Prospective study of psychological morbidity and illness perceptions in young people with inflammatory bowel disease

Background and Aims: Psychological morbidity is increased in young people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Illness perceptions may be an important factor. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and severity of psychological morbidity and examine relationships between baseline illness perceptions and anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) at baseline and 12-months later in 16-21-years olds with IBD. Methods: IBD patients (n = 121) completed measures of anxiety, depression, HRQoL, and illness perceptions (IPQ-R) at baseline and follow-up (n = 100, 83%). Results: mong the 121 patients at baseline (median age 19.3 years, 40% female, 62% Crohn's disease, 73% in clinical remission), 55% reported elevated symptoms of anxiety/depression and 83% low HRQoL. Negative illness perceptions at baseline were significantly correlated with greater anxiety, depression and lower HRQoL at baseline and follow-up. In regression analysis at baseline, IPQ-R domain of greater perception of a cyclical nature of IBD was an independent predictor of anxiety, whilst a greater perceived emotional impact of IBD was an independent predictor of anxiety, depression and HRQoL. Female gender and clinical relapse were also independent predictors of lower HRQoL. After controlling for baseline measures, clinical risk factors and illness perceptions did not explain additional variance in psychological morbidity at follow-up. Conclusion: A high prevalence of psychological morbidity, stable over one year, was demonstrated in young people with IBD. Having negative illness perceptions, being female and active disease predicted those at greatest risk of psychological morbidity. Illness perceptions may be an appropriate target for psychological interventions

Rapid-throughput skeletal phenotyping of 100 knockout mice identifies 9 new genes that determine bone strength

Osteoporosis is a common polygenic disease and global healthcare priority but its genetic basis remains largely unknown. We report a high-throughput multi-parameter phenotype screen to identify functionally significant skeletal phenotypes in mice generated by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Mouse Genetics Project and discover novel genes that may be involved in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis. The integrated use of primary phenotype data with quantitative x-ray microradiography, micro-computed tomography, statistical approaches and biomechanical testing in 100 unselected knockout mouse strains identified nine new genetic determinants of bone mass and strength. These nine new genes include five whose deletion results in low bone mass and four whose deletion results in high bone mass. None of the nine genes have been implicated previously in skeletal disorders and detailed analysis of the biomechanical consequences of their deletion revealed a novel functional classification of bone structure and strength. The organ-specific and disease-focused strategy described in this study can be applied to any biological system or tractable polygenic disease, thus providing a general basis to define gene function in a system-specific manner. Application of the approach to diseases affecting other physiological systems will help to realize the full potential of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium

Integrated Constructed Wetlands: concept, design, site evaluation and performance

site evaluation and performanc

Environmental problems caused by gypsum karst and salt karst in Great Britain

In Great Britain, gypsum karst is widespread in the Late Permian (Zechstein) gypsum of north-eastern England. Here and offshore, a well-developed palacokarst with large breccia pipes was formed by dissolution of the underlying Permian gypsum. Farther south, around Ripon, the same rocks are still being dissolved, forming an actively evolving phreatic gypsum-maze cave system. This is indicated by the presence of numerous active subsidence hollows and sulphate-rich springs. In the English Midlands, gypsum karst is locally developed in the Triassic deposits south of Derby and Nottingham. Where gypsum is present, its fast rate of dissolution and the collapse of overlying strata lead to difficult civil-engineering and construction conditions; these can be further aggravated by water abstraction. Salt (halite) occurs within British Permian and Triassic strata, and has a long history of exploitation. The main salt fields are in central England and the coastal areas of northwest and northeast England. In central England, saline springs indicate that rapid, active dissolution occurs that can cause subsidence problems. In the past, subsidence was aggravated by shallow mining and the uncontrolled extraction of vast amounts of brine. This has now almost stopped, but there is a legacy of unstable buried salt karst, formed by both natural and induced dissolution. The buried salt karst occurs at depths ranging from about 40 m to 130 m; above these depths, the overlying strata are foundered and brecciated. In the salt areas, construction and development are hampered by both abandoned mines and by natural or induced brine runs, with their associated unstable ground

Quantitative MRI analysis of brain volume changes due to controlled cortical impact

More than 85% of reported brain traumas are classified clinically as “mild” using GCS; qualitative MRI findings are scarce and provide little correspondence to clinical symptoms. Our goal, therefore, was to establish in-vivo sequellae of traumatic brain injury following lower and higher levels of impact to the frontal lobe using quantitative MRI analysis and a mechanical model of penetrating impact injury. To investigate time-based morphological and physiological changes of living tissue requires a surrogate for the human central nervous system. The present model for TBI was a systematically varied and controlled cortical impact on deeply-anaesthetized Sprague Dawley rats designed to mimic different injury severities. Whole-brain MRI scans were performed on each rat prior to either a lower or a higher level of impact and then at hourly intervals for five hours post-impact. Both brain volume and specific anatomical structures were segmented from MR images for inter-subject comparisons post-registration. Animals subjected to lower and higher impact levels exhibited elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) in the low compensatory reserve (i.e., nearly exhausted) and terminal disturbance (i.e., exhausted) ranges, respectively. There was a statistically-significant drop in cerebrospinal fluid of 35% in the lower impacts and 65% in the higher impacts at Hr5 in comparison to the sham control. There was a corresponding increase in corpus callosum volume starting from Hr1 of 60-110% and 30-40% following the lower and higher impact levels, respectively. A statistically significant change in the abnormal tissue from Hr2 to Hr5 was observed for both impact levels, with greater significance for higher impacts. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference between the lower impacts and the sham controls occurred at Hr3. These results are statistically substantiated by a fluctuation in the physical size of the corpus callosum, a decrease in the volume of CSF, and elevated levels of atrophy in the cerebral cortex.Science Foundation IrelandHigher Education AuthorityOther funderEnterprise Irelandti, ke, ab - TS 02.1