Immediate impact of child maltreatment on mental, developmental, and physical health trajectories

Objective: The immediate impact of child maltreatment on health and developmental trajectories over time is unknown. Longitudinal studies starting in the direct aftermath of exposure with repeated follow-up are needed. Method: We assessed health and developmental outcomes in 6-month intervals over 2 years in 173 children, aged 3-5 years at study entry, including 86 children with exposure to emotional and physical abuse or neglect within 6 months and 87 nonmaltreated children. Assessments included clinician-administered, self- and parent-report measures of psychiatric and behavioral symptoms, development, and physical health. Linear mixed models and latent growth curve analyses were used to contrast trajectories between groups and to investigate the impact of maltreatment features on trajectories. Results: Maltreated children exhibited greater numbers of psychiatric diagnoses (b = 1.998, p < .001), externalizing (b = 13.29, p < .001) and internalizing (b = 11.70, p < .001) symptoms, impairments in cognitive (b = -11.586, p < .001), verbal (b = -10.687, p < .001), and motor development (b = -7.904, p = .006), and greater numbers of medical symptoms (b = 1.021, p < .001) compared to nonmaltreated children across all time-points. Lifetime maltreatment severity and/or age at earliest maltreatment exposure predicted adverse outcomes over time. Conclusion: The profound, immediate, and stable impact of maltreatment on health and developmental trajectories supports a biological embedding model and provides foundation to scrutinize the precise underlying mechanisms. Such knowledge will enable the development of early risk markers and mechanism-driven interventions that mitigate adverse trajectories in maltreated children

Evaluation der Ökomassnahmen: Bereich Biodiversität

1993 führte der Bund ökologische Direktzahlungen ein; seit 1999 ist die Erbringung des ökologischen Leistungsnachweises (ÖLN) durch die Landwirtschaftsbetriebe die Voraussetzung zum Bezug von Direktzahlungen. Heute werden 97 % der landwirtschaftlichen Nutzfläche nach den Regeln des ÖLN bewirtschaftet. Die wichtigste Massnahme des ÖLN, welche einen Einfluss auf die Biodiversität hat, ist, dass die Betriebe 7 % ihrer landwirtschaftlichen Nutzfläche (LN) als ökologische Ausgleichsflächen (öAF) auszuweisen haben (bei Spezialkulturen 3,5 %). Weitere Anforderungen des ÖLN (ausgeglichene Nährstoffbilanz, geregelte Fruchtfolge, Bodenschutz, gezielter Einsatz von Pflanzenschutzmitteln, tiergerechte Haltung der Nutztiere) können ebenfalls einen Einfluss haben, stehen jedoch weniger im Vordergrund

Secondary prevention measures in anaphylaxis patients: Data from the anaphylaxis registry

Background: Patients with a history of anaphylaxis are at risk of future anaphylactic reactions. Thus, secondary prevention measures are recommended for these patients to prevent or attenuate the next reaction. Methods: Data from the Anaphylaxis Registry were analyzed to identify secondary prevention measures offered to patients who experienced anaphylaxis. Our analysis included 7788 cases from 10 European countries and Brazil. Results:The secondary prevention measures offered varied across the elicitors. A remarkable discrepancy was observed between prevention measures offered in specialized allergy centers (84% of patients were prescribed adrenaline autoinjectors following EAACI guidelines) and outside the centers: Here, EAACI guideline adherence was only 37%. In the multivariate analysis, the elicitor of the reaction, age of the patient, mastocytosis as comorbidity, severity of the reaction, and reimbursement/availability of the autoinjector influence physician's decision to prescribe one. Conclusions: Based on the low implementation of guidelines concerning secondary prevention measures outside of specialized allergy centers, our findings highlight the importance of these specialized centers and the requirement of better education for primary healthcare and emergency physicians

Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation

There is compelling evidence that more diverse ecosystems deliver greater benefits to people, and these ecosystem services have become a key argument for biodiversity conservation. However, it is unclear how much biodiversity is needed to deliver ecosystem services in a cost-effective way. Here we show that, while the contribution of wild bees to crop production is significant, service delivery is restricted to a limited subset of all known bee species. Across crops, years and biogeographical regions, crop-visiting wild bee communities are dominated by a small number of common species, and threatened species are rarely observed on crops. Dominant crop pollinators persist under agricultural expansion and many are easily enhanced by simple conservation measures, suggesting that cost-effective management strategies to promote crop pollination should target a different set of species than management strategies to promote threatened bees. Conserving the biological diversity of bees therefore requires more than just ecosystem-service-based arguments

Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies (third edition)

The third edition of Flow Cytometry Guidelines provides the key aspects to consider when performing flow cytometry experiments and includes comprehensive sections describing phenotypes and functional assays of all major human and murine immune cell subsets. Notably, the Guidelines contain helpful tables highlighting phenotypes and key differences between human and murine cells. Another useful feature of this edition is the flow cytometry analysis of clinical samples with examples of flow cytometry applications in the context of autoimmune diseases, cancers as well as acute and chronic infectious diseases. Furthermore, there are sections detailing tips, tricks and pitfalls to avoid. All sections are written and peer‐reviewed by leading flow cytometry experts and immunologists, making this edition an essential and state‐of‐the‐art handbook for basic and clinical researchers.DFG, 389687267, Kompartimentalisierung, Aufrechterhaltung und Reaktivierung humaner Gedächtnis-T-Lymphozyten aus Knochenmark und peripherem BlutDFG, 80750187, SFB 841: Leberentzündungen: Infektion, Immunregulation und KonsequenzenEC/H2020/800924/EU/International Cancer Research Fellowships - 2/iCARE-2DFG, 252623821, Die Rolle von follikulären T-Helferzellen in T-Helferzell-Differenzierung, Funktion und PlastizitätDFG, 390873048, EXC 2151: ImmunoSensation2 - the immune sensory syste

Oxymetazoline modulates proinflammatory cytokines and the T-cell stimulatory capacity of dendritic cells

The nasal decongestant oxymetazoline (OMZ) is frequently used in the topical treatment of rhinitis/sinusitis. As proinflammatory cytokines play a critical role in the development and maintenance of local inflammation, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of OMZ on immune cells in order to diminish the mucosal infiltration of the nose. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from buffy coats of healthy volunteers were isolated and stimulated in the presence or absence of OMZ. In addition, monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DC) were generated and different concentrations of OMZ were added. DC phenotype and their T-cell stimulatory properties were analysed. The vasoactive substance OMZ showed a concentration dependent inhibitory effect on T-cell activation as well as a dominant effect on T-cell stimulatory properties of DC. Low concentrations of OMZ inhibited the proliferation of polyclonally activated T cells. In addition, secretion of proinflammatory mediators such as the cytokines interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha), IL-6 and IL-8 were inhibited in the presence of physiological doses of OMZ. Interestingly, the addition of IL-6 to DC-T-cell co-culture was able to completely restore T-cell proliferation. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the anti-inflammatory properties of OMZ are partially mediated by the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines as well as reduced T-cell stimulatory capacity of DC resulting in a repressed stimulation of T cells. Therefore, the therapeutic benefit of OMZ can be explained in part by its immunomodulating effects in the topical treatment of nasal inflammation