are members of the PATS family of genes and are involved in lipolysis of intracellular lipid deposits. A previous study reported gender-specific associations between one polymorphism of PLIN1 and bone mineral density (BMD) in a Japanese population. We hypothesized that polymorphisms in PLIN1 and PLIN4 would be associated with bone measures in adult Caucasian participants of the Framingham Osteoporosis Study (FOS). We genotyped 1,206 male and 1,445 female participants of the FOS for four single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in PLIN1 and seven SNPs in PLIN4 and tested for associations with measures of BMD, bone ultrasound, hip geometry, and height. We found several gender-specific significant associations with the measured traits. The association of PLIN4 SNP rs8887, G>A with height in females trended toward significance after simulation testing (adjusted P = 0.07) and remained significant after simulation testing in the combined-sex model (adjusted P = 0.033). In a large study sample of men and women, we found a significant association between one SNP in PLIN4 and height but not with bone traits, suggesting that PATS family genes are not important in the regulation of bone. Identification of genes that influence human height may lead to a better understanding of the processes involved in growth and development