Provisional Assessment of Candidate High-Temperature Thermal Conductivity Reference Materials in the EMRP “Thermo” Project

This article describes the provisional assessment of a short list of four candidate high-temperature thermal conductivity reference materials in a European research project, “Thermo.” These four candidate materials are low-density calcium silicate, amorphous silica, high-density calcium silicate, and exfoliated vermiculite. Based on initial tests on material composition and microstructure changes, dimensional stability, mechanical stability, chemical stability and uniformity, the best two candidate materials that would be considered for further detailed characterization in the next stage are low-density calcium silicate and high-density calcium silicate. These two materials are dimensionally, mechanically, and chemically stable, which are more robust and easier to handle than others. However, the specimens need to be selected to meet the requirement for material uniformity in terms of density, i.e., density variation within 2%

Posttraumatic stress disorder in the World Mental Health Surveys

Background: Traumatic events are common globally; however, comprehensive population-based cross-national data on the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the paradigmatic trauma-related mental disorder, are lacking. Methods: Data were analyzed from 26 population surveys in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. A total of 71 083 respondents ages 18+ participated. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview assessed exposure to traumatic events as well as 30-day, 12-month, and lifetime PTSD. Respondents were also assessed for treatment in the 12 months preceding the survey. Age of onset distributions were examined by country income level. Associations of PTSD were examined with country income, world region, and respondent demographics. Results: The cross-national lifetime prevalence of PTSD was 3.9% in the total sample and 5.6% among the trauma exposed. Half of respondents with PTSD reported persistent symptoms. Treatment seeking in high-income countries (53.5%) was roughly double that in low-lower middle income (22.8%) and upper-middle income (28.7%) countries. Social disadvantage, including younger age, female sex, being unmarried, being less educated, having lower household income, and being unemployed, was associated with increased risk of lifetime PTSD among the trauma exposed. Conclusions: PTSD is prevalent cross-nationally, with half of all global cases being persistent. Only half of those with severe PTSD report receiving any treatment and only a minority receive specialty mental health care. Striking disparities in PTSD treatment exist by country income level. Increasing access to effective treatment, especially in low- and middle-income countries, remains critical for reducing the population burden of PTSD

Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder in South Africa: analysis from the South African Stress and Health Study

Background: South Africa’s unique history, characterised by apartheid, a form of constitutional racial segregation and exploitation, and a long period of political violence and state-sponsored oppression ending only in 1994, suggests a high level of trauma exposure in the general population. The aim of this study was to document the epidemiology of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the South African general population. Methods: The South African Stress and Health Study is a nationally representative survey of South African adults using the WHO’s Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess exposure to trauma and presence of DSM-IV mental disorders. Results: The most common traumatic events were the unexpected death of a loved one and witnessing trauma occurring to others. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates of PTSD were 2.3% and 0.7% respectively, while the conditional prevalence of PTSD after trauma exposure was 3.5%. PTSD conditional risk after trauma exposure and probability of chronicity after PTSD onset were both highest for witnessing trauma. Socio-demographic factors such as sex, age and education were largely unrelated to PTSD risk. Conclusions: The occurrence of trauma and PTSD in South Africa is not distributed according to the sociodemographic factors or trauma types observed in other countries. The dominant role of witnessing in contributing to PTSD may reflect the public settings of trauma exposure in South Africa and highlight the importance of political and social context in shaping the epidemiology of PTSD

DSM‐5 and ICD‐11 definitions of posttraumatic stress disorder: Investigating “narrow” and “broad” approaches

Background: The development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5) and ICD-11 has led to reconsideration of diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys allow investigation of the implications of the changing criteria compared to DSM-IV and ICD-10. Methods: WMH Surveys in 13 countries asked respondents to enumerate all their lifetime traumatic events (TEs) and randomly selected one TE per respondent for PTSD assessment. DSM-IV and ICD-10 PTSD were assessed for the 23,936 respondents who reported lifetime TEs in these surveys with the fully structured Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). DSM-5 and proposed ICD-11 criteria were approximated. Associations of the different criteria sets with indicators of clinical severity (distress-impairment, suicidality, comorbid fear-distress disorders, PTSD symptom duration) were examined to investigate the implications of using the different systems. Results: A total of 5.6% of respondents met criteria for broadly defined PTSD (i.e., full criteria in at least one diagnostic system), with prevalence ranging from 3.0% with DSM-5 to 4.4% with ICD-10. Only one-third of broadly defined cases met criteria in all four systems and another one third in only one system (narrowly defined cases). Between-system differences in indicators of clinical severity suggest that ICD-10 criteria are least strict and DSM-IV criteria most strict. The more striking result, though, is that significantly elevated indicators of clinical significance were found even for narrowly defined cases for each of the four diagnostic systems. Conclusions: These results argue for a broad definition of PTSD defined by any one of the different systems to capture all clinically significant cases of PTSD in future studies

Using targeted enrichment of nuclear genes to increase phylogenetic resolution in the neotropical rain forest genus Inga (Leguminosae: Mimosoideae)

Evolutionary radiations are prominent and pervasive across many plant lineages in diverse geographical and ecological settings; in neotropical rainforests there is growing evidence suggesting that a significant fraction of species richness is the result of recent radiations. Understanding the evolutionary trajectories and mechanisms underlying these radiations demands much greater phylogenetic resolution than is currently available for these groups. The neotropical tree genus Inga (Leguminosae) is a good example, with ~300 extant species and a crown age of 2–10 MY, yet over 6 kb of plastid and nuclear DNA sequence data gives only poor phylogenetic resolution among species. Here we explore the use of larger-scale nuclear gene data obtained though targeted enrichment to increase phylogenetic resolution within Inga. Transcriptome data from three Inga species were used to select 264 nuclear loci for targeted enrichment and sequencing. Following quality control to remove probable paralogs from these sequence data, the final dataset comprised 259,313 bases from 194 loci for 24 accessions representing 22 Inga species and an outgroup (Zygia). Bayesian phylogenies reconstructed using either all loci concatenated or a gene-tree/species-tree approach yielded highly resolved phylogenies. We used coalescent approaches to show that the same targeted enrichment data also have significant power to discriminate among alternative within-species population histories within the widespread species I. umbellifera. In either application, targeted enrichment simplifies the informatics challenge of identifying orthologous loci associated with de novo genome sequencing. We conclude that targeted enrichment provides the large volumes of phylogenetically-informative sequence data required to resolve relationships within recent plant species radiations, both at the species level and for within-species phylogeographic studies

Geriatrisch spreekuur door een specialist ouderengeneeskunde in de huisartspraktijk

Beschreven wordt een innovatief project waarin huisartsen, een specialist ouderengeneeskunde en een thuiszorgorganisatie samenwerken. Doel was kwetsbare ouderen op te sporen, adequaat te behandelen en te ondersteunen, zodat ze zolang mogelijk in hun vertrouwde omgeving kunnen blijven wonen. Opsporing van kwetsbare ouderen vond plaats met het Easycare instrument. De resultaten, verzameld tussen 1 oktober 2007 en 1 juli 2009, tonen dat vooral mensen met dementieverschijnselen zijn opgespoord en behandeld. Bij hen lag het accent op het verlenen van zorgplangestuurde zorg, het geven van adviezen met betrekking tot de psychogeriatrische zorgverlening en de inzet van thuiszorg op maat. Bij ouderen met somatische problematiek vonden vooral eenmalige consulten door de specialist ouderengeneeskunde plaats. De tevredenheid over de geboden zorg bij ouderen zelf en ook de betrokken professionals was groot. In de pilot werd voorts een tendens gevonden van minder verwijzingen naar de 2elijn en een reductie van het aantal acute opnames in het verpleeghuis

Protocol for investigating genetic determinants of posttraumatic stress disorder in women from the Nurses' Health Study II

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One in nine American women will meet criteria for the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime. Although twin studies suggest genetic influences account for substantial variance in PTSD risk, little progress has been made in identifying variants in specific genes that influence liability to this common, debilitating disorder.</p> <p>Methods and design</p> <p>We are using the unique resource of the Nurses Health Study II, a prospective epidemiologic cohort of 68,518 women, to conduct what promises to be the largest candidate gene association study of PTSD to date. The entire cohort will be screened for trauma exposure and PTSD; 3,000 women will be selected for PTSD diagnostic interviews based on the screening data. Our nested case-control study will genotype1000 women who developed PTSD following a history of trauma exposure; 1000 controls will be selected from women who experienced similar traumas but did not develop PTSD.</p> <p>The primary aim of this study is to detect genetic variants that predict the development of PTSD following trauma. We posit inherited vulnerability to PTSD is mediated by genetic variation in three specific neurobiological systems whose alterations are implicated in PTSD etiology: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the locus coeruleus/noradrenergic system, and the limbic-frontal neuro-circuitry of fear. The secondary, exploratory aim of this study is to dissect genetic influences on PTSD in the broader genetic and environmental context for the candidate genes that show significant association with PTSD in detection analyses. This will involve: conducting conditional tests to identify the causal genetic variant among multiple correlated signals; testing whether the effect of PTSD genetic risk variants is moderated by age of first trauma, trauma type, and trauma severity; and exploring gene-gene interactions using a novel gene-based statistical approach.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Identification of liability genes for PTSD would represent a major advance in understanding the pathophysiology of the disorder. Such understanding could advance the development of new pharmacological agents for PTSD treatment and prevention. Moreover, the addition of PTSD assessment data will make the NHSII cohort an unparalleled resource for future genetic studies of PTSD as well as provide the unique opportunity for the prospective examination of PTSD-disease associations.</p

Hyperglycemia Activates Caspase-1 and TXNIP-Mediated IL-1β Transcription in Human Adipose Tissue

Contains fulltext : 96993.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: Obesity is characterized by elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1beta, that contribute to the development of insulin resistance. In this study, we set out to investigate whether hyperglycemia drives IL-1beta production and caspase-1 activation in murine and human adipose tissue, thus inducing insulin resistance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: ob/ob animals were used as a model to study obesity and hyperglycemia. Human adipose tissue fragments or adipocytes were cultured in medium containing normal or high glucose levels. Additionally, the role of thioredoxin interacting protein (TXNIP) in glucose-induced IL-1beta production was assessed. RESULTS: TXNIP and caspase-1 protein levels were more abundantly expressed in adipose tissue of hyperglycemic ob/ob animals as compared with wild-type mice. In human adipose tissue, high glucose resulted in a 10-fold upregulation of TXNIP gene expression levels (P < 0.01) and a 10% elevation of caspase-1 activity (P < 0.05), together with induction of IL-1beta transcription (twofold, P < 0.01) and a significant increase in IL-1beta secretion. TXNIP suppression in human adipocytes, either by a small interfering RNA approach or a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonist, counteracted the effects of high glucose on bioactive IL-1 production (P < 0.01) mainly through a decrease in transcription levels paralleled by reduced intracellular pro-IL-1beta levels. CONCLUSIONS: High glucose activates caspase-1 in human and murine adipose tissue. Glucose-induced activation of TXNIP mediates IL-1beta mRNA expression levels and intracellular pro-IL-1beta accumulation in adipose tissue. The concerted actions lead to enhanced secretion of IL-1beta in adipose tissue that may contribute to the development of insulin resistance