Genetic stratification of depression in UK Biobank

Depression is a common and clinically heterogeneous mental health disorder that is frequently comorbid with other diseases and conditions. Stratification of depression may align sub-diagnoses more closely with their underling aetiology and provide more tractable targets for research and effective treatment. In the current study, we investigated whether genetic data could be used to identify subgroups within people with depression using the UK Biobank. Examination of cross-locus correlations were used to test for evidence of subgroups using genetic data from seven other complex traits and disorders that were genetically correlated with depression and had sufficient power (>0.6) for detection. We found no evidence for subgroups within depression for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anorexia nervosa, inflammatory bowel disease or obesity. This suggests that for these traits, genetic correlations with depression were driven by pleiotropic genetic variants carried by everyone rather than by a specific subgroup

Protocol for a randomised controlled trial investigating the effectiveness of an online e-health application compared to attention placebo or sertraline in the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder

Background: Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a high prevalence, chronic psychiatric disorder which commonly presents early in the lifespan. Internet e-health applications have been found to be successful in reducing symptoms of anxiety and stress for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), panic disorder, social phobia and depression. However, to date, there is little evidence for the effectiveness of e-health applications in adult GAD. There are no studies which have directly compared e-health applications with recognised evidence-based medication. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of a web-based program for treating GAD relative to sertraline and attention placebo.Methods/Design: 120 community-dwelling participants, aged 18-30 years with a clinical diagnosis of GAD will be recruited from the Australian Electoral Roll. They will be randomly allocated to one of three conditions: (i) an online treatment program for GAD, E-couch (ii) pharmacological treatment with a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), sertraline (a fixed-flexible dose of 25-100 mg/day) or (iii) an attention control placebo, HealthWatch. The treatment program will be completed over a 10 week period with a 12 month follow-up.Discussion: As of February 2010, there were no registered trials evaluating the effectiveness of an e-health application for GAD for young adults. Similarly to date, this will be the first trial to compare an e-health intervention with a pharmacological treatment.Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN76298775

Classical Human Leukocyte Antigen Alleles and C4 Haplotypes Are Not Significantly Associated With Depression

Background The prevalence of depression is higher in individuals with autoimmune diseases, but the mechanisms underlying the observed comorbidities are unknown. Shared genetic etiology is a plausible explanation for the overlap, and in this study we tested whether genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is associated with risk for autoimmune diseases, is also associated with risk for depression. Methods We fine-mapped the classical MHC (chr6: 29.6–33.1 Mb), imputing 216 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles and 4 complement component 4 (C4) haplotypes in studies from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Major Depressive Disorder Working Group and the UK Biobank. The total sample size was 45,149 depression cases and 86,698 controls. We tested for association between depression status and imputed MHC variants, applying both a region-wide significance threshold (3.9 × 10−6) and a candidate threshold (1.6 × 10−4). Results No HLA alleles or C4 haplotypes were associated with depression at the region-wide threshold. HLA-B*08:01 was associated with modest protection for depression at the candidate threshold for testing in HLA genes in the meta-analysis (odds ratio = 0.98, 95 confidence interval = 0.97–0.99). Conclusions We found no evidence that an increased risk for depression was conferred by HLA alleles, which play a major role in the genetic susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, or C4 haplotypes, which are strongly associated with schizophrenia. These results suggest that any HLA or C4 variants associated with depression either are rare or have very modest effect sizes

"Can I call you Mummy?" Weighing political correctness against psychological need in foster care

A common phenomenon observed in children residing in foster care is their tendencyto call their foster carers “Mum” or “Mummy”. Concerns are often raised aboutthe appropriateness of this, with some workers and decision-makers in childprotection strongly advocating against it. Foster carers are also often unsure how tohandle the situation when it occurs. On the one hand, foster carers may feelcompelled to take the advice of caseworkers to not allow this practice, yet on theother hand, feel they are rejecting a child, and a vital part of the developingrelationship, if they do not allow themselves to be called “Mum”

Intestinal absorption of human growth hormone in the presence of a novel carrier compound

Abstract not availabl

Intestinal absorption of human growth hormone in the presence of a novel carrier compound

Abstract not availabl

The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: National security, human rights, and media scrutiny

In April 2015, the Australian Government passed the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act, which imposes obligations on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to collect metadata information about their users and store this metadata for a period of two years. This article reviews the operation of the Act and considers the extent to which it conflicts with the human right to privacy. We suggest that the broad scope of the data retention obligations and the lack of judicial safeguards to limit access to collected data presents a clear conflict with the requirements of international law.\ud \ud From its conception through to its ongoing implementation, Australia’s data retention scheme has been controversial. The Government has generally asserted that data retention is necessary to further Australia’s national security interests and to assist law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations. In the face of criticism, however, Government officials have been notably unable to justify the scheme on these grounds, or to show that data retention is a proportionate response to national security and law enforcement concerns.\ud \ud The passage of data retention in Australia is particularly notable for the significant confusion not only over what the scheme would achieve, but what it would actually do. The Data Retention Act does not clearly explain what constitutes “metadata” for the purposes of the Act, nor, famously, was the Attorney-General George Brandis able to define metadata when asked about it. This is part of a broader narrative of disagreement and confusion about what data is suitable for collection and how data collection can impact upon the privacy interests of Australian citizens.\ud \ud We examine how public interest concerns were dealt with during the passage of the Act as reflected in Australian news media. While the Act was controversial and subject to substantial ongoing criticism, the Government ultimately did little to address the human rights concerns that had been raised. The Act was ultimately passed with bi-partisan support, despite severe deficiencies in the justifications, a lack of clarity in the operation of the scheme, and heated public opposition from a small but vocal group of advocates. We show how the complexity of the Act appeared to limit engaged critique in the mainstream media, and how escalating fears over domestic and international terrorist attacks were exploited to secure the Act’s passage through federal Parliament

Nanoimprinted Tio 2 sol-gel passivating diffraction gratings for solar cell applications

We report the fabrication and characterization of TiO2 sol-gel diffraction gratings on silicon substrates by using nanoimprint lithography. The gratings are homogeneous and free of defects and cover an area of 25cm2. Minority carrier lifetimes of up to 900μs for imprinted samples under illumination are reported, which Kelvin probe measurements indicate is due to light-generated negative charge in the films. The structures reported here are very promising as light-trapping, passivating coatings for solar cells