Air Pollution Exposure Assessment for Epidemiologic Studies of Pregnant Women and Children: Lessons Learned from the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research

The National Children’s Study is considering a wide spectrum of airborne pollutants that are hypothesized to potentially influence pregnancy outcomes, neurodevelopment, asthma, atopy, immune development, obesity, and pubertal development. In this article we summarize six applicable exposure assessment lessons learned from the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research that may enhance the National Children’s Study: a) Selecting individual study subjects with a wide range of pollution exposure profiles maximizes spatial-scale exposure contrasts for key pollutants of study interest. b) In studies with large sample sizes, long duration, and diverse outcomes and exposures, exposure assessment efforts should rely on modeling to provide estimates for the entire cohort, supported by subject-derived questionnaire data. c) Assessment of some exposures of interest requires individual measurements of exposures using snapshots of personal and microenvironmental exposures over short periods and/or in selected microenvironments. d) Understanding issues of spatial–temporal correlations of air pollutants, the surrogacy of specific pollutants for components of the complex mixture, and the exposure misclassification inherent in exposure estimates is critical in analysis and interpretation. e) “Usual” temporal, spatial, and physical patterns of activity can be used as modifiers of the exposure/outcome relationships. f) Biomarkers of exposure are useful for evaluation of specific exposures that have multiple routes of exposure. If these lessons are applied, the National Children’s Study offers a unique opportunity to assess the adverse effects of air pollution on interrelated health outcomes during the critical early life period

Quantum phase transition to unconventional multi-orbital superfluidity in optical lattices

Orbital physics plays a significant role for a vast number of important phenomena in complex condensed matter systems such as high-T$_c$ superconductivity and unconventional magnetism. In contrast, phenomena in superfluids -- especially in ultracold quantum gases -- are commonly well described by the lowest orbital and a real order parameter. Here, we report on the observation of a novel multi-orbital superfluid phase with a {\it complex} order parameter in binary spin mixtures. In this unconventional superfluid, the local phase angle of the complex order parameter is continuously twisted between neighboring lattice sites. The nature of this twisted superfluid quantum phase is an interaction-induced admixture of the p-orbital favored by the graphene-like band structure of the hexagonal optical lattice used in the experiment. We observe a second-order quantum phase transition between the normal superfluid (NSF) and the twisted superfluid phase (TSF) which is accompanied by a symmetry breaking in momentum space. The experimental results are consistent with calculated phase diagrams and reveal fundamentally new aspects of orbital superfluidity in quantum gas mixtures. Our studies might bridge the gap between conventional superfluidity and complex phenomena of orbital physics.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Ковчег Ноя: рух матерії у Сонячній системі та на ядерних рівнях Землі

У Стародавньому світі пророку Мойсею було відкрито таємницю створення світу. Як науковий геній свого часу, Мойсей зашифрував у алегоричну форму в родоводі Адама і Потопі прикладну науку про будову ядра Землі, Сонячної системи і рухи космічної водневої і сонячної вуглецевої матерій (енергій) крізь Землю.В Древнем мире пророку Моисею была открыта тайна создания мира. Как научный гений своего времени Моисей зашифровал в форму аллегории в родословной Адама и Потопе прикладную науку о строении ядра Земли, Солнечной системы и движениях космической водородной и солнечной углеродной материи (энергии) сквозь Землю.In the Ancient history the mystery of the Creation of the world was revealed to the Prophet Moses. As a scientific genius of that époque Moses codified in allegoric way in the genealogy of Adam and The Flood the applied science on the structure of the Earth core, of the Solar System and motion of cosmic hydrogenous and solar carbonic substance (energy) through the Earth

Pregnant women with bronchial asthma benefit from progressive muscle relaxation: A randomized, prospective, controlled trial

Background: Asthma is a serious medical problem in pregnancy and is often associated with stress, anger and poor quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) on change in blood pressure, lung parameters, heart rate, anger and health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Methods: We treated a sample of 64 pregnant women with bronchial asthma from the local population in an 8-week randomized, prospective, controlled trial. Thirty-two were selected for PMR, and 32 received a placebo intervention. The systolic blood pressure, forced expiratory volume in the first second, peak expiratory flow and heart rate were tested, and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory and Health Survey (SF-36) were employed. Results: According to the intend-to-treat principle, a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and a significant increase in both forced expiratory volume in the first second and peak expiratory flow were observed after PMR. The heart rate showed a significant increase in the coefficient of variation, root mean square of successive differences and high frequency ranges, in addition to a significant reduction in low and middle frequency ranges. A significant reduction on three of five State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory scales, and a significant increase on seven of eight SF-36 scales were observed. Conclusions: PMR appears to be an effective method to improve blood pressure, lung parameters and heart rate, and to decrease anger levels, thus enhancing health-related quality of life in pregnant women with bronchial asthma. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel

Evolutionary relationships between Rhynchosporium lolii sp. nov. and other Rhynchosporium species on grass.

Copyright: 2013 King et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedThe fungal genus Rhynchosporium (causative agent of leaf blotch) contains several host-specialised species, including R. commune (colonising barley and brome-grass), R. agropyri (couch-grass), R. secalis (rye and triticale) and the more distantly related R. orthosporum (cocksfoot). This study used molecular fingerprinting, multilocus DNA sequence data, conidial morphology, host range tests and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the relationship between Rhynchosporium species on ryegrasses, both economically important forage grasses and common wild grasses in many cereal growing areas, and other plant species. Two different types of Rhynchosporium were found on ryegrasses in the UK. Firstly, there were isolates of R. commune that were pathogenic to both barley and Italian ryegrass. Secondly, there were isolates of a new species, here named R. lolii, that were pathogenic only to ryegrass species. R. lolii was most closely related to R. orthosporum, but exhibited clear molecular, morphological and host range differences. The species was estimated to have diverged from R. orthosporum ca. 5735 years before the present. The colonisation strategy of all of the different Rhynchosporium species involved extensive hyphal growth in the sub-cuticular regions of the leaves. Finally, new species-specific PCR diagnostic tests were developed that could distinguish between these five closely related Rhynchosporium species.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of intensity of infection with Schistosoma japonicum in 50 irrigated and rain-fed villages in Samar Province, the Philippines

BACKGROUND: Few studies have described heterogeneity in Schistosoma japonicum infection intensity, and none were done in Philippines. The purpose of this report is to describe the village-to-village variation in the prevalence of two levels of infection intensity across 50 villages of Samar Province, the Philippines. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 25 rain-fed and 25 irrigated villages endemic for S. japonicum between August 2003 and November 2004. Villages were selected based on irrigation and farming criteria. A maximum of 35 eligible households were selected per village. Each participant was asked to provide stool samples on three consecutive days. All those who provided at least one stool sample were included in the analysis. A Bayesian three category outcome hierarchical cumulative logit regression model with adjustment for age, sex, occupation and measurement error of the Kato-Katz technique was used for analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1427 households and 6917 individuals agreed to participate in the study. A total of 5624 (81.3%) participants provided at least one stool sample. The prevalences of those lightly and at least moderately infected varied from 0% (95% Bayesian credible interval (BCI): 0%–3.1%) to 45.2% (95% BCI: 36.5%–53.9%) and 0% to 23.0% (95% BCI: 16.4%–31.2%) from village-to-village, respectively. Using the 0–7 year old group as a reference category, the highest odds ratio (OR) among males and females were that of being aged 17–40-year old (OR = 8.76; 95% BCI: 6.03–12.47) and 11–16-year old (OR = 8.59; 95% BCI: 4.74–14.28), respectively. People who did not work on a rice farm had a lower prevalence of infection than those working full time on a rice farm. The OR for irrigated villages compared to rain-fed villages was 1.41 (95% BCI: 0.50–3.21). DISCUSSION: We found very important village-to-village variation in prevalence of infection intensity. This variation is probably due to village-level variables other than that explained by a crude classification of villages into the irrigated and non-irrigated categories. We are planning to capture this spatial heterogeneity by updating our initial transmission dynamics model with the data reported here combined with 1-year post-treatment follow-up of study participants

Students benefit from developing their own emergency medicine OSCE stations: a comparative study using the matched-pair method

Background: Students can improve the learning process by developing their own multiple choice questions. If a similar effect occurred when creating OSCE (objective structured clinical examination) stations by themselves it could be beneficial to involve them in the development of OSCE stations. This study investigates the effect of students developing emergency medicine OSCE stations on their test performance. Method: In the 2011/12 winter semester, an emergency medicine OSCE was held for the first time at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Leipzig. When preparing for the OSCE, 13 students (the intervention group) developed and tested emergency medicine examination stations as a learning experience. Their subsequent OSCE performance was compared to that of 13 other students (the control group), who were parallelized in terms of age, gender, semester and level of previous knowledge using the matched-pair method. In addition, both groups were compared to 20 students who tested the OSCE prior to regular emergency medicine training (test OSCE group). Results: There were no differences between the three groups regarding age (24.3 +/- 2.6; 24.2 +/- 3.4 and 24 +/- 2.3 years) or previous knowledge (29.3 +/- 3.4; 29.3 +/- 3.2 and 28.9 +/- 4.7 points in the multiple choice {[} MC] exam in emergency medicine). Merely the gender distribution differed (8 female and 5 male students in the intervention and control group vs. 3 males and 17 females in the test OSCE group). In the exam OSCE, participants in the intervention group scored 233.4 +/- 6.3 points (mean +/- SD) compared to 223.8 +/- 9.2 points (p < 0.01) in the control group. Cohen's effect size was d = 1.24. The students of the test OSCE group scored 223.2 +/- 13.4 points. Conclusions: Students who actively develop OSCE stations when preparing for an emergency medicine OSCE achieve better exam results

Criminal and Noncriminal Psychopathy: The Devil is in the Detail

Brooks, NS ORCiD: 0000-0003-1784-099XPsychopathy is prevalent and problematic in criminal populations, but is also found to be present in noncriminal populations. In 1992, Robert Hare declared that psychopaths may also “be found in the boardroom”, which has since been followed by an interest in the issue of noncriminal, or even successful, psychopathy. In this chapter, the paradox of criminal and noncriminal psychopathy is discussed with specific attention given to the similarities and differences that account for psychopathic personality across contexts. That psychopathy is a condition typified by a constellation of traits and behaviours requires wider research across diverse populations, and thus the streams of research related to criminal and noncriminal psychopathy are presented and the implications of these contrasting streams are explored

Health state preferences are equivalent in the United States and Trinidad and Tobago

To derive preference weights in Trinidad and Tobago for Quality of Well-being Scale (QWB) health states in order to calculate QWB scores that can be compared to scores calculated from US-derived preference weights. The comparison was to determine whether the QWB scores from these different preference weights would lead to similar conclusions. We conducted in-person household interviews to elicit preferences for 65 health states using a probability sample of 235 adults from Port of Spain, Chaguanas and San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago. A regression model with correction for within-person clustering of observations was used to obtain preference weights based on case judgments on a 0 (dead) to 10 (“perfect health”) scale. The independent variables were the components of the QWB entered as indicator (0, 1) variables. One hundred and nineteen (51%) respondents provided ratings. The respondents that provided ratings were demographically no different from those that did not. The QWB response patterns were very similar using Trinidad and US weights. The mean (SD) QWB score was 0.750 (0.130) for female respondents and 0.784 (0.125) for male respondents using Trinidad coefficients (t 2, 233 = −2.05, P = 0.04) and 0.747 (0.131) for female respondents and 0.783 (0.126) for male respondents using US weights (t 2, 233 = −2.17, P = 0.03). Overall, we found the US and Trinidad and Tobago weights were highly similar and that the choice of either set of weights would lead to similar conclusions