Experience of Health Complaints and Help Seeking Behavior in Employees Screened for Depressive Complaints and Risk of Future Sickness Absence

Introduction The aim of this study was to examine the associations between on the one hand depressive complaints and risk of future sickness absence and on the other hand experience of health complaints and help seeking behavior in the working population. Methods Cross-sectional data were used from employees working in the banking sector (n = 8,498). The screening instrument included measures to examine the risk of future sickness absence, depressive complaints and help seeking behavior. Results Of employees reporting health complaints, approximately 80% had already sought help for these complaints. Experience of health complaints and subsequent help seeking behavior differed between employees with mild to severe depressive complaints and employees at risk of future sickness absence. Experience of health complaints was highest in employees identified with both concepts (69%) compared with employees identified at risk of future sickness absence only (48%) and with mild to severe depressive complaints only (57%). In those employees identified with one or both concepts and who had not sought help already, intention to seek help was about 50%. Conclusions From a screening perspective, employees who do not experience health complaints or who do not have the intention to seek help may refuse participation in early intervention. This might be a bottleneck in the implementation of preventive interventions in the occupational health setting

A very brief description of LOFAR - the Low Frequency Array

LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30-240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient buffering makes retrospective imaging of explosive short-term events possible. The scientific focus of LOFAR will initially be on four key science projects (KSPs): 1) detection of the formation of the very first stars and galaxies in the universe during the so-called epoch of reionization by measuring the power spectrum of the neutral hydrogen 21-cm line (Shaver et al. 1999) on the ~5' scale; 2) low-frequency surveys of the sky with of order $10^8$ expected new sources; 3) all-sky monitoring and detection of transient radio sources such as gamma-ray bursts, x-ray binaries, and exo-planets (Farrell et al. 2004); and 4) radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos (Falcke & Gorham 2003) allowing for the first time access to particles beyond 10^21 eV (Scholten et al. 2006). Apart from the KSPs open access for smaller projects is also planned. Here we give a brief description of the telescope.Comment: 2 pages, IAU GA 2006, Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 14, K.A. van der Hucht, e

TCT-819 Prediabetes and its Impact on 1-Year Clinical Outcome After Treatment with Newer-Generation Drug-eluting Stents in 2,986 All-Comer Patients

BACKGROUND Prediabetes (Pre-DM) is a risk factor state for developing diabetes mellitus (DM). Yet it is unclear whether detection of Pre-DM by routine assessment of glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) among patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may help identify subjects with increased event risk. We assessed in all-comers who underwent PCI with contemporary drug-eluting stents (DES) the relation between glycaemia status and 1-year clinical outcome. METHODS HbA1c and FPG was determined in 2,362 non-DM participants in the multicenter, randomized, investigator-initiated TWENTE III trial, in order to identify Pre-DM (HbA1c 42-47mmol/mol; FPG 6.1- 6.9 mmol/L) and DM (HbA1c>=48mmol/mol; FPG >7 mmol/L). Another 624 patients had medically treated DM. The main clinical outcome parameter was a composite endpoint consisting of death, myocardial infarction, or revascularisation. RESULTS Glycaemic state was known in 2,986 trial participants: Pre- DM was present in 324 (11%), DM in 793 (27%), and normoglycaemia in 1,869 (63%) patients. Patients with Pre-DM and DM differed from normoglycemic patients in cardiovascular risk factors. The composite clinical endpoint in Pre-DM occurred in 11.1%, in DM in 10.5%, and in normoglycemic patients in 5.7% (

Optimized Trigger for Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic-Ray and Neutrino Observations with the Low Frequency Radio Array

When an ultra-high energy neutrino or cosmic ray strikes the Lunar surface a radio-frequency pulse is emitted. We plan to use the LOFAR radio telescope to detect these pulses. In this work we propose an efficient trigger implementation for LOFAR optimized for the observation of short radio pulses.Comment: Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

Specific Heat Discontinuity, deltaC, at Tc in BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2 - Consistent with Unconventional Superconductivity

We report the specific heat discontinuity, deltaC/Tc, at Tc = 28.2 K of a collage of single crystals of BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2 and compare the measured value of 38.5 mJ/molK**2 with other iron pnictide and iron chalcogenide (FePn/Ch) superconductors. This value agrees well with the trend established by Bud'ko, Ni and Canfield who found that deltaC/Tc ~ a*Tc**2 for 14 examples of doped Ba1-xKxFe2As2 and BaFe2-xTMxAs2, where the transition metal TM=Co and Ni. We extend their analysis to include all the FePn/Ch superconductors for which deltaC/Tc is currently known and find deltaC/Tc ~ a*Tc**1.9 and a=0.083 mJ/molK**4. A comparison with the elemental superconductors with Tc>1 K and with A-15 superconductors shows that, contrary to the FePn/Ch superconductors, electron-phonon-coupled conventional superconductors exhibit a significantly different dependence of deltaC on Tc, namely deltaC/Tc ~ Tc**0.9. However deltaC/gamma*Tc appears to be comparable in all three classes (FePn/Ch, elemental and A-15) of superconductors with, e. g., deltaC/gamma*Tc=2.4 for BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2. A discussion of the possible implications of these phenomenological comparisons for the unconventional superconductivity believed to exist in the FePn/Ch is given.Comment: some disagreement in reference and footnote numbering with the published versio

GATA3 Expression Is Decreased in Psoriasis and during Epidermal Regeneration; Induction by Narrow-Band UVB and IL-4

Psoriasis is characterized by hyperproliferation of keratinocytes and by infiltration of activated Th1 and Th17 cells in the (epi)dermis. By expression microarray, we previously found the GATA3 transcription factor significantly downregulated in lesional psoriatic skin. Since GATA3 serves as a key switch in both epidermal and T helper cell differentiation, we investigated its function in psoriasis. Because psoriatic skin inflammation shares many characteristics of epidermal regeneration during wound healing, we also studied GATA3 expression under such conditions

Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope

The advanced interferometer network will herald a new era in observational astronomy. There is a very strong science case to go beyond the advanced detector network and build detectors that operate in a frequency range from 1 Hz-10 kHz, with sensitivity a factor ten better in amplitude. Such detectors will be able to probe a range of topics in nuclear physics, astronomy, cosmology and fundamental physics, providing insights into many unsolved problems in these areas.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Plenary talk given at Amaldi Meeting, July 201

APOE and immunity: Research highlights

INTRODUCTION: At the Alzheimer's Association's APOE and Immunity virtual conference, held in October 2021, leading neuroscience experts shared recent research advances on and inspiring insights into the various roles that both the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and facets of immunity play in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. METHODS: The meeting brought together more than 1200 registered attendees from 62 different countries, representing the realms of academia and industry. RESULTS: During the 4-day meeting, presenters illuminated aspects of the cross-talk between APOE and immunity, with a focus on the roles of microglia, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), and components of inflammation (e.g., tumor necrosis factor α [TNFα]). DISCUSSION: This manuscript emphasizes the importance of diversity in current and future research and presents an integrated view of innate immune functions in Alzheimer's disease as well as related promising directions in drug development

Petunia Floral Defensins with Unique Prodomains as Novel Candidates for Development of Fusarium Wilt Resistance in Transgenic Banana Plants

Antimicrobial peptides are a potent group of defense active molecules that have been utilized in developing resistance against a multitude of plant pathogens. Floral defensins constitute a group of cysteine-rich peptides showing potent growth inhibition of pathogenic filamentous fungi especially Fusarium oxysporum in vitro. Full length genes coding for two Petunia floral defensins, PhDef1 and PhDef2 having unique C- terminal 31 and 27 amino acid long predicted prodomains, were overexpressed in transgenic banana plants using embryogenic cells as explants for Agrobacterium–mediated genetic transformation. High level constitutive expression of these defensins in elite banana cv. Rasthali led to significant resistance against infection of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense as shown by in vitro and ex vivo bioassay studies. Transgenic banana lines expressing either of the two defensins were clearly less chlorotic and had significantly less infestation and discoloration in the vital corm region of the plant as compared to untransformed controls. Transgenic banana plants expressing high level of full-length PhDef1 and PhDef2 were phenotypically normal and no stunting was observed. In conclusion, our results suggest that high-level constitutive expression of floral defensins having distinctive prodomains is an efficient strategy for development of fungal resistance in economically important fruit crops like banana