Severe combined hyperlipidaemia and retinal lipid infiltration in a patient with Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Severe combined hyperlipidaemia has occasionally been associated with infiltration of tissues in addition to arteries and the skin. We report a woman with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and severe combined hyperlipidaemia who developed retinal lipid infiltration, resulting in blindness. A 61-year-old woman with a 15-year history of Type 2 DM was admitted following a two-week history of progressive visual loss. Examination identified lipid infiltration into the retina. Phenotypically she had severe combined hyperlipidaemia with elevated IDL cholesterol and a broad beta band on lipoprotein electrophoresis, raising the possibility of familial dysbetalipoproteinaemia. However, gene sequencing analysis indicated that the patient was homozygous for the E3/E3 allele of the ApoE gene with no mutations detected in either the coding region or intron-exon boundaries. Her lipid profile improved following dietary therapy and gemfibrozil treatment, but this had little effect on either her fundal appearances or her visual acuity. Type 2 DM plays a vital role both in allowing expression of severe combined hyperlipoproteinaemia, in addition to serving as a risk factor for complications such as tissue infiltration

Parasite detection in food:Current status and future needs for validation

Background Many parasites (protozoa and helminths) can be transmitted through food and lead to infections with high morbidity, as well as disease outbreaks. Although the importance of foodborne parasites (FBP) is recognised by many sectors of the food industry, standardized analytical methods and validation procedures for testing food for FBP are lacking. Scope and approach:Current methods for detection of FBP, and their validation, are critically reviewed, focusing on priority FBP in Europe: the helminths Echinococcus multilocularis, Echinococcus granulosus, Taenia saginata, Trichinella spp., and Anisakidae, and the protozoa Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium spp., and Giardia duodenalis. Key findings and conclusions:Standard methods exist for detection of T. saginata in beef, and Trichinella spp. in meat (and are mandatory at meat inspection in Europe), Anisakidae in fish, and Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis in leafy green vegetables and berry fruits. For other FBP or foods, methods used in sample surveys have been described, but validation data are generally absent; limits of detection are not provided, ring trials have rarely been performed, and for most FBP quality control materials, proficiency schemes, and reference standards are lacking. The use of surrogate particles or organisms for method development or validation purposes needs to be carefully considered. Documented procedures for validation, such as ISO17468 and ISO16140-2:2016 that were established for bacteria, are mostly inappropriate for FBP. The development and application of standardized and validated detection methods would enhance understanding of the foodborne route of transmission, improve risk assessments, and help identify and verify critical control points.Peer Reviewe

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Lawyers’ strategies for cross-examining rape complainants: have we moved beyond the 1950s?

Despite widespread reforms to legislation and policy, rape complainants still find cross-examination distressing, demeaning and humiliating. We conducted a systematic and holistic examination of cross-examination strategies to discern: (1) the range of tactics that defence lawyers use to challenge rape complainants’ accounts; and (2) whether—and if so, how—the approaches used currently differ from those used prior to the reforms. We compared the strategies and tactics used in cases that were prosecuted in the 1950s to those used in cases from the turn of the twenty-first century. Although contemporary complainants were subjected to lengthier cross-examinations involving a broader range of tactics than their historical counterparts, there was little difference in the breakdown of strategies and tactics across time periods

Age-related differences in memory for time, temporal reconstruction, and the availability and use of temporal landmarks

We examined the accuracy of memory for the time of an event, the use of temporal reconstruction, and the availability and use of temporal landmarks from late middle childhood to adulthood. Children, adolescents, and adults (N=128) viewed a film during a campus visit. Eight months later, we asked them to (a) recall the time of the previous visit on a range of time scales; (b) explain how they arrived at those estimates; and (c) provide other dateable events from their lives (temporal landmarks). The accuracy of time judgments increased with age on the day-of-the-week and month time scales only. All age groups used reconstruction to arrive at their estimates for most of the time scales tested. Reports of dateable events from past years indicated that the availability of temporal landmarks increased across this age range. These results reflect a mixture of similarities and differences across the ages tested. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Courtroom Questioning of Child Sexual Abuse Complainants: Views of Australian Criminal Justice Professionals

In the prosecution of child sexual offences, complainants’ accounts are the most important and sometimes the sole evidence. Police organisations around the world have taken steps to ensure that they interview children using evidence-based interview protocols, yet far less attention has been paid to the way children are interviewed in the courtroom. Here, we provide a snapshot of Australian criminal justice professionals’ views on the questions posed to child witnesses in court, and on the willingness of judges to intervene when questions are inappropriate. We interviewed judges, prosecutors, defence counsel, and witness assistance officers (N = 43) from four Australian jurisdictions. Participants generally agreed that questioning of child complainants—especially during cross examination—remained problematic, and that judges did not consistently disallow inappropriate questions. Overall, these professionals did not perceive these problems to stem from a lack of rules and guidelines, but rather from problems implementing them. We consider potential ways forward