Adverse childhood experiences and sources of childhood resilience: A retrospective study of their combined relationships with child health and educational attendance

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including maltreatment and exposure to household stressors can impact the health of children. Community factors that provide support, friendship and opportunities for development may build children's resilience and protect them against some harmful impacts of ACEs. We examine if a history of ACEs is associated with poor childhood health and school attendance and the extent to which such outcomes are counteracted by community resilience assets. Methods: A national (Wales) cross-sectional retrospective survey (n = 2452) using a stratified random probability sampling methodology and including a boost sample (n = 471) of Welsh speakers. Data collection used face-to-face interviews at participants' places of residence. Outcome measures were self-reported poor childhood health, specific conditions (asthma, allergies, headaches, digestive disorders) and school absenteeism. Results: Prevalence of each common childhood condition, poor childhood health and school absenteeism increased with number of ACEs reported. Childhood community resilience assets (being treated fairly, supportive childhood friends, being given opportunities to use your abilities, access to a trusted adult and having someone to look up to) were independently linked to better outcomes. In those with ≥4 ACEs the presence of all significant resilience assets (vs none) reduced adjusted prevalence of poor childhood health from 59.8 to 21.3%. Conclusions: Better prevention of ACEs through the combined actions of public services may reduce levels of common childhood conditions, improve school attendance and help alleviate pressures on public services. Whilst the eradication of ACEs remains unlikely, actions to strengthen community resilience assets may partially offset their immediate harms

Detection of exon skipping events in BRCA1 RNA using MLPA kit P002

A rapid and easy method to screen for aberrant cDNA would be a very useful diagnostic tool in genetics since a fraction of the DNA variants found affect RNA splicing. The currently used RT-PCR methods require new primer combinations to study each variant that might affect splicing. Since MLPA is routinely used to detect large genomic deletions and successfully detected exon skipping events in Duchenne muscular dystrophy in cDNA, we performed a pilot study to evaluate its value for BRCA1 cDNA. The effect of puromycin, DNase I and two different DNA cleaning protocols were tested in the RNA analysis of lymphocyte cultures. We used two samples from unrelated families with two different BRCA1 exon deletion events, two healthy unrelated controls and six samples from hereditary breast/ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC) patients without BRCA1/2 mutations. Using RNA treated with DNase I and cleaned in a column system from puromycin-treated fractions, we were able to identify the two BRCA1 deletions. Additional HBOC patients did not show additional splice events. However, we were not able to get reproducible results. Therefore, the cDNA-MLPA technique using kit BRCA1 P002 is in our hands currently not reliable enough for routine RNA analysis and needs further optimization

The effect of regular walks on various health aspects in older people with dementia: protocol of a randomized-controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical activity has proven to be beneficial for physical functioning, cognition, depression, anxiety, rest-activity rhythm, quality of life (QoL), activities of daily living (ADL) and pain in older people. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of walking regularly on physical functioning, the progressive cognitive decline, level of depression, anxiety, rest-activity rhythm, QoL, ADL and pain in older people with dementia.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>This study is a longitudinal randomized controlled, single blind study. Ambulatory older people with dementia, who are regular visitors of daily care or living in a home for the elderly or nursing home in the Netherlands, will be randomly allocated to the experimental or control condition. Participants of the experimental group make supervised walks of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, as part of their daily nursing care. Participants of the control group will come together three times a week for tea or other sedentary activities to control for possible positive effects of social interaction. All dependent variables will be assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks, and 3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months of intervention.</p> <p>The dependent variables include neuropsychological tests to assess cognition, physical tests to determine physical functioning, questionnaires to assess ADL, QoL, level of depression and anxiety, actigraphy to assess rest-activity rhythm and pain scales to determine pain levels. Potential moderating variables at baseline are: socio-demographic characteristics, body mass index, subtype of dementia, apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype, medication use and comorbidities.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This study evaluates the effect of regular walking as a treatment for older people with dementia. The strength of this study is that 1) it has a longitudinal design with multiple repeated measurements, 2) we assess many different health aspects, 3) the intervention is not performed by research staff, but by nursing staff which enables it to become a routine in usual care. Possible limitations of the study are that 1) only active minded institutions are willing to participate creating a selection bias, 2) the drop-out rate will be high in this population, 3) not all participants will be able to perform/understand all tests.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p><a href="http://www.trialregister.nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp?TC=1482">NTR1482</a></p

Sensitivity of the ground-based downwelling irradiance recorded by the FODIS sensor in respect of different angular positions

Some airborne hyperspectral sensors (e.g. AISA) can measure spectral downwelling irradiance using an additional cosine sensor mounted on a roof of an aircraft. The downwelling irradiance data, however, are rarely used for any atmospheric correction or compensation of different sun-sensor geometry, partly because they are sensitive towards continuous motion of the airborne platform. The airborne hyperspectral system AISA Eagle (Specim, Ltd., Finland), combined with the Fiber Optic Downwelling Irradiance Sensor (FODIS), were used for ground-based outdoor static measurements. The FODIS sensor was tilted into various zenith and azimuth angles. The data analysis revealed high sensitivity of the raw recorded FODIS signal towards different angular position. Simple cosine corrections reduced variation in the recorded FODIS signal. The variability (standard deviation of all measurements) decreased by 88% after the cosine correction was applied

TREM-1 and TREM-2 Expression on Blood Monocytes Could Help Predict Survival in High-Grade Glioma Patients

Objective. In recent years, the role of the modern inflammatory markers TREM-1 (triggering receptors expressed on myeloid cells) and HMGB1 (high mobility group box 1 protein) in tumorigenesis has begun to be studied. Their role in gliomas is not clear. The aim of our study was to find the role of inflammation in gliomas. Patients and Methods. In 63 adult patients with gliomas and 31 healthy controls, the expressions of TREM-1 and TREM-2 on CD14+ blood cells (method: flow cytometry) and the levels of soluble sTREM-1, HMGB1, IL-6, and IL-10 (Elisa tests) were analyzed. Results. Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that a TREM-1/TREM-2 ratio was associated with reduced overall survival (HR=1.001, P=0.023). Patients with a TREM-1/TREM-2 ratio above 125 survived significantly shorter than patients with a TREM-1/TREM-2 ratio below 125. The percentage of CD14+ TREM-1+ cells was strongly associated with a plasma IL-6/IL-10 ratio (positively) and with IL-10 (negatively). Conversely, we found a higher percentage of CD14+ TREM-2+ monocytes in better surviving patients; these cells could downregulate the exaggerated inflammation and potentiate the phagocytosis in the tumor. The serum levels of HMGB1 negatively correlated with the percentage of CD14+ TREM-1+ cells and with the TREM-1/TREM-2 ratio. The positive correlation between the serum levels of a late proinflammatory cytokine HMGB1 with the percentage of TREM2+ CD14+ monocytes can be explained as an effort for suppression of systemic inflammation by anti-inflammatory acting CD14+ TREM-2+ cells. Conclusion. We showed that the TREM-1/TREM-2 ratio (expression on the surface of blood monocytes) could help predict prognosis in patients with gliomas, especially in high-grade gliomas, and that systemic inflammation has an impact on the patient’s overall survival. This is the first study that showed that TREM expression on monocytes in peripheral blood could help predict prognosis in patients with gliomas

Current trends and challenges and how they are dealt with.

Introduction: Besides the ageing of populations there are many more factors that have an influence on home care demand or supply; such as increased mobility; changing character of family structures; intergeneration solidarity; labour participation of women and the labour market for home care. This presentation will sketch the current trends, problems and how they can be tackled. The year 2025 is still far away but we will try to look ahead without losing the sense of reality. Methods and Materials: This presentation is drawn upon the EC financed EURHOMAP project, which included an inventory of contextual factors, problems related to policy, financing and delivery of home care and future challenges in each country. The study has collected a wealth of data in each of 31 countries on a large set of indicators. Results: Trends influencing home care will be presented. We will notice that different trends may apply to groups of countries. The possible effects of more or less general problems will be explored, such as scarcity of financial and human resources. Besides less general, but still burning problems in some countries, will be examined; for instance the lack of integration and coordination between types of home care services; inequalities resulting from decentralisation of authority; limited access to home care services for middle income groups; and absent or poor control of the quality of services. Examples will be presented of how countries respond to the earlier mentioned challenges. Conclusion: Some problems, such as those related to financial and human resources apply to most countries and are expected to be persistent. Private models of provision may also be considered to be of growing importance. However, cross-country differences in trends and problems will continue to exist, especially between countries with a long tradition of home care and those where it was recently developed. (aut. ref.

Governance on home care in Europe.

Introduction: Demand for health and social care services in the community will grow as a result of the ageing of populations across Europe. At present, however, very little is known about the preparedness of national home care systems for changing demand, which is not just quantitative but also qualitative in kind. There is a need for insight into the state of home care, including policy and regulation and aspects of financing, organisation and provision of services. Methods and Materials: EURHOMAP study has developed an extensive set of indicators to map home care systems that focus on: policy and regulation; financing; organisation & service delivery; and clients & informal carers. Data were collected in 31 European countries. We also used the answers of key informants on questions related to four ‘vignettes’ (hypothetical case descriptions of home living people in need of care). Results: Home care systems widely vary in their degree of development and that the structures of governance, regulation and models of provision are very heterogeneous. An aspect of home care that creates challenges at all levels is the mix of social, nursing and health services, which are supposed to be delivered in an integrated way to clients and patients. Cost control in community care is a common issue of most countries, but budgetary and efficiency measures taken and mechanisms developed are very different. Maintaining and improving home care services is a priority in many countries which does not always match with needs to increase efficiency. Conclusion: Although home care is a major point of policy in many countries, it is not heavily regulated. In many countries home care governance is split between different types of care and, consequently, not well integrated. Despite the dominance of public provision, tendencies towards more privatisation, contracting and competition can be identified. (aut. ref.

Human resources in home care in Europe.

Introduction: The increasing old-age dependency ratio implies future reduction of human resources available to provide services. Little information is available about the level of qualification, contractual aspects, payment and working conditions of home care workers and the existence of staff shortages and recruitment problems in different countries. Methods and Materials: This presentation is based on the results of the EC-financed EURHOMAP project. Indicators have been developed in this project to map the home care systems in Europe, including details of human resources. In 2009 and early 2010, EURHOMAP partners have collected data on these indicators in 31 countries in collaboration with experts in these countries. Results were described in uniformly structured country reports and fed back to national experts for validation. Results: In many countries numbers of those working in private organisations are not available. Furthermore financial incentives and working conditions will be compared, as well as the task division between home care workers and to what extent educational requirements are explicitly formalised. Mechanisms of quality control of human resources differ strongly (e.g. recertification of nurses; rules for the education of home care nurses). An interesting phenomenon, related to pressures to increase efficiency, is the transfer of tasks or substitution which is taking place between home care workers of different qualification levels. In contrast to the provision of technical nursing, the provision of personal care and domestic aid is less strictly related to specific qualifications. Conclusion: Shortages in human resources are a common problem in many countries, but expectedly most in countries just having developed home care. There is a strong variation in mechanisms of quality control of home care professionals; in the level of education required; and in the strength of the position of home care workers. (aut. ref.