Is Symptomatic Long QT Syndrome Associated with Depression in Women and Men?

We examined whether long QT syndrome (LQTS) mutation carrier status or symptomatic LQTS are associated with depression, and whether there are sex differences in these potential relationships. The sample comprised 782 participants (252 men). Of the 369 genetically defined LQTS mutation carriers, 169 were symptomatic and 200 were asymptomatic. The control group consisted of 413 unaffected relatives. Depression was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). No association was found for LQTS mutation carrier status with depression. The multinomial logistic regression showed that LQTS mutation carrier men with arrhythmic events scored higher on depression compared with the control group, even when adjusting for age, beta-blockers, antidepressants, and social support (OR = 1.09, 95 % CI [1.02, 1.15], p = .007). The binary logistic regression comparing symptomatic and asymptomatic LQTS mutation carriers showed that symptomatic LQTS was associated with depression in men (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI [1.03, 1.19], p = .009). The results were unchanged when additionally adjusted for education. These findings suggest that symptomatic LQTS is associated with depression in men but not in women. Overall, however, depression is more frequent in women than men. Thus, regular screening for depression in LQTS mutation carriers and their unaffected family members can be important.Peer reviewe

Sex disparities in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension: a cohort study

Abstract Background The impact of male sex as a determinant of health outcomes in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) is controversial. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sex on survival in patients with SSc-PAH. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the effect of sex on age of PAH diagnosis, time from SSc diagnosis to PAH diagnosis, and SSc disease manifestations. Methods Sex-based disparities were evaluated in a cohort of SSc-PAH patients with a primary outcome of time from PAH diagnosis to all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were differences in age of diagnosis, disease duration, and SSc manifestations. Survival differences were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard models. Results We identified 378 SSc-PAH (58 males, 320 females) patients, with a female:male ratio of 5.5:1. Males had a shorter mean ± standard deviation time from SSc diagnosis to PAH diagnosis (1.7 ± 14 versus 5.5 ± 14.2 years); shorter PAH duration (3.5 ± 3.1 versus 4.7 ± 4.2 years), increased frequency of renal crisis (19 % versus 8 %, relative risk (RR) 2.33, 95 %CI 1.22, 4.46), interstitial lung disease (67 % versus 48 %, RR 1.41, 95 %CI 1.14, 1.74), and diffuse subtype (40 % versus 22 %, RR 1.84, 95 %CI 1.26, 2.69). Males appeared to have decreased 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year survival (83.2 %, 68.7 %, 53.2 %, 45.6 %) compared to females (85.7 %, 75.7 %, 66.4 %, 57.4 %). However, there was no difference in mortality between sexes (HR 1.43 (95 %CI 0.97, 2.13). Conclusions Sex disparities appear to exist in the frequency of PAH, time to PAH diagnosis, PAH disease duration and SSc disease burden. However, male sex does not independently impact SSc-PAH survival

LEKIDs as mm-Wave Polarisation Analysers: Fabrication, Test Bench and Early Results

International audienceWe have demonstrated in an earlier paper that LEKIDs can be used in a polarisation selective way in a filled array configuration. A polarised response can be achieved by means of thick Nb polarising grids lithographed on the rear side of a 300 microns silicon wafer, on which Al resonators have been previously patterned. In the most interesting scheme that we have investigated, a unit cell formed by 4 pixels (2 by 2) responds simultaneously to two orthogonal (cartesian) polarisation states. To assess the effectiveness of this detection scheme, we have fabricated a first generation of devices (9 small arrays, 20–25 pixels each, on a 4$^{\prime \prime }$ Silicon wafer) by using a double-sided mask aligner suitable for a precise positioning of the individual grids in correspondence of each resonator’s meander, for the different LEKID geometries. We describe here the realisation of these first devices. The construction of a dedicated polarimetric test bench is also described in this contribution, together with the first characterisation results. We consider this activity as a first and necessary step to evaluate the polarisation purity attainable with polarisation-sensitive pixels whose size is comparable to the wavelength. This is a fundamental information to drive further studies

Qualification and frequency accuracy of the space-based primary frequency standard PHARAO

International audienc