Circadian sleep propensity and alcohol interaction at the wheel

Study Objectives: The study was aimed at estimating the effect of alcohol consumption, time of day, and their interaction on traffic crashes in a real regional context. Methods: Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) data were collected from drivers involved in traffic accidents during one year in an Italian region and in a control group of drivers over the same road network. Mean circadian sleep propensity was estimated from a previous study as function of time of day. Accident risk was analyzed by logistic regression as function of BAC and circadian sleep propensity. Results: BAC values greater than zero were found in 72.0% of the drivers involved in crashes and in 40.4% of the controls. Among the former 23.6% of the drivers exceeded the BAC legal threshold of 0.05 g/dL, while illegal values were found in 10.4% of the controls. The relative risk showed a significant increase with both BAC and circadian sleep propensity (as estimated from time of day) and their interaction was significant. Conclusions: Due to the significant interaction, even low BAC levels strongly increased accident risk when associated with high sleep propensity

Combined Use of Waist and Hip Circumference to Identify Abdominally Obese HIV-Infected Patients at Increased Health Risk

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether for a given waist circumference (WC), a larger hip circumference (HC) was associated with a reduced risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (T2D), hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HIV-infected patients. A second objective was to determine whether, for a given WC, the addition of HC improved upon estimates of abdominal adiposity, in particular visceral adipose tissue (VAT), compared to those obtained by WC alone. METHODS: HIV-infected men (N\u200a=\u200a1481) and women (N\u200a=\u200a841) were recruited between 2005 and 2009. WC and HC were obtained using standard techniques and abdominal adiposity was measured using computed tomography. RESULTS: After control for WC and covariates, HC was negatively associated with risk of insulin resistance (p<0.05) and T2D [Men: OR\u200a=\u200a0.91 (95% CI: 0.86-0.96); Women: OR\u200a=\u200a0.91 (95% CI: 0.84-0.98)]. For a given WC, HC was also negatively associated with a lower risk of hypertension (p<0.05) and CVD [OR\u200a=\u200a0.94 (95% CI: 0.88-0.99)] in men, but not women. Although HC was negatively associated with VAT in men and women after control for WC (p<0.05), the addition of HC did not substantially improve upon the prediction of VAT compared to WC alone. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of HIV-infected individuals at increased health risk by WC alone is substantially improved by the addition of HC. Estimates of visceral adipose tissue by WC are not substantially improved by the addition of HC and thus variation in visceral adiposity may not be the conduit by which HC identifies increased health risk

Hypertriglyceridemia and Waist Circumference Predict Cardiovascular Risk among HIV Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Although half of HIV-infected patients develop lipodystrophy and metabolic complications, there exists no simple clinical screening tool to discern the high from the low-risk HIV-infected patient. Thus, we evaluated the associations between waist circumference (WC) combined with triglyceride (TG) levels and the severity of lipodystrophy and cardiovascular risk among HIV-infected men and women.METHODS: 1481 HIV-infected men and 841 HIV-infected women were recruited between 2005 and 2009 at the metabolic clinic of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in Italy. Within each gender, patients were categorized into 4 groups according to WC and TG levels. Total and regional fat and fat-free mass were assessed by duel-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous AT (SAT) were quantified by computed tomography. Various cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in clinic after an overnight fast.RESULTS: The high TG/high WC men had the most VAT (208.0\ub194.4 cm(2)), as well as the highest prevalence of metabolic syndrome (42.2%) and type-2 diabetes (16.2%), and the highest Framingham risk score (10.3\ub16.5) in comparison to other groups (p<0.05 for all). High TG/high WC women also had elevated VAT (150.0\ub197.9 cm(2)) and a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (53.3%), hypertension (30.5%) and type-2 diabetes (12.0%), and Framingham risk score(2.9\ub12.8) by comparison to low TG/low WC women (p<0.05 for all).CONCLUSIONS: A simple tool combining WC and TG levels can discriminate high- from low-risk HIV-infected patients

Pathological internet use and risk-behaviors among european adolescents

Risk-behaviors are a major contributor to the leading causes of morbidity among adolescents and young people; however, their association with pathological Internet use (PIU) is relatively unexplored, particularly within the European context. The main objective of this study is to investigate the association between risk-behaviors and PIU in European adolescents. This cross-sectional study was conducted within the framework of the FP7 European Union project: Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe (SEYLE). Data on adolescents were collected from randomized schools within study sites across eleven European countries. PIU was measured using Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire (YDQ). Risk-behaviors were assessed using questions procured from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS). A total of 11,931 adolescents were included in the analyses: 43.4% male and 56.6% female (M/F: 5179/6752), with a mean age of 14.89 ± 0.87 years. Adolescents reporting poor sleeping habits and risk-taking actions showed the strongest associations with PIU, followed by tobacco use, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Among adolescents in the PIU group, 89.9% were characterized as having multiple risk-behaviors. The significant association observed between PIU and risk-behaviors, combined with a high rate of co-occurrence, underlines the importance of considering PIU when screening, treating or preventing high-risk behaviors among adolescents

Temperature-dependent VNIR spectroscopy of hydrated Na-carbonates

The surfaces of the Galilean icy satellites Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, dominated by water ice, also show substantial amounts of non-water-ice compounds. These satellites will be the subject of close exploration by the ESA JUICE mission and the NASA Europa Multiple-Flyby Mission, which will focus on Ganymede and Europa, respectively. Among non-water-ice compounds thought to exist on the surfaces of the Jovian icy satellites, hydrated salt minerals have been proposed to exist as a by-product of endogenic processes. Safe detection of these minerals shall rely on laboratory spectroscopic analysis of these materials carried out under appropriate environmental conditions. Here we report on laboratory measurements, carried out in the framework of a Europlanet Transnational Access (TA) 2020 proposal approved in 2016, on two hydrated sodium carbonates, namely sodium carbonate monohydrate (Na2CO3·1H2O) and sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na2CO3·10H2O). Spectral profiles of these compounds were obtained in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectral domain, taking advantage of the Cold Surfaces spectroscopy facility at the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), where such compounds can be measured under cryogenic conditions indicative of real planetary surfaces. Carbonates were first sieved so as to separate them in three different grain size ranges: 20-50 μm, 75-100 μm, and 125-150 μm. These grain sizes have been chosen to: (1) be indicative of typical regoliths known or expected to exist on the surface of the icy satellites, and (2) avoid overlapping between ranges, therefore minimizing particles contamination among the dimensional classes. Each grain size was then measured with the Spectro-Gonio-Radiometer facility in the overall 0.5-4.0 μm spectral range, with spectral sampling increasing with increasing wavelength. For each sample, the overall 93-279 K temperature ramp was acquired in 11 steps varying from 10 K to 25 K, imposed by time constraints. In particular, the uppermost temperature, 279 K, has been acquired both at the beginning and at end of the ramp, to check for any macroscopic physico-chemical changes in the sample. In sodium carbonate monohydrate, about ten spectral signatures are revealed in the spectral range 1.0-3.0 µm. These signatures are due in part to combinations and overtones of the fundamental vibration modes of the water molecule, and in part to the carbonate. For comparison, sodium carbonate decahydrate shows fewer diagnostic and generally wider signatures, due to the larger number of water molecules existing in this mineral. We analyzed the spectral behavior of the diagnostic signatures of these two hydrated minerals as a function of both grain size and temperature, deriving trends related to specific spectral parameters such as band center, band depth, band area, and bandwidth. We plan to complete this set of measurements with those obtained for anhydrous sodium carbonate, which serves as a valid comparison for the hydrated carbonates discussed here and may provide a valid support to spectroscopic analysis of bright faculae discovered by the NASA Dawn mission in crater Occator on the dwarf planet Ceres

The impact of school-based screening on service use in adolescents at risk for mental health problems and risk-behaviour.

Early detection and intervention can counteract mental disorders and risk behaviours among adolescents. However, help-seeking rates are low. School-based screenings are a promising tool to detect adolescents at risk for mental problems and to improve help-seeking behaviour. We assessed associations between the intervention "Screening by Professionals" (ProfScreen) and the use of mental health services and at-risk state at 12 month follow-up compared to a control group. School students (aged 15 ± 0.9 years) from 11 European countries participating in the "Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe" (SEYLE) study completed a self-report questionnaire on mental health problems and risk behaviours. ProfScreen students considered "at-risk" for mental illness or risk behaviour based on the screening were invited for a clinical interview with a mental health professional and, if necessary, referred for subsequent treatment. At follow-up, students completed another self-report, additionally reporting on service use. Of the total sample (N = 4,172), 61.9% were considered at-risk. 40.7% of the ProfScreen at-risk participants invited for the clinical interview attended the interview, and 10.1% of subsequently referred ProfScreen participants engaged in professional treatment. There were no differences between the ProfScreen and control group regarding follow-up service use and at-risk state. Attending the ProfScreen interview was positively associated with follow-up service use (OR = 1.783, 95% CI = 1.038-3.064), but had no effect on follow-up at-risk state. Service use rates of professional care as well as of the ProfScreen intervention itself were low. Future school-based interventions targeting help-seeking need to address barriers to intervention adherence.Clinical Trials Registration: The trial is registered at the US National Institute of Health (NIH) clinical trial registry (NCT00906620, registered on 21 May, 2009), and the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00000214, registered on 27 October, 2009)

Adolescent subthreshold-depression and anxiety: psychopathology, functional impairment and increased suicide risk

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Life-time prevalence and psychosocial correlates of adolescent direct self-injurious behavior: A comparative study of findings in 11 European countries

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