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

Distance-hereditary embeddings of circulant graphs

©2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.In this paper we present a distance-hereditary decomposition of optimal chordal rings of 2k2 nodes into a set of rings of 2k nodes, where k is the diameter. All the rings belonging to this set have the same length and their diameter corresponds to the diameter of the chordal ring in which they are embedded. The members of this embedded set of rings are non-disjoint and preserve the minimal routing of the original circulant graph. Besides its practical consequences, our research allows the presentation of these optimal circulant graphs as a particular evolution of the traditional ring topology.Carmen Martinez, Beivide Beivide, Jaime Gutierrez, [Maria] Cruz Iz

Peaks in the Cosmic Microwave Background: flat versus open models

We present properties of the peaks (maxima) of the CMB anisotropies expected in flat and open CDM models. We obtain analytical expressions of several topological descriptors: mean number of maxima and the probability distribution of the gaussian curvature and the eccentricity of the peaks. These quantities are calculated as functions of the radiation power spectrum, assuming a gaussian distribution of temperature anisotropies. We present results for angular resolutions ranging from 5' to 20' (antenna FWHM), scales that are relevant for the MAP and COBRAS/SAMBA space missions and the ground-based interferometer experiments. Our analysis also includes the effects of noise. We find that the number of peaks can discriminate between standard CDM models, and that the gaussian curvature distribution provides a useful test for these various models, whereas the eccentricity distribution can not distinguish between them.Comment: 13 pages latex file using aasms4.sty + 3 tables + 2 postscript figures, to appear in ApJ (March 1997

Learning a Battery of COVID-19 Mortality Prediction Models by Multi-objective Optimization

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuously evolving with drastically changing epidemiological situations which are approached with different decisions: from the reduction of fatalities to even the selection of patients with the highest probability of survival in critical clinical situations. Motivated by this, a battery of mortality prediction models with different performances has been developed to assist physicians and hospital managers. Logistic regression, one of the most popular classifiers within the clinical field, has been chosen as the basis for the generation of our models. Whilst a standard logistic regression only learns a single model focusing on improving accuracy, we propose to extend the possibilities of logistic regression by focusing on sensitivity and specificity. Hence, the log-likelihood function, used to calculate the coefficients in the logistic model, is split into two objective functions: one representing the survivors and the other for the deceased class. A multi-objective optimization process is undertaken on both functions in order to find the Pareto set, composed of models not improved by another model in both objective functions simultaneously. The individual optimization of either sensitivity (deceased patients) or specificity (survivors) criteria may be conflicting objectives because the improvement of one can imply the worsening of the other. Nonetheless, this conflict guarantees the output of a battery of diverse prediction models. Furthermore, a specific methodology for the evaluation of the Pareto models is proposed. As a result, a battery of COVID-19 mortality prediction models is obtained to assist physicians in decision-making for specific epidemiological situations.This research is supported by the Basque Government (IT1504- 22, Elkartek) through the BERC 2022–2025 program and BMTF project, and by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities: BCAM Severo Ochoa accreditation SEV-2017-0718 and PID2019-104966GB-I00. Furthermore, the work is also supported by the AXA Research Fund project “Early prognosis of COVID-19 infections via machine learning”

Factors Affecting Quality of Life for Children with Asthma

BACKGROUND: In the U.S., asthma is the most common chronic illness in children under 18 years. An exploration of asthma admission rates in emergency departments indicated this was also the case for Southeast Georgia. Despite the availability of effective asthma treatments and interventions, asthma continues to severely impact children’s health-related QOL. PURPOSE: This exploratory study sought to assess quality of life (QOL) issues facing children with asthma and their caregivers. Specifically, this study aimed to 1) Determine the baseline QOL in children with asthma and their parents/caregivers, & 2) Determine what factors affect QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers. METHODS: This exploratory study employed a mixed-model design. Participants were recruited for a convenience sample from a large children’s hospital outpatient clinic in Southeast Georgia. Participants included children aged 7-17 with a diagnosis of asthma or reactive airway disease (N=104) and their parents/caregivers (N=104). Child participants completed the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for childhood asthma focusing on the domains of activity limitations, emotional function, and an exploration of symptoms. Caregiver participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for caregivers of children with childhood asthma focusing on two domains, activity limitations and emotional function. Items in both the PAQLQ and PACQLQ questionnaires are rated on a 7-point scale, with higher scores indicating less impairment and lower scores indicating greater impairment to the domain under consideration. RESULTS & CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: In addressing the first aim of this study, the results revealed that the baseline QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers was relatively high. In addressing the second aim of this study, the results of both the PAQLQ and the PACQLQ revealed that the most significant factor that affects the QOL of children with asthma is ED visits. The more ED visits reported, the greater the impairment to emotional function and physical activity. While the findings of this study demonstrate a positive baseline QOL, it is important to further investigate the specific impact of ED visits on QOL of children with asthma and their caregivers. An important clinical implication is that education on controlling asthma symptoms to prevent ED visits for both children and their caregivers may be of value to improve their QOL

Extended computation of the viscous Rayleigh-Taylor instability in a horizontally confined flow

In this article, the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability is extended to situations where the fluid is completely confined, in both the vertical and horizontal directions. This article starts with the two-dimensional (2D) viscous periodic case with finite height where the effect of adding surface tension to the interface is analyzed. This problem is simulated from a dual perspective: first, the linear stability analysis obtained when the Navier-Stokes equations are linearized and regularized in terms of density and viscosity; and second, looking at the weakly compressible version of a multiphase smoothed particle hydrodynamics (WCSPH) method. The evolution and growth rates of the different fluid variables during the linear regime of the SPH simulation are compared to the computation of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the viscous version of the Rayleigh-Taylor stability (VRTI) analysis with and without surface tension. The most unstable mode, which has the maximal linear growth rate obtained with both approaches, as well as other less unstable modes with more complex structures are reported. The classical horizontally periodic (VRTI) case is now adapted to the case where two additional left and right walls are included in the problem, representing the cases where a two-phase flow is confined in a accelerated tank. This 2D case where no periodic assumptions are allowed is also solved using both techniques with tanks of different sizes and a wide range of Atwood numbers. The agreement with the linear stability analysis obtained by a Lagrangian method such as multiphase WCSPH is remarkable.The research leading to these results was undertaken as part of the SLOWD project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant No. 815044. L.M.G. acknowledges the financial support from the Spanish Ministry for Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) under Grant No. RTI2018-096791-B-C21, Hidrodinámica de elementos de amortiguamiento del movimiento de aerogeneradores flotantes

Phosphate levels as a possible state marker in panic disorder: preliminary study of a feasible laboratory measure for routine clinical practice.

Low serum phosphate level is considered one of the metabolic adaptations to the respiratory alkalosis induced by hyperventilation associated with panic disorder. The aim of this study was to assess phosphatemia as a possible state marker for panic disorder. Methods Sixteen panic disorder patients underwent clinical assessment with a semi-structured interview, a set of rating scales and the self-rated State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), as well as extraction of venous blood samples at baseline and after 12 weeks of pharmacological treatment. Ten healthy volunteers of similar sex, age and educational level filled out the STAI and gave blood samples at baseline and 12 weeks later. Results The median (25th–75th percentiles) of phosphate levels (mg/dl) was 2.68 (2.22–3.18) among patients and 4.13 (3.74–4.70) among healthy volunteers respectively (P < 0.001). Seven (44%) patients and no healthy volunteers presented low serum phosphate (<2.50 mg/dl) at baseline; this patient abnormality was corrected in all cases after successful treatment. At baseline, the age-adjusted correlation between phosphate levels and state-anxiety was −0.66 (P < 0.001) among all 26 participants and −0.51 (P = 0.05) among the 16 panic disorder patients. Conclusions Measurement of phosphate levels could be easily introduced into clinical practice as a possible marker for chronic hyperventilation in panic disorder, although further investigations with larger sample sizes are necessary to characterize panic disorder patients with low versus normal phosphate levels.The study received institutional support from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Granada. The authors had access to all data from the study, both what is reported and what is unreported, and complete freedom to direct its analysis and reporting, without influence, editorial direction, or censorship from the institution supporting the study

Production performance, nutrient digestibility, and milk composition of dairy ewes supplemented with crushed sunflower seeds and sunflower seed silage in corn silage-based diets

This study determined production performance, nutrient digestibility, and milk composition of dairy ewes supplemented with crushed sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus) and sunflower seed silage in corn silage-based diets. Six ewes were grouped in a double 3 × 3 Latin square design with three periods of 21 days. All treatments were based on ad libitum corn silage. Control diet was based on alfalfa hay (333 g/kg DM), sorghum grain (253 g/kg DM), triticale grain (200 g/kg DM), soybean meal (167 g /kg DM), and vitamin and mineral premix (47 g/kg DM). Sunflower seeds (SF) and sunflower seed silage (SFS) treatments consisted of alfalfa hay (333 g/kg DM), sorghum grain (267 g/kg DM), triticale grain (100 g/kg DM), soybean meal (167 g /kg DM), SF or SFS (87 g/kg DM) and vitamin and mineral premix (47 g/kg DM). Compared to control, SF and SFS increased intake and digestibility of fiber components, such as neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF). Body weight, nitrogen balance, milk yield, milk fat yield, milk protein yield, lactose yield and milk urea N were similar between treatments. Overall, results demonstrated that crushed sunflower seeds and ensiled seeds do not change significantly productive parameters of dairy sheep

A Novel Prototype Offset Multi Tubular Photoreactor (OMTP) for solar photocatalytic degradation of water contaminants

The design and operation of a new solar photoreactor prototype named Offset Multi Tubular Photoreactor (OMTP) is presented. The OMTP advances over the compound parabolic collector (CPC) photoreactor, which is one of the most efficient design for large-scale solar detoxification of water and wastewater. The OMTP design is based on a simple modification of the common CPC and included a supplementary set of tubes in the space occupied by the axes of intersection of the CPC reflective involutes. This new reactor configuration increased the irradiated reactor volume by 79% and the fluid residence time by up to 1.8-fold in comparison to the CPC, for the same solar irradiated area (footprint). The model parameters used for comparing and scaling the OMPT and CPC were β (reactor volume/total volume), α (area of absorption/total volume), αg (physical area/total volume), degradation efficiency ηα per unit area, and the operating volume. The total solar energy absorbed in the reactors (1.74 m2 footprint) was 15.17 W for the CPC and 21.86 W for the OMTP, which represents an overall gain of 44% for the latter. The performance of the OMTP and CPC were compared at the same value of solar exposure, β of 0.3 with optimal photocatalyst loading of 0.25 g/L titanium dioxide (TiO2 P25). The degradation efficiencies of methylene blue, dichloroacetic acid, 4-chlorophenol (120 ppm initial concentration) in the OMTP were up to 81%, 125%, 118% and 242% higher, respectively, in comparison to the CPC after 8000 J/m2 of accumulated solar energy. The OMTP should outperform the CPC in environmental and renewable energy applications of solar heterogeneous photocatalysis