Quality of life, tuberculosis and treatment outcome; a case-control and nested cohort study

BACKGROUND: Global tuberculosis policy increasingly emphasises broad tuberculosis impacts and highlights the lack of evidence concerning tuberculosis-related quality of life (QOL). METHODS: Participants were recruited in 32 Peruvian communities 13/7/2016-24/2/2018 and followed-up until 8/11/2019. Inclusion criteria were: age ≥15 years for "patients" (n=1545) starting treatment for tuberculosis disease in health centres; "contacts" (n=3180) who shared a patient's household for ≥6 h·week-1; and randomly-selected "controls" (n=277). The EUROHIS-QOL questionnaire quantified satisfaction with: QOL; health; energy; activities of daily living (ADL); self; relationships; money; and living place. FINDINGS: Newly-diagnosed tuberculosis was most strongly associated with lower QOL scores (p<0.001). Patients initially had lower QOL than controls for all EUROHIS-QOL questions (p≤0.01), especially concerning health, ADL and self. Lower initial QOL in patients predicted adverse treatment outcomes and scores <13-points had 4.2-times (95%CI=2.3,7.6) increased risk of death versus those with higher QOL scores (both p<0.001). Patient QOL was re-assessed 6 months later and for patients with successful treatment, QOL became similar to participants who never had tuberculosis, whereas patients who did not complete treatment continued to have low QOL (p<0.001). Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis was associated with lower QOL before and during treatment (both p<0.001). Contacts had lower QOL if they lived with a patient who had low QOL score (p<0.0001) or were a caregiver for the patient (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Tuberculosis was associated with impaired psycho-socio-economic QOL which recovered with successful treatment. Low QOL scores predicted adverse treatment outcome. This brief EUROHIS-QOL 8-item questionnaire quantified the holistic needs of tuberculosis-affected people, potentially guiding patient-centred care

Absence of association between behavior problems in childhood and hypertension in midlife

Background It is known that behavior in childhood is associated with certain physical and mental health problems in midlife. However, there is limited evidence on the role of childhood behavior problems in the development of hypertension in adulthood. The present study aimed to examine whether behavior problems in childhood influenced the risk of hypertension in midlife in the United Kingdom 1958 birth cohort. Methods The 1958 British birth cohort comprised 17,638 individuals born in the first week of March 1958 in the United Kingdom. Behavior problems were assessed at 7, 11, and 16 years of age by parents and teachers. At age 45, blood pressure was measured and hypertension was recorded if blood pressure was ≥140/90 mm Hg or if the participants were informed by their health professionals that they had high blood pressure. Behavioral information was reported according to the Rutter Children's Behaviour Questionnaire (RCBQ) and the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide (BSAG). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to examine behavior problems in childhood in relation to hypertension at 45 years of age according to logistic regression analysis, with adjustment for sex, social class in childhood and adulthood, childhood cognition, birth weight, gestational age at birth, body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Results Behavior problems reported by parents at 7, 11, and 16 years were not associated with hypertension in midlife (OR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.81, 1.07; OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.81, 1.11; OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.85, 1.12, respectively). Similarly, teacher-reported behavior problems at 7, 11, and 16 years were not associated with hypertension in midlife (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.72, 1.18; OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84, 1.02; OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.92, 1.15, respectively). Further separate analyses showed similar results for males and females. Conclusion There is no association between behavior problems in childhood and hypertension in midlife

Home-ownership as a social norm and positional good: subjective well-being evidence from panel data

Much attention has been devoted to examining the absolute benefits of home-ownership (e.g. security and autonomy). This paper by contrast is concerned with conceptualising and testing the relative benefits of homeownership; those benefits that depend on an individual’s status in society. Home-ownership has previously been analysed as a social norm, implying that the relative benefits (costs) associated with being an owner (renter) are positively related to relevant others’ home-ownership values. The theoretical contribution of this paper is to additionally conceptualise home-ownership as a positional good, implying that the status of both home-owners and renters is negatively related to relevant others’ home-ownership consumption. The empirical contribution of this paper is to quantitatively test for these relative benefits in terms of subjective well-being. We run fixed effects regressions on three waves of the British Household Panel Study. We find that i) a strengthening of relevant others’ home-ownership values is associated with increases (decreases) in the subjective well-being of home-owners (renters), and ii) an increase in relevant others’ home-ownership consumption decreases the life satisfaction of owners but has no effect for renters. Overall our findings suggest that i) the relative benefit of home-ownership are both statistically significant and of a meaningful magnitude, and ii) homeownership is likely to be both a social norm and a positional good. Without explicitly recognising these relative benefits, policymakers risk overestimating the contribution of home-ownership to societal well-being

Examination of Parental Effect on the Progeny Diapause by Reciprocal Cross Test in the Cabbage Beetle, Colaphellus bowringi

The cabbage beetle, Colaphellus bowringi Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a serious pest of crucifers in China, undergoes summer or winter diapause in the soil as an adult. In the present study, the incidence of diapause were measured in reciprocal crosses between a high—diapause strain (HD strain) and a laboratory—selected nondiapausing strain (ND strain) under different photoperiods and temperatures, to explore parental influences on the progeny diapause. Sensitivity to photoperiod in the selected nondiapausing strain was nearly eliminated at 25 °C, whereas sensitivity to temperature of the selected nondiapausing strain was retained under continuous darkness at 20 and 22 °C. Reciprocal crosses between the HD strain and the ND strain showed that the incidence of diapause in the progeny was always intermediate to that of the parents under different photoperiods and temperatures, suggesting that diapause induction was determined by both female and male parents. There was a significant effect of temperature; temperature interacted with reciprocal cross on diapause induction, whereas no significant effect of reciprocal cross was demonstrated. The incidence of diapause in ♀ND × ♂HD was the same as in ♀HD × ♂ND under continuous darkness at 18 °C (100%) and 26 °C (0%), but the former was higher than that in ♀HD × ♂ND under continuous darkness at 22 °C, suggesting that female parent does not exhibit strong influence on the diapause response to temperature. There was a significant effect of photoperiod and reciprocal cross on diapause induction, whereas no significant interactive effect on diapause induction was demonstrated. Incidence of diapause in ♀HD × ♂ND was always higher than in ♀ND × ♂HD at 25 °C and 12:12 L:D, 14:10 L:D, and 16:8 L:D, suggesting a strong maternal influence on the diapause response to photoperiod, though a significant difference was observed only at 14:10 L:D. Our results support the idea that diapause induction is determined by both female and male parents. However, results also indicated that a strong maternal influence on diapause was exhibited only in response to photoperiod

Long term time variability of cosmic rays and possible relevance to the development of life on Earth

An analysis is made of the manner in which the cosmic ray intensity at Earth has varied over its existence and its possible relevance to both the origin and the evolution of life. Much of the analysis relates to the 'high energy' cosmic rays ($E>10^{14}eV;=0.1PeV$) and their variability due to the changing proximity of the solar system to supernova remnants which are generally believed to be responsible for most cosmic rays up to PeV energies. It is pointed out that, on a statistical basis, there will have been considerable variations in the likely 100 My between the Earth's biosphere reaching reasonable stability and the onset of very elementary life. Interestingly, there is the increasingly strong possibility that PeV cosmic rays are responsible for the initiation of terrestrial lightning strokes and the possibility arises of considerable increases in the frequency of lightnings and thereby the formation of some of the complex molecules which are the 'building blocks of life'. Attention is also given to the well known generation of the oxides of nitrogen by lightning strokes which are poisonous to animal life but helpful to plant growth; here, too, the violent swings of cosmic ray intensities may have had relevance to evolutionary changes. A particular variant of the cosmic ray acceleration model, put forward by us, predicts an increase in lightning rate in the past and this has been sought in Korean historical records. Finally, the time dependence of the overall cosmic ray intensity, which manifests itself mainly at sub-10 GeV energies, has been examined. The relevance of cosmic rays to the 'global electrical circuit' points to the importance of this concept.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted by 'Surveys in Geophysics

Standing genetic variation and compensatory evolution in transgenic organisms: a growth-enhanced salmon simulation

Genetically modified strains usually are generated within defined genetic backgrounds to minimize variation for the engineered characteristic in order to facilitate basic research investigations or for commercial application. However, interactions between transgenes and genetic background have been documented in both model and commercial agricultural species, indicating that allelic variation at transgene-modifying loci are not uncommon in genomes. Engineered organisms that have the potential to allow entry of transgenes into natural populations may cause changes to ecosystems via the interaction of their specific phenotypes with ecosystem components and services. A transgene introgressing through natural populations is likely to encounter a range of natural genetic variation (among individuals or sub-populations) that could result in changes in phenotype, concomitant with effects on fitness and ecosystem consequences that differ from that seen in the progenitor transgenic strain. In the present study, using a growth hormone transgenic salmon example, we have modeled selection of modifier loci (single and multiple) in the presence of a transgene and have found that accounting for genetic background can significantly affect the persistence of transgenes in populations, potentially reducing or reversing a “Trojan gene” effect. Influences from altered life history characteristics (e.g., developmental timing, age of maturation) and compensatory demographic/ecosystem controls (e.g., density dependence) also were found to have a strong influence on transgene effects. Further, with the presence of a transgene in a population, genetic backgrounds were found to shift in non-transgenic individuals as well, an effect expected to direct phenotypes away from naturally selected optima. The present model has revealed the importance of understanding effects of selection for background genetics on the evolution of phenotypes in populations harbouring transgenes

All clinically-relevant blood components transmit prion disease following a single blood transfusion: a sheep model of vCJD

Variant CJD (vCJD) is an incurable, infectious human disease, likely arising from the consumption of BSE-contaminated meat products. Whilst the epidemic appears to be waning, there is much concern that vCJD infection may be perpetuated in humans by the transfusion of contaminated blood products. Since 2004, several cases of transfusion-associated vCJD transmission have been reported and linked to blood collected from pre-clinically affected donors. Using an animal model in which the disease manifested resembles that of humans affected with vCJD, we examined which blood components used in human medicine are likely to pose the greatest risk of transmitting vCJD via transfusion. We collected two full units of blood from BSE-infected donor animals during the pre-clinical phase of infection. Using methods employed by transfusion services we prepared red cell concentrates, plasma and platelets units (including leucoreduced equivalents). Following transfusion, we showed that all components contain sufficient levels of infectivity to cause disease following only a single transfusion and also that leucoreduction did not prevent disease transmission. These data suggest that all blood components are vectors for prion disease transmission, and highlight the importance of multiple control measures to minimise the risk of human to human transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion

Testing foundations of quantum mechanics with photons

The foundational ideas of quantum mechanics continue to give rise to counterintuitive theories and physical effects that are in conflict with a classical description of Nature. Experiments with light at the single photon level have historically been at the forefront of tests of fundamental quantum theory and new developments in photonics engineering continue to enable new experiments. Here we review recent photonic experiments to test two foundational themes in quantum mechanics: wave-particle duality, central to recent complementarity and delayed-choice experiments; and Bell nonlocality where recent theoretical and technological advances have allowed all controversial loopholes to be separately addressed in different photonics experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, published as a Nature Physics Insight review articl